My squad and I are halfway through traveling to Africa!! and these past couple days deserve a blog in and of themselves…we are currently sitting in the Fort Lauderdale airport soaking up what may be our last chances in a while to connect with people back home! Our time in Panama was unforgettable because of the people we met and the way God worked! Here’s a snapshot into our time there!!
12/8/17 – made it to panama!!! Arrived late and found out I’m in the same time-zone as my parents now!
12/9/17 – today we set personal and team goals for the month, met the people we are going to be serving with, and toured the base!
12/10/17 – went to church at Boquete Bible Fellowship. We were the youngest ones there as their general populations is retired people from America!
12/11/17 – we are getting to know the DTS and DBS students and teachers that are here and had our first day of ministry! This included cleaning to prepare for the graduation of the students on Thursday. We also drew for secret Santa!
12/12/17 – helped with an organization called God’s Eyes that provides glasses for people in the villages that are forgotten by most. We were in charge of entertaining the kids which was a blast!
12/13/17 – today I learned how to better talk about my feelings after a conversation of a 6 year old.
12/14/17 – slept outside in our hammocks to watch the meteor shower at 2am and woke up at that time to clouds… so went back to sleep.
12/15/17 – DTS and DBS graduation was today!! We had the honor to serve the graduates and their parents dinner and cake! Which ended with us having a food fight with the icing!
12/16/17 – painted a little Panamanian boy’s face so he looked like a dog while he was sleeping because his mom asked me too!
12/17/17 – went Christmas shopping after church today and all Secret Santa’s were figured out.. tragic yet satisfying
12/18/17 – today we put 3 couches on the loft above the cafe (easier said than done) and then told that they decided to put them somewhere else. But all is well
12/19/17 – started making the new library for the base and found a bomb book called Dancing with Jesus and can now dance better than ever before. We also went roller skating with kids from the community AND played Just Dance with the Martinez family for their last night here!
12/20/17 – today we had a rest day and played cards, are cookies, watched a Bugs Life and laughed together.
12/21/17 – made M&M pancakes for everyone for breakfast and then went to the nursing home in David to sing Christmas carols and hang out!
12/22/17 – went to a Christmas party full of food, Americans, and gift exchanges!
12/23/17 – celebrated Andy’s 6th birthday today and team Daughter Zion came to the base to hang out!!
12/24/17 – ringing in Christmas with shopping in Boquette, recording our Christmas song, watching a Christmas movie, watching fireworks at midnight, and sleeping under the Christmas tree!
12/25/17 – Merry Christmas! We opened our gifts from our Secret Santa, called our families, and had a big Christmas dinner it’s YWAM!
12/26/17 – hannah, haley and I got the frisbee and played “frisbee golf” outside making trees, hammocks, and ropes the hole! And a little Dutch boy (Yenik) taught me colors in English!!
12/27/17 – after visiting the nursing home, Cathy took us to Dairy Queen!! Also to a boys home to tell them about Jesus and play games!
12/28/17 – the team from Viola university came in today so we got to meet them! We have the privilege to serve alongside them for the rest of our time in Panama.
12/29/17 – tonight we went to the Red Light District in David, Panama and prayed against the prostitution and sex trafficking that occurs there.
12/30/17 – told the pizza lady at dominos that my name was pepperoni and we saw the new Star Wars!!
12/31/17 – played lots of games at a New Years party, ate lots of food, watched the ball drop of 2016 (just in case we didn’t make it to midnight), watched the ball drop live, drank sparkling cider, and watched lots and lots of fireworks!!
1/1/18 – celebrated the new year at the beach and swam in the Pacific Ocean for the first time in my life!!
1/2/18 – went to Soloy, one of the poorest villages in Panama, go to a kid’s club and pray for the clinic. Our team was exposed to a culture we haven’t seen before and I’m thankful for it.
1/3/17 – our last day of ministry: toured a coffee plantation today and watched kid’s warm up to us as we sang, danced, played, and shared the Gospel with them. Also, had a night of celebration and thanksgiving! Roasted and ate lots of marshmallows.
1/4/17 – bought bus tickets to Panama City and took an overnight express bus there to spend a couple days and begin our travel to Africa.
1/5/17 – bought Krispy Kreme at the multiplaza mall in Panama City. The best chocolate sprinkled donut I’ve had in 3 months!!
1/6/17 – went to the Smithsonian Center, saw the canal, and saw the Greatest Showman!! Such a great last day in panama!
1/7/17 – our flight out of Panama City got delayed 10 hours so they put us up in the Westin hotel!! Also got to spend 4 hours in the United States where everyone speaks English!!
Thank you everyone for all your prayers and support! Next stop: Lesotho!!
