Fall also means the hatching of spiders!

Need I say more!

Today was my day off and I decide "well to feel like I've done something I will mow the yard"! I love fall and all the colors but I forget about all the floating spider webs and all the spiders...everywhere! I saw at least 10 today! I saw 5 on the lawn mower itself. Yuck! black little furry suckers! I really don't have a phobia but when it comes to seeing so many at once I get a little creeped out..like they are going to be crawling all over me.

I have some puffy hair and yes bugs get stuck so I decided to where a hat. I chose my dads Panama hat that I got in Panama! Also I grabbed an old croquet stick that I was going to use to ward off floating cob Web's that get stuck around my face. I use a riding lawn mower that's a lot of fun to use but to work it can be a bit odd....so I only ran into one rock:). That's good for me! I got the job done with just one cob web around the face and my nephew came and sat on the mower with me and held the croquet stick to keep Cob webs at bay! So all in all once I got going It went OK and hopefully I ran over the rest of the spiders on the yard!

London to South Africa!!!!

Its been a while but here it is.....Now I have been home and the internet is less expensive I will give you a big update.

Well I left Miami and headed for South Africa. I traveled with my friend Brittany and we had a 12 hour layover in London and boy, we were excited, but tired. We had about 6 hours in downtown London and got to see the sights like the London Eye, Big Ben, St. James Park, Buckingham Palace and my fave, a local Fish and chips pub! It was a great time and it made it easier to sleep on the 11 hour plane flight to Cape town! We walked a lot which helped me stay awake! But Brittany manned the underground transpotation map and got us to the places we needed to see! I manned the street map which was fun but sometimes a little confusing! The weather was definitely cooler than Panama! We had some sun but a cool wind that blew all day! It felt like fall. Luckily Brittany had an extra sweater because guess who didn't even think to grab hers! Ya you guessed it, me!

On to South Africa........we arrived in the morning which helps you go about your day to try to defeat good ole Jet lag! We were met by two of our friends and they had picked some beautiful flowers to make us welcome. S.A. was a change from Panama in sights and weather, not to mention they drive on the other side of the road! We got to stay a couple of nights with the rest of our team that was in South Africa while we were in Panama. Jon showed Brittany and I around some of the coastal towns and especially to see the penguins. That was Brittany's firts goal was to see the penguins! Not your ordinary Penguins, they live in the sand! We arrived in there begining spring months and you pretty much were always cold and then if the wind died down you were hot no in between!

Our plans in SA were to go to a YWAM conference at a Spa/resort. This Resort had little round houses that we stayed in with a kitchen and a bathroom and three beds. They call them Rondowels (ron-dov-als) they were kind of fun but cold.....they don't have indoor heating. The resort had a nice natural hot springs that we got to swim and realx in. It was nice to have hot water in general since in Panama we had cold water.

Then after the conference we headed off over the mountain to a retreat center to debrief. Debrief was to get us ready to return home and know that as we have changed so had home and just some ideas to prepare us for that return! I had a great time and experience. I met wonderful people and formed lots of great friendships and it really was a familly! Not to mention the living in community which makes it feel like family but it was a christ centered family, focused on each other and learning not to just focus on ones self!

I am missing a lot of these people but its great to know that I will see them all again on day, here on earth or in heavan!

Its all about Jesus!

One of my leaders talked about how they had a word form God for us. It was about a field and how we were planting the field and after our work was done we looked back and saw that it was still dry and nothing was growing yet. But that if we were to come back in time we would see growth. That word seems so true for us. We thought we would come in and help make a publication to get the word out on Human Trafficking and prostitution, and encourage the church in Panama to rise up and help in this need. Isn't it sooooo like God to have another plan and much better. After a month of being here and things moving in a slow pace, we had the opportunity to talk about this topic to some churches here in Panama. We realized we had already a publication in a 30 day prayer booklet for the Voiceless that has just been translated into Spanish.

Then God opened up doors to meet with prostitutes at a medical clinic every Wednesday morning. We passed out pieces of paper so that they can write down prayer request that we come together and pray for later. Also people asked for prayer personally or for family members. Prayer is an opportunity to break down a language barrier that many of us have. The Holy Spirit moves in prayer and thats the amazing part, that God chooses to use us. It becomes all about Jesus his plans and how each day he brings something new to show us and to be apart of. We want these women to know Jesus personally and also to know his huge love for them. I saw my friend Rachel almost in tears telling these women how much Jesus loves them.

