Wind, Walk and Winter

All is fine and dandy here in Hot Panama. I just celebrated (not really), my 2 year anniversary here in San Felix. It’s been a fantastic 2 years, and I’m settling in for many, many more. As long as my health is good, and God wants me here, I’m stayin’.

Wind. March is the windiest time of the year by far. This month was no different. The winds in the Comarca were terrible! Many homes were severely damaged, trees snapped off 15-20 feet in the air. Sheet metal from the roofs were flying everywhere. Somehow, I had not heard of any injuries. One man I talked to said” I was sleeping and heard a loud noise. When I opened my eyes I could see the stars.” What made the non-injury report incredible is the fact that almost every house has big rocks and tree branches on their roofs to hold them down in the windy times. How none of the rocks fell inside the houses and didn’t hurt anyone is amazing. Be sure to check out the newly uploaded pics. I was helping the one homeowner repair his house when I was pulled away to address another ‘emergency’ going on at the same time.

That ‘emergency’ was the fact that the Hato Chami school had 100 more students enroll this year than last. Quite a large jump. Hence the new problem of not having enough seats for everyone. I repaired a ton, and was able to get 30 chairs from the San Felix school for them. San Felix received a lot of new chairs this year, and had a pile of the old chairs just waiting for someone to claim. Transporting the chairs was another problem. The school paid the local ‘cooperativo’ to go with me to San Felix for the chairs. On the way back up the mountain there was another protest! Road was blocked for 4 hours.  This time the teachers were up in arms because the government wasn’t responding to their requests to fix the schools that were in very bad shape.  Thumb twiddling time…not. I broke out my trusty bag of balloons, got out my camera and had a ball with all the kids in the area. I had a bunch of kids around me and one lady came over to me and said “What are you doing with these kids?” Sounded like she wanted to know if I was doing something I shouldn’t have been doing. Once she was on the same page, she asked for her picture AND, asked me to deliver a paper copy to her house when it was ready. How she changed her tune.

Walk. I went for a 7 hour walk down the mountain recently to see if my body could handle it. Drank lots of water and gatorade. It WAS long. I did make it ok, but for a couple of days my legs were talking to me. It is amazing how many ‘uphill parts’ there are  when walking down the mountain.

Now why would I do that. Stay posted and I will tell you ‘the rest of the story…..’.

Winter. As the March winds blow through the states, marking the seasonal change from spring to summer; so do the March winds here signal the seasons changing from summer to winter. Well, not exactly winter as us from the Northeast know it. Winter here means the average daily temperature drops a whopping 5 degrees and it rains almost every day. This kind of winter suites me just fine. Winter also lasts 8 months here. Poor me! HeeHee!

Okay, now we covered wind, walk and winter. What else is happening……………..?

When working on the school chairs on a Saturday, a little boy quietly asked me for a balloon. Usually I have lots, but not this trip. Later he asked me for a toy car. Again I apologized and said I didn’t have and gifts with me. We went through this again a while later when he asked me for a ball. I have to admit I was a little frustrated when he, again, asked for something. He asked for a doll. I couldn’t help myself from asking why a little boy wanted a doll. He replied ‘it’s for my little sister’. Gulp!

Here is this persistent child, knowing that I had nothing for him, still trying to get something for his sister. You gotta love their hearts. Needless to say, when I got home, I bought the toy car, doll, and brought balloons and a ball I had and gave them to him.

I delivered 2 more wheelchairs, hospital supplies, received more blessings out of the blue, so to speak; was able to Skype into a person in Hospice to offer words of encouragement and prayer, and continue to try to help a family of 9 children with their basic needs.

Life is good! God is GREAT! Easter is almost here. Enjoy the Lenten services and reflect on just exactly what Easter is all about. The resurrected Christ grants ALL OF US the opportunity to spend eternity with him. Repent, pray, and live the Bible. May you, too, be blessed beyond your wildest imagination.

