Panama, Day 3

Sunday January 29,

Today was a crazy long day! Eric and I left this morning to cross the isthmus from Panama City to Colon. Panama City is located on the Pacific Ocean side (West coast) and Colon is on the Caribbean side (East Coast). The trip across took about and hour and fifteen minutes. Before we left Eric and I took a brief stroll into the jungle… er… rain forest. I would like to go a little further tomorrow morning.

Colon reminds me a lot of the Bahamas. It is quite different from Panama City. There is still a lot of poverty there and the crime rate is high. However, there was a huge difference in our worship experience. We actually met in a church building! This was the first time I have worshipped in Panama in an actual building that was built as a church. All of my previous experiences have been in homes, apartments or abandoned buildings.

This is Eric’s first trip to Panama and my fourth so when we were asked which one of us was going to share in church it was his turn. Speaking through a translator is more difficult than you would think and it is an experience that every volunteer missionary needs to experience.

The service lasted just over two hours and afterwards we took the local pastor out to eat at McDonalds. It’s amazing how in America we even take McDonalds for granted. The pastor was humbled and very appreciative of us taking him out to eat there. I ordered fried chicken there. I have never seen fried chicken on a McDonalds menu in the United States but they have it here. I have a photo to prove it!

After lunch we took a drive around the city of Colon and to the shoreline. There were some massive waves there as well as several ships who were waiting to enter the Panama Canal or who had just come out of the Canal.

When we got back to the Pacific side of Panama we had almost an hour and a half to visit the Panama Canal. This was my fourth visit to the canal and Eric’s first. The Panama Canal is a once in a lifetime attraction. It is an amazing man made piece of work but you really only need to see it once in your life time. It was cool seeing the big ships pass through.

We took the missionaries out to eat dinner tonight to show them our appreciation of their work. They are retiring at the end of the year after serving the Lord for 20 years in the Republic of Panama. I really love the country of Panama and enjoy it every time I come down here but I can’t imagine living here for 20 years. That is a huge sacrifice.

We went out to eat dinner at an open air sea food restaurant on the Bay of Panama. It has an amazing view and some of the best sea food I have ever eaten.

Tomorrow is our last day of work before heading home on Tuesday. Stay tuned!

Today I am thankful for…
• My salvation
• My family
• My ministry
• Grace
• God’s creation