Month 6 in Panama

Our Central American travels have come to an end after 6 months & I now find myself in PERU. SOUTH AMERICA. Last but not least in our grand tour of Central America was the country of Panama! Most of us know it as the land of the canal that joins the two oceans. There are many other facets of this country though, and I had the privileged of spending a month there. In my previous post I described some amazing things we got to be apart of & just how evident God’s hand was in everything that happened. I’m back with a summary post to highlight some things, as I do at the end of each country. 

Location: Panama City, Panama 

Arrival: June 7

Departure: July 7

Days: 31

Team: Candor – Kayla, Jamie, Steph, Me 

Living conditions: We stayed in 7 different places while in Panama. Basically we were tagging along with the SportXChange minsitires. That meant staying in a house for a bit, an apartment, two different hotels, the jungle tribe for a few nights (in hammocks), a mountain village in our tents, plus the hostel we stayed in on night one (see my last post). 

Best Food: A meal of lentils, rice & patacones (fried plantains) that the Gamboa tribe cooked us.(Although some would say the best food was the grapes). 

Ministry: We got to participate in all kinds of things that SportXChange had planned. 

Some highlights include:

1. Visiting the indigenous people in La Reserva on two different occasions. It takes quite the trek to get out to their tribe — a 3 hour car ride to the last city before the jungle, a “Chiva” ride (a truck made for the roads with seats in the back) on a long, bumpy road with four water crossings, then a mile hike through basically mud, up & down very steep slopes, and finally a canoe ride across a river. One of my favorite parts of that was setting up a movie with a generator & projector because they don’t have electricity. Watching their excitement for that was neat. 
2. Staying in a hotel (paid for by the Panama government) because we helped at an English Camp in a public school. There were 700 kids and it was as chaotic as it sounds. But the whole experience of it was unforgettable. That was the week that the “Eden team” came from Osborne Baptist Church in North Carolina & getting to know them was so much fun. 
3. A church service in the Gamboa tribe (a different indigenous tribe that we visited) where a majority of the people are followers of Christ. It was an incredible picture of the body of Christ coming together despite difference of language & culture to worship our God & King. 

Fun Fact: The Panama Canal is WORTH SEEING if you ever find yourself in Panama !! I was shocked at the way it functions and cannot even imagine the engineering and mathematical equations that went into making it work.

Shoutout: TO MTW MISSIONARIES !!! I was so encouraged by the families I had the privilege of meeting who are with Mission To The World. They were such a joy to talk to & know for a time, and I won’t forget their words of wisdom and thought-provoking questions. I’m so thankful for those connections and for the familiarity I felt even among people I’d never met. 

Memorable Day: There is only one right answer for this section. The most memorable day was the day that we got a truck stuck in a river. The water was higher than normal and the water was rushing. We had crossed 3 of the rivers on the way out to the jungle, & on the 4th one missed the concrete bridge because it was covered in water & ended up stuck. Thankfully, the truck didn’t turn all the way to the side. We were able to climb out of the car and guys came from all over to help. The Hilux was really wedged in there and it took almost 3 hours to finally get it free after pulling it from all directions with different vehicles. The jokes were endless throughout the month about that whole day. Not gonna lie, driving through rivers is slightly more terrifying than it was before. 

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There is a summary of month 6 & now the Race is halfway over. Not really sure yet how I feel about that fact. 

On another note, I’m flying home tonight (!!!) for my dear brother’s wedding. Catch me crying lots of tears. Excited doesn’t come close to capturing how I feel at the moment. 

See y’all so soon !!!!!!!