Last night was a fiesta to celebrate the end of outreach and graduation from classes...how crazy that five months are over! We got dressed up, which was fun after no makeup, dresses, or wearing my hair down since June :) Our leaders brought us to a really nice Peruvian restaurant and then afterwards to the base for dessert and graduation. Here are some pics:

Lucy and me

enjoying our cake

I got the award for "Most likely to have a hospital ministry"...haha....

Some of the girls

The students and staff

It's been an incredible experience that I'll remember forever. I'm not sure of my steps from here on, but right now I'm just looking forward to returning back home to hug my family and friends!! I'll be back tomorrow :)

Our days of living in the jungle are over…we’re back at the San Jose base and packing up our bug nets and sleeping bags for good. It’s been an eventful outreach and the last two weeks continued in the same pattern. (No more injuries though, don’t worry.)

We had planned to go to Nicaragua, but things changed at the last minute and we ended up going to Talamanca-the same location of our NIKO camp. Our first week was spent in Margarita at a small church.

The pastor let us take over for four different church services while we were there, had some physical work for us, and in addition, we did a couple different programs at a school nearby. The services went well and we had a variety of messages, dramas, and activities for them- in fact, I even preached one night!

Some of the students

One of our programs

A tarantula we found while cleaning around the school

Another special find while cleaning

One of the nights was really memorable for me…we were praying for individuals during worship and I saw a woman by herself that I wanted to pray for. So I stood by her side with my hand on her shoulder and began to pray for her family, her relationship with God, and other general yet important prayers that I would pray for anyone who I don’t know. But as I was praying, I began to feel something different in my heart for this woman. It felt like God was showing me how incredible she was, how precious and unique she was, how deeply God loved her. And how she doubted all of this and felt alone often. I actually got goosebumps while praying for her, because of how strongly God was putting these things in my heart. At this point, I turned around to find a translator, and one was right behind me. With his help, I told the woman all these things that I had just been praying for her, and she began to cry. She listened as I told her how valuable she is to God, and that He’s always with her, and she just continued to weep and nod her head. After I was finished telling her, she didn’t say a word but just embraced me tightly and began to cry even harder. We stood there for a few minutes, just hugging and crying and praying together. God was doing something in her heart at that moment, I have no doubt…and I felt so blessed to be able to share that with her. It’s incredible what God can do, even between two people who have never met, and who don’t even speak each others’ languages. I’m tucking that special memory away in my heart forever.

After our week in Margarita, we went to the NIKO base for one night. The next morning we led the church service there and then packed up for our next destination: Sibodi. From Bambu we took a 30 minute bus trip, a 30 minute canoe ride, and then another 30 minute us trip to a school where we stayed for three nights. This village had no electricity, showers, and very inconsistent running water…a common theme in our outreach :) Oh- and an abundance of scorpions, 3 inch crickets lined up in front of the toilets, spiders, and bats.

The gigantic crickets

Our main job here was to mix and pour concrete for a foundation of a house, cook lunch for about 50 students each day and work on some other miscellaneous projects around the school.

Working on the cement

We returned back to the NIKO base for two nights and some more physical work/projects. I think Talamanca was the most beautiful place we went during the five months.

The YWAM base

So now we’re helping out at a big YWAM conference until Friday and our graduation ceremony is on Saturday. It’s coming to an end very quickly…

One more photo....

My first attempt at putting my hair up with the cast...it's especially stylish, yeah?

Yesterday afternoon we arrived back to San Jose, Costa Rica after a 16 hour trip including three hours at the border. It feels nice to be back in a familiar place where there are familiar faces to catch up with. Panama was awesome though, and the month really flew by.

The last week was all ministry within the city, with the exception of one day where we went to another tribe. City ministry days usually meant traveling into the busy parks, streets, and sidewalks and performing dramas, giving testimonies, etc. A lot of passer-bys stopped to watch and listen, and after each program we would talk with anyone who wanted to hang around. Sometimes we did up to three or four programs a day, with four dramas per program and explanations of dramas/ testimonies after each one. Each day was jam packed, for sure.

One day we went into a slum/ghetto to meet up with a children’s ministry. They are a really small Christian organization that has a place for kids to come and hang out if they don’t attend school and their parents aren’t with them during the day. They provide meals, education, games, music, and love and attention for each child. It’s a really great place, and I’m glad we got to spend a day there. We put on a program in the morning and afternoon and then just played with the kids in between. Our kids programs usually include dramas, songs, games, and small teachings.

Another day we went to a neighborhood close to the base and invited the community to their soccer court for a program. We had intended to do a presentation for adults, but found ourselves with an audience of young kids…so we changed our plans and had a great time with the children instead. (Games, dramas, playing soccer) Change during outreach happens often but it’s kinda fun- a very effective way to build flexibility and creativity.

The day with the tribe was awesome as well…it was the same Embera tribe as before, but a different village closer to the city. We put on a presentation for them and then had a time of learning about their culture, getting a tour of the village, and buying artisans.

