Women's Trip To Panama

My trip to Panama started out at the very end of our trip to El Salvador. Wow, was I ever tired. Wayne, Rebecca, and I had just returned home late Friday night from our week long trip to El Salvador. We were there as a family doing Book of Hope distributions and showing The GodMan in schools in the San Jose area of San Salvador. With our late evening arrival from El Salvador, I was up all night unpacking, doing the wash, and repacking for my seven day trip to Panama. This was a trip with ten women from First Assembly of God in Bartow, Florida. The group met me at the airport gate in Miami for a morning flight. They had flown in from Tampa and I was joining them on the same flight to Panama City.

Most of the ladies on the team had never been on a mission trip or even traveled another country before. It was going to be an exciting new experience for all of them. As we landed in Panama we did noticed one thing immediately, the humidly! It had to be 300% instead of the 100% we live through in Florida. Praise the Lord for a bus with air conditioning. We had use of that bus all week. We even had a air conditioning unit on the wall of our motel room, although it only had one setting, "freezing", we slept with it on. The beds only had sheets so some people sleep with their towels on them. But we were very grateful for the air conditioning.

On Sunday morning, we went to a church called Iglesia Biblica Nuevo Pacto for Sunday service. It was at this church that I got to tell the congregation about what we would be doing this week in Panama. Also, our team did one of the skits for the congregation. The worship and praise that morning was very moving.

After church we went to see the Canal De Panama. Even though it was raining all afternoon, that did not stop us from enjoying the canal. Did you know it takes eight to nine hours for a ship to go through the Canal?

After the Canal we realized that we were less than 20 minutes from the Pacific Ocean. Panama is unique in that the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean are only about one hour apart from Panama Cit. Away we went to dip our feet into the waters of the Pacific Ocean. It was a thrill since most of us have only ever been to the Atlantic Ocean. There we saw several ships in line for their turn at going through the Canal. For dinner on Sunday night, we went to a mall food court. Yes a mall! Remember, it's an all women team. Malls are a must! Afterwards, we were able to stop by a store and buy blankets for our "freezing" motel room.

On Monday we started our ministry. The first school we visited was a secondary school. This was the school where our translator, Cenit, received her education. Cenit told us that it was at this school that she received a Book of Hope as a child. When she saw the translator who was helping the American team, she said to herself that one day she would be a translator for a Book of Hope team. Amazing! Here she is today translating for our team. It was her dream come true.

Our visit at this school was a busy one. In addition to our book distribution work, the school was celebrating its anniversary (50 years I believe). They had a school queen, party hats and decorations and Panama's version of the American Idol winner.

When we finished up there, we went on to our next school. It was a primary school called Escuela El Japon. It was at this school that I met a ten year boy named Gabriel. One of several disabled children that I would meet this week.

On Tuesday, one of the schools we visited was a Technological school for high school kids. This school is focused on teaching trades like mechanics, welding, auto painting, and machinery work. It was here that I met three teenagers who needed my help. They didn't finish their English homework and needed answers to past tense verbs. So I made a deal with them. I told them that I would help them with the answers, if they promised to come to our Hope Festival on Friday at a local church. They agreed and I helped with the answers expecting full well that I would never see these three teenagers again.

That afternoon we brought cookies and juice to a nursing home for people who have been abandoned by their families or have no family. The team sang songs and we got to spend time visiting with those who lived there. I met a man named Adof who told me that he lived in the USA, in Bethesda, Maryland, because his parents worked at the Consulate in Washington DC during his junior high school years.

On Tuesday night we went to a local church to show The GodMan. We started out by walking around the neighborhood, going home to home, passing out treats and inviting people to come to see the movie. There were nearly 125 people at the movie and afterwards several raised their hand for salvation.

Our next day was Wednesday, the Fourth of July. It was a day to celebrate our freedom and even though we didn't have BBQ and fireworks while in Panama, we did have the freedom to celebrate our God. One of our team members, Hazel, had been struggling with her testimony for days, but today she reviled something from her past to the teenagers as she gave her testimony. As Hazel shared in the school that morning, you could see teenage girls in the audience listening very intently. After she was done she told me that she felt a new "freedom" in her life. It was like a weight had been lifted from her. You see, Hazel had been holding onto something that had happened to her when she was a young girl and had never told anyone about it until she came on this trip. I believe that there was at least one girl that needed to hear Hazel's testimony that day, but I also believe that God also used the trip for Hazel to be touched by Him. When people go on mission trips they are always looking for what good they can do for others, but sometimes God wants to do good to the person who has answered the call to go.

