Yesterday, Friday, we really didn't do a whole lot. In the morning we went and watched the baseball team play their last game against the Panamanian guys at the academy. It was pretty cool to watch. Afterwards there were a few other Panamanian players that showed up to throw a few pitches and show what they had. One of the pitchers' aunt is married to Mariano Rivera. This kid was 16 and was throwing right at 90 which is insane for someone his age. The catcher was also 16 and was catching and throwing the ball down to second in ridiculous time. From the time he caught it to the time it hit the glove at second was consistently under 2 seconds which is fast even for MLB standards. It's the kind of arm some major league guys would want. We might be seeing these two guys on tv before too much longer. After that we had another government thing to do and guess what it was.....painting...again. We painted a lot of classrooms at a school in downtown Panama City. The classrooms were in pretty rough shape and needed some paint but for one I'm tired of painting and we aren't really doing anything to promote Christ or teach people about Christ. We go to a park and a school and paint with no one else around, they just give us a bucket of paint and some rollers/brushes and let us be until we are done. Not really mission work in my opinion. I kinda understand the painting at the children's home a little more because we are supporting and helping the efforts they are doing but we were only there for 2 and a half days. But I kinda knew going in that plans were tentative and that a lot of plans would be made once we got here since it's the first time we've been here but I still want to complain a little because I'm good at complaining. Last night we just watched soccer games all night. USA beat Jamaica, Honduras lost to Costa Rica and Panama tied Mexico. It has been a lot of fun meeting and hanging out with this group though. It's a small group of only 19 and we have been able to get to know each other pretty well. So that has been a lot of fun and we have a lot of fun whatever we are doing.
Friday was the last day of actual work and today started the sightseeing/retreat part of the trip. Today we went to a place where the group could buy souvenirs. It was an outdoor market place where you can haggle on the prices and some of the guys got the people to come off of their prices by quite a bit. After that we went to a wildlife preserve in the rainforest. This place was really neat. They made it quite clear that they were absolutely NOT A ZOO! and that owning animals was absolutely terrible because you take them out of their own environment and that you are basically worse than Satan if you do that. They only take in animals that are illegally caught or bought or animals that have been injured and need rehab. They try to rehab all the animals to the point where they can be released into the wild but not all can re-adapt to the conditions of the wild. They had jaguars and pumas and birds and crocodiles and tapirs and monkeys and other animals all in cages .....and on display for the public...... and you had to pay an entry fee of $5......If that's not a zoo then I don't know what is! After that we went to the mall for dinner and now we are back at the hotel.
3 of the baseball players brought their girlfriends with them this week. While we were at the rainforest one of the guys, Daniel, proposed to Megan so we now have an engaged couple with us. That was pretty cool.
We also heard a pretty good story today. 20 years ago this missionary couple was living in Nigeria. They had been living there for just over a year and everything had been going pretty well. So one morning the missionary guy (We never did get their names so they are just missionary guy and chick) goes out walking to the store. As he was walking down the road he came up on this little kid, estimated at about 17 months old, drinking water out of a mud puddle in the road. The kid was in rough shape with sores on his body and malnourished/dehydrated. So the missionary guy picks him up out of the road and takes him straight to the doctor. The doctor begins to treat him and tells the missionary guy that the kid would not have lasted much longer out on the streets, maybe not even lasting the day. The doctor however was able to treat the kid and get him the nutrition he needed and the medicine he needed to get on a road to recovery. Within a few years he was back good health and full strength. The kid was never reported missing and eventually the missionary guy and chick went to the US Embassy to see what needed to be done with him. A few years down the road this kid was eligible for adoption and was adopted and moved to America at age 11. The awesome part of the story is that the kid ended up going to Freed Hardeman to play baseball. When he heard about this mission trip the baseball team was going to be going on he became interested because of his story, his life was saved by missionaries. Now Mark is in Panama on a mission trip doing what he can to spread the word and love of Christ only because he was on the road at the precise time a fairly new missionary was walking down the road who picked him up and changed his life. Now