There are a ton of specific stories, incredible moments, and awesome people that wouldn’t be possible to write out in a short time…especially one handed. But I will share a little more of the month with you in another way (photos) and I can’t wait to catch up in detail when I come home. So here are some (of many) pictures from the time we spent in Panama:

the San Juan river

The Embera Tribe

Some of the homes

this was about 7ft long head to tail

Jovonka

Me and Jovonka

the girls' hut

dinner!

some of the guys bathing

the artisans

Sifting sand

Working on the roof

kids program

Oajaca (2nd village)

the girls' room (behind me)

Hiking through Oajaca

Our shower/bathroom

performing a drama at the school

the students

pretending it really hurt

that doesn't look right....

my bright pink cast

speaking at the Oajaca church

look how many things we can put in the cast

Performing dramas in Panama city

the slum we visited

singing songs with the kids

precious....

a few of the kids

praying after the teaching

me and Mitza

The ride to the village

other tribe village

performing dramas at a church in Panama city

the city

For the past eleven days our team has been in Oajaca, a very remote village up in the mountains/jungle of Panama. Once again, we had an amazing time and did lots of ministry and work on projects in the community. We were able to plan and lead two church services, do a ministry time at the school, put on activities a few of the afternoons, perform lots of dramas, pray for a lot of the community, and just spend time with everyone who lives there. It was much different from the tribe in the sense of accesibility between homes...the distance between many of the huts was at least a 20 minute hike, so we spent more time traveling on foot. We stayed at the pastora´s house and she helped us plan our time, cook, etc. Much like the tribe, Oajaca does not have electricity, stores, or anything most of us are used to-and so it was another great experience to live very simply and resourcefully. I´m learning so much, even just in that aspect. We are all pros now- at starting fires and cooking over them, bathing in the river or with a bucket, sleeping on cement/mud floors, finding fruit in the jungle, etc....and I´ve gotten a lot braver with insects, especially cockroaches :)

One unexpected event occurred about halfway through the time in Oajaca...I broke my arm. I was coming down a muddy hill and slipped, catching all my weight on my left arm behind me. I managed to get a compound fracture of my radius and ulna :( It was an interesting experience, hiking to the road and making our way to the nearest hospital...but all is ok now- I had surgery, got some pins put in, and have a cast on for the next 6 weeks.

We are doing ministry here in Panama City for the next week...not sure what exactly, but I have no doubt it will be incredible. I can´t believe we´ve been here for a month almost!

Yesterday we got back to the Panama base from our week with the Embera tribe. The experience was incredible, and will be hard to describe in such a short blog...but here´s the basics of how it went: We drove about an hour to the docks and took a 2 hour canoe ride upriver to where the tribe lives. The river was low at many parts and so we all had to jump out and push the canoe--which was somewhat difficult going upstream with such a heavy canoe against a strong current. When we arrived at the village, we were all speechless at what was before our eyes. The Embera live in thatch huts raised off the ground about 8 feet. They bathe, wash dishes, and drink from the river. The women go topless and everyone goes barefoot. It was like seeing something on the Discovery channel...except that this was where we were going to live for a week.

There are probably 15 huts in the lower village where we were. All the families are really sweet and inviting people, and the kids are crazy. After we made friends with them all the first day, they clung on to us for the rest of the week. We did a lot of children´s ministry during a couple of the days and whenever there was a free moment. Physical work took up a lot of our time during the week-the community had several projects for us to work on. We worked on building a roof for one of the new huts, collected stones to make cement, sifting and cleaning sand from the river for a water filtration system they´re building, making a staircase from the riverbank up to the front of the village, and doing a lot of small projects as well. We also did hut-to-hut ministry times, where we would just visit the families and ask for their prayer needs and talk with them. One of the days we did something a little different: we gathered the adults and had a little activity for them. Our DTS team divided into groups of 2 or 3 and each had a topic that is fundamental to the Christian faith. (Sin and free will, love and grace, the bible, the cross, unity and the church, etc. ) We shared a short summary of what each topic was about and then invited them to come to whatever group/topic they had questions for. We told them it was an opportunity to ask us about any questions, express doubts, or just learn more about something. It was really great because the Embera have had numerous missionaries visit and so they´ve heard about the Christian faith and its basics...but this was an opportunity for them to go a little deeper. The ministry time went really well, and each of our groups got to talk with the community about their topic.

We did physical work and ministry every day and by the end of the 7 days we were pretty worn out...but it was such an incredible time for us all. It was hard to say goodbye as we pulled away in the canoe yesterday with the families gathered at the rivers edge waving us off. I would love to go back someday :)

Panama!

Yesterday we arrived in Panama around 3 am. After a day of rest and orientation at the YWAM base here, we found out part of our schedule for the next month. Tomorrow we will take a 1 hour drive and then 1 hour canoe ride up a river to San Juan, where one of the indigenous tribes is located. We will be with them for 8 days and be doing a variety of ministry with the adults and kids.

This morning we had our first official ministry of our outreach-we went to a local neighborhood and went door to door, inviting people to come watch a short presentation. We met back up in a field and had probably 20 kids and a few adults come along. The presentation was really simple, we just introduced ourselves and had a couple activities. We performed two different dramas, which the kids loved, and then taught a few children´s songs. It was great to see the kids laughing and singing along with us. Most of the kids were 5-8 years old, and on their way to school so they were all dressed in uniforms with little backpacks. So cute. I got some pictures but since I didn´t bring my laptop I think I´ll have to wait on posting pictures until the end of the month at least.

Until tomorrow morning we are staying with the YWAM base here. There is another DTS going on right now, and they leave for Argentina in a couple weeks for outreach. It´s neat to meet more people experiencing the same sort of things we are...and they have a very wide range of cultures, even more so than us: a few from the states, Panama, Haiti, Netherlands, and some from the indigenous tribes here. They prayed for us this morning and it was so cool- I think I counted 6 different languages praying over us. Wow.