Short Term Mission Team!

Calvary Chapel Santa Fe Springs (our beloved home church) sent the first official short term mission team to Panama this past week! It was such an enormous blessing in many ways, but definitely for me personally. I sooooo enjoyed spending time with the girls and was so blessed by the fellowship and fun! They're on a plane headed home right now, and in the days to come I will be sure to post more photos on the Calvary Panama Website. For now, you can check out a summary of the trip and photo of the whole team HERE.

Christmas in Panama

Pastor Bert & Vero are headed to the states tomorrow to spend Christmas with their family. Eric will be taking over the Saturday, Sunday, and Wednesday teachings and a few faithful people will be helping pick up the slack in the Children's Ministry. We will be spending Christmas Eve with a family from church, and we are very excited about it! Christmas Day we plan to spend together, just the three of us. After Christmas we have several exciting things happening! My mom is coming to stay for three whole weeks! And a team from Calvary Chapel Santa Fe Springs will be here in January for 9 busy days! Please pray for us as we continue to minister here even without Bert & Vero. We'll be sure to keep you updated!

improvising...

Although Christmas decorations came out in the stores in about August, there are very few harvest decorations in this country! So when it was time to decorate the church for Thanksgiving, my pickins' were slim. But I found these very bright, orange ornaments at one of my favorite stores in the mall, and bought a bunch. An hour before dinner on Thanksgiving, I still had no idea what to do with the ornaments, until one lovely lady suggested this: And I think it turned out quite lovely.

My First Thanksgiving in Panama!

We decided to bring America to Panama this year, and cook a traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings. We had two large turkeys, and a variety of other dishes... there was lots of food! And it was a good thing... as we had more than 60 (SIXTY!) people come to the church on a rainy Thursday evening to share in this holiday with us. Pastor Bert first shared the history of Thanksgiving and it's significance to us as Americans. Then we ate. And ate. And ate. (It was just like back home! :)

I'll admit, that the 5 minute video call to my family back home in the middle of the evening was probably not the best idea. I had to take a 20 minute "break" in the other room to have a good cry before I pulled myself together and enjoyed the rest of the night. But it was a blessing to share my traditions (and food) with our new family here... even if not a single person liked the candied yams.

Soooooo I made it through my first big holiday without my family or familiar traditions. It was hard. But God is bigger, much bigger, than a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. So now I just have to make it through Christmas!

Some Updates...

1. Anna Grace seems to be on the mend. After nearly a week of smashed bananas, rice cereal, yogurt, and water she seems to be coming around. We are going to give her regular food today, and hope she keeps it down! So thank you for your prayers, we are so blessed.

2. Eric and I have still not been able to apply for our missionary visas. It's complicated, and I don't want to get into all of it here, but please, if you think about it, please just pray that the Lord would open the doors and speed this horrendously long process up!

3. We are having our first church baptism on Sunday, and we are all very excited! Pastor Bert taught on baptism last Sunday, and those being baptized are truly joyful... so neat!

4. We decided to share our Thanksgiving traditions with the church this year. They do have a "Day of Thanks" here in Panama, but not with cranberries and mashed potatoes! So next week Eric will take me into the city to the big American grocery store (normally we can't afford the nice, imported food... like $4 for a box of rice-a-roni!!!!) But I'm going to splurge and get some traditional American food to share. Vero and I will each bake a Turkey (I haven't told anyone that I don't know how... MOM I WILL BE CALLING YOU VERY SOON.)

5. We continue to love this country (and this town especially) more and more. I find it so amazing that God has done such a work in my heart in particular. This truly feels like home, and I have no desire to be in the U.S. (Although I'd kill for a Starbucks Frappaccino!) Eric and I are eager to have our visas so we can truly feel settled here... maybe even find a house of our own and really dig in for the long haul. How exciting!

6. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. You are each an important part of what we do here, and we are incredibly blessed by your love and friendship. We miss our CCSFS family, but have you guys very close to our hearts!

BBQ- Panamanian style!

After church today, we went over to Rosalva's house for a BBQ! We joined Rosalva's family, Tony's family, and Bert & Vero for an afternoon of fellowship, great food, and beautiful weather. Anna loved running around the yard playing with the kids, and Eric joined in the impromtu soccer game (excuse me... futbol). It was such a blessing to spend the afternoon with friends... and I am so thankful that the Lord has allowed us to get to know these neat families!

not like home...

Eric, Anna & I drove out to the school in Los Mortales a few days ago to take photos of all the kids for a Christmas child sponser event we are going to start this year. I decided to take some photos of the classrooms as well, and as a teacher I was really saddened by the state of the classrooms. Dirty cement floors and walls, rickety desks, and an obvious lack of supplies.

