Last day in Panama!  We had a wonderful day of adventure and bonding as we drove all over this beautiful country. From the rain forest to the hot springs, Panama has so much to offer!  The temperature was very cool and comfortable in the mountains which was a wonderful break from the extreme heat we have been dealing with in Pedregal.  We hiked, laughed and mudded our way through the “Valli”, a one time volcano location turned valley.  Through several threats of car sickness we made it back off of the mountain no worse for the wear.  Here are a few photography highlights of our day.

We will be heading back to the Estudos Unidos early in the morning.  Please pray for traveling mercies for our group and continue to pray for the Panamanians we have fallen in love with and are leaving behind.

Today was our last day at VBS at the church in Pedregal.  It was another wonderfully blessed day as we concluded our Bible teachings, songs, crafts and fun.  We have been so warmly received and the children and teens have really bonded with our team.  It will be very sad to leave these precious people. 

The other VBS teachers have been so great with our team and with the children.  We have learned many new ideas and games from the teachers in Pedregal.

Tonight we celebrated with a church service.  There were literally people outside on the streets participating because the church was so full.  It was a wonderful service with great music, preaching and presentations.  At the end there were hugs all around and many sad faces to see us leave. 

We will miss these people very much.  Their compassion, their laughter, their humility…it is inspiring and contagious.

Buenos Noches…your team

Hola amigos! Today was another busy but fruitful and blessed day.  After a full morning of VBS we once again were able to walk the children home and invite their families to the evening services.  Again, these visits allowed us an opportunity to talk with parents and really see how the children we are working with live.  We could see that no matter how much or how little each family has,  they are both proud, humble and gracious hosts.  We came here to bless them, but are being greatly blessed.  We are so grateful for this opportunity to serve in Panama and to our church family for supporting us in this blessing.

Precious moments

Last night at the worship service we noticed a woman sitting the towards the back of the church quietly crying.  After the service was over we noticed that she had an opportunity to talk to the Pastor.  He later told us that she shared with him that she had been “putting God off”.  She said that all of her life she had felt God nudging and tugging at her heart but she kept saying “not now”.  She realized last night that she could no longer say “not now”.  She dedicated her life to Jesus right then and there and left with urgency to talk to her husband about doing the same.  I am not sure what part of the service God used to speak to her but I say “Hallelujah”!

The language barrier is getting easier each day as we begin to take more chances with our broken Spanish and the people of Pedregal attempt to speak more slowly and with infinite patience.  Though we know that everyone smiles in the same language one member of our team learned a valuable lesson today about the Spanish language.  There is a very big difference between the two words pecado and pescado.  I kept wondering why Jesus died for our fish and then was informed that pescado is fish but pecado is sin.  What a difference one letter can make.  A reminder not to rely too heavily on Spanish learned over twenty years ago.

Sharing God's love!

After a full morning “en la escuela biblica de vacaciones” several team members were able to walk some children home from school in order to invite the parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents to the the church for services in the evenings.   What a wonderful and eye opening experience it was! First and foremost, we were able to see, first hand, how important this church is and will be to the community.  Situated in a neighborhood where often the water for many apartments or homes  is a single elevated pipe in the courtyard, The First Baptist Church of Pedregal has been providing the youth of this community a safe environment to spend part of their break from school. Even more importantly, these children are learning about God’s love.   Through the experiences of these children and the opportunity these experiences provide for an open dialogue with the adults responsible for them, the good news of salvation and hope is spreading in the neighborhood.   In addition, escorting the children home provided a valuable opportunity to ask these adults specifically what they wanted to ask God.  We also asked the adults or guardians, of these beautiful children attending the school, to relate their biggest concern or challenge as a parent.  The answers were diverse and very specific.  Most often, they were concerned about violence in the community and ensuring that the children obtain a good education. So today, remember these concerns and fears in your prayers.

We ended the evening with a beautiful worship service back at The First Baptist Church of Pedregal.  Charlene and Mike shared their faith stories and Shawn preached and also sang with Dale, Wendy and Charlene.  Also, praise God that the entire team is healthy and able to participate fully today.  Buenos Noches!

Precious faces!