Panama, August 2-11, 2012

Medical Missions Outreach

Panama, August 2-11, 2012

Team Members: The ‘dirty dozen’, plus field missionaries – 1 medical doctor, his wife and son (Greg, Linda and Tim), 1 pastor (Bradley Edmondson), 6 nurses (Brittany, Hope, Charity, Ashley, Becky, Tammy), 1 teacher (Diane), and 1 Pensacola Christian College student (Daniel), plus 4 missionaries (Byron Willis, Jeff Jones, Buzz McQuerry, Juan Robles), interpreters and soul winners from the church in David. 

My interpreter was Sarah, a Honduran young lady that is in the Bible institute led by missionary Byron Willis.  She also works at the orphanage the church operates. 

Missionary Willis’ parents moved to Panama when he was 7 years old, so he is a second-generation missionary, is married to a Panamanian woman, has 3 kids and has taken in a 2 year old Panamanian girl.  It is more than obvious he is well beloved in his host country.  His father died a number of years ago, but his mother remains on the field supporting her husband’s former ministry.   Currently his church (which is not his father’s church – that is pastored by a national pastor) runs, among other things, four feeding centers and an orphanage.  They are raising money to build a home that would operate as both an orphanage and feeding center.  The land has been purchased and cleared.  This ministry is in David, Panama.  While we assisted at these ministries, the clinic was set up in Changuinola – a city about 5 hours drive to the northeast, across a mountain range and very near the Caribbean Sea and Costa Rican border.  The major industry is the Chiquita Banana plantations.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

My flight to Panama originated in Harrisburg, PA, then to Newark, NJ, then to Panama City.  I was the only one on the team flying out of this general area, so while the rest of the team met in Atlanta and took a Delta flight to Panama, I flew ‘solo’ and my flight arrived about an hour after them.  In Newark I had an extended layover, so I got dinner there and was surprised to find that the clerk was Haitian.  We were able to talk briefly in French, and she willingly accepted a French tract.  I’m starting to collect quite a variety of languages in my tract holder! 

From Newark to PC, I was seated next to a young couple from Toronto, Canada.  Actually, she has a Muslim background from Trinidad, and he has a United Church/Scandinavian background.  They were planning to hike through Panama, but neither of them spoke Spanish.  I like the hiking idea but not too sure about doing it in a country where I can’t speak the language!  Anyhow, the Lord opened a door to witness to them and give the gospel, for which I’m very thankful, but it was not an easy conversation.  They had lots of questions, especially about the ‘natives in the jungles’, but in the end they accepted tracts and we talked some more about where they hoped to visit.  Maybe I planted, maybe I watered – I can only pray that the Lord will allow someone else the opportunity to harvest.

When I met the team I realized I already knew half of them from other trips.  That to me is a good testimony of how well these trips are run – the fact that a lot of team members are ‘repeaters’.  Found out one of the medical trunks had been left in OH, but praise the Lord, it was delivered to us a couple days later before we really needed its contents.  We met Byron Willis and a couple from his church at the airport, and they drove us to our hotel for the night – Country Inn and Suites.  I never cease to be amazed at the American influence I see in these other countries!  After we dropped off our luggage at the hotel they offered to take us to eat, but I wasn’t hungry enough at that hour to trade food for sleep!  It was about 11pm, CST.  For some reason the bathroom door was locked, so I had to call for a maintenance man to jimmy the lock, but otherwise it was a very nice hotel, and I was even able to send an email that I had arrived. 

My roommate for the entire week was Ashley, a nurse from TN.  In fact, when she told me where she was from I recognized the name of the church and town.  Come to find out, some of the folks from the Nicaragua trip attend her church as well.  Small world!  Ashley is due to graduate in December as a nurse practitioner.  She was a great roommate, and I think the match was perfect!  While I prefer the early hours and can sleep through a lot, she prefers the evening hours and can also sleep through a lot.  To my knowledge, neither of us ever disturbed the other the entire trip.  I was very impressed that although she labeled herself as a ‘picky eater’, she never once complained about food and was willing to try new stuff – including yucca fries.  I believe they are made from yucca plants, and they kind of remind me of fried cheese sticks, but with a potato texture.  Very good!