the really cool part is when you stop and think about what events may have happened that led that missionary guy and chick into the mission field. What led them to have a desire to go to Nigeria? What's their story? What happened in their life to make them want to give their life to spread the gospel abroad? Because when you think back you see that sooo many things had to happen in their lives and their parents lives and their parents parents lives that led those two missionaries to Nigeria and to that spot in the road when a young kid was drinking from a mud puddle. Some people believe in coincidence but I believe in a God who has a plan, a story to tell. A God who has a story that is unfolding each and every day. A God whose story we take part in no matter what our beliefs are or the decisions that we make. We ARE in His story. An author has his hands all over his work, his styles, techniques and ideas are all throughout his work. The plot is his, the characters are his, the random events and curveball endings are all his but unlike the author of any book you read, the Great Author of all things allows us two choices. The ending has been written and the plot has been set but we are given the option of writing our own parts or trusting that the Perfect Author will write us a part for the ages. Who knows what Mark will go on to do. He is a great guy and hopefully will do great things for Christ but 20 years ago a couple of missionaries allowed God to write their story and boy did He write a good one.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Friday, June 7, 2013
I'm gonna pop some tags......
We were sitting at a Panamanian restaurant and all of a sudden the Panamanian music stopped and Thrift Shop starts and now it's stuck in my head.
Sooo, Tuesday the Baseball guys did their thing in the morning and the rest of us went back to the Bible School where we painted the kitchen and their study room. We also had a lot of dirt to move up the hill to the back of one of the buildings so they can eventually pour some concrete for a back porch. The Children's home where we painted the kitchen and study room currently has 26 kids who aren't necessarily without parents. Most of them come from families who just can not provide food for them so the home has taken them in to feed them, give them a safe place to stay, send them to school and teach them english. It really is a great thing they have going. Plus it is on the same property as the preaching school so the kids interact and learn from the men and women at the preaching school. It is definitely a place that I'll miss.
Wednesday we went about 3 hours outside of the city to a place called middle of nowhere Panama. We went to a school and worked with a green energy organization called New Earth Panama. We planted about 25 trees and there was a presentation for the kids which promoted a cleaner earth. They talked about how God created all organic things that can be broken down in nature and how man made things such as plastic bottles and wrappers and etc. can't be broken down. The kids then grouped up with the Americans to plant trees. It was a really cool thing to do. The guy that started New Earth Panama played baseball at Texas A&M and after graduating he played in a few Central American countries. He lived 11 years in the States where he started an organization called Batting for Christ, I think. I can't remember if that's the right name but it's close to that. They would hold baseball camps and give away equipment while sharing the gospel. When he moved to Panama he started New Earth Panama which grows organic fruits and sells them to individuals and restaurants all over Panama. They have recently started a campaign to teach children about the effects of littering and ways to clean up the country. They plant trees and give trees away so that schools and individuals can produce their own food supplies. He said that two weeks ago he knew that this project at this school was upcoming but he had no help. He is the only one working for New Earth Panama and has about 25 volunteers but no one could go to this project. He said he prayed about it and lo and behold he got a call saying a bunch of Americans were going to be in the country and needed something to do. He said it was a lifesaver. He ended up having 2 volunteers of his show up too so it turned out to be a great event. He buys the trees himself and then just gives them to the schools and any trees that they can't plant they give to local people to plant at their houses. It a pretty awesome thing he does. Check out his facebook page, New Earth Panama.
Only got $20 in my pocket....(such a stupid song really)
Today we went back to the Bible school and painted some more at the childrens home and moved more dirt. we had a little bit more of an opportunity to play with the kids and it was a really fun day. Tonight while on our way back from dinner we stopped by the ruins of the old Panama City from the 1400-1600 when the old city was thriving. The guards let us in even though they were closed and it was dark and that place was really neat. The catholic cathedral was huge and hopefully we'll be able to go back Saturday and this time I'll actually take my camera.
