Two weeks left on the race, how is this real?
This month, we have been staying in Boquete, Panama. Boquete is A LOT different from Bocas del Toro. We now live in the mountains! The air is cooler, the nearest beach is 2hrs away, it rains way more, we have neighbors, and there is an actual town we can take a bus to! Talk about game changers! It’s funny how much you begin to appreciate the little things when you are used to a life without them. Life just becomes a whole lot sweeter. Our time in Bocas was sweet in its own way as it prepared us for the things we would be doing here in Boquete. Our slow, quiet ministry days on the island turned into fast-paced, work-filled days in the mountains. (Talk about a well needed rest before the homestretch)
Ministry here has been exciting! I often find myself saying “we are doing it all!” & we really are doing so much. We have gotten to serve and partner with various different ministries around Boquete. Each week here looks pretty much the same because we stick to a ministry schedule. Which is such a WOW thing for me. — This race has yanked me out of my comfort zone, in the best way. I came to the race as a strict, “stay-to-the-schedule” type person, and that was quickly changed when I realized that a schedule on the race, during a pandemic is almost non-existent. And the times we did have a schedule… God always had other plans for us. I say all that because having a weekly schedule has been like a long awaited present for me.
SO let’s take a look at a week of ministry in Boquete, Panama!
Sweet, sweet Mondays. Mondays tend to get such a bad wrap, but Mondays here are one of the sweetest days of the week. It’s ADVENTURE DAY! Each week we are blessed to have an off day of pure fun. Lately, we have taken our adventure days to head into the main town of Boquete & spend the day exploring there. It is such a beautiful place, & even that is an understatement. There are perfectly decorated houses, the mountains fade into clouds. The yummiest food & cutest shops! The scenery in town is very similar to a small United States mountain town.
Our Tuesdays usually consist of Base projects. Like Bocas del Toro, we are staying at another YWAM base here in Boquete. On Tuesdays, we have a morning of intercession then we do various jobs around the base. We clean different rooms, help prepare meals, and tidy up the flower beds. Anything that needs to be done on the base, we do it on Tuesdays!
Wednesdays mean Greenhouse days! Each week we partner with Global Food Providers, a ministry here in Panama. Dr. Daniel Daves, a man from Texas, brought this ministry to Panama to help work against global food and nutrition poverty. This ministry has many moving parts to it, but it has been such a cool experience to get to work alongside, and gain knowledge of things that we normally don’t draw our focus to.
English teaching is every Thursday evening! During the day we help on Daniel Daves’ farm, then the workers gather themselves and the children surrounding for an english lesson at the end of the day. We usually split into a group of adults and children. It has been such a learning experience for us as well, because before the race most of us have never had the opportunity to teach english.
Fridays is like our “leftover” day. It’s the day that we look at everything we did that week & kinda say “well, what didn’t we do?” So, every Friday looks a bit different. Sometimes we go into David, the larger city around us, and do morning evangelism! Evangelizing is something that our entire squad is so passionate about, so it has been a great opportunity to have time set aside specifically for spreading the good news of the gospel. Other times, we spend the day at Jorge & Jessica’s property. Jorge & Jessica are exceptional people who were called to Panama on missions. The Lord has big plans for their future, and we have gotten to help a bit with furthering those plans as well as just getting to know their stories, and how COOL they really are! Or we visit other ministries around the area. Whatever Fridays’ bring… it is always a lot of fun.
Each Saturday consists of rest. On Saturdays, we sabbath. Everyone does a lot of their own thing. Sometimes sabbaths include a quiet day with the Lord, a hike through His creation, or just a day to be present with the Lord and get things done. Everyone rests differently, and each Saturday is filled with rest!
Then… my favorite day of the week, Sunday! Sundays are just so special to me for no particular reason. Sundays have always been my favorite day of the week, and just because I am not home… doesn’t mean that changes! Sundays here in Boquete mean city-wide quarantine… which is not the most fun thing. However, we wake up and get to eat cereal (believe me, this is such a treat to a group of young missionaries) every Sunday morning along with a house church! Then the rest of the day consists of quality time and fun!
This is what each week in Boquete, Panama has looked like for my team and I! We have little things that switch in our schedule here & there, but for the most part ministry stays pretty consistent. Ministry here has been exceptionally great and rewarding for us.To see the ministries that were started here, then we got to come in and join them, and now as we prepare to leave, we know that these ministries are still growing here. It is such an awesome thing to see how hands on and obedient people are to the Lord’s will. Like I have said before, Panama is one of the Lord’s hidden gems, and I can’t wait for more people to see how spiritually and physically beautiful this place actually is.
