Panama!

Just as a little recap from Miami, Tuesday and Wednesday were spent in intense drama training. We trained for two to three hours in the morning, and four to five in the afternoon, with just a few breaks. In between that, we had language and cultural training, and of course, FUAGNEM every night.

On Thursday, we left for Panama. Check in went really smoothly, as did our flights... it was only a few hours long, maybe three I think. I was SO SO SO excited to finally get to Panama! Our hotel is big, but our rooms are small. :) There are seven of us in our room, and we don't have beds either, just mattresses on the floor, which is fine. We also have hammocks on the balcony, which makes up for not having beds. :) Panama is a beautiful country, and our hotel really is smack dab in the middle of the rainforest. It is great, so peaceful, with really, really amazing views and you can see all kinds of monkeys and other rainforest-y animals outside of our windows.

Today was our first day of ministry, and it was really amazing. Our first stop was a school, which had somewhere around 200 or 300 kids, from preschool up on through sixth grade or so. One girl shared her testimony, and then we performed our drama. Our stage was a little bit small, so we altered a few parts a little bit, but it was totally fine. We got to go out and talk and play with the kids for a little bit. I started playing with some of the littlest kids... they were so cute and fun even though we couldn't talk to each other. I let them play with my China Doll fan, and I painted their faces. There was one little girl who came over and sat on my lap, but wouldn't talk to me, wouldn't even smile. I asked her teacher her name, and it was Michelle. Her teacher says she hardly ever talks to anyone. It was sad, but at least I was able to give her lots of hugs, and paint her face.

When we got to our second drama site, some kind of open-air shopping mall, I realized I didn't have my camera. All of our leaders and LITs tried to help me think of places where it could be, but after we had emptied out my bag and searched the bus, we deemed it must have gotten knocked out of my pocket in the school. One of our leaders called the school, but no one answered. They assured me we would go back and look for it, but in the meantime, we had to perform the second drama. We got to perform in the mall, and then we talked to the people again, as we always do. A couple of people came to Christ, and I got to talk to one teenager about my age who accepted Christ.

After lunch, we went back to the school, and sure enough, we found my camera right away! I'm still not sure what happened, or how it even fell out of my pocket, but at least we found it. No more putting the camera in my pockets!!!

Our third ministry site was some sort of basketball court. I had prayed at the beginning of the day for God to give me someone to look out for to talk to after one of the dramas, and I felt that I should look for someone who was pregnant or had a young baby. At the mall, I had seen a bunch of ladies with little babies, but none of them were able to stop and talk. As we were doing the drama at our third site, I was watching the audience, and there was no one that had a baby or was pregnant... I thought, "Well, maybe it's just not going to happen today." About five minutes before the drama was over, I saw a lady walk up and sit down, and I thought, "Hmm. Maybe that's her... she looks pregnant."

After the drama, I took a translator and went over to talk to her. I explained the whole drama to her, since she hadn't come in until right at the end, and then I asked her if she understood. She said yes, she did, and she wanted to accept Jesus as her Savior. I was so excited for her, and we prayed together, and then I asked her if she was pregnant, and she said that yes she was (She was 8 months along). We got to pray for her baby too, and then we went back to the hotel for dinner and FUAGNEM.

The food here is really good, and of course, FUAGNEM is as well. I got asked by my leaders tonight to speak at FUAGNEM when they asked for some people to come up and share stories from the day, so I did. (I hate speaking in front of crowds!) Now, I'm getting ready to go up to my room - curfew is in just a few minutes.

Thanks so much for praying for us! We are seeing God do amazing things and we are having so much fun. I will update again when I can. :)

Miami - Day 1 Recap!

I was scheduled to leave Sacramento at 12:30am on July 2nd, but we sat waiting for over a half hour after we had boarded the plane before we actually took off. I had a layover in Houston around 6am (that's Houston time) and I felt kind of sick, but I'm feeling a lot better now. I arrived in Miami around 11am (Florida time) and there were leaders waiting for me at the airport. We got back to the hotel just before 1pm, and I was able to check in, get my name tag and devotional and such, and eat some lunch.

We just had some free time in the afternoon while everyone was arriving. I was able to meet up with a couple of old friends from last year, as well as meeting all the new people on my team this year. :) Everyone seems really nice :) We had pizza for dinner in our rooms, and finally, FUAGNEM (Fired Up And Going Nuts Every Minute, our evening youth service) at 7pm. I was SO excited for FUAGNEM. After FUAGNEM, we had team time and drama tryouts.

I got the part of the China Doll. It's one of the toys in the drama. Ironically, that's the costume I had to bring as well - but I'm excited about my part in the drama. :) After drama tryouts last night, we went up to our rooms, got ready for bed, and had tuck-ins. Tuck-ins are basically when one of our LITs comes in and talks and prays with us before bed. We didn't end up getting to sleep until after 12:30..... or maybe even 12:45. Thankfully I was able to sleep well, even in the hotel bed.

Please be praying for strength, health and rest for us - our days will be filled to the brim with training and FUAGNEMs and team times and such. Also, pray for team unity and that our team would continue to bond - so far, it seems like a really great mix of people, so thank you for praying! And pray that we would be able to learn the drama quickly and be able to perform it well!

Thank you so much for praying! I'll try to update again tonight. :)

Before I go..

I feel like it would be incomplete for some reason not to write one more post before I take off. So here I am. I am so, so, so excited. :)

It is still hard for me to believe that we'll be leaving for the airport in just one hour. How crazy is that? How did we go from filling out applications, to fundraising and buying plane tickets, to shopping for needed items, to packing, to... to finally being ready to go? Where did the time go? How did this happen?

I'm all dressed in my trip shirt and such, bags packed and waiting. I still feel like I'm a little bit in a dreamlike state. I mean, WOAH! Is it really here already? I feel like I'm just waiting for someone to jump out and pinch me to wake up, to say, "Just a dream, Rachel - It was just a dream." But, no! It's really happening... and I am so excited.

As a random side note, I have decided I do not like late-night flights. Usually whenever I fly somewhere, we get a flight as early in the morning as possible, so it's like, wake up and then go straight to the airport. When it's late at night... well, its just ongoing waiting all. day. long. After I got home from church today, I have been just waiting, waiting, waiting - everything is ready to go, just counting down until it's time to go. I've been getting more and more anxious as it gets closer. ARGH! All of this waiting is driving me nuts. :)

My flight leaves tonight, so please be praying for safety and health, not only for myself, but for everyone on our team.  I'll try to update as much as I can while in Miami and Panama.

Again, thank you so much for your continued support and prayers. :)

Next stop - Miami, Florida!