Volunteers on the Christmas Family Project will construct a church for the congregation in Bonga Arriba. In 1996, teen volunteers with the Ultimate Workout built a church for the nearby Bonga Abajo congregation. Through the years, the membership grew exponentially. Eventually, they planted another church in Bonga Arriba. They have been raising money for a new place of worship, and Maranatha volunteers will help answer their prayers this December.
In addition to the Bonga Arriba church, volunteers will also construct another church for the Coquito congregation in a nearby community. Both of the churches will have a classroom on the same property that will also need to be finished. There is plenty of work to be done on this project, and volunteers will play a vital role in the completion of these buildings.
Volunteers will also have the option to participate in various forms of outreach, including childrenās ministry and medical clinic
We turned in our "Thrifty" rental car in David at the airport, thankfully no problems, no scratches dents or missing hubcaps. ($700 charge if there had been plus repairs - interesting as they don't appear to repair the cars, they just add on the charges)
We took a taxi over to "IAPP" (Instituto Adventista Panama) from the David airport a distance of roughly 25 miles, the charge was $12. Not bad considering the taxi was air conditioned and there was no hassle changing buses etc. (Bus cost would have been less than $5) Anyway, we were dropped off at the door to the dorm where our Maranantha adventure began. We arrived a little after 2 PM and the buses with the rest of the Maranantha group was to arrive by 3 PM. We were assigned our room. I had forgotten how basic dorm rooms were, bunk beds and all. Kathy and I hasd our own room which included closet space, a shelf along the wall and upper and lower bunks.
Common bathrooms, which consisted of sinks with running water (some worked), showers with running water (some worked) flush toilets (some worked)* *you quickly learn which ones worked! An interesting note here which is kind of gross, but we're finding that it is quite common here in Panama. The toilets flush but you cannot flush toilet paper. Used toilet paper goes in plastic bags situated next to the toilet. By the way, there was no hot water, only cold, which I must say was refreshing after the first cold blast, however I would have been nice to have warm water, but it beats dipping a bucket into a laerger bucket of cold water then pouring it over your head. Anyway, it kept us clean for a week. (The toilet thing was the hardest to deal with, but really it's just a mindset) The school is in a very nice location, I'm not sure how many "Hectors", (2 1/2 acres to a hector) but the campus was quite large and attractive (see pictures below)
I think this was the boys dorm that we stayed in but I'm not really sure - no one explained, but guessing by the condition, I'd say boys! This is the upper part of the campus with a long walk to the cafeteria - about 40 rooms total with room for 4 beds (2 bunks) in each room.
Each morning, breakfast was served at 6 AM, worship at 7:30 and off to work at 8 AM. We worked at two sites "Bonga Arriba" and "Caldera" and at both sites we were building new churches. Bonga Arriba was about 10 minutes from the IAP campus but Caldera was about 1 1/2 hours drive. That is the site where I worked (See separate page - "Caldera")
Kathy worked in various locations with the medical team -each day a different location (see medical page)
Lots of coconuts in the trees and on the ground. Since it requires a machete to open one, no one offered so all we could do was look. I'm not sure if the monkeys like them, but it appeared that something was getting them - not me! I never did see any, but early each morning the air was full of their chatter.
Maranantha Christmas Project in Panama
Doctors, Dentists, Nurses, Construction workers, Vacation Bible School workers, students, parents and children began arriving on Friday afternoon about 4 PM December 19, 2013 with the final few arriving about midnight. When we were all together, we numbered just over 100.
We had a superb kithchen crew who worked very hard preparing three vegetarian meals meals a day at at least four locations, complicated by the fact that there was no refrigeration at the construction sites or medical sites and all the food had to be thoroughly cleaned prior to preparation. Every location had plenty of food so we certainly appreciated their efforts.
The day began at 5 AM, breakfast at 6 AM, Worship at 7 AM, off to work at 8 AM then return at 5 PM, Supper at 6 PM, worship at 7:30, and finally to bed at 8 or 8:30. Each day began with a cold shower as there was no hot water, what a wake up!