Panama Mission Trip 2022

Panama, wow. I can really say this has been an adventure.

We started our morning with Bible reading like we do every morning at The Fellowship program. We gathered together under a pavilion since it was still raining. We are reading through the books of Acts during this trip. We are in chapter 8 now. It’s been a little slower reading because of David’s team joining us so we are translating everything we ready and speak. The book of Acts is exciting to read right now because we are doing something very similar to the acts of the apostles, mostly the sharing of the Gospel. No miracles yet!

After reading we had eggs and sausage with some fry bread for breakfast. For me personally, it was comfort food because it reminded me of the reservation in Washington state where I grew up.

As you know from Alexis’ note, the constant rain has changed some of our plans. The changed plans were to stay in the current village and go door to door sharing the Gospel. So Dali and I along with Daniel (pastor of the community), Mateo (local missionary and disciple), and translators Coral and Natividad, set out to meet the people. We were able to reach two houses where Dali and I were able to share a little about ourselves, the Fellowship program, our testimonies and most importantly Jesus. There were no visible signs of acceptance of our message but there were visible signs of seeds planted. We hope and pray one day the people we met may come to understand fully what it means to have Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

After lunch and a short break in the rain, we received good news that roads were clear enough to make it to a trail that led to the next village where we were originally scheduled to visit. So we packed up and loaded the truck.

I had the incredible privilege to sit in the back of the truck with my buddy and mentor Keith! And there was no rain! The two of us held onto the rails on the side of the truck and road through some amazingly beautiful scenery. I can’t wait to get back and show everyone pictures and even footage from my GoPro.

Once again we left the paved roadway to a dirt road which eventually met the river. That’s where David Vega dropped us off and left to retrieve the others. I was surprised by how high the river flowed. A few days back the river was low but the rains had changed things.

We crossed the river once everyone got to our spot. It was about thigh high which wasn’t too bad.  I let my Nike’s get soaked and saved my boots to wear once we got to the village. The hike was about an hour through the jungle in about ankle high much. It was as slippery as you would think it would be. I almost lost my shoes a few times! We had to cross the river two more times. We had to use a boat on the last crossing because the water was too high. Everyone safely crossed the river and it was another 15 minutes before we arrived at the village.

To my surprise, Tulve (the tribe’s name) was a lot bigger than the Nova tribe. They had a lot more houses, sidewalks, lit streets and a very nice little store where you can buy cold Coca-Cola and a nice hot meal. There were also young adults playing a very tense soccer game under a huge pavilion.

We set up camp with a “person of peace” as David called him. We rested until dinner because the hike was intense.

Around 7pm we had dinner what was very good. My favorite so far. Rice, Beans and a chicken leg.We hosted a Sunday night service at the community house. Morgan was suppose to share, but she began to feel sick (please join our prays that she will feel better as soon as possible) so I ended up volunteering to share my testimony instead. We sang songs. Scripture was read. I shared my story of how I became to know Jesus. The language and cultural barrier is big, but I think the people enjoyed hearing how God is moving in my life. I pray these people my come to know Chirst like I did.

That’s all I really hope for because in reality, I’ve tasted what it feels like to be separated from God. I shared that I absolutely do not want them to face what I have faced. Especially facing the fire accident that happened to me and the lasting impact that made. But I know God now and that has changed my world forever.

This is the trip so far from my perspective. I know the work we have done today and hope that if anything, seeds have been planted. We can only pray now that the Holy Spirit may open the eyes and hearts of people we’ve encountered today. Not for my sake, but for their own safe,

For those who are praying specifically for our trip, please continue… especially for Morgan. My life continues to be changed by those who support me and ultimately by what God is doing in me and through me. I will  post more on my personal blog this coming Friday. Please check it out. God bless and thank you for reading.

[note from Alice: pictured below is the village Blake wrote about visiting in the morning. It is poor quality but it was the only picture that made it to my phone.]