Thats what matters to us! Some of these prayer request were to get out of prostitution. I can't imagine the horror of having to sleep with men for money and men who don't care about you, they are just there for themselves. The guilt and the shame that satan fills these women with is disgusting. Jesus first loved us and knows everything that we have done and never once does he take his love away. He loves these women and has given us the opportunity to share it with them. Lord it has been a blessing and a privaledge to be apart of what you are doing in Panama.

Papas

Here in Panama I have noticed one thing with the food chains, food comes with fries! I enjoyed a Quizno Sub yesterday, and found out it came with fries or papas as we say in spanish!!! They were great fries as you can see by the picture! So you might be thinking that doesn't sound so far off but a week or so ago I had fries with Taco Bell, not tator tots but french fries! As I realize this appears more different when it comes down to american chain resturants that usually you don't find fries with. But oh well, by this story you can tell that I ordered them and ate them! Papas for everyone!!

Time

So time here is coming to a close. I have a week and a half left and today is my day off and I am off to get some gifts for the family!!!!
Being here has been a great experience but a long one. As being a part of the twelve hearts team, I have daily walked with each one of these wonderful people. There is coming the day where we will go our separate ways. Its an honor that God has brought us together for this time. These folks are family to me and I know I will see them all again either on earth in Heaven. Thanks God for this time in Panama....and a little time, coming soon, in South Africa!

Cappabera "Pig dogs" or "Pig Rats"

This animal was first introduced to me by my leader Susi. Susi told us a story of these "Pig dogs", as she called them. Their real name is Cappabera. To me they look more like a big "pig rat" that has no tail! This creature is very unique to me, I watched this "pig rat" digging in the ground and burying some sort of food.

I see them a lot in the little town of Gamboa, where my group and I are staying. They come out of the bushes right as your walking past....not so fun to hear the bushes rustle right by you!
I do enjoy Gamboa its a nice quiet town where you can watch the boats drift by...literally!

Prostitution and Trafficking

Here in Panama prostitution is legal. Usually the women who are prostitutes are from Colombia or Nicoragua. We have met a Lady who works with prostitutes. every Wednesday she goes to a medical clinic and talks to these women who are waiting for an appointment. There are rules here where prostitutes have to register and go for checkups for their health. My team got to go and talk with these women on last Wednesday. One gal I talked with was going home soon to see her kids and her mom.Women can come in on work visa's and then they have to leave for awile when that is up and go back home. They do return to work again. I had a translator and it was nice to have help talking to her. We also got to give out booklets that talked about Jesus. The true reason for talking to them is to let them know they are loved by Jesus and what he did for all of us, but it was also nice to hear a little of her story.
A lot of these women work in gentlemens club's, spa's, strip clubs and so on, this gives them more protection from physical abuse. Women aren't treated so well, as a prostitute your life can be in danger. It is illegal to own a prostitute and take her passport and documents that is part of Human trafficking. There is a line that does get crossed here in Panama but the government is trying to crackdown on human trafficking. Children are trafficked within Panama. They can be trafficked for sex and labor and indiginous women are trafficked as prostitutes in their own country as well.
Our team has been speaking on these issues and trying to have opportuniuties to talk with these women and hear their stories. We are glad we get to go back again to the medical clinic, to talk with them and pray with them.

I love visual help!

I love funny signs....even though their not meant to be funny.....they just are! I happened upon this sign near a board walk downtown Panama City. Even though you can't read the language that is where the visual helps! I am a visual learner and usually if someone tells a joke it takes me a second till the picture appears in my mind. Yes, that means I usually laugh a little later then others!!! But anyway its great to have a visual!!!!!

Water and rain!

Well it takes me awhile to blog so here I am again. Just to give you an update from our water bottle outreach. We got to write something special on a water bottle and gave them out. The problem we had was that it rained hard and we got stuck for a couple of hours under a building. Under the building there were other people that we got to give some water to, even though there is a language barrier. I did get the chance to practice the little Spanish that I know...." agua?....No denero!" "Water?...No money(free)" That's as good as it gets!