Bob

Needy helping needy..a beautiful thing

When you are blessed to have most everything you ever wanted or needed, it is a good thing when you give something, either time or material things, to folks in need. It is expected of us, by God, to do this. He didn’t bless our lives to hoard everything. He blesses us so we can be a blessing to others. There is joy in giving. There is joy in doing what we are supposed to be doing in the first place.

I want to share two ‘different’ types of stories, from two different countries, where joy was in the giving. I’m sure I could come up with more, it is just these two that I feel led to share.

Back in the late 90′s, when God was preparing me to be a missionary, I was a foster parent for a few years. What a fantastic experience it was. It was also a time for personal growth. It was in December, and there was a ‘Toys for Tots’ drive going on at Walmart. I had 3 foster children at the time, all siblings. I explained to them what the ‘Toys for Tots’ toy drive was. They listened intently. They also came to our  as foster kids with next to nothing. Now, they were receiving an allowance ( for good behavior) and they decided THEY wanted to use their allowance to buy toys for the need(ier) kids. I had a lump in my throat as they chose just the right gift to give. The two year (almost 3) year old used his money to buy a toy truck for another child. To see him give it so lovingly just made me well up inside. He didn’t have many things to play with now he is giving a brand spanking new toy truck to someone he didn’t know. WOW! The kids were doubly blessed when the local radio station came over to them and asked their names while live on the air. They were so excited. I was so proud of them! I still am. We are all still friends, and I will always be pop-pop to them.

The second story I want to share showed up on Facebook, by a missionary friend of mine almost an hour away working in the Comarca in the town of Soloy. This is a very poor part of Panama, as is all the Comarca. Spoken by Cheryl:

“Yesterday I went to pick up my village kids to take them up to the mountain church….they were standing outside of their wood huts with dirt floors and I noticed they had big bags in their hands.  They got in my car and were so EXCITED.. I asked what they had in the bags,  they told me they had clothes for the poor children…. ♥
…….yep!  My heart was so happy.  They are learning it’s more important to give to others than keep for yourself……..I love it!”

This isn’t made-for tv stuff my friends. This is happening in real-time, in real lives, by all kinds of people. Thanks be to God for those giving with a cheerful heart. Thanks be to God that his children understand that we are NOT the owners of what we have, only stewards. Thanks be to God that these innocent, helpless kids are continuing to show us adults the right way to live.

What does God want you to take away from these stories? What touched your heart? Are you ready to respond? Let me know your thoughts.

Joyfully Serving Him,

Bob

It’s Robin again……

Hello Everyone!
It’s been a week since I left Panama, and I have been really enjoying all the American luxuries, like air conditioning and hot water. Now that I’m back in college again, Panama seems very far away. My experiences sound almost unbelievable: A family living at the top of a mountain gave me the Ngöbe name Melygo, I bonded with orphans in David, and collected sand dollars on a beach in the middle of January. It was a very special experience for me to hand out donations with both my father and my former youth leader, and the whole group grew very close playing uno and doing devotions at the end of every day.  A particularly special experience for me occurred at the orphanage, when one of the older girls started taking pictures with my camera, and took an amazing portrait of my father which was better than any photo I had taken on that trip. Having pictures on my camera that were taken by a Panamanian child was so cool for me, and really made me realize that the children I met are not just cute faces, but they all have talents and dreams that I can’t even imagine. Watching that girl use my big, complicated camera like a pro, or a boy in one of the families we visited expertly make balloon hats, really made me realize how alike these children were to myself, or any American child. It took getting to know some of the Panamanian people for me to understand that whether children grow up in a mansion or a straw hut, they all have dreams and individual interests. I hope that the donations I brought made some difference in people’s lives, but I know that my experiences in Panama probably changed me more than anyone else. That is why serving people face-to-face is so important, it is transformative on both sides, and people who went to serve often come back changed for the better.  Thanks for all your support!
-Robin

