Hey guys it’s been a while since I last posted a blog, so lets recap launch and travel days! It’s been a crazy three weeks with so much happening from leaving the country and just being in awe of how amazing God truly is. I left for THE WORLD RACE early August 3rd at about 1:00AM to launch to officially leave.
On the way to the airport I got pulled over at about 3:00AM and received a ticket for staying in the left lane(passing lane only) for too long… Great, I am leaving the country with a ticket! That’s just satan trying to get under my skin and ruin the day(although I was pretty mad in the moment) so I just let it go and moved forward. Dylan and I get on the plane that is not returning for about 11 months with so many nerves and emotions/feelings going through our minds. WE ARE FINALLY LEAVING! This year long journey that’s been long awaiting me is finally here.
We arrive in Atlanta with just 2 bags a 65 liter backpack and for me a 36 liter day pack, both packed completely full ready to go on this year long journey with God. Going to launch which was about 5 days long was fun and filled with information. They did tons of sessions throughout the day each day and worship sessions every night trying to prepare us the best they can with last minute things(which was fantastic for our last few days in the states). Exhausted from launch but excited we set out to Panama going from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale to Panama City.
Arriving in Panama City at about 1:20 AM, we had to get a taxi from the airport to the bus station with 7 people that was about 30 minutes away. Then we arrived at the bus station to find out the next bus doesn’t leave until about 5:00 AM so my team and I sat there until then just waiting. We get on this pretty nice, double decker bus for another 6 hour journey across Panama with about a 30 minute stop in Santiago, Panama for breakfast. After about 5 hours of sleeping and an hour of looking out the window at the beautiful tropics surrounding me we arrive at our destination in Las Lajas/San Felix, Panama.
Finally the moment we have all been waiting for… Our host/home where we will be staying at for the next month while doing ministry. It’s about 11:30 AM and we are exhausted from launch and traveling so much but we get to meet our host Ethan. He is awesome and has a big heart for the Lord and is down here as a missionary himself(he is a 3rd generation missionary). I absolutely love him and his vision for spreading the gospel down here in Panama. He takes us to see what we call home for the next 30ish days. It is a small little apartment with two little bedrooms, a living room/dining room/3rd room/everything else room, a small narrow bathroom and a kitchen/bedroom too. Remember my team has 7 people and this is a SMALL apartment and we need all the room we can get. Our electricity can go out whenever it wants and same with our water. We didn’t get an oven but got a small portable gas stove top with 2 burners and a propane tank. We also got a normal kitchen sink that leaks as Cameron and I found out when the tent we are sharing was laying in a puddle of water and a decent size refrigerator but on the smaller side definitely for 7 people. We are all sleeping in tents to keep the bugs and such off of us while trying to sleep. While there is still more to come about what has happened in the 3 weeks of being here that is a pretty good summary of launch and travel days. Here are some pictures of the home we are staying in for the month.