These opportunities are team building for sure......this idea was two teammates of mine and they did a great job! We have days here where we have nothing scheduled so our leaders give us opportunities to do something for others. So far we got to paint and give our paintings to the YWAM base. Next, like I just shared we gave out water bottles. Then part of my idea and my teammate Charissa, we baked cookies for our neighbors, the Smithsonian scientists and the owners of the local store in Gamboa. It was fun and well what can I say we are addicted to chocolate over here, so most things we back end up with chocolate!

Painting in Panama

Our leaders Anne and Layne have given our team a job. Two together have to come up with an outreach idea. This is for the days that nothing has been scheduled, we get to fill in this time with and idea. Example: Sunday we went down town to paint!!!! Painting is awesome, I am better with photography but it gives us a new way to minister. We had a theme verse which was Isaiah 62, and From that verse we prayed and asked God to use us and our painting and what did he want to say thru these paintings. I like to paint and see what flows and that's what I did. I titled my painting the City not Forsaken from Isaiah, which I thought was pretty slick.

Most all of us seemed to put Panama city somewhere in our painting. We had a great time and it was great to see the people walk by and check out what we were doing!! Great job to Lindsay and Stacey who came up with outreach Idea... Today we go and hand out water bottles..stay tuned for more outreach news!!!!!

Speaking

The other day all of us gals from every team, had an opportunity to speak at a woman's prayer meeting at the Church of Christian prayer. I got to speak on human trafficking. It was awesome to have this opportunity and a "open door". I believe with the next four weeks or so left, that God is starting to open doors and opportunities for us. The first month has been a slower one for us, bt now contacts are forming and opportunities are rising. Yay God....his timing is perfect and I am getting excited to see all that God is going to do. It feels like you can sit back and watch but with out sitting back, but going everyday with a new "huh I wonder what today holds"!

Then another door of speaking opened up on Sunday to speak at Genertion No Limits. It was a church that meets in the evenin down town. Its age group is more for the young adults. It is so cool how God brings people together. Some of these friends will be joining us today as we go and hand out water bottles. These friends will help us interpret. Since most of us don't speak spanish that well. I keep telling people, since we have a month left, that we are headed down hill and I think that is true, God seems to be speading things up at least thats what I think!

IgUaNa

There is this big ole Iguana that lives in the drain pipe, right under the sidewalk, in front of the church. You see hime come out to sun himself everyday. He lifts his head up like a very proud and important fellow. One day he even tried to come into the church, but he scares away very easily so its hard to get a real close picture. A few people have tried to name him but nobody can agree on a name. I call him Tony, "why " you might say and the answer is, I don't know why it was the first name that popped into my head! But, hey, it works for now. Technically I just "hey theres the Iguana!!!!

So I walked to the little corner store today with my teammate Charrisa. It started to down pour rain on us and we decided to wait it out under a tree. We waited for a few minutes and then decided to go back to the church to get ourselves better prepared. I borrowed a rain jacket from a friend in the group Jo and then Charrisa and I started again. Come to find out Jo's Jacket is not rain proof and I am really wet under my arm pits...go figure that one:) But thankfully I am sitting by a fan and drying off quite nicley. Thank the Lord for electricity and fans. One thing I thought about taking a shower but now..well.... I feel clean!(that sentence was for my mother)

This last week was a busy one for my team and I. Its hard to stay busy when everyday you don't know what you are going to do, nor do my leaders. They do a good job at being creative in finding ways for us to keep focused on human trafficking and prostitution. My teams goal are to get the word out to Panama and the Panamanian church. This is just the beginning! A man named Chris is our contact here, his heart's cry is for the church to help in these area's of injustice.

That gives you a small idea of what my team of twelve are doing. You can go visit twelvehearts.wordpress.com to check out weekly what my team is up to. My friend Lindsay is a great writer and keeps it updated.

So I got on a bunny trail and now back to my first statement. We had a busy week. My team and I got to go to a village called Cameron. This was a central location amongst the Ngobe Tribe. There was a school there and that is where we stayed for 4 nights and 5 days. We were with a medical team from Connetticut. There also was a dentist and I got to help out and be his assistant. It was fun to be able to help out and to use some skills for the Lord, that I didn't know I would get to use!! We all came back with some chigger bites or flea bites. We all have been itching for a while now. We have some lotion and medicine to help the itch and the spread of these little bugs. It was a good time and to meet the people of the Ngobe tribe was awesome. To see the way each tribe is different. Some of the other teams in my group have visited other tribes and its fun to see how they are all different, but all Panamanian.

