Sunday 4-6-03

Well, here we go. I'm not much of a flyer so I'm really not looking forward to the flight down to Panama. My family isn't really keen on this trip. They have voiced their concerns several times. This is the beginning of America's struggle with Sadaam in Iraq over control of the country for the sake of the Iraqi people. My family believes there will be anti-American sentiment in Panama as well. It's possible, to say the least, but I believe I've been led to take this journey no matter what the cost. It's a chance of a lifetime.

It is a very cloudy, rainy day. We have Sunday morning worship with the Harvest Point worship team. Two services in fact. Then it's a mad dash to the airport to get there in time to go thru all the security. We have so much equipment we have to take with us. In addition we are taking suitcases full of Tylenol, children's aspirin, cough medicine, ointments, you name it. If it's a legal over-the-counter medication for children and adults, we've got it and we are taking it with us for the native Panamanians who aren't as fortunate to be able to purchase their own supplies when their tiny children are ill as we are here in the USA. It has taken quite a bit of time for all of us to purchase tickets and check the larger items we are taking. We got here just in time. The lines are really getting long for international flights, despite the elevated homeland security level. We are in Orange at this time.

Well now the dash to the terminal in hopes of getting some lunch before boarding the plane..... WHEW!! We have time to eat and relax a bit before the plane even docks at the gate. Doug brings out the guitar and starts to play. This helps me relax a bit. I'm still apprehensive about the flight. We finally get to board and off we go. The plane isn't very full so we can actually have an entire section to ourselves. I, of course, opt to sit with Pat. He dislikes flying more than I do, mostly the take off and landing parts of flights. With the weather as bad as it is, I'm even more nervous. We hold hands until the plane levels off and isn't quite as bumpy as before and I release my grip on his hand. HA! HA! I can't contain my embarrassment! Pat's hand has the indentions of my own hand. I didn't realize I was holding on so tightly! Dennis said, "That's what my hand looked like when Tracy gave birth to our daughters!"

Three and a half to four hours go by and we are finally landing in Panama. If I didn't have issues with landing before, I changed my mind. The runway is SOOO SHORT!! The reverse engines are engaged rapidly before we even touch down it seems. Absolutely nothing to worry about! The flight was uneventful and comfortable. I was even able to get a very short nap (unusual for me).

MAN OH MAN!! is it HOT and MUGGY down here. Getting off the plane on arrival in Panama, stepping into the airport immigration area, is like entering a sauna. I feel like I will melt if I don't get into some air conditioning soon. The temperature is comparable to Georgia temps only there is really no breeze (I can't believe it's possible for there to be no breeze... there is ocean on both sides of Panama .. the Pacific and the Atlantic) and a serious amount of humidity we aren't accustomed to. Arrival time is 8:30 pm cst and it is still steamy. I can only imagine what it will be like in mid afternoon. I have confidence it will all be ok once we get accustomed to the climate.

Customs and immigrations have been a snap getting thru. All those horror stories about getting thru Panamanian C&I were completely wrong, at least for this particular trip. We fully expected to be searched individually and of course our luggage to be inspected as well. We just pushed our way thru and nothing was said. The Iraqi war is going on right now and yet this decently large group of American Missionaries isn’t even given a second glance in the airport. That's fine by me. God is watching over us and making our entry as easy as possible.

Now the bumpy ride to the orphanage. I have seen Mexico and the condition their roads are in, but this, I believe, is much worse. Some parts are fully paved and make for easy riding. There are potholes and ruts, whole sections of street are missing and only dirt or gravel is in their places. I am amazed!!! We see street signs such as stop signs, yield signs, and the like and even traffic signals. Do any of the residents obey them? VERY FEW!! It's like a free-for-all..... 'I'll go here whether you like or not and when I want to' is the feeling I get from the drivers here. Amazingly enough though, there are very few accidents. To top it all off, we see very little road rage here, even with the chaos of the traffic system. The residents don't seem to be very concerned about when they get somewhere, only that they do get there safely. This country is in need of the funds (they have the man-power) to make and maintain repairs and clean the environment.

The orphanage is about 30 mins outside Panama City. Literally, as Dennis said earlier, the jungle is all around us here. The children are still up and running around even though it is now about 9:45pm. I start to goof off with them, running around tickling them, playing tag, and just simply wear myself out. I'm having a great time. Pat tells me to save my energy. I agree. I settle down and relax and then get my camera. The first few are taken of the orphans. Precious children! I could take them all home if we could afford it. I would have to learn Spanish first though..... FINALLY.. off to sleep. The ladies get the only children's room that has an air conditioner (and is unoccupied) on the girls end of the dorms. I don't know about the others, but I feel guilty because the guys don't get AC.

