Panama Mission 2008
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This is a page where you will be able to receive updates, view and copy pictures,
and get general information including links to other websites regarding Panama
Mission 2008.
Here are some cool links to explore:
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Departure - We left Saturday, June 14th at 10:30am PST from Portland, OR for
Dallas-Fortworth, TX. From there we took a flight to Panama City, Panama. The entire
country of Panama is 2 hours ahead of the Pacific Standard time zone, but they don't
go on daylight savings time. So in a sense, we gained 1 hour of "awake" time.
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From Panama City- We left from the airport in Panama City while we it was still
June 14th. while we stayed at our first stop, the YWAM base near Auga Buena, we traveled
in the region to Gamboa, Nuevo Vigia, and "San Juan".
San Juan - If you aren't sure I know where this is, you're not wrong to think I haven't got it right. I'm not sure why I think it, but what is labeled "Nuevo San Juan" on the map is not the traditional [New] San Juan we went to. If you aren't sure, then don't ask me to be a tour guide. I'll just stick to what I do well (teach/ play with the kids, do some work projects, clean up trash, etc.) Seriously, When we toured by canoe up the Peqeni river to the village (you can read about it below), I'm sure we had crossed the Chagres river between Buenos Aires and Nuevo Vigia. So, there you go.
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 This map is from Google.com. I copied it and added the accouterments. If you'd like to check out the source, click here: Maps.Google.San Juan |
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YWAM Base - We arrived at the YWAM base north of Panama City sometime after
midnight. The door at the bottom of the stairs is the entrance to the rooms where we
stayed while at the YWAM base. It may be interesting to note that the water had been
shut off by the district muncipalities prior to our arrival due to unforeseen
circumstances with the water table.
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Sunday Service - After breakfast, Alex, Jennifer, Abigail, Andrew, Dave, and I
went to the church in Gamboa where Alex had grown up. A group of kids from Pennsylvania
who were staying at the base went with us and performed at the service for the local
community.
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Work Projects Week 1 - The first project we undertook was the reconstruction of the
driveway road leading up to the base headquarters. The section shown here was badly
damaged by large trucks carrying heavy loads while contructing some of the rest of
the base. We broke out the existing concrete and made forms set with rebar to do
the job. We finished pouring concrete for this section and filled in other places in the driveway thoughout the week. Dave did most of the work on some cabinets for Alex and Jennifer's home later.
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Overnight trip to Embera Village San Juan - We left Tuesday, June 17th to go
to the village of San Juan by way of a chartered bus which took us as far as Nuevo Vigia.
From there our group loaded 3 dugout canoes to take across the lake and up onto the
Peqeni river.
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The Canal and Panama City - Before leaving on our overnight bus ride to Almirante,
we went out to the canal for a quick peek, and then drove in to Panama City to have
dinner at "Pencas".
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| Bocas del Toro - We traveled overnight by bus to Almirante so that we would be better off budget-wise and safety-wise. We would arrive at at our destination and have plenty of sunlight to travel by boat across to the island village of Bocas del Toro and then on to the island of Bastimentos where our hosts the Kapsar family live and operate the YWAM base there. |
This map is from Google.com. I copied it and added the accouterments. If you'd
like to check out the source, |
| Along with Alex, Jennifer, Abigail, Dave, Andrew and I, we took with us Guerby. Guerby worked closely with us back at the other YWAM base on our concrete projects, and was good company to us on this trip. |
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The township of Bocas
After a long bus ride, and a water taxi ride across the bay, we arrived in Bocas del Toro.
We had breakfast at "The Pirate", and then toured Bocas.
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Isle Bastimentos - We made our way to the YWAM base on Bastimemtos around midday
Sunday June 22nd. Originally from Ohio, our hosts are the Kapsar family.
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Ngobe Village Salt Creek - June 26. Since the weather was good, we decided
that on this day we would take a boat trip around the southern end of Bastimentos
and go to the village of Salt Creek.
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Ngobe Families "Pedro's Village" - As one of the main highlights of the trip, we
hoped to be able to participate in helping this village of 70 people build a
water collection system to use for clean water. Mostly a model for future individual
family units, this community project involved planning, coordinating, seeing what was
involved with the technology, and cooperation among families. |
| Andrew, Dave and I discussed what our main stated reason would be to go on a mission like this and we tended to agree that we would like to reach indigenous peoples with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What preceeds this is having a heart for others that includes organizing teams to go to places such as Panama. Here as a team we can do projects in missions using people ranging in expertise from the relatively inexperienced all the way to the well-experienced missions-person. The main goal is to have a well organized plan that includes a cross-cultural experience on a short-term basis. |