Missions Blog

Good Morning from Panama…Palabra Da Vida!

It is Sunday morning 3/27/22.    Here is a recap of out trip so far which has mostly been traveling to Chame Panama, team bonding, some sleep and reconnecting with old friends at the Word of Life Camp.

We had a blessed and pretty uneventful trip from Pittsburgh to Panama City.   Waking up to Pittsburgh snow on Saturday made all of us think of how different it would be when we land in Panama.  (as I type this, it is sunny and 80 degrees this morning in Chame).  

At the airport in Pittsburgh, we realized what a different world it is traveling internationally these days.   Filling out forms and making sure all testing and documents were accurate took the most time.  Interestingly it is situations like this that help the team to bond, and we saw that happening right away. 

We landed in Atlanta around 3 pm and then flew out for Panama around 4:30.   We have already realized that joking around with each other it a great way for a team to connect and bond.  God uses laughter doesn’t He!

The team landed in Panama City around 7:30 pm (Panama is 1 hour behind Pittsburgh time currently).  Our team leader Fernando was a big help with the language challenges and got us through immigration quicker than expected.

The director of the camp, John Fowler and a few of the missionaries met us at the airport to drive us to the camp.   The drive to the camp is about 90 minutes without traffic.   On the way we stopped for a dinner to get a feel for the Panamanian culture and food.   The restaurant area is called Sabor Local (local flavor), and we really enjoyed the food and the glimpse of the culture.

We got to camp around 11 pm and were greeted with cheers and smiles from old friends (missionaries and staff) and new ones.  It was so good to see everyone!!!  Due to Covid restrictions, the camp has had almost no visitors over the last two years, so they were as glad to see us and catch up as we were.  It was a beautiful night at the camp with weather and connections.  God really blessed our day of travel!

Wake up this morning was around 7 and breakfast was at 8:30. Currently, there is a weekend camp here for local kids from 5-13 years old.  They are a having fun and hearing about the saving work of Jesus Christ in their lives and have many opportunities to accept Him as their Lord and Savior.  

We started our team time together studying God’s Word going through 2 Chronicles 20.  The key verse was 15, “For the battle is not yours, but God’s”.

Or work projects start tomorrow with the first one being the replacing all the doors throughout the camp.  Thank you for all your prayers during this week!