Our next adventure in the week was our Una Voz or one voice, arts festival. There were people selling items they had made from carvings, to paintings, from feed to clothes. Also there was drama's, musicians, runnway models, tribal dances and our Leader Susi Childers spoke about her travels. Voice for the Voiceless is Susi and her husband Pauls ministry. This ministry is to tell others about the injustices in the world, like Human trafficking, Aids, Orphans, Prostitution and so on. Susi encouraged and challenged all of us in the room to help and take a stand against these issues. It was a good night and we were all tired and so I write all of this down on a great day. Its my day off!

Big huge Moth in My room

So far its been bats and a moth that have flown into and around our room. Two flying critters that are around the same size. Thats right this moth was huge. I have no clue what it is called but I leave that up to my nephew to find out what the name of this huge moth is............

Gamboa Union Church

The whole lot of us are staying at the Gamboa Union Church in Gamboa Panama. Some other girls and I are staying at another building just down the street a little ways. Right now we have free time and we are checking out where people live on Google Earth. Its kind of fun but makes you a little homesick. Well for now Panama and Gamboa is my home for the next two months!

6.0 Earthquake

So around 1:40am on July 4th we experienced the ripple effect of a 6.0 earthquake about 90miles from us! Most of us woke up to it, it shook the ground fairly good for about 2 seconds or so. Its the first earthquake I have ever felt, so I'll admit it was kind of cool. It did no damage to my knowledge which is great! Some of the people in my team slept right through it, those heavy sleepers!

Well being in Panama has its adventures for sure. The room that I am staying in is a big room and it has two bathrooms and a kitchen. Well in this Kitchen is another room that we have nicknamed the bat cave! You can guess why, we can hear the bats thru the door. Well it took me three days to realize to close all the doors.
The second day we were here we found a dead bat on the floor. We had been leaving the door open for more cooler air to come in and thought maybe they were coming from outside or the bat cave. Well the next night I had a sheet covering me and around 5 ish in the morning I felt a thud in between my legs and I knew instantly that a bat had hit the fan and landed on my sheet. I woke up fast and I thank the Lord for reflexes for I immediately flipped the bat off of my sheet and onto the floor.
The Bat wasn't dead yet and he started to crawl back towards my bed and I could tell his wing was busted so he wasn't going to fly around on me. So I nudged him away from my bed, with my saline solution bottle, he ended up crawling underneath my friends suitcase and their he stayed for the rest of the morning till we went to sweep him up and found him dead later in the morning. We ended up having two more bats the next night. Now every noock and craney is shut so that no more bats injure themselves from the fans and land on anyone of us!!!!

Panama!!!!!!

So my team and I made it to Panama! It is very green and lush here. Lots of loud sounding bugs and birds. Panama is a very diverse country. At least around Panama City. Since we have been here we have had two really big rain storms, one took out three buildings in a near by village. We got to help clean up the palm leaves that were once a roof of a home. It was tough work,dirty and I was on the lookout for bugs that sting like centipedes and scorpians. Yay! We all came away safe and sound.
Also we got to go and check out the famous Panamal canal locks. We also live right across the street from the canal and see all these big boats go by... So at the locks, its kind of funny, to literally watch the boats go by. Its a pretty popular tourist place to be.

Leaving Kona

Well the adventure in Kona has come to an end. It was a great time, full of rock and sandy beaches, Vog and maybe a clear blue day every now and then. Class room learning and ohana (family) gatherings. Once you get used to a place then its time to leave......... But the packing was the journey, for all of my roomies!!! Our room was a wreck!

Lava, lava, lava...

Lava, lava, lava....say that as fast as you can and as many times as you can...its fun! I got to see the lava on Saturday but only from a distance. A group of teammates and I went and we didn't get as close as we wanted, we were late in getting to the spot and they closed on us so we took a walking scenic route that can be a bit dangerous at night. So we only went so far because it also started to rain. It wasn't our ideal trip but we got to hear the roar of the surf crashing against the wall of old lava. The sound was pretty load and powerful.

Local Outreach

So this last week we did what is called local outreach. This is where we as an outreach team get to go around and meet the people of Hawaii and hear their stories. We get to ask to take their pictures and we also get to do an exhibition Saturday the 20th of June. Hopefully we get to choose a picture we like the best and exhibit it down town Kona. We get to share all the stories of the folks we met. I met, along with my friend Sarah, a wonderful Lady named DeLoise. She was so much fun to talk to. Such a people person and just shared about her life and travels. She even gave me and my friend Sarah a bag of macadamia nuts.

