Mission Adventure teams, DTS...

The last two weeks have been a busy time and a fun time as Nathaniel worked with his Mission Adventures team from Virginia and I worked with a Medical Missions Trip from Connecticut. Since you all know how great Nathaniel is at remembering to take pictures...I have none from his group. But I did take some! So I hope you enjoy them. Three of the photos are of some of the great people we met in the village we went to named; Camaron Arriba (literally translated meaning 'Upper Shrimp'!). The other photo is of me translating for Jess as she did in-take for the patients we saw in the clinic. Jess and I were quite a pair, sometimes we even needed another translator so that we could go from their native language; Nogbe, to Spanish, and then I translated for Jess into English. Nathaniel and I both got to work with some great people. He was able to take his team to two different Embera Villages here in Panama. and also to Avenida Central which is a central location in Panama City where the team was able to do a program and draw quite a crowd!

One exciting moment from my trip was when the team put me on one of the first trucks out of the village since I was still sick with a flu that Richard and I caught up in the village, but we were delayed by a family waving us down from the side of the road. A man had been working with a Machete the night before and had badly cut his foot. He had been bleeding profusely through the night. God knows! We had two doctors and a nurse in the truck with us so they quickly went to work. They got him into the truck and we were able to take him to the local clinic to wait for the 'Ambulance' (really a 4x4 pick up truck) to come and take him to the hospital. I was really amazed at the provision of God. That man wouldn't have made it much longer with out some help.

Tomorrow starts another five months of working with a DTS. The group consists of 14 students, all English speaking! I really look forward to getting to know them. Two couples, seven single girls and three single guys. The majority are from the States but we have a girl from Norway, and a guy from Holland.

Please remember to lift up this group in prayer! Also us as leaders.

Blessings!

Some Days

There are some days when I look back on my life, on OUR life and just examine the things that God has done. I think it is always good to look back every once in a while because they say that 'hindsight' is 20/20. It also reminds me to give thanks. Where I was three years ago was not anywhere close to here. Actually Four years ago I was barely even thinking of being a missionary, but I told God that I did not want to go anywhere hot. Somewhere with a perfect temperature would be just fine. I remember telling God I didn't feel called to the University life, and that I was very confused about where I was even called TO. I don't think people actually teach swimming lessons all of their lives...do they?

But there is that verse:

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (NIV)

And there is also a verse in the Bible:

Isaiah 55:9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." NIV

TRUTH

The plans that God has laid out before us have been better than we would have ever planned for our selves. Although it is still very hot here.... But I look at these past years that I have had, two awesome years with my husband whom I married when I was 18 then we moved to Panama, and it has been awesome. And God has proven to us time and time again that He has brought us here for a reason and that He will take care of us.

I thank God for Nathaniel, I thank Him for our families and our friends, I thank Him for giving someone the brains to invent Skype so that it doesn't feel like I'm quite so far away from home because I can call whenever I need to, I thank Him for the people who are supporting us and allowing us to be here, and I thank Him for never leaving us or forsaking us. I thank Him for giving us life...there are so many things and my list could be huge.

So I will just say 'thank you God'.

'Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His love endures forever...'