We landed in Panama City about an hour late. Myrl Brut, our Langhorne Rotary contact, successfully negotiated for two taxi vans to take the twelve of us and a large amount of luggage from the airport to the Albrook bus terminal. Unfortunately, the Continental Airlines delay caused us to miss the midnight bus to David and we had to wait in a somewhat deserted bus terminal for the next bus at 3:00 AM. The team made good use of the time finding food and napping in a bus waiting lounge. The “express” bus ride was smooth and only stopped a few times during the night including a morning stop to check our passports. After 6 hours and 5 minutes on an overnight bus ride we our stiff, aching, and sleep deprived bodies arrived in David – our home for the next week. We retrieved all of our luggage and set about recruiting 5 taxis to transport us to the hotel. Here is where we experienced our first hardship. In light of all that could go wrong, we are praising God that we are all safe and the mishap will not jeopardize our trip. In the midst of all the confusion of loading the taxis and giving directions to the hotel, a briefcase bag was stolen containing cash, a wallet, DVDs, charging cords, and miscellaneous items.
In today’s group devotions we were focusing on Expectations. Once again, our devotional really hit me between the eyes. One of the questions was “What if the situation is not as you expect?” We certainly did not expect the loss of some of our cash and valuables. We were challenged to look at how David responded to King Saul’s pursuit of him in Psalms 57:1,2. David cries out to God and despite the persecution of Saul he boldly states that he will take refuge in God. So shall we. Furthermore, our devotional challenged us that “many times little things affect our attitudes the most”. Isaiah 26:3 reminds us that if we keep our focus on God he will provide perfect peace. It is our desire and intention to keep the focus on God, not letting these little things prevent us from our goal of showing Christ’s love through deeds and actions as were reminded in a previous day’s devotions examining I John 3:16-18.
Tonight we will experience some authentic Panamanian cuisine and get to bed early for our 6:30 AM pick up for transport towards the coastline for our first service project.
Pictures
· The deserted halls of Albrook bus Terminal in Panama City at 1:00 AM.
· Panamanian countryside as we travel by bus.
· Our bus.
· The taxi and the scene of the crime.
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