Where do I begin……

Where do I begin to tell how wonderful the last few weeks have been. I recently had a mission team from my home church visit. It kept me busy having them here, and then going right to a 3 day youth retreat. All good though, as I was able  to share the latest happenings with them. We did many things  while spreading the love of Jesus with all. I’ve had a young lady, Robin Rowland, write ( on my blog) a bit about her experiences here in San Felix. What a remarkable girl she is. She truly has had her heart open and touched by the poorest of the poor here. Her willingness to help was very appreciated. And as you know, she did help a lot. A week later, her dad and 3 others came and all of us went about the business of being a disciple of Jesus and we helped those in need, visited 2 clinics/hospitals, handed our many gifts, played with the orphans in the orphanage, painted, swam, learned more about the culture, played volleyball with the local youth group, ate lots of holjadres, and spread the love of Jesus in many different forms.

 There was plenty of typical entertainment too. Including very loud music till 4 in the morning!!!! We got to see some folkloric dancing, drank tootie-frutie milkshakes, ate ice cream (of course), had hot dogs on a stick, and ate empanadas. There were parties going on day here while they were here, certainly not typical.

Lives were touched as we visited the Comarca Ngabe-Bugle. Whether it was walking the streets or visiting some families, hearts were touched by the poverty AND the beauty of the mountains. Some folks don’t seem to have much, but, when you ask them what they need, more often than not, they say they don’t need anything. On one side, it is a bit confusing. But, on the other side, it is greatly appreciated that they are NOT jumping at the question and trying to take advantage of the ‘rich gringos’ wanting to help them. This was particularly true when visiting a family I had met recently. It is a family of 9, mom died 1 1/2 years ago. Dad is a migrant coffee worker in another part of the country. The 8 children are taken care of, wonderfully, by a 16 year old girl! She is comfortable with me because I was helping to teach English in her class. They have NO furniture. NO beds or bedding. NO parental protection or guidance. I need to correct that. They NOW have mattresses for almost all the kids. What a responsibility for the teenage girl! Robin and I took the mattresses and some small gifts to them. when the team was here, they also took some things, and made them friendship bracelets. It would have been very interesting to read the minds of the mission team as they toured the house. when I asked Miriam, the 16 yr. old, what she needed, her answer was : We are doing ok. We don’t need anything!” Are you kidding me?  Has she looked around the house?  she was right though. If we have our health, food and a roof over our heads, and GOD in our hearts, we have all we need. As North Americans, we need LOTS of ‘stuff’ to feel comfortable. Not so in Latin America. Later I did get out of her that she needed some sort of kitchen cabinet to keep food and utensils in. I have some things coming down in a shipping container for me, however, I can wait, this family has touched my heart too much to ‘hoard’ stuff I can do without. On their wall is a plaque that says “I can do all things with God who strengthens me”.  This poor family is a living testimony to that.

The same day the mission team left, I was off to the Comarca again with 22 teenagers for a 3 day retreat. What a blessing that was. The topic this retreat was “Being a disciple or missionary of Jesus” . They took what they learned into the surrounding villages, reading scripture, praying for the families, and inviting the families to a special mass back at our ‘base’, Cerro Flores. Boy, was it windy the whole time. I can now understand why there are large rocks on the roofs of the houses, so the wind doesn’t blow the roof off! We walked and walked. We prayed and prayed. We invited and invited. The next day, the day of the mass, the fruits of their labor were evident. We had 65 people packed inside the tiny Chapel in Cerro Flores! personally, I was emotional about it. These kids walked the walk, and talked the talk, and people listened and responded. Thanks be to God for these fine teens. They remind me so much of the best teens in the world back in my home church in New Tripoli. Okay, so I am a bit biased.

An opportunity presented itself for me to be a model for them on being a disciple. Two men were carrying a very sick woman in a home-made hammock hanging from a long stick. I took her to the local hospital for care. It turns out she had to be taken to San Felix by ambulance, because she was so bad.

Enough for now. I hope all those reading this from the northeast United States aren’t too cold. I am still sweating here.

