This holiday season we are doing ministry in Guabito, Panama. We are doing construction and planting a church in a border town between Panama and Costa Rica. At the moment, we are with two other World Race teams all staying at Pastor Jose’s house. That’s 21 World Racers, 1 interpreter, 1 pastor, 1 pastor’s wife, 1 cook, 2 dogs, 2 turkeys, and about 20 chickens living in and around the same house. We all share 1 bathroom, 1 bucket shower, and no laundry services.
NORMAL DAY IN PANAMA
On a normal day, the roosters, turkeys, and chickens wake up around 5:00am and conveniently find their way right next to our tent. We’ve found out our iPods cannot quite outdo the 20 some odd animals all making different noises at the exact same time.
Days here start out around 7:30 with everyone gathering together for a time of prayer and worship.
Breakfast is at 8:00 and our food options range from fried bread and wienies to, all in one sitting, eating a ham sandwich, plantains, a hard boiled egg, and a bowl of corn flakes.
We normally leave for the church around 9:00 to do construction and street evangelism. We are painting the outside of the church as well as building a porch on the back. We head back to the house for lunch
around 1:30 where we normally have chicken, salad, and at least 2 GIANT servings of rice and beans.
The afternoons are spent preparing for night services at different churches around the area which include dramas and one of us preaching. We also have time in the afternoon for personal time. Dustin enjoys spending time investing and pouring into teammates, and I enjoy going for a run with a couple of the other girls. Our runs are so great because it is so green, and there are plantain fields that go on for miles. It’s so peaceful and a great time to enjoy the scenery!
We eat around 5:30 and head to church where several people will get up and perform a skit and then someone preaches the sermon. Dustin preached the gospel the first night we were here and has again confirmed his gift of speaking the Word of God.
We return from church and people disperse, either to wait in line for a bucket shower or participate in a rousing game of spades.
Our three teams will more than likely go in different directions next week, but we will be back together to celebrate Christmas with the pastor and his family.
SIDENOTE: For those of you who don’t know much about the Central American culture, Christmas is there biggest holiday! Decorations were put up in the middle of October and everyone celebrates, young and old, rich and poor. Where we stayed in Nicaragua, we were in the middle of a week long celebration of the Virgin Mary. This included countless people in the streets, mariachi bands playing outside our hostel, and firecrackers (which sound very similar to gunshots) at all hours of the night. We are in for a treat this Christmas!
Our team will continue to work with pastor Jose this month planting a new church and evangelizing in the community. We are looking forward to seeing growth and change in this community and so glad God has chosen us to be a part of His plan for Panama!
We love you all and are missing you this holiday season!
