After just a couple of days at the YWAM center, we are right back into the swing of things! I've been translating and cooking, and will work on making 6 traveling med kits, as well as other tasks as they arise. Luke has been working up a storm doing all kinds of building work, running errands, driving and picking people up. We have 2 teams going out doing ministry all over the city, a DTS, and another team just left for the jungle to build a Home of Hope (similar to Habitat for Humanity). Many homes were destroyed after major floods a couple of years ago.
We have people from all over the world coming to Panama to be a blessing to the people and the country by sharing the love of God and the message that Jesus saves. Right now there are people from Central America, Germany, Holland, Canada, the USA...it is amazing to see people from all over, from different denominations, different cultures, who speak different languages, just jump in and work together for the same purpose: to know God, and to make Him known.
miércoles, 23 de enero de 2013
sábado, 19 de enero de 2013
Come on, Vamanos! Let's go!
We will try to blog a couple of times while in Panama, as well as some brief updates on Facebook.
We leave Monday. We're still recovering from flu, sinus, and upper respiratory trials this past week. Extra Sudafed to drain the ears on the plane so our ears pop and don't get motion sick.
Looking forward to hearing from God for our own lives, and encouraging our friends who do this full-time.
We leave Monday. We're still recovering from flu, sinus, and upper respiratory trials this past week. Extra Sudafed to drain the ears on the plane so our ears pop and don't get motion sick.
Looking forward to hearing from God for our own lives, and encouraging our friends who do this full-time.
lunes, 16 de mayo de 2011
Crutches, hospital visits, BAPTISMS, no Costa Rica, Healings!
It´s my turn on crutches. When we were leaving the island (Bocas) on Friday morning I slipped and twisted my ankle. My personal diagnosis is a sprain, so I just bought some crutches and didn´t bother with a doctor visit.. I´m hoping by staying off of it I´ll heal quickly.
While in Bocas del Toro we did some mini-VBS programs at some schools and it was GREAT! I enjoyed those very much. Thanks to Robin Marass training me in puppets when I was younger, we did puppet skits of decent quality :) We also showed the movie "The Hope" in Bocas. It is an overview of God´s plan for man throughout the whole Bible. We had good response from the few people who showed up. Good questions, quality conversations, and the next day we baptized a young man who came to the movie. He was already attending a church, but I and another team member talked with him and saw a sincere committment to Christ, After watching the movie and talking, he wanted to be baptized. One of our own team members had not been baptized yet, and she decided it was time for her to be baptized as well. She is an amazing young lady and I was proud to be a witness at her baptism. We did much more, but that is a few of the things God had for us to do.
We were supposed to be in Talamanca, Costa Rica, right now, but two of our team members were denied entry so we decided to come back to Chiriqui and continue the ministry we did here. Yesterday we did hospital visits at the children´s hospital, reading stories, praying for healing, and seeing some healings! A young boy wiht a snake bite was supposed to move to Panama City to possibly have his arm amputated after they had already amputated his finger, but yesterday we visited and he is on the road to recovery! We also went up to Volcan and had a great time of intercession, praying for the Ngobe people.
Today is a day off, and at the end of the week the team will head back to Tugri, the capital of the Ngobe Comarca (reservation-nation). Unless God heals my ankle completely, I will go back to Panama City and help out there as I won´t be able to walk the mountains of Tugri.
Thank you for all of your prayers and interest in what God is doing in Panama and in our lives. We love and miss everyone and look forward to seeing everyone in June!
While in Bocas del Toro we did some mini-VBS programs at some schools and it was GREAT! I enjoyed those very much. Thanks to Robin Marass training me in puppets when I was younger, we did puppet skits of decent quality :) We also showed the movie "The Hope" in Bocas. It is an overview of God´s plan for man throughout the whole Bible. We had good response from the few people who showed up. Good questions, quality conversations, and the next day we baptized a young man who came to the movie. He was already attending a church, but I and another team member talked with him and saw a sincere committment to Christ, After watching the movie and talking, he wanted to be baptized. One of our own team members had not been baptized yet, and she decided it was time for her to be baptized as well. She is an amazing young lady and I was proud to be a witness at her baptism. We did much more, but that is a few of the things God had for us to do.
We were supposed to be in Talamanca, Costa Rica, right now, but two of our team members were denied entry so we decided to come back to Chiriqui and continue the ministry we did here. Yesterday we did hospital visits at the children´s hospital, reading stories, praying for healing, and seeing some healings! A young boy wiht a snake bite was supposed to move to Panama City to possibly have his arm amputated after they had already amputated his finger, but yesterday we visited and he is on the road to recovery! We also went up to Volcan and had a great time of intercession, praying for the Ngobe people.
