So I am back in the US for a day and therefore have access to technology so I am about to attempt a blog post on my time in the San Blas Islands off the coast of Panama. Blogging about this week is proving a challenge since so many amazing things happened and really the experience as a whole cannot be adequately explained unless you were there, but I shall try.
First I pulled an all-nigher since we were leaving our hotel in Costa Rica at 2:30 in the morning. Then we boarded a plane to Panama from the airport in Panama city we loaded up onto four-wheel drive vehicles and drove a almost 3 hour drive on the windiest, bumpiest roads I have ever been on. I dozed most of the way since I was so tired anyways. Then we loaded up onto boats for a 45 minute boat ride to Franklin's Island where we would be staying for the week. As you can gather we were in the middle of no where. A Tour of the Island (Sorry it isn't in English)
It was amazing! The floor of my hut was sand and I fell asleep to the crashing of waves that were literally less than ten steps from my door. I showered in the ocean and I was covered in sand all week but it was so wonderful!
There are 365 islands that make up the San Blas Islands. Only 49 of those islands are inhabited they are inhabited by the Cuna people. So Spanish isn't the first or most prominant language which left me a little dumbstruck at first but God always finds a way.
The first island we went to I met a girl named Keilin (which is pronounced just like my name) I rarely meet people with the same name as me, let alone on an island off the coast of Panama. I wanted to get to know her better but she was rather shy. I did give her a Bible though and wrote in it.
The second day of ministry was a struggle for me. I didn't really connect with anyone. So I prayed and then the next day was better. That night though Pastor Morris (The Cuna pastor who was our guide for the week) gave us the scoop on Cuna culture. Perhaps someday I'll do a separate post just on the culture maybe not...
The third day of ministry a little girl named Yeilin latched on to me. Right when we got to the island she came up and asked me to play basketball with her and her friends. I did for a while and then she scampered off and I found something else to busy myself with. When I came back she comes up and says "I've been looking for you" (in spanish) I was happily surprised. She didn't leave my side after that. I found out that she does go to church on her island but I prayed with her to accept Christ in her heart. That was pretty cool. I hope nothing was lost in translation. But I got her a Bible and her friend came up and said she will go with her to church so if nothing else a seed was planted.
The next day I sat down next to a little shy girl named Kellili (I think?) She was drawing in the sand and I knew that some people had coloring books and crayons so I found one and she colored two pictures. She may only be five but I see the makings of an artist in her. She even colored the decorative lines on the page! After she was done drawing she scampered off to show her mom what she had made, that was the last I saw of her. But then this little boy Aiken runs up to me arms open for a hug and he just wants to be loved on. He is four and we had fun looking for broken balloons that could be salvaged and reinflated. (One thing we do a lot of is balloon animals) He was just so affectionate! I loved spending time with him.
The last day was probably my favorite. We only did a half day of ministry and instead of doing the drama as usual, we did worship with some of the leaders of the church. It is probably the coolest thing I have experienced to date. At one point we were singing How Great is Our God in three languages and I was just crying. God was so present there in that moment. Words could never express quite what it was like. I also got to encourage the women in Spanish which for me was cool. I always love when I get to use the gifts God has given me to glorify Him!!
So that was basically the highlights of Panama. There are so many more little side stories I could tell, but those you will have to ask me about. Tomorrow evening I head off to South Africa for two more weeks of adventure. I should have access to internet most days so be expecting some blog posts! Until then Babay Bendakay (God bless you in Cuna...Spelled horribly wrong)
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