Wednesday PM, January 9

We had another fun-filled, action-packed day here in Panama. This morning we had a delicious breakfast on the floor below where we are staying. I had a healthy bowl of honey bunches of oats topped off with a little dab of a lucky charms knock-off. We left around 8:30 because we were headed to a prison. The prison is for juveniles who have broken the law and were penalized with time in a facility but were too young to be placed in a normal prison. The kids’ ages ranged from 15-20 and there were a few exceptions who were older. We were told that about 80% of the kids were convicted of some type of theft. The facility was newly constructed and top-of-the-line.

The kids shared a cell with one other person and there were four cells to a building. Each building had its own futsal and basketball court, which was fenced in by barbed wire. The facility offered work for the kids and could choose from a variety of trades to learn. The facility was training the kids in cooking, sewing, carpentry, and also computer technology. Our team had the great opportunity to play futsal (small court soccer) with some of the kids. I think some of them were incarcerated because they were too good at soccer. It was fun to kick a ball around and sweat in the scorching sun with the kids. Afterwards we shared the gospel message. Luke shared his testimony which then Jayson translated into Spanish. I met a boy named Luis. He only has a few weeks left before he is to be released from juvenile prison. He has a relationship with one of the missionaries (Daniel) that brought us to the prison. Luis told the missionary that as soon as he is out of the prison he will call him. Today, when Luis saw the missionary his first question was, “Do you still have the same telephone number?” It was clear that he professed his faith to Christ when the missionary came to the prison the first time. Luis wants to serve at a church and learn more about God. It is exciting to know that were we able to share the gospel and also hand out the gospel of John. We can praise God for people like Luis who are going through so much and God has hand selected him to further His kingdom. Please keep Luis in prayer as his time is close to ending at the facility.

Also at night we had another scheduled game of futsal to play. It was a continuation from the tournament we were competing in yesterday night. Our team was pretty exhausted and beat up.

I, myself, have a lovely pair of open blisters on the balls of my feet to prove this sport can get intense. As a team we had a wonderful time of devotion before the game and then we were as ready as we were every going to be. At half-time, the score was 5-2 in favor of our team. I had a hat-trick, Jayson and David (a missionary who works with Score, also an amazing soccer player from Uruguay) each had a goal. The second half reflected our “elderly wisdom” as we began to grow tired and failed on defense.

The other team scored 5 consecutive unanswered goals. We just wanted the other team to feel good about themselves so we could present the gospel to them. The final score was 7-6 as we made a last effort to reach a tie. We may have lost the game but God definitely did work through us tonight. We shared the gospel with the opposing team and collected email addresses to stay in close contact with them.

Today was a long day and well spent. We are tired, but we are looking forward to visiting an orphanage first thing in the morning tomorrow and then we begin basketball.
God Bless!
-Jeremy and Gringos