2nd & 3rd grade

Kindergarden & 1st Grade

Tony's Family

Several months ago, Tony, his wife, & their four kids began attending church on Sundays. We have all enjoyed getting to know this precious family, and Eric and I have really enjoyed having the kids over to play with Anna and just relax. Saturday night we decided to have just the two older kids over to watch movies, eat pizza, & sleep over. But first the whole family stopped by for a visit!

kiddos in los mortales

just had to share!

Six Months In Panama...

Eric and I just want to thank all of you who support us in prayer and with financial support. The Lord is doing an amazing work in Panama, and you are all a very important part of it!

Muchas Gracias!

Come see us! (And there's also this Panama Canal thing that's pretty cool...)

Normally, roundtrip airfare from LAX to Panama City (PTY) costs anywhere from $650 on a really good day to $950+ on a bad day. But last night, I was searching flights for my mom on http://www.expedia.com/ and Copa is selling roundtrip, direct flights from LAX to PTY for only $419!!!! This is unheard of!!! I purchased two tickets for my mother to come in January and again in May. So... email me if you are thinking of coming down and take advantage of this huge sale.

No Te Rindas- Rehabilitation Center

These guys are here to find freedom from addiction. They live on a large piece of property next to a river... and sometimes they go days without food. No Te Rindas, or "Don't Give Up", is a rehab center in Potrero Grande. Financing for this rehab is extremely limited, and these guys live very humbly. Pastor Aguirre ministers to them as often as he can... and now Bert and Eric go every Thursday to lead them in a Bible Study called "One Step to Freedom". Veronica has decided to make a large meal for them every week- and her food is a tremendous blessing to the people in the rehab. Please pray for these men who are here voluntarily to get help and grow with Jesus.

Kitchen/lounging area

The men of No Te Rindas- Pastor Aguirre & his wife are in the front

The bathroom

Sleeping area

Update- Los Mortales

We have been going back to Los Mortales for a weekly Bible Study since our big outreach last month. This past Saturday we had a large group of adults and kids turn out for the teaching! Praise the Lord!!! It is so exciting to see people come to hear God's Word and be blessed! Please keep Los Mortales in your prayers!

The Outreach

The outreach in Los Mortales yesterday was AWESOME!!! When we rolled into the field where the outreach would take place, the kids began making their way to us! By the time the outreach started at 3pm, there were nearly 200 people there!!! Lots of adults and tons of kiddos! The day was fairly organized... about as organized as it could be. Carmen and Rafael took the kids and began doing songs and games. Eric led small groups in sack races. Vero organized the food... prepared hotdogs and juice. I painted the kids faces and Pastor Bert gave a message to the adults. After the message and the crazy pinata fiasco, we served everyone hotdogs and juice. It was a terrific day, and we made many new friends and were extremely welcomed in the sweet little community. We feel strongly that the Lord is leading us to serve in this village... and I personally can't wait to go back next Sunday!!!

We were blessed to use this awesome shelter with permission from the owner!

Eric leads one group of kids in "Padre Abraham"... (he's the one in the middle wearing the green shirt in case you couldn't tell)

Pastor Bert shares the good news of salvation through our Savior Christ Jesus!
What a sweet face...
Anna was a total hit... the kids couldn't get over her blue eyes! And she loved every minute of the attention!

The pinatas were a great success! Even the adults dove for candy :) Boys will be boys...
We also had balloon animals (and hats) made by a new friend of ours- an American who lives in our neighborhood! She and her husband joined us for the outreach and were a real blessing!
Look at that face!

Preparations...

Tomorrow we will put on our first official outreach! After church, we will be loading up a truck with food and games and heading to Los Mortales. We will serve hotdogs and juice, and Eric has planned several games for the kids including a sack race, egg relay and "telephone". Carmen purchased and filled 3 pinatas and I will make balloon animals (I can make a giraffe, a weaner dog, and a sword... and that's about it!) Pastor Bertin will give a message and invite the people to come study the Bible with us every Sunday at 4pm in their village. The people in the town told us to expect about 200 kids to show up for the festivities! Please pray for God's blessing and guidance as we reach out to the people of this beautiful but impoverished community.

highlights

My parent's left last night after a whirlwind 10 day trip! We tried to squeeze in as much as possible... including a 3 night stay at the beach!

Here's my dad making friends at the meat market!

On the way home from a day at the river, the bus stoped at some roadside stands for fresh coconut!

A few days of R & R at Las Sirenas Cabanas! This place is PARADISE!

Eating dinner at a little restaurant just down the beach from our cabana.

Grammy & Poppy's last night in Panama...

Los Mortales

Today Eric, Rafael & Carmen took a truck-wagonmobile to a small village called Los Mortales. They spent the morning sharing with the people and blessing three families with large boxes of food and toiletries. The next scheduled trip is April 6th. We are all very excited about the ministry opportunities in this small town, which has no church at all.