Day 5

Day 5 began with a 6:30 wake up call, as our destination today was a village close to the Colombian border.  After an exhaustive and very very very bumpy ride, through the back country of Panama we finally arrived at the village around 10 o'clock.  This was the largest village that we had visited thus far, with at least 40 families to minister too  All of the kids were in school until one, so we began our morning with water filter demonstrations.  Our SCORE missionaries David and Marianella visited the village in January and distributed water filters to the members of the church, so on our visit we were giving out the filters to all the people of the village who do not attend church.  Also, a man from Colombia who had heard about the filters made a two day trek by foot and bus to get water filters for his village and neighboring villages. It is not safe to go to Colombia due to a lot of guerilla activity, so this man was extremely excited to take the filters back to his village. Jeremiah and I presented the water filters and showed the people of the village how they worked , while David Fernandez translated for the group.  The people from the village were amazed at how clean the water was, as they tried water for the first time through their filters It will most definitely change their lives, as many of the children get sick from the dirty and contaminated water. After the demonstration we split up with the different families and helped them put their filters together.  Following the filters, Kira and I shared our testimonies with the people of the village.  They were mostly people who did not attend the church, so this was a good opportunity to share with them about Jesus.  Also, David (SCORE missionary) was able to share with them the Gospel and hopefully many will  begin to attend the local church.  With time to spare before lunch, and the kids still in school, it was time for some good ol' American football.  Once again, Taylor Groff proceded to "throw" the game away with his season leading 10th interception.....in 3 days.  During the game, word spread throughout the village about the filters, and Coach Van Pelt put together 10 more filters as families brought their buckets to the church.  Amy was also was able to visit families who already have the filters and follow up on how they are working.  This was very crucial in maintaining their effectiveness.  In all, we put together a total of 45 water filters.  After the football game, we took a walk down to the river to cool off before lunch.  Jeremiah was "bit by flesh eating piranhas", only to discover they were minnows nibbling on his toes.  David F., Taylor Groff, and John followed two boys to a tree in the river that served as a 20 foot high dive. This was an incredible, once in a lifetime, Panamanian experience to say the least.

 Lunch consisted of rice, fried plantains, and chicken with some fresh cucumbers and tomatoes on the side. Whiffle ball ensued after lunch, followed by kick ball led by Zach and Wes, while some of us accepted the challenge to a game of volleyball against the adults in the village. We were pushed to the limit, however, we prevailed winning 2 games out of 3. We were caught off guard by one of the villagers with his great serving ability. While the kickball game and volleyball games were going on, Taylor Miller was giving out shoulder rides, carrying around kids, and playing 1 on 10 dodge ball (It was so cute) Lets just say she didn't have a chance. A good time was had by all.  Towards the of the afternoon we held an Easter Egg type candy hunt for the kids.  We scattered candy throughout the field as David F. huddled up the kids for their epic candy hunt. God answered our prayers today, as the rain held off for the first time, allowing us to spend more time with the children. As we left the village, the kids raced beside our bus as we settled in for our really, really , ridiculously long and bumpy ride home.

Guess what was for dinner?! You guessed it! Riiiiiiice and chicken! BUT a homemade apple pie for dessert was just what the doctor called for. A doubles ping pong tournament was the main event of the evening.  David and Jeremiah had the unlucky draw of playing Coach VP and Amy in the first round.  While Meg and I powered our way to the finals against Wes and Taylor Groff.  It was a pretty one-sided finals, with Wes and Taylor taking the title.  Coach Van Pelt gave a devo on Nehemiah and how we can be servant leaders on and off the playing field, which was a great way to end the evening.


We are all looking forward to working with the school kids tomorrow as we are running basketball and baseball clinics allllll day long.  We are so thankful for the little things like running water, flushing out toilets, and being able to take hot showers after a long sweaty day. 


God Bless and goodnight.

-Derek