A little Kuna village called Icandi...Part 1 of 2

Incredible, touching, impacting, and eye-opening are a few words I would use to describe the adventure we embarked on from Sun, Feb 22 - Wed, Feb 25.
Our team got to go on what’s called a Missions Experience, where we live and serve a remote community in Panama for a few days. For this trip, we got to go to a remote Kuna Indian Village, called Icandi, along with Todd & Marielena Tillinghast and three local missionaries to the area, Pastors Lino, Artemio and Lazaro (they've been ministering in the village for a while and their relationships with the people allowed us permission to come to the community).

Our trip started out with a 2.5 hour bus ride from Panama City, to a small town called Bayano, situated beside a large brackish lake. We unloaded all our stuff and waited to load our boat, as the village was another 45 minutes by boat across the lake. The boat wasn’t what I expected at all, as it was a dugout canoe with a small motor on the back. It definitely served its purpose well and we set out on the water.

View of the Icandi Kuna Village from the lake

As we approached where our village was, little people began appearing from what seemed like nowhere, and ran down the hill to meet us. As we unloaded our bags, many of the Kuna people (kids included!) whisked them away, carrying them to our then unknown accommodation. We ended up staying in a large hut, owned by a Kuna lady by the name of Flor, who is the woman leader of the village. She graciously opened up space for us, while some of her family moved into the kitchen for our stay. The men of the village helped us set up our hammocks and mosquito nets, Steve and Lindsey went off to cook dinner in the new kitchen consisting of a open fire pit, and many Kuna 'supervisors', wondering what in the world they were cooking.

Each day began bright and early at about 5:30. On Monday and Tuesday, we got to help with a Woman's Bible Study, and also met and served families in tangible ways.
Each time Pastors Lino and Artemio visit the village, they had been hosting Bible Studies for the women, as during the day, the men are off hunting or fishing. This visit, they were able to arrange the meetings again and so we got to help out with it. Over the two days, Marielena, Lindsey Raquel and I got to share our testimonies with them, and then pastor Artemio shared a Bible message.

Marielena sharing her testimony at the Women's Bible Study

It was incredible to see how many kids there were in the village! They were pretty much constantly around us, clinging to us and clearly vying for love and attention most of them didn’t receive from their parents. During the women’s Bible Studies, we got to sing some songs with the kids, play games and teach them a Bible Story. It was touching to hear them often singing “Jesus, yo te amo...” (Jesus I love you...) long into the night after each day.

Playing games with the kids

Raquel and I with some of our new "ANAI" (friends): Griseliana, Cecilia, Anaeliana, and Pinelia

Circulation...

Sometimes there are just too many things circulating in my head to blog about just one thing. This is the case today. I planned on posting something new today, but when I sat down to write, no one event or topic really jumped out at me. So, here are a few things to read about:

1. Last Saturday, we had the 2nd annual Vida Estudiantil Valentines Day party (or Dia del Amor y Amistad, Day of Love & Friendship as its called here). We played some games, ate some great food and heard a talk from Oliver and Zulma. Oliver works on the UTP campus here, and he and Zulma have been dating for almost a year now. Since our group was primarily composed of singles, they got to share with us how God can really use this state of singleness to work in us, draw us closer to Himself, and prepare us for the future. They also shared on relationships in general, whether romantic or not, and how to construct successful ones.

2. I've been learning a lot about Peace lately. A couple of meaningful verses have been:
Col 3:15 - 'Let the PEACE of Christ rule in your hearts...and be thankful.'
Phil 4:6-7 - 'Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the PEACE of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.'
Isa 26:3-4 - 'You will keep in perfect PEACE those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord is the Rock eternal.'
Rom 8:6b - '...but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and PEACE.'
I noticed some correlations here, namely between peace and thankfulness, and how peace is in our hearts and minds. Its a conscious choice to be thankful, and we have to both think on peace and believe it in our hearts. I think what gives me the most peace is fully trusting in the Lord, that no matter what is going on, He has good plans for me, loves me and is in control. Especially as I look forward to next year after STINT, and have no clear idea what that may look like. At times it looks daunting, but I can be at peace with it, as He is so trustworthy with my life.

3. This Sunday, after church, our STINT team is heading out on a Missions Trip to the Darien Jungle. We will be working in a Kuna Indian Village there. This will for sure be an incredible experience, as we'll be sleeping in hammocks with mosquito nets, aren't allowed to bring many of our daily toiletry necessities (only a tooth brush, towel, and bar of soap...nothing else!) and will be doing some acts of service ministry for the people. If you could pray for safety and that God would move powerfully in this village, that'd be awesome!!! More updates will come....

Above: Playing a game at the Valentines day party

Below: Oliver and Zulma sharing some relationship wisdom with us

A simple surprise...

