Friday, January 11

After a fun and late evening with Daniel’s basketball team we woke for an 8 AM breakfast of pancakes. Daniel gave us a report on the previous evening’s testimonies and message of salvation. Five of the thirteen boys responded that they accepted Christ as their savior last evening. The previous number was 7; however 2 of them had done so previously. One wrote that he is “certain that it will change his life”. Another wrote that he has not accepted Christ yet but he believes he will soon make that decision. Yet another that had already accepted Christ previously wrote “to follow the path of God forever and to honor God.” One of the young men stated that he wants to see further change in his life because he doesn’t obey his parents and doesn’t behave well.

We then took the ½ mile walk back to the gymnasium for some more b-ball. We split into 6 teams of 3 per tem with each team have a gringo captain. We played one another for about two hours. The boys made significant improvement in their level of lay in just that short amount of time. You could see them trying to emulate our passing and a few learned “give and goes” for easy lay ups. The day before none of them drove to the basket.

Returning to Casa Paraiso we helped prepare lunch while the boys showered. After sandwiches, chips, fruit, and lemon lime tang we said our goodbyes to our new friends. We provided them with a list of our names for Facebook and have already received friend requests.

After their departure we showered and set out for some sightseeing. We visited the Ancon Hill - a steep 654-foot hill which overlooks Panama City and the canal.

It was under U.S. jurisdiction as part of the Panama Canal Zone for much of the 20th century and therefore was never developed like most of the surrounding urbanized parts of the city. As a result, it became a kind of an "island" of jungle in an urban area, where wildlife still survives cut off from other jungle areas. Great views!

We then drove out on the Amador causeway for an awesome seafood dinner. The causeway is a roadway and walking path that stretches from the mainland to four small islands in the Panama Bay (Naos, Culebra, Perico, and Flamenco Islands). It was constructed from rock that was removed from the construction of the Panama Canal. Joey didn’t want any part of the ceviche. Phenomenal batidos (fruit milkshakes).

Coach Haas