Panama, Day 2

Sorry that I skipped a day in posting but being gone for five days has left me way behind with office stuff. Here are my thoughts from our second day in Panama.

Saturday January 28

I have pretty much decided that this is not the hotel that our group will be staying in when we come in March. It’s not because for some strange reason the television came on at 4:00 in the morning or because the construction workers were busy just outside our door at 6:00 this morning. Actually this hotel isn’t that bad. It has comfortable beds and a hot shower. What more could you ask for?

The reason why we will not be staying here is because there is one that is closer to the area where we will be working when we come in March. I have stayed there before and I know first hand that it is a nice hotel. Eric and I will stay there Monday night because it is close to the airport as well.

We started the day by going to grab a cup of coffee (hot chocolate for me) with the missionary. Then we went and surveyed the area where we will be working in March. It is a middle class suburb by the airport called El Rivera. There are around 500 homes there and only one evangelical church. We met the pastor’s wife today and were able to pray with her and do some strategic planning for our trip. We will be walking the neighborhoods surrounding the church, that meet’s in the pastor’s home, distributing copies of the Gospel of John and searching for people who would be interested in starting a bible study group in their homes. Our goal is to go to 100 homes each day for 5 days.

This area is so much different than the areas of Panama City where I have worked before. This is my fourth trip to Panama and for the first three we worked in the El Chorrilo area of Panama City. El Chorillo is a very poor and run down part of the city. There are a lot of drugs there as well as gangs. There is a great need for ministry there but it is hard to keep established ministries going due to lack of funding and volunteers.

After meeting with the pastor’s wife (the pastor is away on a trip) we left El Rivera and headed to Chorillo where Eric and I were able to help with a woman’s ministry meeting that was promoting an Ann Graham (Billy’s sister) crusade in Panama City later on this spring.

After leaving there we went to the missionaries’ home to fill out the official request form for our trip in March. It took about an hour to complete. Now I have to go home and reply to the request I helped make.

Next, it was time for dinner. We went to the bus station/mall where there is a food court. We spent an hour eating and shopping before heading back to the hotel for the evening.

On a side note let me just say this. I’m a cold weather kind of person. I love the winter time. I love the snow and the bitter cold. IT’S STINKING HOT DOWN HERE! The heat and the humidity take a lot out of you. I’ve been here several times before, yet I’m always caught off guard by the tropical heat.

Things I’m thankful for today…
• My Salvation
• My family
• E-Mail (so I can keep in touch with my family)
• People who have so little and yet give so much
• Missonaries