25/03/2011 (posted 04/04/2011)
We were up nice and early again for breakfast. At first glance it looked like fried banana so I got myself prepared to skip the whole meal. It turned out to in fact be banana but they had mashed it and added buckets of salt and oil and it tasted just like a potato wedge.
Phew.
We once again hiked off into the mountains to another local community. On the way we visited a family who the Pastor said weren't Christians so I presented the Evangecube.
While telling the story I discovered that a) some of them only spoke the native Bugle language, not Spanish and b) none of them had seen an image of Jesus on the cross before or had any idea about Him.
This somewhat added some new dimensions so, completely off the cuff, I told them about who Jesus is and the things He did in His life. This was extremely difficult, especially with a three-way translation, but I did my best and I'll let God do the rest.
We arrived at our destination for the day and, after waiting for around an hour, we had a pretty good crowd in the church so we presented a short programme. The people I shared the Evangecube with in the above paragraph turned up as well, and this was a big encouragement.
After the service, we were served rice and sardines. I once again took a small portion of sardines but really packed in the rice as it was only 11:30am and dinner is at 6pm every night.
On the way back, the mountains looked just incredible in the midday sun. It's become easy to take this amazing mountain scenery we are in the heart of for granted, but times like this remind me just how stunning it is. I'm looking very much forward to sharing some photos of it.
On the way back I had a nice chat with Christina about the differences between America and England and Europe. Despite the constant anti-American abuse including references to their gross eating culture, references to Iraq, references to the Tea Party etc. I explained how much I really love America and how its people are among the friendliest I've met. For instance, when I was in the US back in 2003 a motorcyclist stopped to let me and my family cross the road.
She's been to a few places in Europe that I also have so we compared notes - she even lived in Germany for four years, poor girl.
It was a great chance to ask some burning questions I have about America such as what is homecoming, how the NFL works, how on earth they voted in a black president, why they desecrate the beautiful English language etc.
Dinner was rice and a beef sauce. I'm really getting into the rice here and am eating what can only be described as elephantine portions each day. It's the Panamanian staple food as it's so cheap and filling.
The rest of the team, Jess in particular, aren't as partial but whether it's morning, lunch or dinner I will pack it away.
We did an evening service in which my only role was a supplementary part in a drama. It was nice to be able to sit down for a little bit and actually receive from a service because the irony of going on mission is that the services we prepare for others are difficult for us to fully focus on as we are always preparing the next part. That's one thing I'm looking forward to when we finish.
Tonight the service was outside in the pitch darkness and out here, the sky is absolutely filled with stars. I think that stars are the most beautiful of God's creations and looking up at a blanket of shining stars is one thing I will miss.
After the service, I once again retired straight to bed. The day was very challenging and also very rewarding but a byproduct of this is exhaustion.
JG
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