I received this link in my inbox on Friday:
http://ccci.org/locations/americas/panama/panama-to-dominican-republic.aspx

Its talking about the trip we took to the Dominican Republic in November. Its a cool little surprise & encouragement that we made the national Campus Crusade for Christ news!! GO PANAMA!

25 random things...PANAMA edition

In the past week, Facebook notes have lately been dominated by “25 Random Things About Me” tags. I already posted a note on random things about myself, and thought it would be fun to do a random list of things from Panama and my life here. Here we go...

1. The public transportation here is old school buses, called "Diablo Rojo's" (Red Devils). I have a whole new perspective on crowded transportation after taking the bus at rush hour some days.
2. On the topic of buses, sometimes there are people who board the bus to sell various items. Everything they sell is $0.25 (or 'veinticinco centavos,'). Everyone on the bus knows this too, but after each item, they still say the price. For example, "mint gum, $0.25; scissors, $0.25; pens, $0.25; nail clippers, $0.25; mirror, $0.25...". They don’t ever get tired of saying 'veinticinco centavos.' I laugh in my head at them sometimes.
3. Salsa and Merengue music is pretty stellar.
4. Movies are $3.25 or $4. SWEEEET! But, they are a couple months behind Canada showings...
5. Going to the Rey, the grocery store here is always an adventure. Sometimes they just don’t have items they had yesterday. One time, Raquel went to buy milk. They didnt have any, and then when she tried again in 2 days, and they still didnt have any. Items also switch places, so it can be a hunt trying to find what you want. Its kinda fun.
6. The houses around our apartment have a lot of dogs. Once one dog starts barking, the rest follow. We call this our “dog choir.”
7. One typical food here is Ceviche. It is raw fish with lemon juice and spices. It is amazing.
8. For some reason, chips, pop and ice cream are at 99% of events. Pop is a BIG thing here.
9. Watch out for random holes in sidewalks or uneven pavement on the roads!
10. Traffic baffles me here. Some days it flows really good and other days it takes forever to go to the same place.
11. Last week, the ‘Viejitos,” (the old people) protested and shut down one of the major roads just outside the University, called Transistmica. Protests are common.
12. January till March is dry season. And the grass actually gets brown!
13. I’m quite accustomed to wearing jeans during the day.
14. If any food is left out, these little tiny, almost microscopic ants get into it. There are swarms of them. I will NOT miss them when I get back to Canada.
15. We attend a church called “La Comunidad,” which has about 45 people attending.
16. We work on 3 campuses: Universidad de Panama, Universidad Tecnologica de Panama and Interamericana.
17. Taxi drivers can choose whether or not they want to take you somewhere, based on their moods, traffic, the place you’re going and time of day. There’s no real rhyme or reason though.
18. My favourite taxi ride was when we got to act out a soap opera with our driver. He used to be an actor and so loved improvising. We got to learn about his family and also share the Gospel with him, which was so cool!
19. McCafe, a small coffee shop in McDonalds is the closest thing we have to Starbucks.
20. I am a band groupie. Our team along with Laura, Andrea, Gabriela, and Josue are all fans of our friend’s Christian band, “Jose Andres y La Banda.”
21. Food in the cafeteria in school usually consists of rice, chicken or beef, and pasta. For dessert there is flan or rice pudding. To drink, there is juice we call “chicha.” It is a special treat if there are vegetables or salad there.
22. Sometimes during the day, there are guys with push carts walking through the neighbourhood streets selling things. They scream out, “EMPANADAS DE POLLO!” or “EMPANADAS DE CARNE!” Derek does the greatest impression of them.
23. There are many, many stray cats by the guys apartment.
24. A lot of the houses here have metal gates, barred windows and doors.
25. Panamanian greeting: girls and girls, as well as girls and guys greet with a kiss on the cheek and maybe a hug (depending on how well you know the person). Guys and guys greet with a handshake. I’m going to miss this when I go back to Canada!!!

a testimony today

Today is Sunday, and Sundays mean going to La Comunidad, our church here in Panama!!!
I really enjoy the services, as they have a good mix of meet and greet, testimony time, awesome praise and worship, prayer and a solid message.
During testimony time, anyone from the congregation can go up and share something that happened in their week, related to God's work in their lives or the lives of others. Today, Mari (wife of Leonzo, the National Director of Campus Crusade for Christ here in Panama) shared with us a really cool story. She told how she was on her way to a meeting, and was reading over her notes on the bus. A lady who was sitting next to her saw her notes, and began to ask her about them. They began to talk, and Mari was able to share the Gospel with her....and, the lady prayed to receive Christ!!! COOL. And, just as Mari was sharing this story with us, the lady who accepted the Lord, walked into the church service!
After Mari finished her story, the worship team began another set. As I stood up, I glanced over and saw the woman, still seated, with tears rolling down her cheeks. I dont know exactly why she was crying, but I'm pretty sure it was a special God moment in her life.