The Ipeti Roadtrip

Whats up, everybody?

We are on day three, and today was full of laughter and fun! We started off the morning by eating  a hearty breakfast, and hanging out until we had to leave for the remote village known as Ipeti. To get to the village we had to take a two hour bus trip. The bus was packed so we were especially thankful that our transportation had AC! Once we arrived, we were all really excited to get off the bus to stretch out our stiff legs. All the kids ran to us immediately when they saw us because they wanted to play with us. There was a little bit of a language barrier, but we still were able to have a great hang out time with them for about half an hour before we had to get on with the lesson. I met this one little girl in a pink dress who was blowing bubbles. When she looked up at me she started talking to me and I had no clue what she was saying. I assume she was probably just talking about the bubbles she was blowing. She somehow managed to get across to me that she wanted me to spin her around! When I did what she said, she started laughing and smiling and it really touched my heart to see that happen. All around people were having a great time. It was an awesome moment.

Later, when we began our VBS lesson, we began by singing a couple Spanish songs. One of the songs was a competition between the boys and the girls. The boys won (OF COURSE). After a fun time of singing, Ross and Bryce told the kids the story of Jonah. They told them about how Jonah didn't listen to God when God told him to go to Nineveh and the whole rest of the story. There was a craft to do once the story was finished. This craft was basically creating a model fish out of a brown paper bag and some other materials. Most of the fish looked really goofy with funny looking fins and faces! Every fish I saw made me laugh. The diversity of each fish reminded me of how everyone has there own unique qualities and how each of these kids are blessed in different areas of their life.

Then it was time for some of us to share our testimonies. This time it was Maegan and Katherine. I thought it was pretty cool to hear their stories. Most of the kids were paying attention really well. I always find it really interesting to hear people's personal stories and what their relationship with Jesus is. Once these awesome testimonies were shared, another game was brought to our attention. Duck, Duck, Goose! (or, in Spanish, Pato, Pato, Ganzo!) You wouldn't believe how fast these kids could run! It was seriously just a challenge to outrun them, let alone, trying to sit down in the correct spot before they caught you! The other thing is that there were big wooden pillars randomly placed around. I'm surprised nobody ran into one.

I just want to say that I love ham and cheese sandwiches. The ham and cheese sandwiches they served today for lunch, were AMAZING. They were really good. We ate lunch in this giant hut, that had two floors. We went up to the top floor because that was where the women from the village sold there trinkets and souvenirs. I saw all of the stuff they, and their families, had created and I thought to myself, look how much work they put into their craft. One of the baskets that a woman made took her 30 days of weaving. It shows how much effort they put into what they do to make a living. I just thought that was really cool.

Generally, there was just a lot of joy to go around the whole time. I think everybody had some sort of amazing moment today because everywhere you went you could just see God working in people's hearts. When we came back to the house, we talked about our experiences today and I was excited to see many people sharing cool moments they had. Thank you guys for all your prayers! It means a lot to know that so many people are supporting us way out here in Panama! 


- Micah Douma