Monday April 7, 2003

We are blessed by so many wonderful people everywhere we go. We have received a VERY WARM welcome. We are blessed to have a wonderful man named John who has planned and organized everything we will be doing. We are getting a rare treat on this mission. John rarely takes anyone to do much sight-seeing while on a mission trip, but we are lucky to have some downtime to do so. He is taking us to the Panama Canal, which we are finding to be a wonderful experience, it's much smaller than expected, but we are only seeing one set of the locks today. He is taking us to do some souvenir shopping, and to some of the local eateries (YUMMY)! The cost of everything here is almost shocking. Pat and I can eat a rather sizeable meal each and only spend about $5.00 combined. Cool thing here is that American money is readily used here. Dollar for dollar the Panamanian money is the same as US money. Yes items seem to be cheap but here, the yearly salaries are small. I believe I remember John saying that a teacher is considered among the highest paid professions and they only earn about $200 a year (don’t quote me on that, it may be per month).

John takes us into the city where I take a few more pictures. There are some beautiful buildings and some really bad ones (just like other major cities). We drive past quite a few alleys that are so run down it is sad. I took a few pictures of them. We saw a building that probably was a great building at one time but there is no roof and no floors, only the outside shell remains. Well, I opened the window of the van to take a picture. I didn’t see the police officer that was directing traffic at that corner (you see, you aren’t supposed to take pictures of police officers in Panama, it is against the law). Luckily he apparently didn’t see me take the picture and I honestly thought all I got in the pic was the building. SAFE!!

Straight from sight seeing, we head off to the first church where we will be worshipping. Pastor Jimenez and the elders of the church are waiting for us. We go evangelizing in the streets and to notify the residents there will be a service. I am taking pictures of everything I can as we walk. I look around and see nothing of what I know for houses. Everything is made of block and concrete and tin or thatched roofs. The windows including those of the orphanage and the churches are decorative open blocks... no glass, no screens or very few screens, dirt or cement floors and they are so SMALL. Leslie, Doug and I turn back for the church, leaving the others to finish the walk. The heat is too much this soon. We need to rest and take it easy for now.

The first night playing our music is wonderful! The band brought the house down, literally, see Pat's story (basically the drum throne collapses because he is playing with so much enthusiasm and then the decorations come off the concrete wall – remember – NO BREEZE). The congregation is here to worship God with us. I came here as the sound person but because the church has their own sound person, I actually get to watch and worship freely and take all the pictures I want!! This is really cool!

Well back to the orphanage for some sleep. It is late when we arrive. It’s 12:30am. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow and need to be up and ready by 5:00am. We will be loading up on a bus and heading toward David. Tomorrow night will be our only night in a hotel. We all will actually get to have air conditioning. All of us.

Tuesday April 8, 2003

OK! The women are up at 4:00am to get ready to go. The entire group has to heft all the medical supplies, equipment and some luggage to the top of the hill to meet the bus driver to head to David. John has secured a nice bus and a great driver named Ivan. We are actually in a travel bus, not a dressed up school bus. (The school buses are brightly painted and have lights all over them.— I didn’t get any pictures of them at night. They are certainly something to see!) Can you say “privatized public transportation”? If you can get a bus, you are in business! Seriously!

Our ride is going to be looooong. We are expecting about 6 hours. Along the way I am taking as many pictures as I can. The bus has tinted windows so most of the pictures taken have a blue tint to them. Leslie and Ruebeana decide it’s song writing time. Doug becomes involved and before long, we have a new song in the works. YAY!

There are so many cool things to see on the way down this highway-want-be. As we get closer to David we see large hills or small mountains with rock creations indicating the town you are approaching.

We also see lots of cemeteries. Beautifully landscaped, marvelously designed headstones.. just decked out! The people here have a great respect for the dead. What I thought was really cool was the reverence paid during a funeral procession. The casket is carried down the street by pall bearers on foot and the family follows behind on foot. The vehicle traffic behind doesn’t seem to care much that they are going so slow. It amazes me the difference in our cultures. Yes we have a great respect for the dead in the US but here…. I don’t know. It’s much different.