Joyfully Serving Him,

Bob Moyer

Comarca Yesterday and Orphanage Tomorrow

Hello all,

We had some life-changing experiences at the  over the last two days, and shared a lot of love with the kids up there. Unfortunately I have run out of time to talk about it untill sometime tomorrow, because we will all need a TON of sleep to prepare for a day of shopping for supplies for the orphanage, playing with the kids, and hopefully unloading supplies from the container we have coming in. So for tonight, I’ll just leave you with some photos from the Comarca and the orphanage the last time we were there! Enjoy!

-Robin

Arrival of The Team

Hello!

The team arrived this Sunday, during the biggest dance party of the year, held in the mission. It was a really fun night, with almost 500 people, a band, lots of food, and some pretty crazy dance moves from the older gentlemen of the community. Even some Canadian college student’s who were staying the night at the mission, couldn’t keep up with some of these old guys! Bobby Moe had a long line of ladies wanting to dance with him, and we certainly appreciated how smooth the court was  thanks to our concrete work during the dance! The team arrived that night pretty tired, although they did get some dancing in.

Yesterday at the school reviewing English, and then took a ”rest and relaxation” day, with a tour of the mission, nap time, and a trip to the beach. We have been talking about how God calls us to service in our daily bible studies, and we got the chance to put that in action today when we spent most of the time painting benches for the mission. It was some hot, dirty work, but fun to do, especially with 6 people to share the work with. We also had a little boy named Elias, who was hanging around the mission while his mother worked, following us around, and although we couldn’t really communicate with him well, we had fun playing soccer and hide and seek with him. I especially was very touched when Elias brought us three oranges today, as a thank you for some orange slices I had given him yesterday. Tomorrow we head to the Comarca, for a two-day trip where we hope to hand out some of the almost 300 POUNDS of Donations we received. We have been very blessed with an abundance of shoes, craft supplies, medical items, and school supplies to donate, and we can’t wait to start handing out items. It will be very exciting in the Comarca, as well as the whole suitcase of supplies we will be giving to the orphanage in David. After the first visit to the orphanage, I am so eager to go back, because it was such an amazing experience. While we are in the Comarca, we will not have internet, so I hope to talk a little more about the orphanage once we return. Goodbye for now!

-Robin

Language Barrier

Hello Everyone, Robin here!

The past few days have involved painting, beach trips, and lots and lots of sweeping as we prepare for the big dance tonight. As I reach the end of my week here alone with Bobby Moe, and welcome the arrival of the mission team, I have been reflecting on how this week has gone. I have realized that what most affected the way I have interacted with others, and my attitude through the day, has been the language barrier between me and most of the people here in Panama. I am usually pretty chatty, and I love to sing silly songs with kids and talk to new people. However, because I speak very little spanish, I have found myself listening a lot more than talking, and for most of the people here in the mission, I probably seem like a very quiet person. Being forced to listen hasn’t been such bad thing, despite how frustrating it can be when people ask me questions and I can’t answer them.  I have been able to observe people much more than usual, and because I can’t really talk, I have to put my trust in Bobby and the people around me, that they will tell me what I need to know, and that they aren’t talking behind my back. It can be pretty scary to sit and watch people talk right next to you when you don’t have any way of knowing what they are saying, and I’ll admit, there have been some moments when I’m convinced that everyone is making fun of the pale Gringa who can get sunburnt after mere minutes in the sun. However, I am always put to shame when Bobby translates, because the people in Panama are always much more kind them I give them credit for. People have patiently repeated themselves over and over until I understood them, and always say hello to me, even though I have never had the chance to talk to them. And the children I have met have no problem chattering away to me in spanish even though I can’t understand them, because as long as I can kick a soccer ball and throw a frisbee, they are happy to hang out with me.

This week has made me put my trust in others, and has really made me aware of how scary it can be not to understand what others are saying. I can’t imagine what it would be like to go to school in a country where you weren’t comfortable with the language, and I have a lot more respect for all the foreign exchange students I have met over the years. I hope when I return to the United States I will remember how it feels to be an outsider, and I pray that I will be as patient and understanding as the people in Panama have been for me. Because smiles, hugs, and kind actions are understandable in every language.