Hola amigos! Sorry for the delay in this blog post. We have been very busy these couple days and also very tired. I think a lot of it has to do with laziness as well though. But anyways, yesterday was a wonderful day in Panama. We got up early, ate breakfast, and headed out to a local village to go and visit.
Heading out to the island near Gamboa.
We were accompanied by David “bueno” and his wife and child. They go out to this village every Wednesday and talk to the local people about God and the bible. The villages we went to are two tribes named the Wounaan and Emberas. There are approximately 10 families in each tribe. It was amazing to see all the local people and the way that they lived.
Bananas or Plantains?
We got to play some footsul with the kids in the village. All of them were a lot younger than us but they all were great at footsul. For those of you who don't know what footsul is, it is a type of game like soccer. Except the field is about the size of a basketball court, there are only 5 people on a team and the ball is much smaller and harder than a soccer ball. It was a fun and competitive game.
After the game we took a tour of the villages. We saw all the huts the people lived in, all the happy children that were so excited to see us, and we even saw a Wounaan dog that was “laughing” at all of our jokes. We got to end of the village right at the edge of a nearby lake and the view was so beautiful! At the end of our visit we got to check out and buy some the souvenirs that the locals had handmade.
We headed back to our home in paradise (Paraiso) where we had some time to just relax and bond as a team. We ate lunch at a nearby Chinese restaurant that was right off of the Panama Canal. We got to see the huge cargo ships go by as we were eating our chew mien and fried rice. After lunch we began to get ready for our two footsul matches in Panama City. Heading to the game I thought that we were going to get destroyed by Panamanian official footsul teams, but we actually didn't do too bad. We won our first game 3-2, but then lost our next game 4-1. I think I would take 1-1 for our first time playing footsul together. I was goalie for the games and was scared out of my mind. The ball is much harder and the people blast then from 5- 10 feet away sometimes. Overall we did well and I’ll take 6 goals allowed in 2 games anytime especially for being my first time ever playing footsul. At the end of the games we had the opportunity to speak to players from the other teams.
Jeremy shared his testimony and Jayson also spoke to the kids (in Spanish) about the gospel and Jesus Christ. They all seemed very open to what we had to say. Not only did we speak with the players, but we also got to speak to some field hockey players who were practicing in the same gym we were playing in. Again Jeremy shared his testimony and Jayson spoke to them more. It great to see how God plans things or us. We didn't expect to speak to those field hockey players, but it was God’s plan for us to minister to them. Our expectations are always less then what God actually plans for us during this trip.
I want to thank everyone for their prayers and support! See you guys in a couple days!!
Hasta luego!
Joey and the team
Seems like you are having an amazing time in which you are doing amazing work! I pray you continue to grow on your journey as those around you grow as well! The pictures are beautiful. We all miss you and pray God keeps you all safe in his heart! I can't express how I am so proud of you not only in the determination you have in a sport, passing the word of God along to others but also the way you have blossomed into such a great young man! We love you!!!
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