I have a brother in a cemetery in an area in near Atlanta. When we buried him the area wasn’t too bad. Now, some 17 years later, I don’t go there because the area has changed so much and not for the good. These people don’t seem to care where the cemetery is.

Well we arrive in David approximately 8 ½ hours after we started driving. Allow 1 hour for breakfast and 1 hour for lunch. We get to the hotel and find it to be very nice. $35.00 a night per room! The lobby is air conditioned; they have internet connections, a nice restaurant, etc. The upstairs halls where the rooms are don’t have air conditioning and the rooms only have small window units. We get settled and changed for supper and for the next church. YAY!!! an internet connection. I can finally let my parents know all is well and we are having a GREAT time!

We went to an Assembly of God church, Ruebena De Vino. Pastor Manuel Grier is not only the pastor, but also the head of the Assemblies of God in David, which has 35 churches. We had an awesome time. The teens in the church had a great time with the harder edged songs the band played. They were on their feet in a split second when the drums kicked off. When the service was over these same teens came to the band for autographs. This was weird. The guys weren’t expecting that at all. Of course they gladly signed for them.

Wednesday April 9, 2003

Well, we are up early today, but not as early as we have been. We are going up in the mountains to visit the Chiriqui Indians and to take medication for the sick ones.

We round up a couple of trucks (4WD with bench seats and roll bars in the back). We load up and off we go. The road is very rough. It’s a dirt road lined with round river stones, some large enough to fill in the ruts. This road is very steep in places. The guys are standing up, looking at the scenery. I want to see too. I stand up but I have my hands full and I can’t hold the bars. Well, this is where I get into trouble! The upper bar is perfectly even with my mouth. We hit a bump or rut - or whatever it is.. - it’s BIG and I hit my mouth on the bar really hard. I think I have busted my teeth! Luckily that’s not the case, but my upper lip swells up very quickly. I hesitate to say anything to Pat. He has already suggested that I don’t stand up for that very reason.

Finally we are here. Well, at least one of the trucks is here. We are still waiting on John and all the other interpreters. We have no way to communicate with the Indians until they get here. The other truck shows up in about 10 mins. By this time, we have already started to work our way to the schoolhouse. This place is beautiful! The view from the mountaintop is breath taking! I’m so over come with emotion about so many different things, that I completely don’t think about taking any pictures of this view.

The homes the Indians live in are made of bamboo stalks for walls and thatched roofs. If they are lucky some of them even have tin roofs. The women and girls wear homemade dresses of different styles and they are brightly colored. The schoolhouse is down the hill from the main part of the village. It is a block-built building much like the churches and homes in Panama City and other areas in David. The walls are block, the floors are concrete, the windows are open blocks or decoratively cut blocks with no screens to protect them from the insects while indoors. The rooms don’t have doors in the school. Outside the school house complex (there are 3 buildings arranged in a kind of horseshoe shape) is a makeshift grill for cooking for everyone.

After getting our plan of action together and a bit of a background on the people here, we go to a main classroom where all the children and some adults are gathered for our ministry. John gets them roused up and ready for Dennis to do a mini sermon, which I have to admit, I am paying very little attention to because I’m trying to get some good shots of the children and adults here. They are quite shy at first especially the younger children. I venture a guess that most of these kids have never seen pictures of themselves because in an attempt to gain the children’s confidence I start showing them the digital images I’ve been taking and they are looking at me like I’m crazy. I decide that with each picture I will show it to the child I took it of and tickle them so they understand and they eventually do. Some to the point that I can’t keep them out of the pics I’m trying to take.

HA! HA! HA!

Well sadly, it’s time to head back. I have truly cherished this experience in the mountains with the Indians.

After loading back into the bus we start making our way back to Panama City and stop at a little store where we run into a group of US military reservists who we saw on the way up and back from the Indian village. They are there on a kind of mission of their own. They are building a new block wall medical facility that is desperately needed in that area. This I believe will be a multi use facility for medical, school, etc.

The reservists really wanted us to play for them but, unfortunately, we are on a tight schedule and we have to head back.

We will be stopping in Santiago to do a service at the Santiago Church of God. Pastor Freeman leads this congregation.

Our bus lost its air conditioning last night right as we pulled up to the hotel so we are nasty hot and sweaty. The open windows offer some relief from the heat. Between being so pumped up by our experience in Chiriqui and the heat, none of us could rest on our way to Santiago. Believe it or not, we stop at a Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner. IN PANAMA! It was weird.

