Canal Land: Panama

I have loved being in Panama and we have been incredibly blessed to stay in two places (church floor and then a centre with beds – hurrah!) on the edge of the canal close to Panama City.  Our first week was pretty busy and quite intense at times.  One evening we went to pray at the local cancer hospital and myself and Roberta and Rose on my team walked into a room where sadly a young man’s father had literally just died (his body was still uncovered) so we simply sat with Paulo, the young man and hugged and prayed for him and his family.  Paulo seemed very touched by this divine appointment as were we.

We visited the worst ‘block’ in the city and it felt like a prison to me and certainly a lot worse than anywhere I’ve visited in the UK.  We played with the children and prayed for people.  One lady had not been able to walk unaided for a year due to having TB (confirmed by her family) and moved round in a wheelchair.  After praying for her, a miracle happened and she was able to stand up and walk!!  When we offered her the wheelchair to rest in after she had walked round the building, she refused and just kept walking!  This young mother will be able to now take care of her children more easily and the community was in a good shock when we left!  Praise God!

One of my highlights was visiting an indigenous community on an island only reachable by boat, close to the church in Gamboa where we were staying and working with.  We prayed for lots of people and I was able to teach from the story of Elisha and the widow from the Old Testament (with an interpreter!)  We also spent time at a childrens home, some of whom are HIV positive.  The home which is run by nuns felt very safe and caring and has the reputation for being the best in Panama so it was great to see good practice at work! 

I spent some time babysitting Zoe, our team leaders two year old who is adorable and so bright.  This helped release her parents, Jesse and Tanya to spend time at the port of Colon working out how to ship our vehicles to Colombia.  We are incredibly grateful to the anonymous donor who gave us $12,000 to pay for the shipment as none of us have that kind of money! Today the paperwork has been finalised for our vehicles to be shipped to Colombia to arrive in time for Christmas and we are in the process of booking flights.    

Panama is famous for its canal and I have loved learning about the history (paid a visit to the Discovery Centre) and Panamanians are obviously very proud of the canal and are in the process of building a third part for it to take bigger ships.    I feel so privileged to have worked with such a great team from Youth with a Mission as well as vibrant local churches during this time.  It has been a great end to our time in Central America.

It will be strange not being in England for Christmas and not being able to see friends and family.  I have already had many moments of missing the build up to Christmas but very glad for the invention of skype!  God bless you all this Christmas and may you experience God’s peace and love as you celebrate the birth of Jesus with friends and family Lizxx.

The land of sunshine and sea: Costa Rica

Costa Rica is a beautiful country and I can see why over 1.5 million  people visit every year (although I did also witness the occasional tacky Christmas decorations and lights!!).  Much of our few days in Costa Rica was spent resting and taking some time out on the coast.  We got to park up on the beach and stay for free (us girls even dug our own latrine!) although three of my friends had quite a lot of their belongings stolen right from under our noses so we got to know the local police well.  My favourite night was sleeping under the stars on the sand with some of my favourite team mates…simply stunning!

We did some random acts of kindness – mine was giving a chocolate bar with a note saying how special she was to God to a waitress called Alexandra who looked so down and harassed by customers.  I loved seeing the complete transformation in her face when she gave me a huge smile!  (She in turn then let me sit at the restaurant table for ages using the free wifi without eating anything!)

The most memorable day for me was returning to Playa Avellanas where I had been a month earlier remembering Dianne’s daughter in law, Rhiannon who drowned at sea.  I never thought that I would return but when I realised how close by we were staying, I felt that it was right to return and pray for the family.  It was also really helpful for me to go back and it allowed my friends and fellow team members to share in some of my experiences.

Before we went to the beach a number of us felt that God wanted us to meet and pray for Johan, the local teenager who had saved Dianne’s grandson Julian.  So when we got to the beach I looked round and could not see him so I went for a walk and felt God say ‘I’ll bring Johan to you’.  My response to that was ‘how are you going to do that?’  (oh me of little faith!)  I carried on walking and praying and then when I got back to our spot I went and spoke to a couple of local teenagers who knew Johan and said he might be security on the car park.  Johan was not working that day but Dennis was and when I explained to Dennis why we were at the beach, he said ‘give me 15 minutes’. 

