Panama Journal, Day 1

I had the opportunity to visit the country of Panama last week to make preparations for a mission trip in March. It was a great experience and we got a lot accomplished. I sat down every evening to journal a few thoughts. I will share a journal entry and photos each day for the next five days.

Friday January 27, 2006

The entire day today was spent traveling. My kids were all sick so none of them went to school. My wife’s parents came over early this morning to stay with them while she took me to the airport. I didn’t have to be there until 9:30 but they arrived early enough for us to leave and get breakfast before she dropped me off.

We flew first from Oklahoma City to Houston, Texas. It was only an hour flight which was a good thing because it was a tiny airplane. After an hour and a half layover in Houston we were off for the four hour flight to Panama City, Panama.

The in-flight movie was Charlie and the Chocolate factory. If you haven’t seen it good for you, it means you didn’t shell out any money to see it at the box office. If you saw the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory then it would be worth a rental to see the contrast between the two movies. It’s definitely not worth $6.00 a person at the theater.

We landed in Panama City around 6:45 p.m. and hooked up with our missionary friends. We went to eat dinner at a Mongolian BBQ place. Imagine the irony here, a Spanish speaking wait staff cooking and serving Mongolian BBQ, in Panama. It was a really good dinner!

Accompanying me on this trip is our church family pastor, Eric. It is his first time to travel to Panama. Our goal is to lay the ground work for a mission trip that members from Mayfair Baptist Church will be attending in March. That also means checking out hotels! For tonight, and for most of the week, we are staying at the Albrook Inn. It is a hotel that is located on the old US Air Force Base in Panama City. It’s not bad but there is another hotel that I want to check into that is located closer to the area where we will be working.

Tomorrow we are going to the community in which we will be working in March and see both the community and the job tasks first hand. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Today I think God for…
• My family whom I already miss very much.
• Safe travel to Panama City.
• Missionaries who serve here in Panama and across the world.
• My salvation
• My calling to serve Christ and advance the Gospel to all the world.