Today is a day off, and at the end of the week the team will head back to Tugri, the capital of the Ngobe Comarca (reservation-nation). Unless God heals my ankle completely, I will go back to Panama City and help out there as I won´t be able to walk the mountains of Tugri.
Thank you for all of your prayers and interest in what God is doing in Panama and in our lives. We love and miss everyone and look forward to seeing everyone in June!
sábado, 30 de abril de 2011
Wind, Parasites, latrines, lice, children and hospital ministry
I need catchy headlines :)
Sorry no pictures right now. A quick update from the internet cafe.
We spent a week in Panama City working with the Chinese churches and witnessing. Went great! More on that later...
Then we spent a week in Tugri, the capital of the Ngobe comarca (reservation). It went very well. We continued work started on digging a pit latrine at the unofficial YWAM center-house that we hope to finish when we go back in May. Encouraged the local pastor and church, had a Good Friday service, several other services, a children´s program in the afternoon, and prayed for a lot of people. It was GORGEOUS in the mountains. I just cried one day during my quiet time, in awe of God´s creation and the privilege to be here. It was super windy, COLD in the evenings. We tented it, the singles stayed on raised boards over a dirt floor in a home of rough sawn wood planks, with gaps big enough for wind and curious, peeping eyes of the little ones! After we left we realized 3 of the girls on our team got lice, and 2 of us got parasites. I´m much better now, and the girls are lice-free after shampooing and days of nit-picking.
We then headed to the province of Chriqui, where we have been ministering mostly to Ngobe people who are staying behind the general hospital and the children´s hospital next to it. They don´t have anywhere to stay, visiting hours are from 6:30 to 7:30 every night. They don´t have money to stay somewhere, because in the comarca it is mostly sustenance living. The sleep in hammocks, or on cardboard on the cement floor of a community building that is the size of a basketball court with a metal roof - no walls. We have made friends with the people there, encouraged them, prayed for them, had a night of sharing testimonies and bible stories and brought some food to share. Sebastian is a man who is there wtih his wife and 3 children. He gets chemo treatments monthly, but they have no money to go back and forth between treatments, so they stay there. He has lost most of his hair, is very thin, and they are struggling for food. A brother-in-law, who is also there because his daughter had surgery on her arm, occasionally gets a day´s work and can buy food. Sunday we will have our church service there. Another time I will tell you about the baby whose mother just died in intensive care from being beaten, and the baby was staying at the "camp", but abandoned. One of the YWAM staff here is trying to get temporary custody of the child until the baby´s family can be found and if they are willing to care for it.
We also visited kids in the hospital each night. We will bring crayons and books as they children have nothing to do (no TV, 6 beds to a room). One kid had his finger amputed after it died and he had gangrene due to a snake bite. Another 12 yr old girl was admitted because she was suicidal. One boy just wanders around on his floor because his parents abandoned him. I guess he´s been there a while. He clearly has some mental and behavioral disorders. I haven´t found out if they plan to contact other family or turn him over to the state.
It has been a PRIVILEGE to share ´God´s hope and words with the people here. We really have enjoyed this area of Panama. We´re in a region where they call it¨"eternal spring". The people are friendly.
so much more to tell, but we are heading back to the hospital shortly. Please continue to pray for us. Wed we leave for teh Bocas del toro area, where we will continue working with the Ngobe people there. A week in Talamanca, Costa Rica follows, and we end our outreach where we started, another week in the comarca.
Continue to pray for us. We are pacing ourselves so we don´t burn out, but it´s a lot of travel, community living, etc.
We love and miss everyone, but I´m loving it!
Sorry no pictures right now. A quick update from the internet cafe.
We spent a week in Panama City working with the Chinese churches and witnessing. Went great! More on that later...
Then we spent a week in Tugri, the capital of the Ngobe comarca (reservation). It went very well. We continued work started on digging a pit latrine at the unofficial YWAM center-house that we hope to finish when we go back in May. Encouraged the local pastor and church, had a Good Friday service, several other services, a children´s program in the afternoon, and prayed for a lot of people. It was GORGEOUS in the mountains. I just cried one day during my quiet time, in awe of God´s creation and the privilege to be here. It was super windy, COLD in the evenings. We tented it, the singles stayed on raised boards over a dirt floor in a home of rough sawn wood planks, with gaps big enough for wind and curious, peeping eyes of the little ones! After we left we realized 3 of the girls on our team got lice, and 2 of us got parasites. I´m much better now, and the girls are lice-free after shampooing and days of nit-picking.