About 15 minutes later Johan appeared on the beach! (having been contacted by Dennis)– I gave him a big hug before realising that of course he did not have a clue who I was until I explained myself…thankfully he did not think I was a complete nutcase and seemed very touched that we had wanted to meet and pray for him!  Johan said that he had not slept well in the first few weeks since the incident so we prayed that he would have peaceful sleep from now on and brought him a drink.  We also listened to him recount his experience and we realised that he is an even bigger hero than I thought as he actually saw Rhiannon and Julian in trouble from the restaurant on the beach and went in after them.  Johan also shared that he lost his own mother when he was about the same age as Julian.  Truly a remarkable story in every way and a very remarkable young man. 

Next stop: Panama, our last country in Central America.

Nicaragua: times of change

Our few days in Nicaragua has seen our team say goodbye to three people and welcome four more.  Its been a sad time as well as exciting as we function like a family and share so much that it is hard when people leave.  Some of our vehicles are having problems again and so the guys are looking into maybe part exchanging…I tend to stay out of these discussions as I know very little about cars preferring to do the washing up instead!

I’ve spent some of my time at La Quinta, a childrens home run by a Christian charity in Diriamba, not far from Managua the capital.  Many of the children have experienced significant abuse in their lives and some of their stories have reminded me of families I worked with in Salford.  Its great to see the children now safe and being well cared for and some of the older girls are now helping with the running of the home.   We’ve also visited families in the bairro close to the childrens home and I witnessed some of the poorest housing I have seen on the journey so far.

On my day off I had a fantastic day as a small group of us went to visit the city Leon which is home to Central America’s largest cathedral.  The cathedral was beautiful and had some very large striking pictures of Jesus with his disciples and on the way to the cross.  The six of us were also very excited to find a nice restaurant that served fabulous steak and cheesecake – I had not eaten a meal like that in months so it was a massive treat! 

The contrasts on this journey is one of the things I love the most…we can be eating street market food one day sitting on the pavement and the next day eating at a restaurant on a proper chair…we can be sleeping in a tent in a petrol station field one night and the next night sleeping in a hotel with a toilet and shower as we can’t find anywhere else!  I really sense that God is teaching me to learn to be content in all circumstances and help prepare me for the future, whatever that will look like.  Thank you for making it possible for me to be here.

Overcoming my fear of horse riding (or donkeys/mules)!

Honduras was an interesting  stop on our journey.  Our base was camping in the grounds of a nice hotel which meant that my tent got some action (it was weird sleeping by myself!) and I got to have early morning swims – hurrah!  Not so nice was the amount of accosting us ladies got by the local men.

The team split into various groups during our time.  One group travelled back to Guatemala to pick up one of our vehicles from the mechanic, one group stayed at the base and worked in the local prison (run by prisoners themselves) and then my group went to the mountains.

Following a two day journey including a car and bus ride (and our car getting stuck in the mud and having to be towed) we arrived at the base of the mountains and trekked to the village of Agua Caliente.  Mules took our luggage whilst we walked, mainly in the dark.  The following day we were able to visit local families to share our Christian faith alongside a local believer.  The church had not met since August but after talking and praying with people we were excited to realise that through our witness new Christians had been added to the number and the church would now be restarted.  We also saw people receive healing after prayer.

One of the most memorable parts of the journey for me was slipping in the mud (even though I was the only person wearing walking boots!) and then my knee pretty much went when I tried to bend down later to speak to a child.  So this meant that I was unable to walk on my right leg.  Given that it was a three hour trek back down the mountain, the decision was taken by the rest of my team that I should be blessed with one of the mules the whole way down!  Whilst I was very grateful, my team were unaware that I do not appreciate horse/donkey/mule riding, particularly without all the usual equipment and coming down steep slopes! 

Much to the amusement of the local guide (!) my reaction went between ‘I’m really not enjoying this’ to having tears in my eyes to repeating Bible verses like ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’!!  By the end of the ride I had reached a calm state and was very grateful that I had not needed to walk.  In hindsight I love the fact that God used the journey to help me overcome my fear of certain four legged creatures, especially as this was not in my original plan!