It is a pretty large church, but as with most churches here, there is a roof, but the sides were wide open. The stage and pulpit areas are well covered as well as an office area at the rear of the church. The sides are completely open with a fence protecting it and allowing for the sounds to carry for miles. It also has a pretty high roof. There is a nice breeze tonight.

We all find offices or classrooms to change our clothes quickly. We have rarely had time to have a prayer but tonight is our chance.

After the church praise team opens with a few songs, Rev. Angela Johnson brings a great message about expectations of Gods promises. John interpreted and after the message, he asked for the church praise team to play for an altar call. The band has not been able to participate in any of the alter calls until now. John invites them to come up and pray with the congregation individually. The way these people worship and the way their alter calls manifest themselves was totally unexpected. The Panamanians truly live for God! They are totally uninhibited. They are not ashamed to show it. It was like a colony of ants on a frantic mission to move the earth around them. Truly amazing!

Now we go back to the orphanage 4 hours away. We are expecting a very late (or early) arrival, depends on which way you care to look at it.

We are back at the orphanage by 3:00am. I’m not feeling well, kind of feverish, achy, sore throat and ear, just generally yucky. So, into bed we all go in preparation for the next full day.

Thursday, April 10, 2003

Today we are going to a prison on the Panama Canal. I am still not feeling very well and we are going to John’s house to allow Javier and Jira as well as John’s son Joshua to get some rest, so I have decided to stay here and rest for a few hours with them. I hate that I will miss going to the prison.

Sister Jenny (John’s wife) set me up to rest in one of their children’s bedrooms and I found myself sleeping for a couple of hours. When I wake up I head downstairs and sit outside on the back patio with Jenny talking and listening to the sounds of nature. Then we see their resident Iguanas. Jenny doesn’t really like them but I find them fascinating.

The gang returns full of excitement and tales of their experience in the prison. I understand by the stories the gang tells that I missed a truly inspirational experience. All I know is when they arrived back at John’s, Pat’s hand was swollen and horribly bruised from playing a conga as hard as he could so the rest of the band could hear him.

I’m finally feeling a bit better so we head out for dinner and our next church. No time to head back to the orphanage so before we go we all change at John’s.

We go to a very small church. I don’t remember where. The building is in pretty bad shape, but the music equipment is in worse shape. This church has really played this equipment out. The drum set has one cymbal, which is tarnished black and has a huge crack in it. Pat has to sit almost on the floor because all they have is a chair, not a drum stool. The floor tom is literally that… a “floor” tom. It is missing 2 of the legs and is basically sitting on the floor. While the band played the soundboard kept cutting out and the keep losing sound, this happened to Doug during a guitar solo and he was so funny. I asked him later about it and he tells me “Well, if I’m gonna have to play ‘air guitar’ then I may as well have fun!”. Great attitude Doug! No matter what happened it didn’t affect the spirit in the room. Nothing could possibly have compared in churches in the states.

Rubeana preached a fiery message on Psalm 37, Pastor Patterson interpreted. The entire church ended up coming forward for the altar call. The band members once again did not play for the altar call, but we prayed for all that came.

Back at the orphanage and back in bed around 1:00am.

Friday, April 11, 2003

Up at 6:30am. Today we are going to the city of Colon, and then to 4 more churches, one in Colon and 3 more around Panama City. First, we are going to a church in the Panama City area to start. We are meeting Pastor Carlos Navarro. He is the head of about ten churches for the Church of God. They run a school within the church, which has grown a great deal in the past 6 years. They started with 2 classrooms, and now they have about about 20. Children do not have to go to school in Panama, it is strictly a luxury. Families must pay for their children to attend a school, but usually not all of their children can go. The ones who can’t will stay at home and work to help send their brothers and sisters. The most expensive part of going to school is the bus for those children that can afford to be sent to school. It’s $30.00 per month per child for the bus. Because of the cost, a lot of children walk for miles to get to school.

The name of the church is Fuente de Aqua Viva, which is The Fountain of The Living Spirit. Pastor Navarro is taking us on a tour of the school. The children did something completely unexpected. Remember I said that the band was surprised by teens wanting their autographs? Well, 2 classrooms full of young children came rushing out at us with notebooks, pencils, books, whatever they could grab. They wanted everyone they could get to sign their books. It was truly the sweetest thing. Next, back to the van and to Colon we trek.

