Bible Chapel Mission Trip Blog
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After devotions and breakfast at the hotel, we left to visit the Embera Drua village in Chagres National Park. Along the way, we stopped and bought empanadas and pastries for the tribe. Once we arrived at the park, we were greeted by a few of the tribe who helped to guide us onto their canoes. They safely and skillfully drove our boats against the current of the river to their village.
Upon arriving, there were several children swimming in the river who excitedly shouted “Traci!” when they saw their dear friend Traci Delibasich from Word of Life Panamá who is well known and dear to the Bible Chapel. We were greeted by the tribe with music and drums, smiles, and handshakes. They were happy to see us and we looked forward to learning more about them.
Tribe member Matteo told us of the origin of their village. They moved in the 1970s from an area along the border with Columbia. They were searching for a better life with more resources and safety. He explained to us how they create the items that they sell to provide their income.
They fed us lunch made of fried tilapia which they caught in the river and patacones served in large palm leaves. After we had lunch, they performed traditional dances and music and encouraged us to join in with them. We had the opportunity to hand out to each family bags of much-needed hygiene, supplies, including full-size bottles of shampoo, body wash, toothpaste, and more. Empanadas and pastries followed afterward and were available for all ages. Our gifts were very gratefully received.
We spent time viewing their wares and buying items that they have made to support their incomes. We particularly tried to buy items from the wife of Valerio who is their president and pastor. Their daughter is attending school to become a nurse and plans to return to the village to help. Also a year ago, Valerio’s house collapsed, and he is still working on purchasing the items needed to rebuild it. He and his wife are living in his daughter’s home with her family until this can be achieved.
We visited the school and the classrooms and met one of the teachers who explained the subjects that they teach. The teachers arrive on Sunday evening and stay during the week before going home on Friday afternoon. We viewed the small church and Valerio showed us where he likes to sit and spend time reading his Bible and praying. We prayed for his congregation, his village, and that God provides and moves hearts to give graciously to these beautiful people some of who are our brothers and sisters in Christ.
To finish our visit, we spent time swimming in the river Chagres. The river is almost crystal clear and very clean. Some of the children joined in with us, and we all had a blast splashing around in the cool water.
Returning to shore, we then began our journey to the camp at Chame. Traffic can be brutal at times as everyone uses the single highway in Panama to commute home from work in the city as it is much cheaper to live outside of Panama City than to live inside and many can cannot afford it. Both in and outside the city it is very easy to see the disparity between different groups. The areas that are poor often have garbage piled outside and usually, the residents will burn it. This is because garbage services are expensive and many simply cannot afford it. Dogs often run around unchained and although friendly, many or skinny and searching for food.
Arriving at camp, we were greeted by the Word of Life team who were so excited to see us. It nearly brought me to tears seeing my beloved sisters in Christ again. After dinner, we prepared 300 gift bags that will be given to the women attending the conference. We also started to prepare the craft supplies that will be used on Saturday afternoon during free time.
At the end of our day, we were very tired, but we all felt such awe at experiencing the beauty of God’s creation in the rainforest, love for the Embera people and the Word of Life team, and excitement to see what God will do over the next few days not only for those attending the conference but also for ourselves.
“And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.” - Genesis 1:31
