Alrighty…here’s the rest of this amazing journey…
So, here we are on this tiny island that literally takes only a few minutes to walk from one side to the other, that has around 900 people living on it, and that’s filled with people who do the same thing day in and day out…fish (for food), take care of their families, look out for one another, do their creative craft works, and live in community that seems to be full of peace and love towards one another. It was hard from the perspective of looking for the outward signs that these people “needed” us. Really, it wasn’t us they needed, it was the GOD in us.
These kids seemed to be well taken care of…living the island life of their culture, and having fun doing it. The things we got to do with these kids were things like, coloring, teaching them, singing songs and doing skits, playing games, taking them swimming on another nearby island, picking them up by the arms and swinging them around, taking photos with/of them, and encouraging them.
But one thing I see everywhere I go is starving children who all are starving for the same thing…first of all, love, then acceptance, attention, affirmation, hugs, laughter, someone to tell them that they do matter and are significant and that their dreams matter and are not impossible.
For the adults of the island, we were priveleged to do things like preach/give testimonies/corporately have some worship time with them on the two Sundays we were there–one Sunday being at the island we lived on and one on the island we got water from. For the parents, us spending time with their kids was a great thing. We were priveledged to go to the island where we got our water from and help rebuild a couple of walls in a church made from bamboo…that was awesome learning how to do that.
Pastor Canto took us to about 3 other islands so that we could encourage and pray for the pastors there. Out of the 3 only 1 was actually on their island…the others were in Panama City and somewhere else that I don’t know about. So, those are some of the things we got to do.
By the time we got to our last night of being at the island all the kids knew us well. They would seek us out before day in the morning it seemed and wouldn’t go home until 9 
or 10pm. They hung around us all the time. They made great effort to learn our names. They were fascinated by our head lamps, our card games, our music, our hair, things that we never really think about. Every place/country I’m reminded of how petty/temporary some things are and at the same time the biggest thing that always seem to stand out is how we need to LOVE! Don’t think I’ll ever forget this……….LOVE! It’s what we’re created to do, it’s who we’re created to be.
Paul writes in Romans: “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.”–Romans 13:8
Be blessed!
Enjoy the Journey!!
