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July 19, 2005
I want to sincerely thank all of you who prayed for me and this
trip. Because of you
and God’s awesome power, I’m home safe and sound after
spending seventeen incredible days with the staff of BRIO magazine
and 450 teen girls…and a few very brave guys.
What an unforgettable adventure!
We first met in
Miami
where we divided into thirteen teams.
Somehow, I was blessed to be part of the very best team
(according to us!), team # 5 – (“Aaah-um…ooom gawah…team
five has got the pow-uh!”) For
three days the teens worked hard learning their parts in a drama,
“The Toymaker and Son,” an analogy for the gospel.
(Photo 762)
June 30th, we loaded into planes and headed for
the breathtakingly beautiful rainforest country of
Panama
! (photo 769)
Our days started early – breakfast at
7 a.m.
– and were packed with activity! (Photo
926)
(Left to right in this photo are my friends, Kathy, Dr.
Ami, and my roommate Jill; three fabulous women!)
By
9:00
, we were loaded on our bus and headed for some type of ministry,
making sure we had on board an ample supply of water.
Oh, yeah, and the daily crate of bananas and bread for our
gourmet lunches of PBJs …creamy, crunchy or just jelly?
(Photo 991)
Our team presented the drama 18 times at
schools and an orphanage! (Photos: 933,
931, 938,
998, 1004,
943, 936).
At nearly every performance, hundreds of students and some
teachers raised their hands to accept Jesus.
Sometimes it seemed as though the entire student body stood
in response. I
didn’t take photos of that; it was too sacred.
When you multiply the number of teams by the
responses to Christ each team encountered, we know that multiple
thousands of lives were impacted.
Our entire group’s ministry was covered by Panamanian
radio and TV; the whole country became aware of Brio’s presence
and welcomed us.
Though the blazing sun and suffocating
humidity taxed even native Panamanians, I never heard our kids
complain; they were such troopers, keeping their attitudes in
check and their water bottles close at hand.
(photo 934)
Chrissie, one of our LITs (Leaders in
Training), kept our sound equipment running.
And when our drama’s Spanish dancer became ill, Chrissie
came to the rescue by instantly stepping…or should I say
dancing…into the role. She
was fantastic! (photo 1003)
Besides performing, the teams ministered
through practical work projects.
We painted a school. (photos: 771, 773,
774, 775,
776, and 787)
Some of the locals joined in the fun.
(photos: 792, 793) Even
after tackling the oil-based paint with turpentine, many of us had
blue “souvenirs” for days afterward.
(photo: 778)
How I got it on my elbow, I’ll never know, but who looks
at elbows anyway?
Our visit to the Embera Indian tribe, hosted
by “Panama Pete” (Photo: 814)
was a highlight. After
first traveling by bus, we reached the rainforest tribe by
motorized canoes. (photos: 823,
825, 840)
The scenery along the
Chagris
River
was an awesome testimony to God’s creative artistry.
(Photos 829,
833)
After a musical welcome and official greeting
by the head of the tribe, we were given a tour of their community.
(Insert photos: 843,
863, 873,
874) I
loved listening to Miguel Flaco, their botanical doctor, describe
the medicinal properties of vegetation in the rainforest.
(photo: 879) When I
asked if I could photograph scars he received from the bite of a
venomous Bushmaster snake, (the largest pit viper in the world, it
reaches a length of from 8 to 12 feet!), he obliged by quickly
picking a leave to show which type of plant saved his life. (photo: 881)
Look at how far apart those fang marks are!
After a delicious meal of tilapia (fish) and
fried plantain which the Emberas graciously prepared (Photo:
883), we learned a
couple of their dances (Photo: 895). The day was
topped off with an opportunity to admire and purchase crafts and
chat informally with the villagers.
(Photo: 901, 902,
904, 900) When
it was time to hit the trail for the canoes, we had lots of
escorts! (photos: 907,
908, 909,
910, 911,
and 912).
Our evenings were no less busy.
Each night at FUAGNEM (acronym for “Fired Up and Going
Nuts Every Minute!” which, by the way, was no understatement),
we heard speakers such as Susie Shellenberger, editor of Brio, (Photo: 1009),
Shannon Ethridge, Angela Thomas and Donna Partow (Photo: 1031), all dynamic authors and communicators!
Amy Stroup, multi-talented songwriter and musician, led
worship! (I love
your CD, Amy!)
As a team, some of our best worship happened
spontaneously while we packed into the room of our fabulous
leaders, Kerry and Jenny Abernathy (Photos: 942, 922). Thanks,
Kerry & Jen, for sharing your lives, your room, your munchies
and your chocolate with us! Oh,
and your stamina! The
Energizer Bunny has nothing on you guys!
A very precious part of the trip for me was
getting to know some of the BRIO staff.
They’re the best! Krishana
and Papa Kraft were a huge blessing.
(Photo 802)
And, Michelle is a gift straight from God!
(Photo 803)
While I’m thanking people, I want to
include our other two LITs, Kelley Langdon, our faithful
videographer, (Photo: 944)
and Scott Gross, who, in his “spare” time, (photo: 999) (that’s him with Prince Preston), is a United States
Air Force Academy Cadet. (Photo: 1007).
Each girl who attended either of the two
seminars I presented on my book, “Secrets About Guys (that
shouldn’t be secret),” received a free copy.
It was fun to catch them reading it.
(photo: 997) (See “Secrets
About Guys” for more photos.)
We also made trips to
Monkey
Island
, (Photo: 968)
and the
Panama Canal
. (Photos: 1017,
1022, 1024) The
aerial tram ride, through the rainforest was amazingly peaceful,
quiet, and gorgeous! (Photos:
989,
979, 980,
and 983)
Only when our guide pointed them out were we able to spot
the well-camouflaged Iguanas!
I heard they’re good to eat.
Um…no, thank you!
On our last day before departing
Panama
, we made a trek to the local market where we power-shopped for a
half-hour (Photo 1026)
and then visited a mall. After
FUAGNEM that evening, it was time to pack, sign t-shirts and pray
for Scott and Chrissie, who had to leave earlier than the rest of
Team # 5. The rest of
us posed for a group photo in the
Panama
airport the next day. (Photo
1036)
Hey, Kelley! Get
in the picture! (Photo
1037)
Finally back in Miami,
we scattered different directions, heading toward home…all over
the globe…South Africa, Canada,Aruba,
and throughout the states…from Alaska
to Florida
and California to
New Hampshire! It
was a tearful scene as Team # 5 hugged each other one last time
and said goodbye! If
we don’t see each other before, I’ll see you again at the
great reunion in Heaven, together with many more Panamanians!
My heartfelt thanks to everyone who prayed;
you did the knee work, we did the foot work.
And God gets the glory!
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