We then headed to the province of Chriqui, where we have been ministering mostly to Ngobe people who are staying behind the general hospital and the children´s hospital next to it. They don´t have anywhere to stay, visiting hours are from 6:30 to 7:30 every night. They don´t have money to stay somewhere, because in the comarca it is mostly sustenance living. The sleep in hammocks, or on cardboard on the cement floor of a community building that is the size of a basketball court with a metal roof - no walls. We have made friends with the people there, encouraged them, prayed for them, had a night of sharing testimonies and bible stories and brought some food to share. Sebastian is a man who is there wtih his wife and 3 children. He gets chemo treatments monthly, but they have no money to go back and forth between treatments, so they stay there. He has lost most of his hair, is very thin, and they are struggling for food. A brother-in-law, who is also there because his daughter had surgery on her arm, occasionally gets a day´s work and can buy food. Sunday we will have our church service there. Another time I will tell you about the baby whose mother just died in intensive care from being beaten, and the baby was staying at the "camp", but abandoned. One of the YWAM staff here is trying to get temporary custody of the child until the baby´s family can be found and if they are willing to care for it.
We also visited kids in the hospital each night. We will bring crayons and books as they children have nothing to do (no TV, 6 beds to a room). One kid had his finger amputed after it died and he had gangrene due to a snake bite. Another 12 yr old girl was admitted because she was suicidal. One boy just wanders around on his floor because his parents abandoned him. I guess he´s been there a while. He clearly has some mental and behavioral disorders. I haven´t found out if they plan to contact other family or turn him over to the state.
It has been a PRIVILEGE to share ´God´s hope and words with the people here. We really have enjoyed this area of Panama. We´re in a region where they call it¨"eternal spring". The people are friendly.
so much more to tell, but we are heading back to the hospital shortly. Please continue to pray for us. Wed we leave for teh Bocas del toro area, where we will continue working with the Ngobe people there. A week in Talamanca, Costa Rica follows, and we end our outreach where we started, another week in the comarca.
Continue to pray for us. We are pacing ourselves so we don´t burn out, but it´s a lot of travel, community living, etc.
We love and miss everyone, but I´m loving it!
lunes, 28 de marzo de 2011
miércoles, 23 de marzo de 2011
Work day and outreach
Saturday we spent the day at Pastor Bill Wilbur's house cleaning. He has been a pastor here for 35 years. We have greatly enjoyed being a part of Gamboa Union Church and getting to know him. He is a young 70! He has written a book about his ministry in the prisons here in Panama called "Finding Freedom in Panama".
He and his wife had to move and only 1 house was available in the area. The people who had lived there previously had not cleaned at all. When they were shown the house, they couldn't even see the floor because of all the clothes and garbage. We came in and bleached every surface area as it was covered with mold and mildew. The walls in the bathroom Luke and I cleaned were BLACK with mold and mildew. The house is beautiful, though. We were also able to put a coat of paint on the lower garage area.
Our DTS will be breaking up into 3 outreach teams from April 11th-May 29th. All will minister in Panama for part of it. One team will spend 2 wks in Colombia as well. Another team will spend 5 wks in Peru. The team Luke and I are on will focus on Panama's indigenous groups, as well as spend 1 wk working with the Bri-Bri in Costa Rica. We will be posting more about outreach as we find out more....
He and his wife had to move and only 1 house was available in the area. The people who had lived there previously had not cleaned at all. When they were shown the house, they couldn't even see the floor because of all the clothes and garbage. We came in and bleached every surface area as it was covered with mold and mildew. The walls in the bathroom Luke and I cleaned were BLACK with mold and mildew. The house is beautiful, though. We were also able to put a coat of paint on the lower garage area.
Our DTS will be breaking up into 3 outreach teams from April 11th-May 29th. All will minister in Panama for part of it. One team will spend 2 wks in Colombia as well. Another team will spend 5 wks in Peru. The team Luke and I are on will focus on Panama's indigenous groups, as well as spend 1 wk working with the Bri-Bri in Costa Rica. We will be posting more about outreach as we find out more....
miércoles, 16 de marzo de 2011
Iguana eggs, butt shots, and school
As most of you have probably read on facebook, Luke had a tooth pulled. It was abscessed and he was in pain. WE have a month before outreach, and we didn't know if we should start the whole process of crowns, etc. In the end, he decided to have it pulled. I gave him a shot in the butt the first night for pain :) The nurse gave him 5 cc of antibiotics in the other cheek earlier. Poor guy.
Lastly, a cool opportunity presented itself - the private Christian school YWAM runs in the community needed help in the mornings for 2 wks while a teacher was on vacation. It's only from 8:30-9:45, but I am substitute teaching! I had wanted an opportunity to visit, and instead I got to jump right in! I felt right at home :)
That's all for now - stay tuned for the next blog that will have more details about our practical/outreach phase....
***IF YOU READ THIS BLOG, PLEASE MAKE A QUICK COMMENT...I'M NOT SURE IF ANYONE IS READING THIS - FEEDBACK IS NICE. :)***
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