Also during the week we did a photo scavenger hunt, where we had a list of things to photograph. For example; a green truck, so we found a man in a big ole interstate green truck and took his picture. It was so much fun, I love scavenger hunts!!!!! It was a good week but by the end I was ready for a nap or two, also I got to hang out with my team and it was a week of getting to know one another, because we will be with each other for the next three months!!!!! Love, love, unity and a lot of grace:) P.S. The picture is of me and my team leader, Layne.

Iron Man

So yesterday I got to help with the Iron Man try outs. Man was it hot...of course, I'm on Hawaii. But it was a lot of fun. My job was to help in the first turn of the bicycling and make sure they made the turn and went over the timing mat. I said timing mat so many times that I ended up saying "map" a lot as well, total tongue twister. Then I would just chuckle at myself . The next job I had was to help at the finish line and remove the chips at the ankles of the runners. These chips were what helped keep there time and they were fastened around their ankles with a velcro band. We got to wear gloves because ever body was pouring with sweat.

I don't know how they do it but Kudos to all who swam, biked and ran!!!

So the Kona side is dry like the Owyhees, its definitely one of a kind and the Hilo side is green and lush. In the middle of the island it has two mountains, one is Mauna Kea, which is has an observatory on top and its really cold up there. I haven't had the privaledge of seeing it yet but one of these days..... the other mountain is a little more south and its the active volcano called Mauna Loa... we didn't have the time to drive and see it but another time and I'll make it there..its a picture opportunity that I wouldn't want to miss....

So on Saturday, I had the opportunity to travel to Hilo, which is on the north east side of the Island. I got to travel in a convertible and cruise with the wind! My hair felt horribly gross and as we got further to the greener side of the island, it started to rain on us, so we had to put the top on. Hilo is different than Kona but we only got to see a little of Hilo we missed the botanical gardens because nobody knew about it. We got to see the rainbow falls in Hilo but it was during a drought so it basically was a trickle. We drove through some thick Vog(vocano fog) on the way home and couldn't see that well. But this big isalnd is so diverse in its terain its just awesome to see the differences.

One day while standing on the shore letting the waves hit my feet I got stung by a jelly fish. I wasnt for sure at first what had happened cause it was a stingy sensation around my ankles. Then the wave went back to reveal the string like tenticle. Then I saw the head and thought oh now I know what this is. If you have never been stung. let me enlighten you...it stings like a bee sting all over and it makes you want to itch the stung areaa really bad. They say that urine or vinegar are good pain stabalizers but I had neither, so It took an hour or so to ride it out. They are not fun to deal with at all and they make a day at the beach a major bummer!!

Big Ole Spider

So one evening, there was a huge spider in our shower! HUGE long Legs! They grow them big, here on the Island of Hawaii!

What the Morning Brings!

So one morning I went to work duty and found a Marlin in the walk in Fridge. Yes not Marlin meat But the whole Marlin! I took a double take because it was huge. Not everyday is there a big ole fish in the Fridge. It was donated by someone and then a few days later we ate it for dinner! It wasn't to bad but then again I am not a fish fan!

What the day looks like!

Well I've been here in Kona for close to three weeks, and its been a great experience! Lots of changes internally, this is always good for me. Its been challenging spiritually, and mentally for now I am getting used to the time difference. I am apart of the breakfast crew which meets at 5:15 mon-fri. Yay for early mornings!!!! I get to make the coffee:) go figure that one. I am learning to be a great photography and getting ready for outreach. We go to lectures in the morning, usually about spiritual things, then the afternoon comes. Since my work duty is in the morning everyone else is from 3-5pm. So I have time to play or like now, get the computer things done. Then in the evening we have photo class or small groups. Thats a basic of the activites that go on. So far, they do change from week to week.

Half of my team went to southpoint of Hawaii, which isthe southern most point of the U.S. We got to take pictures and jump of the 45ft cliff. I just want all of you to know I did not jump. NOOOOOO WAY! I may be adventurous bu I have my limits and this was one of them. Up above is a picture of my friend Rachel jumping, she said she screamed halfway down and then ran out of air:) Crazyiness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!