mini outreach & the weekend.

Embera Puru

boat ride to Embera Puru

pushing the canoe

truck ride home from mini outreach

me and Kamal in his little loin cloth!

Embera Tattoo

Embera Puru traditional music

The hut we slept in

For our mini outreach we spent 4 days at a tribe called Embera Puru. It was a great experience, and not too far from home. It was a 40 minute drive and a 30 minute canoe ride, since the river was a bit dry we had to get out and push the boat a couple times. The village is right on the edge of the river and all the houses are elevated. It is a very traditional style embera village with palm tree roofs and thin wood floors that are flexible. We stayed in the big hut which is also the kitchen. Each night we told bible stories and the last night some of us preformed a drama. On the second day we hiked to the upper village to tell stories and pray for the people there. On the way back we decided to ride the river home so about 10 of us floated down the river. It was nice when the water was deep but when the water was shallow we got bumped around a bit. At one point the current was so strong I put my hand down for a second and my ring slipped right off :( Other than the little bumps and bruises it was a nice ride down the river for about an hour. The last day we watched them preform for a tourist group that came, doing traditional dancing, tattoos and selling crafts. We all enjoyed living right on the river and swimming every day but when it was time to go home we were ready.

Karli's brother Nate just arrived from Seattle and is spending 13 days here so we've been busy showing him around. Yesterday we went to Casco Viejo and the Art Market then to the Amodore for dinner. After dinner we got ice cream and walked by the yacht club. We noticed that there was something loud going on on the roof so we decided to go see what was going on. When we got to the top we realized there was a massive exercise class going on so we joined in. Today we ventured to Norelia's family's house, she lives on a river about an hour away from the base. Her brothers took us to a waterfall which was beautiful! We had to trek through a mud filled river that sucked us in like sinking sand. Once we got to the waterfall we met some exchange students from Norway and Germany who are living in Panama city. After a crowded and rowdy bus ride we finally arrived at home tired and ready for sleep! What a wonderful week :)

love & miss you all
Kayla

This week John and Christina will be teaching on ethno-arts and redeeming cultures. We will also be heading on a mini outreach to a local village called San Juan. We will be spending 4 days there helping the community. YWAM has had a strong relationship with this tribe and has visited many times. They have a desire to have a church planted so we will be working towards that, we have also prepared some story telling and a drama. Here is an episode of the tribe were going to from a MTV show Exiled where they send super sweet sixteen kids to remote villages in different countries. In a lot of ways the tribe will be like this, but reality tv is also not always complete reality, so keep that in mind while watching, some of it has been cut to seem more dramatic.

enjoy :) http://www.mtv.ca/tvshows/video_content.jhtml?cid=1599300&id=9677

here are some pictures of what i've been up to...
Love & Miss you all,

a Panamanian family in my DTS

Kayla

the 'lung of the city' metropolitan park

Alison's 21st birthday

cooking in the kitchen

Happy Valentine's Day!

Last week our teachers were the base directors Kenneth and Elaine. They spoke on listening to Gods voice. The first day of class we took a field trip to the zoo which has all the animals native to panama, monkeys crocodiles, mountain cats, birds & others. We also played some games that test how we communicate with each other. It was nice to get out of the classroom for a day, and explore. The rest of the week they talked about God's character and also about how hearing God's voice is a process. It was a great week and Kenneth and Elaine are very passionate about what they teach.

On Saturday we went to Clayton which used to be part of the old american canal zone, it's a very fenced in neighbourhood with many different types of people. We ate breakfast at a lovely Colombian cafe and after we walked around the park. After breakfast with Christina we went into the city to walk along the "Coastal Belt" which is similar to the Seawall in Vancouver. It was beautiful but very hot outside so we drove to a mall in the middle of the city called Metro Plaza, which is the high end mall, it would be comparable to Oakridge. We walked around for a bit, ate lunch then headed home. Saturday night we all babysat Christina and John's kids so they could have an early Valentines day. We ate pizza, made smoothies and watched "End of the Spear" which is set in El Salvador but most of the cast is Panamanian.

Sunday we attended Gamboa church where John was leading worship. Pastor Wilbur talked about Covenants. After church we took our packed lunches to the pool at Clayton where they require girls to wear swim caps to keep the pool cleaner. (I don't think I'll be posting those pictures anytime soon.) It was a nice day out and I got some sun but when we got home it started raining a bit. It was a great week and this week out DTS leader Jennifer will be talking about Christian World Views. Friday we will be heading out for a day trip a couple hours away to work at a youth camp.

Happy Valentines Day to everyone! and Happy Birthday Mom & Lizzie!

Love & Miss you all
Kayla



"For I know the plans I have for you" declares the Lord
"plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you a hope and a future. 
Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me.
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
Jeremiah 29:11-13

Week 3

 This week our teacher was the YWAM Costa Rica director, Marjolein Coghi. She taught all about relationships and even though I had heard lots of teaching on relationships in the past she taught with passion. She expressed how important relationships are in our life, and how its important to connect with people on a deeper level, heart to heart. I loved the teaching this week but unfortunately Monday night I got sick and was in bed all Tuesday so I missed class. Luckily it was only a one day thing so I was back in class Wednesday. 

Eve and I

Saturday we did our first outreach at Gamboa church where we handed out Samaritans Purse: Operation Christmas Child Shoe Boxes. We sang songs with the kids and told a story, they also had some interesting clowns come in and get the children all excited. Then they lined up to receive their shoe boxes. There was a long lineup of kids and luckily we didn't run short of boxes. After the kids were running around, playing, opening their boxes and getting their faces painted. When we got home we relaxed at the base then walked to San Vicente for smoothies.


Sunday we went to Crossroads church which is an English speaking church in the old American canal zone. It was weird seeing so many white people at church! We sang familiar songs, which was nice and the pastor spoke on speaking carefully and truthfully. After church Alison and I went to the local water slides at El Camping Resort. It was packed full since Sunday is the only day off for many Panamanians. They have 3 slides, a 'lazy river' (which is basically a mote you can ride tubes in), and a wave pool. We just got back and after dinner were going to the Tracy's for a Superbowl party! Go Packers! ( I think that's who were rooting for since some people are from Wisconsin.) 


Love & Miss you all,
Kayla


For I am convinced that neither death nor life,
neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor future,
nor any powers, neither height nor depth, 
nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God
that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.


Romans 8: 38-39