The Outreach

The outreach in Los Mortales yesterday was AWESOME!!! When we rolled into the field where the outreach would take place, the kids began making their way to us! By the time the outreach started at 3pm, there were nearly 200 people there!!! Lots of adults and tons of kiddos! The day was fairly organized... about as organized as it could be. Carmen and Rafael took the kids and began doing songs and games. Eric led small groups in sack races. Vero organized the food... prepared hotdogs and juice. I painted the kids faces and Pastor Bert gave a message to the adults. After the message and the crazy pinata fiasco, we served everyone hotdogs and juice. It was a terrific day, and we made many new friends and were extremely welcomed in the sweet little community. We feel strongly that the Lord is leading us to serve in this village... and I personally can't wait to go back next Sunday!!!

We were blessed to use this awesome shelter with permission from the owner!

Eric leads one group of kids in "Padre Abraham"... (he's the one in the middle wearing the green shirt in case you couldn't tell)

Pastor Bert shares the good news of salvation through our Savior Christ Jesus!
What a sweet face...
Anna was a total hit... the kids couldn't get over her blue eyes! And she loved every minute of the attention!

The pinatas were a great success! Even the adults dove for candy :) Boys will be boys...
We also had balloon animals (and hats) made by a new friend of ours- an American who lives in our neighborhood! She and her husband joined us for the outreach and were a real blessing!
Look at that face!

Preparations...

Tomorrow we will put on our first official outreach! After church, we will be loading up a truck with food and games and heading to Los Mortales. We will serve hotdogs and juice, and Eric has planned several games for the kids including a sack race, egg relay and "telephone". Carmen purchased and filled 3 pinatas and I will make balloon animals (I can make a giraffe, a weaner dog, and a sword... and that's about it!) Pastor Bertin will give a message and invite the people to come study the Bible with us every Sunday at 4pm in their village. The people in the town told us to expect about 200 kids to show up for the festivities! Please pray for God's blessing and guidance as we reach out to the people of this beautiful but impoverished community.

highlights

My parent's left last night after a whirlwind 10 day trip! We tried to squeeze in as much as possible... including a 3 night stay at the beach!

Here's my dad making friends at the meat market!

On the way home from a day at the river, the bus stoped at some roadside stands for fresh coconut!

A few days of R & R at Las Sirenas Cabanas! This place is PARADISE!

Eating dinner at a little restaurant just down the beach from our cabana.

Grammy & Poppy's last night in Panama...

WE SAW A SLOTH!!!

Today we took a hike through the Parque Natural Metropolitano in Panama City. This is not a zoo, it's just 600 acres of protected rainforest. For the first 30 minutes, we didn't see anything! But... all the sudden... we saw a sloth only 4 or 5 feet from us!
All the hiking and sloth excitement tuckered Anna out!

La Playa Punto Barco

Today we took my parents, visiting from CA this week, to the nearby beach. It was Anna's first time in the ocean... and she loved it!

As you can see, we found a very popular beach...

Fun with poppy!

Cruisin' the shore...

It was a fun day (except for all the crowds!)

Annonymous

Someone in our house has picked up some crazy fungus and has it all over her- I mean, their-toes. Now, this someone has cream from the pharmacy, but that hasn't seemed to thwart the yucky growth that I- I mean, they- have been experiencing. Carmen informed me that these fungi live in the soil, so I- I mean, that person- should always put on sandals before going out in the yard. It is a big pain, and even hurts to put on shoes! I mean, that's what they told me anyway. Would you guys pray for healing please?! Thanks...

Para llevar?

So tonight, Eric and I wanted to treat Carmen and Rafael to Pizza Hut as a thank you for spending the day watching Anna while we took care of some business at the Immigration Office in Panama City, and walked around Albrook Mall. We left at 5am and got home around 4 pm. We decided that with church at 7pm, and Anna still needing to take a nap, it was better if we got it delivered, rather than the going through the ordeal of catching a taxi and going downtown to eat at the restaurant.

Eric found the number and went into the other room to make the call. He came back a minute later and reported that we couldn't get any pizza delivered because the delivery boy was taking a lunch break. So instead, Eric had to take a taxi and pick it up himself. Now that is some awesome customer service!

Los Mortales

Today Eric, Rafael & Carmen took a truck-wagonmobile to a small village called Los Mortales. They spent the morning sharing with the people and blessing three families with large boxes of food and toiletries. The next scheduled trip is April 6th. We are all very excited about the ministry opportunities in this small town, which has no church at all.

Just another day

You know you live in Panama

when you see a pair of really cute shoes for $5.99 and your first thought is "Whoa... those are expensive"

You know you live in Panama
when you have to heat up a big pot of water on the stove to give your baby a warm bath

You know you live in Panama
when 80 degrees feels cool

You know you live in Panama
when you have to get up at 1:00 am to start a load of laundry

You know you live in Panama
when you pay $2 for 40 oranges

You know you live in Panama
when a little kid's birthday party starts at 7pm and goes past midnight (on a school night no less)

You know you live in Panama
when you are excited to have lizards living in your house

You know you live in Panama
when you have to go out to the backyard and turn a knob in order to take a shower

You know you live in Panama
when you can't get a straight answer from anybody

You know you live in Panama
when there are people selling lottery tickets at every bus stop, street corner, sidewalk and store front

You know you live in Panama
when an hour late is early

You know you live in Panama
when the ceiling in your bathroom is made of styrofoam

You know you live in Panama
when you never run out of reasons why you know you live in Panama (I'll post more later)