My spanish has come back quicker than it ever has. I can almost hold a conversation in spanish but my vocabulary needs a little work. I can understand a lot but I just don't know the words to say back yet. So ordering dinner has been fun because I don't really want the translators to help. Monday night we went to eat at the mall and I went with Hannah, an intern who is fluent in spanish, to this restaurant that looked pretty good. So I ordered chicken (I'll type this all out in english so it makes more sense). The lady asks what kind of chicken and so I say well what kind do you have. She named off 3 types, like fried, baked or spicy and so I pointed to the picture, like any good gringo would do, which was grilled chicken and said that one. She says, "Oh pollo normal" or "Oh normal chicken". So my response was why wasn't that one of the choices? So then she asks for my sides and I say fries and she says well you get one more. I say rice and she says what kind, white or yellow. I answer with white and she says we don't have anymore. So I say well yellow and she says how about double fries and replied ok whatever. The whole time Hannah is just standing there laughing her head off because she thinks it's just as crazy as I do but it's not happening to her so she laughs. So then Tuesday night we go to this steakhouse. The guy asks me what I want and I say I want the steak. All he says is NO and turns and walks off. I'm like what the heck. So like 2 minutes later he comes back and asks what I want and I say chicken and he says, so you don't want steak? He says it in like the questioning tone like I can't believe you don't want it now. So I'm like you just said you don't have steak and he says oh we do now....He must have left for two minutes and gone to kill a cow, i don't know. So then Wednesday night we go back to the mall and I go to the same restaurant as I did Monday because the chicken was good and so were ALL the fries. So I walk up with Jose, another intern/translator and ask to order the Churazzco, another steak (steak is ridiculously cheap like a 10oz steak for $7 with 2 sides). The guy says sorry we don't have steak right now do you want Chicken and I just walked away while Jose laughed his head off. So ordering food has NOT been a good thing for me so far but tonight it went pretty well.
I think tomorrow we are going to watch the Panama team play the Freed team and then we have some government thing at a school. I'm not too happy that we are not going to be going back to the Bible School because that place is awesome. But it is what it is, the only way you can fall in love with a new place is to leave the one you're at and go to a new one. So here's to the next place we go although hopefully I'll be able to make it back to Bible School and Children's home here in Panama someday.
Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.
1 Chronicles 29:11
Sooo, Tuesday the Baseball guys did their thing in the morning and the rest of us went back to the Bible School where we painted the kitchen and their study room. We also had a lot of dirt to move up the hill to the back of one of the buildings so they can eventually pour some concrete for a back porch. The Children's home where we painted the kitchen and study room currently has 26 kids who aren't necessarily without parents. Most of them come from families who just can not provide food for them so the home has taken them in to feed them, give them a safe place to stay, send them to school and teach them english. It really is a great thing they have going. Plus it is on the same property as the preaching school so the kids interact and learn from the men and women at the preaching school. It is definitely a place that I'll miss.
Wednesday we went about 3 hours outside of the city to a place called middle of nowhere Panama. We went to a school and worked with a green energy organization called New Earth Panama. We planted about 25 trees and there was a presentation for the kids which promoted a cleaner earth. They talked about how God created all organic things that can be broken down in nature and how man made things such as plastic bottles and wrappers and etc. can't be broken down. The kids then grouped up with the Americans to plant trees. It was a really cool thing to do. The guy that started New Earth Panama played baseball at Texas A&M and after graduating he played in a few Central American countries. He lived 11 years in the States where he started an organization called Batting for Christ, I think. I can't remember if that's the right name but it's close to that. They would hold baseball camps and give away equipment while sharing the gospel. When he moved to Panama he started New Earth Panama which grows organic fruits and sells them to individuals and restaurants all over Panama. They have recently started a campaign to teach children about the effects of littering and ways to clean up the country. They plant trees and give trees away so that schools and individuals can produce their own food supplies. He said that two weeks ago he knew that this project at this school was upcoming but he had no help. He is the only one working for New Earth Panama and has about 25 volunteers but no one could go to this project. He said he prayed about it and lo and behold he got a call saying a bunch of Americans were going to be in the country and needed something to do. He said it was a lifesaver. He ended up having 2 volunteers of his show up too so it turned out to be a great event. He buys the trees himself and then just gives them to the schools and any trees that they can't plant they give to local people to plant at their houses. It a pretty awesome thing he does. Check out his facebook page, New Earth Panama.
