Panama, pt. 2

Here are some pictures and explanation from the trip. I was the designated picture-gatherer for the trip, so I have like 3 gigabytes of photos and video clips (not counting picture CDs from disposable cameras) on my computer right now. It's hard to filter down 8 days of ministry into one blog post, but here goes:

The missionaries we visited were Mirko and Tracy Delibasich, who our church supports. They are the directors of the Word of Life camp in Panama, and they have an awesome staff behind them. The camp has the usual facilities: dorms, kitchen, meeting area, pool, and sports fields. In process is a gymnasium.


The first project I worked on was building some concrete benches for a campfire area. Since we had limited wood, the forms had to be reusable. The director of the camp, Mirko, had a good idea for the forms, so we did that and the benches turned out really nice. I definitely enjoyed building something (I don't get to do that at work).


Several of the teams (our group was split into six teams of seven people) learned some puppetry for ministry to younger children. They used them at several schools, hospitals, and an orphanage.


One of the most emotionally draining outreach was going to an orphanage. This institution was government-operated, and seemed almost more of a prison. In Panama it's illegal to adopt children unless you are related to them, so if a kid doesn't have family (or family that wants them), they are stuck in the orphanage system until they're 18. For example, the boy in the first photo is six years old, although he's about the size of a normal three-year-old; malnutrition and some mental issues have taken their toll (he's a new addition to the orphanage, found on the street recently). The girl second from the left in the second photo is twelve years old, and was found in a dumpster by a garbage man when she was just a baby, and has been in the orphanage since then. She has Downs Syndrome, and is bundle of love, despite her terrible condition (she ran out to give everybody hugs as soon as we came). These kids need God's love so badly...



We spent a day at native village (semi-tailored to selling stuff to tourists) that had several members in the movie The End of the Spear. They had not actually seen the finished movie, so we brought a projector and a white bedsheet, and showed it to them, then one of the missionaries presented the gospel. The response was quite dramatic; something like 20% of the villagers made a decision for Christ. I guess the village had previously been evangelized, but with the stipulation that God only accepts fully-clothed people (ridiculous).



Of course, we had a lot of fun, too. What's a youth group trip without some kids (and leaders being crazy). Here are a few pictures of the less serious times.