As the week progressed, I noticed a least one or two children in each of the schools that we visited who had a disability. However, on Wednesday and Thursday there were several disabled children in each school. I asked one of the teachers about it and she said that including disabled children in the regular schools was a new concept in Panama. In the past, the disabled children were required to go to special schools or had no opportunity for schooling at all. The teacher said the change was due to the current First Lady of Panama, Vivian Ferandez de Torrijos. You see, Panama's President and his wife have three children and one of them has a disability. So the First Lady has been a champion for people with disabilities in Panama. The teacher even shared that ramps and wheelchair parking were being added to all schools in the country.

On Thursday night we had a special dinner to say thank you and good-bye to the national team leaders. After dinner, everyone was going around the table and sharing stories about the week. When it was my turn I asked for our bus driver, Jorge, to stand beside me. I shared with Jorge how much we appreciated his work with us all week. You see, Jorge got to our hotel very early every morning and returned to his home very late each night. He kept us safe on the road and safe at the schools. He would stay on the bus for hours guarding our belongings. The team and I prayed everyday that Jesus would come into Jorge's life, so on this special night I asked Jorge if he knew if he died tonight that he would go to heaven. His response was a very weak "maybe." I explained to him that when a person answers "maybe" it really means no, so I asked him did he want to know for sure and to have a personal relationship with Jesus. At that moment, with tears in his eyes, Jorge said "Yes!" At that point I was able to lead him into the sinners prayer. The rest of the night you could see a new look on Jorge's face, even though he was very happy and smiling everyday we had seen him, tonight the smile was different.

Friday was the day for the Hope Festival at one of the local churches. We had been handing out flyers at the schools all week to invite kids to come for games, entertainment, and prizes. Before the festival, I found a Spanish Bible for the team to give to Jorge, our bus driver. Everyone on the team wrote something in Spanish (with the help of our translators) in the Bible for Jorge. When we gave it to him, he smiled and said thank you for changing his life. Later on I saw Jorge call Michael, one of our translators, over to ask him to explain some of the scripture verses that the team had written down. Every time I saw Jorge on this day he had that new smile on his face, the smile of a new believer.

After the Hope Festival, three teenagers came up to me to say hello. Guess who they were? They were the three guys who I helped with their homework on Tuesday. They kept their promise to me that they would come. I got a microphone and took them to the front of the stage and introduced them as men who kept their word, men of honor.

After lunch we went souvenir shopping while Jorge once again guarded our belongings for hours. Then, we went back to the mall for some dinner and more shopping. If you go on mission trip with me you will get shopping in too. Jorge had his son and wife with him so we could met them. By the time the day was done and we got back to the motel, it was very late. We knew it would take Jorge over 90 minutes to get back home, just to get a few hours sleep before he had to be back to take us for a very early air flight. So the team paid for a hotel room for Jorge and his family so they could get a good night sleep.

Saturday was our return travel day. And, it was the 28th wedding anniversary for Wayne and I. I had been telling my roommates all week that all I wanted for our anniversary meal was a salad. You see I find that the most common food item that women miss on a mission trip is salad. You crave it all week and it's usually the first thing you eat once you are back in the USA. So I prayed all the way back to Miami International Airport that my Wayne would be taking me to some place that served large salads.

I was blessed with two wonderful roommates on this trip. Hazel, Diane, and I had a great time. I hope to keep in contact with them and perhaps share another trip with them in the future. In one short week we shared laughter and tears, hopes and dreams, but mostly we shared the love of Christ with 10,000 children and one bus driver in Panama.

I was so happy to see Wayne and Rebecca waiting for me at the airport and guess where Wayne picked to take me for dinner? Cheese Cake Factory! The salads there are so big you could share them with three people but not today, it's all mine.