Only got $20 in my pocket....(such a stupid song really)
Today we went back to the Bible school and painted some more at the childrens home and moved more dirt. we had a little bit more of an opportunity to play with the kids and it was a really fun day. Tonight while on our way back from dinner we stopped by the ruins of the old Panama City from the 1400-1600 when the old city was thriving. The guards let us in even though they were closed and it was dark and that place was really neat. The catholic cathedral was huge and hopefully we'll be able to go back Saturday and this time I'll actually take my camera.
My spanish has come back quicker than it ever has. I can almost hold a conversation in spanish but my vocabulary needs a little work. I can understand a lot but I just don't know the words to say back yet. So ordering dinner has been fun because I don't really want the translators to help. Monday night we went to eat at the mall and I went with Hannah, an intern who is fluent in spanish, to this restaurant that looked pretty good. So I ordered chicken (I'll type this all out in english so it makes more sense). The lady asks what kind of chicken and so I say well what kind do you have. She named off 3 types, like fried, baked or spicy and so I pointed to the picture, like any good gringo would do, which was grilled chicken and said that one. She says, "Oh pollo normal" or "Oh normal chicken". So my response was why wasn't that one of the choices? So then she asks for my sides and I say fries and she says well you get one more. I say rice and she says what kind, white or yellow. I answer with white and she says we don't have anymore. So I say well yellow and she says how about double fries and replied ok whatever. The whole time Hannah is just standing there laughing her head off because she thinks it's just as crazy as I do but it's not happening to her so she laughs. So then Tuesday night we go to this steakhouse. The guy asks me what I want and I say I want the steak. All he says is NO and turns and walks off. I'm like what the heck. So like 2 minutes later he comes back and asks what I want and I say chicken and he says, so you don't want steak? He says it in like the questioning tone like I can't believe you don't want it now. So I'm like you just said you don't have steak and he says oh we do now....He must have left for two minutes and gone to kill a cow, i don't know. So then Wednesday night we go back to the mall and I go to the same restaurant as I did Monday because the chicken was good and so were ALL the fries. So I walk up with Jose, another intern/translator and ask to order the Churazzco, another steak (steak is ridiculously cheap like a 10oz steak for $7 with 2 sides). The guy says sorry we don't have steak right now do you want Chicken and I just walked away while Jose laughed his head off. So ordering food has NOT been a good thing for me so far but tonight it went pretty well.
I think tomorrow we are going to watch the Panama team play the Freed team and then we have some government thing at a school. I'm not too happy that we are not going to be going back to the Bible School because that place is awesome. But it is what it is, the only way you can fall in love with a new place is to leave the one you're at and go to a new one. So here's to the next place we go although hopefully I'll be able to make it back to Bible School and Children's home here in Panama someday.
Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.
1 Chronicles 29:11
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Off we go on another adventure!
It’s that time again!
Yesterday a group of 19 of us flew into Panama City, Panama (not
Florida). We’ll be here for 10 days and
then 7 of us head to Costa Rica to meet up with another team but for the next
week and a half we are in the capitol city of Panama. It’s my first time in Panama and just from
the first full day here it looks like there is a little of the best in the
world and a little of the worst. The
city has some awesome skyscrapers. It
resembles Atlanta much more than San Jose or Tegucigalpa. The architecture is incredible like this one
building that twists all the way up.
