Panamaniacs....

From the end of January to the first of March 2007 we were in the Republic of Panama with Vida Ministries. Dennis and Jeanne Cook were our hosts. They graciously put us up in their home for our trip. They have been missionaries there for twenty five years. They minister to the Choco Indians.

The area we were in is the Darien Provence bordering on Columbia. This is known as the Darien Gap. The Pan American highway runs all the way to the Gap and then is cut off by the rain forest. The people you hear saying that the rain forest is diminishing are telling you the truth. We literally watched it being driven out on trucks every day.

While we were there a group from Meadowbrook church came from Ocala to finish the church that they started last June. Here is a picture of where the project was left off in June.

Here is where the building was when the group arrived to start work on the project. You can see the old church next to the one being constructed.

Since the walls were up the team got to work fast getting the roof on.

As the roof started moving forward the team started working on the windows and floor.

This is the Pastor of the church working right alongside all the guys. He was so appreciative of everything and worked really hard.

How's this for teamwork. Travis, Troy and Joe. The three amigos. This looks like a joke, but it was for real. Travis needed to reach the area out beyond his ability to stay up out of the wet cement. Perhaps there is a tiny bit of dramatic flare added.

This was messy work to say the least.

Here is where things were where the time ran out for the team.

Dennis and Troy were able to go back into the village and finish the floor and what was needed to finish the roof.

Last I heard, the rainy season is still in full force and the finishing touches have not been done. Once the weather breaks they will be able to cement over the block and do all the finish work.

The back of the building is an area for the Pastor. He will have his home right there at the back of the church. This is where it was when the team left, but I believe it is further along now as well.

This was all done in less than three weeks total. The team was here for a week in June, then a week in February. The floor and roof were finished up in a couple days after the team left. They all worked long and hard. It was really a great team and they managed to have a great time while doing a great thing.

Jesus loves...

... the little children.
All the little children of the Dominican...

There is no way to visit a thirld world country and not show you the pictures of the children. There are always children. They are always precious. I always fall in love with them.

We visited two schools in Pantoja and were able to go into the classrooms and speak to each class. We had such a wonderful time, there is no question that it was a highlight for everyone.

So without further ado...

At the second school, we were greeted with a serenade by a student which was amazing. This schoool was much smaller so we got to spend more time with them.

Here she is singing for us. I really wish I had video for you because she was great.

Here are some kids from the neighborhood.

Walking in the pages...

...of the Bible.

Again, there is no other way to describe it. I know I have said that before, but bare with me. There isn't.

We hit the streets. We told people that God was present and that we would pray with them for whatever they had need of. They came. We prayed and God answered.

The children are always the first to come. Then come the adults. Speculative, but interested. Then somebody gets healed and everyone is out there checking it out.

They brought out chairs. Things were happening.

Melissa prayed for two people who were almost totally blind. Each had trouble seeing things clearly right in front of them, but after they were healed they were walking up that hill you see and counting fingers from away off. It was very cool. One was a woman, one was a man. Others came for back pain and other bodily pains. They all left happy.

While we were walking around talking to people a lady came up to Troy and I and said that she wanted us to pray for her daughter. The daughter was in bed with a terrible fever and she wanted to be sure that we would pray for her right away because of what a disturbance it was going to be to move her. Our reply was clearly, don't move her. We will come to your house. We did. Troy and I and Franklin our interpreter. We all went into her tiny bedroom and prayed for her to be healed. She was the sweetest little girl. I can honestly say that I have never experienced a greater moment of agreement with my husband. It was like a Vulcan mind meld. There was no way she was staying ill. The fever immediately reduced and before we left the house she was up playing. She had been in bed for a week. She had not been eating and her mother was very worried. We left her playing and made an arrangement to visit the next day. We wanted to take her picture, but she would not let us because she had been in bed for a week and her hair was all messed up.

Here we are the next day. There was no sign of any sickness. We came back to check on her the next day. Well, we came back to check on her and we came back to give her the Barbie Car that Troy promised her the day before. We threw in a Barbie as well. Look at this face ... you would have wanted to buy the whole store.

Here she is with her grandmother. While we were there we also prayed for her grandmother's back. They were both totally precious.

Our translator asked for prayer himself as we were making our way around the area. He had seen more happen that day then he ever had in his life and it caused him to ask for prayer himself because he had been going strong with us for days and he was feeling like he was coming down with the flu. I prayed quickly and told him that was all there was to it. I then said that when we get back to the corner I would take more time if he thought he needed it. When we got to the corner it was a while later. I asked him to check his symptoms and he was actually surprised because he had forgotten he was having any problems at all.

Right before that, I had prayed for a little boy who had gotten his eye poked during a game of basketball. It was all red and irritated. Franklin, the translator, came with me when I went to pray for him, but I was in a hurry because I was interrupting the game and I did not give him a chance to actually translate the prayer. I could tell he was shocked, but I just kept going. At least, I thought he was shocked because of the look on his face, but later that night he told me what I had not seen. I prayed and kept moving forward, but Franklin said that he was looking right at the boy and watched his eye go back to white right in front of him. That was why he looked shocked.

Uh...I knew that.

Marc and Troy prayed for an elderly couple that were both lying in beds seemingly on the verge of death. They could not even utter any words. They prayed for them and then we all visited for the next several days. They were up and talking and doing so much better. They were praising God and expressive in ways that they could not muster before they were prayed for. That was the greatest part. They were both praising God! They even sang for us a little bit. We also had a chance to pray for their daughter. She was taking care of both of them and raising kids in a tiny one room house that had rooms only because they were separated by curtains.

Some of the team members went to a clinic and had a chance to pray for a newborn baby. There was so much more. There were just under three hundred salvations throughout the week which was a great impact in the small area of the town we covered.