San Salvador

In El Salvador, the team stayed and worked with the Youth With a Mission base in the capital, San Salvador for 5 days.  It was nice to be cooked for and very nice to be able to use the swimming pool on site!  San Salvador seemed very westernized (read: fast food restaurants and shopping malls) although I did enjoy the doughnut shop!

The team was kept busy working in a drug and alcohol rehab, serving homeless people and local churches.  I got to visit families who live in a cemetery which felt bizarre (the road had been extended so the people moved to the cemetery when they realised their houses were due to become no more - all in the name of progress no doubt) as well as victims of a recent flood - we got to play with the children and bless the local church.  We also saw God answer our prayers and make sick people well which was amazing.  I felt ready and energized to move onto Honduras when we came to leave.

Headlice and the House of the Joyous Ones

Last weekend we had the most ridiculous journey through the mountains to reach our final destination in Guatemala (apparently on a major road!).  I managed to get two tyres burst on our trailer during my driving stint (well the road did!) and our 4x4 nearly fell off the side of a cliff…and that’s just one of our five vehicles!  Thankfully we nearly all managed to arrive in good spirits and all safely, although our vehicles needed some repair work!

Our last stop in Guatemala has been spent at the House of the Joyous ones (best translation there is), a home for children with special needs.  All of the children are disabled in some way and some have found their home here due to not being wanted by their birth families.  The team has been painting, preparing meals, gardening and doing carpentry whilst also getting our team vehicles fixed.  It has been fantastic to watch the children be cared for so well in such a loving environment and we have been so well looked after also.

About a third of us have had a bout of headlice and we are in the process of trying out various treatments (nit cream, shampoo, vinegar and alcohol at last count!).  My head has been the worse (apparently I had 1000s of eggs!!) and it has been a little infuriating as I asked somebody to check my itchy head a couple of weeks ago to be told I had dandruff….when I think I actually had nits!  Some of my American team mates have been horrified to hear that nits are not unusual in England, particularly when at primary school…I am still enjoying learning about the cultural differences!

Next stop: El Salvador.  Love and miss you all!

Sad times: You don’t speak much English, do you?

We had not been in Guatemala long when one of my team members, Dianne learnt that her daughter in law, Rhiannon had gone missing off the coast of Costa Rica where she had been swimming with her six year old son, Julian.  It was agreed by all, especially Dianne that I accompany her to Costa Rica to help with the journey and offer support.  Dianne and I were at the same missions school in Mozambique in 2011 and in the same activity group so we had got to know each other quite well.

Having had an early start and with the help of God, angels, Lonely Planet and a fast taxi driver (!) we were able to make the  journey from the north of Guatemala to the west of Costa Rica in about 16 hours.  When we got there, Dianne’s son sadly told Dianne that Rhiannon’s body had been found having been caught in a rip tide.  Amazingly enough she had been able to push Julian to safety.  Truly tragic and what a loss to her husband Norman and their two boys Giannni and Julian.

In the middle of such tragedy, I was made to feel very welcome by the family.  I spent time playing with the boys, especially in the sea and helping Dianne with arrangements.  Julian and Gianni definitely have a very special place in my heart and made me smile and cry a lot.   They found my English accent very amusing and did not always understand what I said.  Julian said at one point ‘you don’t speak much English, do you?’ much to the amusement of his family! 

Rhiannon’s memorial service was held on the beach at sunset where she had died – it was stunningly beautiful and had been decorated with lilies and candles.  The family were so pleased to meet Johan, a local teenager who had been out surfing and had managed to rescue Julian as Rhiannon had pushed him up out of the water.  Dianne returned to be with her family in the States whilst I journeyed back to join the rest of the team…via a cannabis smoking youth hostel and overnight bus from Guatemala city complete with an armed guard at the station!

During the whole time I found myself profoundly grateful for my social work experience and the whole time was truly one of the biggest privileges of my life.  I continue to pray for the family and was very blessed when I was reunited with the team as I got taken out for breakfast by ‘my girls’ (Liz, Rose and Caitlin) who also paid for a hotel room for us that night as a treat.  Hurrah!