Hopefully I’ll get a picture of it soon but it is pretty wild. There's a massive island that they are building just off shore, something like Dubai is doing. The casinos seem to be on every street corner but between the tall buildings and huge
apartment complexes, between Donald Trumps tower and the Hard Rock café are the
places that remind you that you are in Central America. The tiny little block and wooden houses, dirt
streets, and the garbage lining those streets are all a reminder of the poverty
that exists even in Panama City.
This week we have a few members of the Freed-Hardeman
baseball team with us. They will be
spending their mornings working out/scrimmaging players from a local baseball
academy. Panama has produced quite a few
good ballplayers over the years. They have this guy whose thrown a few good innings.....ok maybe a lot of great innings for the Yankees, Mariano River. While
the players are playing baseball the rest of us will be working at a local
preaching school and children’s home doing various things and also with some
government officials doing a few projects for them.
Today, we were up at 6:30, ate and left to drop off
the players at 8. Then it was off to the Bible school where we were able to see the place
and a few things we were going to be doing.
We didn’t really do anything there because most of the people in charge
weren’t there but it’s all worked out.
We have 2 people who have been planning this trip for us. Minor Perez has been in contact with the
Bible school and had set up work for us to do there all week. A former baseball player named Roberto from
Panama has been talking to the government officials and told them that we’d be
working with them all week. Minor
currently doesn’t hasn’t renewed his visa to leave the U.S so he wasn’t able to
come. Roberto was playing baseball for a
Panama team and was signed to a play in the minor leagues in the states so he isn’t
here either. So basically we have no idea what
we are doing….at all. So we were at the
Bible school and the government people randomly called (not randomly for them, this was on their schedule but not ours) because they had scheduled us
some things to do which worked out perfectly since we couldn’t do anything at
the Bible school. So we like painted
some benches in a park and some slides, swings and seesaws, you know the kind of stuff you write home about...well really it's all we did that I can write about…. But it was fine, we had fun doing it and a little paint may
have been thrown, not saying I did it but some people may have gotten more
paint on them than they wanted J.
Just in case you haven’t been to Panama I thought I’d tell
you IT’S HOT!!! Choluteca hasn’t got
anything on this place. It’s like mid
August hot plus some and sooo humid. We were watching
this little grasshopper hopping under the bushes and as soon as he hopped out
of the shade BAM! he just exploded. It’s
that hot. Buuut… I’m not complaining,
just trying to paint you a picture that says it's hot and that’s how I like it. It’s much nicer than if it were cold.
The hotel we are staying in is sketchy at best. Go Google Hotel Caribe, Panama City and read the
reviews. You would think if your room
number starts with a 2 then you’re on the second floor, but not here. It’s actually the 4th floor. So when Riley, another intern, and I go
looking for our room we make it to the second floor and are wondering around
until we come to this nearly pitch black hallway with doors hanging off the
hinges all the way to the end of the hall, honestly we couldn’t see the end
because it was so dark. The only way I
know how to describe it is to reference the movie Taken. You know the scene when Liam Neeson breaks
into the place where they are holding the girls hostage and he finds that one
girl who has his daughters jacket….?
Yea, I’m pretty sure the hallway I walked halfway down last night was
the set for that scene except there were doors hanging instead of
curtains. Thankfully only a couple of
floors up the rooms were a lot better but it’s still sketch and I’m pretty sure
we aren’t in a very good part of town.
So thank you Minor, you’re getting blamed for this just fyi, for this
wonderful hotel that you are actually not going to have the pleasure of staying
at. But the best stories aren’t made at
the Hilton, they’re made at Hotel Caribe and we all love to be in a good
story…if we survive haha.
The wifi here is kind of spotty but I'll keep you up to date with what we are doing as best I can. Patience IS a virtue and it will be tested by this wifi.
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