Day 5 Monday

Today was our sightseeing day and WOW, what sights we did see! We took small boats out of Portobelo, a small town on the Caribbean that was a Spanish colonial port city and is straight out of "Pirates of the Caribbean". Lot's of history, including being sacked by Captain Henry Morgan and Francis Drake, because it was used as the main port in taking silver out of Central America. There are a couple of old forts there complete with canons. The boat ride took us out to Playa Francesa (French beach) on the outer coast. It was one beautiful place complete with mountains, rainforest, clear water-and we had the entire beach to ourselves to explore. We enjoyed snorkeling and beach combing. We also were blessed to finally see a sloth sleeping in a tree right near the beach. Incredible! Later, we went into downtown Panama City for shopping and dinner in the French Quarter of the city. We dined outside near a famous square. What a beautiful evening and awesome way to conclude our last night in Panama. Home tomorrow. Pray for safe travels.

Day 4 Sunday

We spent a good chunk of our day at church in Arreijan. We participated in their worship service and had a great time experiencing church in Panama. What faith these people have and they love to praise the Lord. A group from our team sang the Hillsong worship song "Oceans" with hand bells. Very beautiful. We also heard from Grace and Michael who shared their testimonies. What a blessing as the pastor prayed over us and thanked us for our ministry and work. They also had prepared lunch for us and wanted to serve us.

Panama Canal literally across the street from skate park!

Later in the afternoon, we went back to the skate park to clean and paint all of the ramps. The team did great as always. So proud of our team and their awesome attitudes. We are looking forward to snorkeling tomorrow in the Caribbean.

Day 3 Saturday

Wow! Another awesome day in Panama packed with tons of ministry opportunities. You would be so proud of our NCA students. We began the day going back to Arreijan (yes, i had spelling wrong yesterday) to do a kids program and a little more work. Today the students did skits, puppets, testimonies, games, AND crafts. What a packed morning. There were about 45 children and about 10 adults from the community. After that our students served them lunch that our ladies had made. What a beautiful sight to see our team serving lunch to all of these little kids. Some of the guys finished mixing and pouring concrete for some stairs at the community center. Later we came back to Paraiso, to the skate park. to help with the skate competition that Ride Nature was hosting. Our team cooked hot dogs, and handed out chips and drinks to the people at the event. There was a huge turnout. Probably around 40 young people from around Panama City showed up along with many people to watch. Later, Lio and Molly shared their testimonies with the crowd and the Gospel was also presented. It was a really cool night. God is so good. We are tired but feel really blessed to be apart of what God is doing here. Tomorrow we load up in the morning to do more skits and testimonies for church. Keep us in your prayers.

Day 2 Friday

Today was an awesome start to our Panama mission! We went this morning to the church/community center in Ariijan to work and spend time with the kids of the community. Our team worked hard mixing and pouring concrete for the floor of their community kitchen where they will prepare food for those in need in the community. We also painted and did a number of other jobs around the community center. The team did great. They worked hard and spent a lot of time getting to know the kids and playing games together. Tonight after dinner (fresh octopus!), we are going down to the Ride Nature Skate Park. God blessed us with a wonderful day. Thank you for your prayers!

We Made It!

We have arrived safely in Panama. Our travel day was smooth and without any trouble. We just had a great traditional dinner and are settling into out lodgings at Casa Paraiso. Everyone is excited to begin our work tomorrow. Thanks for all of your prayers!