Welcome to Panama the home of the Panama Canal!
Panama is a beautiful country boarded by Costa Rica and Colombia. Spanish is the native language and dancing is a major part of Panama’s culture. The Bilboa is the local currency, which is 1:1 with the United States Dollar. US dollars are used for paper currency and Bilboas are used for coins. Panama has a tropical climate and we are currently in the dry season (it’s still very hot and humid).
For the first two weeks my team assisted the English teachers and helped with construction work at Centro Educativo Bilingue Gracia y Paz School. It’s a bilingual Christian school that is attached to the Templo El Dios Viviente Assemblies of God church. The church and school is located in Arraijan, Panama (a town just outside Panama City). For the last 10 days in Panama my team was given the opportunity to participate in Unsung Heroes, a program that connects and networks with Unsung Heroes in an effort to come alongside them and provide lift to their efforts to further the Kingdom. Unsung Heroes are men and women who are dedicated to serving some of the most impoverished populations in the world ultimately to build the Kingdom.
My team lived with a Panamanian family this month! Raquel, our host, works at the school and attends the church. Her house has a large guest room specifically to host missionaries. We had our own beds and air conditioning, which was a huge blessing because it is hot in Panama. We prepared our own dinners, but Salvador prepared breakfast and lunch at the school for us. Salvador is an amazing cook and a jack of all trades (he cooks, substitute teaches and is in charge of the construction/maintenance of the school). To get to school we took local transportation, which was an old yellow school bus that looked like a party bus (there were murals, lights and loud music). The buses were always jammed packed and challenging to get on and off.
Holly and I helped teach 5th-9th grade. We taught tongue twisters, worked on basic conversational skills and helped with reading. I really enjoyed teaching and working with the students even though some days were challenging due to behavior and chaos (classroom sizes ranged from 20-30 students with only 1 teacher). I love teaching and giving away my knowledge to those who are thirsty and I was able to do that with English this month. The students were a lot of fun and I was able to develop some sweet relationships. It was really hard to say goodbye.
This month I continued to be challenged and to grow. Every week there was a school wide chapel service and our team was asked to do a Bible lesson through a skit. My team asked me to play the main character and before I thought to say no, “yes” was coming out of my mouth. If you know me, I’m not much of an actress and I don’t typically like being up front acting. No, the skit wasn’t amazing and no, I won’t go into acting one day, but I stepped out of my comfort zone to help share the gospel to 200+ students. It turned out to be interactive and funny. Plus, the students loved it.
The church we attended was a lot more charismatic than I am. I was given the opportunity to make an effort to understand what they were doing, why they were doing it and to participate. One way I chose to step out and participate was by walking down to the altar and joining in the singing and dancing during worship. At first this form of worship seemed chaotic, a bit crazy and somewhat intimidating, but I made an effort to understand and was able to experience a new way to worship the Lord.
While serving in Panama, my team had the opportunity to go to the Panama Canal (the canal that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans). It’s quiet the engineering feat and is very important for moving cargo around the world by ships and for Panama’s economy. We also had the opportunity to learn more about Panama and it’s history by visiting the ruins of Panama Viejo (Old Panama), while on an all school field trip. My team was also given the opportunity to spend time with my teammate Candice’s Panamanian family, who she got to meet for the first time!
Please keep my squad in your prayers as we prepare to go to South Africa. We are leaving a culture we’ve become comfortable with for a new one and the teams will be changing so I will be with a new group of people. Pray for safe travels, peace with the new teams and a smooth transition so that we can quickly come together and work effectively to further the Kingdom.