In Colon, a church runs the reform center. This is like a minimum security prison. The residents that are here are usually released from prison early. There is a feeding center that is used to feed hundreds of people daily. From the hill we can see the ships going thru the canal waters to the Panama Canal Locks. We toured the the church and the feeding area and now we are going down to visit with the residents in the reform center.

The inmates make the best of what they have here. There are criminals, mentally ill, and homeless people here. The band sang songs and the residents decided to get involved. We didn't bring any instruments but one guy ran and got a 5 gallon plastic bucket and played percussion for us. We all sang and then the residents did one of their own.

Dennis gave a great testimony and delivered a sermon that brought me to tears. I have never heard all of his testimony until today and I must say, I can't imagine the person he was talking about. A prisoner named Armando Williams interpreted for Dennis. He use to live in the US and still has family in the states, New York, I believe I remember him saying. We had the usual alter call and I saw some things I've never seen before, but all was good!

We ran out of time for the second church in here in Colon so we are on our way back to Panama City because we still have 2 to go. I keep wondering how we are going to manage 2 more. Well, John tells me we will have to split up. I don't like it, but I end up splitting up from the Pat and band and go with Angela and the kids and Ruebeana. This is the only service the band is going to besides the prison that I have missed. My group is going to Pastor Navarro's church. Ruebeana does the sermon and Pastor Patterson does the interpretation. It is a rousing sermon.

I am taking pictures and then the alter call comes up. Angela and the others are praying over and with the congregation. I catch a glimpse of a beautiful baby in its mother's arms. The baby can't be more than a couple of months old, if that. I can tell there is something wrong with this child. I pray a prayer over it and its mother then I continue taking pictures. As alter call finishes up Pastor Patterson the others call me up to do a group prayer over this baby. The baby has had surgery on its head for some condition (I'm afraid I didn't hear exactly what all is wrong with the baby). I do know that it has a bowel problem that surgery was done on as well. We end in a wonderful prayer time for this mother and child and the await the arrival of John and the rest of the crew.

We arrive back at the orphanage and between repacking to head home tomorrow and sorting out the expired medications from the good ones, it is 1:30am before most of us head to bed. We have to be up at 3:30am in order to get to the airport in time for an EARLY flight home.

Saturday, April 12, 2003

We arrive at the airport and no one really wants to go home. We have had such a fantastic time despite the heat and conditions that we aren't accustomed to. Definitely an eye-opening experience. One that I will NEVER, NEVER forget.

We are prepared for physical searches of our luggage and even possibly personal searches before we leave the country. Panama doesn't have all the high tech X-Ray machinery to pass the luggage through so they have to search the bags individually by hand, which is time consuming considering the amount of luggage we are taking back. Thankfully we don't have all the medications with us because we left it behind where it can do the most good. However, that doesn't stop the airline from having a problem with Dennis' luggage. He claimed a suitcase that had meds in it but instead of meds it has another empty case in it. We get all the way to the terminal and he is called to discuss a cigarette lighter that he had no idea was even in the case. Dennis doesn't smoke, but somehow there it was in the side pouch of the big case. Then he has to go thru the random personal search and baggage search before boarding the plane.

We all get to go home together. No one is left behind that is leaving today. Angela, Xavier and the kids and Ruebeana are staying on for a little longer.

I am ready to come back and I haven't even left yet.

The flight home was great. Reflecting on the services and alter calls, it makes me sad to know that Americans are so inhibited with their worship. At least most of the ones I have come in contact with. In Panama, the people love God and certainly aren't afraid to show it. They don't care who's around or what they do or look like doing it when they are in a worshipful place. We all need to get to that place.

IN CLOSING

I know that my account is much more detailed than the others, but I hope you enjoyed it and you felt, in some way, like you were there with us. I almost let my parents talk me out of going and I am so thankful I didn't allow that to happen. Yes, I came home sick (I had pharyngitis and an upper respiratory infection that kept me out of work for a week after we returned) but you know, I wouldn't trade the experience for all the ..... money in the world ..... all the tea in China ..... you name it. I can't imagine not experiencing what I did in that 6 days. It's changed my life forever and the next possible chance I get, I will be going back.

I feel the need to encourage you... if you have never been on a mission.... GO!! GO!! But, be prepared, it's no vacation. However, this experience, at least for me, was better than a vacation. Yes, I complained about the conditions. I complained about not having the luxuries I am used to, but.... well you can't describe it. You have to experience it!!!! NOTHING can compare.