Preserving Culture

We had an indigenous leader come in today to speak to us today about bringing the gospel to the various tribes that we will be visiting over the next few weeks. One of the most important points that he made was the ability for the tribes to keep their culture while still choosing to embrace the Christian faith. Certainly that is one of the biggest mistakes made in Canadian history - stripping Native Americans of their culture and imposing our way upon them.

Helping the Wounaan

The rain and wind storm that blew through yesterday created problems for many of the local tribes. We headed out this morning to help clean up debris for a tribe called the Wounaan. I have this feeling that "lost in translation" will become a common theme (quickly)! We have Spanish translators and through them the village people asked up to help move a rock that was blocking their water supply and it was nearby. Well, "nearby" took about an hour of hiking through the jungle and the "rock" was more of a boulder. We moved it enough to take some of the pressure off of the pipe to allow water to flow again. I am SO tired, but it was wonderful to be able to help them out in such a practical way.

The picture below shows one of the boats that we used to travel in. This is the view from the village, looking towards the 5-star resort across the water. Two entirely different worlds, separated by only a few miles of water.


Picture thanks to Joanna (our group photographer for the day)!

Panama Canal Locks

We've tried to take it easy this weekend, adjusting to the time change and the humidity. It is rainy season (but the real question is, "when is it NOT rainy season?" since rainy season lasts for about 9 months of the year!) so even though the rains came down this afternoon, we headed out to see the Panama Canal Locks. It takes about 10 hours for a ship to get through the Panama Canal and all its locks. We were able to see one set in action. It took about 8 minutes for the water to level out and then the ship could proceed - talk about patience as there are 3 sets of locks (total of 6 steps) that they must go through. Each lock has 2 chambers, doubling the amount of traffic that can flow through it (in the picture, one ship is passing through the lock at the back, while a ship just passed through the front chamber and the lock is closing behind it).

Safe & Sound

I have arrived safe and sound in a VERY HUMID Panama (with all my luggage - yeah!). I will blog more later - just thankful for this descent internet connection AND some air conditioning in the room I'm sleeping in!!

And so the Journey Continues. . .

I will be leaving Kona this afternoon and flying to Honolulu, Denver, and Orlando before finally arriving in Panama City tomorrow evening. We have a number of different flights and routes between all the students (final destinations being Panama City and South Africa). I would appreciate your prayers as I travel (my longest flight time will be about 7 hours from Honolulu to Denver). For those of you back home, Panama is the same time zone, so hopefully connecting will be a little easier. I will be in touch just as soon as I'm able to! See you on the other side of tomorrow!

Trudi, Logan & Ethan

The goodbye's continue. . .I was able to go out for supper (yep, yet again - it's been bag suppers all week long) with my good friend Trudi (also from Canada) and her kids Logan & Ethan. It was just nice to get away and send some quality time together. They will be going to South Africa for outreach, so it will about 2 months before I see them after tomorrow. Pictures (l-r): me, Logan, their friend Hezekiah, Ethan and Trudi.

Outreach Team

The students are divided into 2 main groups for our outreach: Panama and South Africa. One group is heading to South Africa and 4 groups to Panama. My outreach group will also go to Costa Rica for 3 weeks of outreach. It has been insane around here trying to finish up lectures, packing and cleaning. We will be flying out on Thursday and arrive in Panama on Friday. Tonight, our group got together at our leader's house to enjoy BBQ'ed hamburgers. Pictured on the couch (l-r): Alaina, Jo (leader), Joanna, me; standing (l-r): Marilee, Laura, Caleb, Jenn and Gary.

Roommates Farewell

The goodbye's have started and will continue on for a few days. Last night, the girls from room 123 (minus Amanda) went out to eat at Splasher's, a local hamburger place. Great food and even better conversation. From the left: me, Hannah, Brittany (purple), Joanna (red), Tina and Sarah.

Also as a side note, my aunt Reta was rushed into the hospital yesterday. Her intestine had been nicked during her kidney transplant and her body is experiencing some complications. She will be in the hospital for about the next 10 days, so please keep them in your prayers.

Happy Father's Day! (Yesterday)

Don't worry - this is not a "I forgot Father's Day yesterday and so I need to make up for it" blog! It was also Kelsey's birthday, so I'm blogging about Father's Day today. Happy Father's Day to all the dad's in my life - especially my own! What a huge role you have to play in shaping the lives of your kids, especially given our society today! You cannot underestimate the influence you have, really to change the future, by investing in a child's life. I hope that you had a special day, with an extra long nap - it is well deserved!

Kelsey

Today is Kelsey's (my sister-in-law) birthday and I want to wish her an extra special day! I am so thankful for her. We have so many things in common and yet many things different that we're able to learn from each other. So here's a "Happy Birthday" and many more to come!

Tina

I want to introduce you to my roommate and good friend, Tina! We hit it off right from the very start and have continued on in that friendship throughout the past 3 months. We've laughed and cried together, and had a lot of fun along the way. There was a point where she was considering going on the track, but she ended up deciding on completing DTS and then seeing where the journey will take her - "That's a bummer!" (quoting another of my roommates - Amanda) because I would have loved to spend the next 2 years sharing the experience of the track. Her outreach group is also going to Panama, so we still have some more time to laugh and cry together before parting ways.

Mark & Mary

Some of you may know my uncle Mark & aunt Mary (I lived with them during university). I would just ask that you keep them and their kids Micah and Aby in your thoughts and prayers. Mary's mom was diagnosed with a brain tumor about 2 weeks ago. She had surgery earlier this week and there were complications. She passed away early this morning and the funeral will happen late next week. Mary's dad away passed about a year and a half ago from a heart attack, so especially keep her and her family close to your heart.

Love Feast

Tonight was our celebration banquet called the Love Feast. We still have a few more days of lectures, but between that and packing and traveling, it was time to celebrate - we've made it through DTS lecture phase!! Our staff worked extra hard to decorate the room and create an intimate ambiance. Supper was DELICIOUS, including salad (with all those greens that you're sure you're eating weeds), fresh vegetables & fruit (a luxury), a special rice, a noodle dish, AMAZING chicken and steak. I wanted to go back for seconds on the chicken, but it was put away by then, so I decided to go seconds on the dessert (chocolate cake)!

The most fun part of the evening was towards the end. We each had a paper with our name on it and it was passed around the room for others to write a memory, etc from our 3 months here. How in the world did these 3 months fly by SO quickly?!?

Reta is also Doing Well

I forgot to mention it yesterday, but thank you goes out to those of you who prayed for my aunt Reta during her kidney transplant. She is already back at home and doing well. Her sister is also doing well, but must remain for 2 weeks just to be sure that she's o.k.