Holy Water Group Mission Trip to Panama Sept 3rd through the 12th 2009

Holy Water Group

Back from the Jungles of Panama March 2009

We arrived at Panama City on March 12th and met up with all of the missionaries at the airport. The missionary team was comprised of 7 North Americans, and 5 Panamanians. Shortly after landing, we traveled by a small bus for 2 hours to a church to sleep for the night. The church was a typical Central American Church with an open air atmosphere constructed with cinder block and a tin room. We really enjoyed all the bats that decided to stay in the church with us since they ate the mosquitoes. In the morning, we gathered our belongings and ventured out in the bus again out into the middle of nowhere. We found ourselves driving through cow pastures and dense forest. At times I wondered if the driver knew where we were going. After the scenic bus ride we arrived at a lake where there was a small group of people waiting for us with canoes that were made from a tree trunk. My first thought is how are all of us and all of our gear going to fit into these very narrow canoes. We had 160ft of PVC pipe, 8 bottles of water at 10 gallons a piece, 6 bags of rock, a water well drill, all of our food, luggage for 12 missionaries and 22 people including the canoe operators. It worked somehow, but it was not pretty. The boat leaked really immensely and I was thanking God that I was a decent swimmer. For the first 30 minutes the boat ride was not too bad as we had clear waters ahead. After that we encountered floating foliage and I mean a ton of it! There was so much floating that we had to search for an hour for a way around it. Once around the floating, weeds we entered the river and crystal clear water.

We arrived at the village named Dwar Sikwa. The villagers were on the shoreline smiling and waving to us as we arrived. They do not speak Spanish. The language in the village is called Kuna. Unfortunately, soon after arriving, we received the word that the Chief of the village lost his son the night before in a boating accident. The Chief’s son was 24 years old and was returning on the river at night with two other villagers when their boat tipped and the Chief’s son drowned.

The villagers helped bring our gear to shore and I noticed that large rocks seemed to be stacked up in every direction. This is a real issue when drilling for water. We met with the Chief and his council for permission to stay in the village and give them an idea of why we were there. The council was very receptive to us being there and allowed us to stay as well as providing us a hut to set up our hammocks in.

This village has been visited previously by a missionary from Texas with an organization called Soul Seekers Ministry. There were currently around 20 adult villagers that believe in Christ due to the ministries previous work. The village has around 150 adults and 250 children living there and most believe in Animism. They believe in a creator God who now is far away from them and that the Poni, groups of malevolent spirits roam the earth entering peoples bodies causing sickness and disease. They use the nuchus, small dolls carved out of balsa wood, to protect them from the Poni. The Saila, or Kuna chief, speaks for God much like a prophet, telling the people what they need to do so God will be pleased with them. They believe they must work to please God so that he doesn’t send an earthquake or other terrible things against them. The vast majority of the Indians have never heard a clear presentation of the Gospel message. There is no running water except the river, no electricity, no medical care, no transportation besides the canoe and no bathrooms except a hole in the ground.

The next day we began to drill in a location that was selected by the Chief. Rocks were all over the village including the spot that we had to drill at. We attempted 6 times in 6 different locations over a span of two days only to run into solid rock at around 16 ft deep.

We talked with the Chief through our interpreter and coordinated a time to perform eye exams for the people over the age of 40. We tested around 45 people and only 2 people did not need glasses. Most needed the highest magnification that we had. We ran out of the highest and had to resort to a lower magnification. One man had a New Testament written in the village language (Kuna) and began to read it with his new glasses. He was not able to read it before. It was a joy to see him sit down with the word and read for hours with his new glasses.

We spend our evenings bathing in the river, playing with the kids and talking with the villagers about Christ. One night we found a small boy around 7 who was naked and shivering out in the open village in the middle of the night. We found out his parents had both beaten him and kicked him out of the house for the night. At night it does get very cold! We gave him clothes, a soccer ball and let him sleep in our hut for the night. When we talked with the mother, she said she has to join in with her husband in beating the child or her husband will beat her. This was definitely an evangelical moment for the group. We prayed for the family and shared the word with the mother.

The sleeping conditions took some getting used to. We slept in a hut with around 25 other people all in hammocks. At night we wore earplugs because of all the snoring villagers and fellow missionaries not to mention the crying babies in the middle of the night. One big surprise was the amount of roaches that came out at night. If you shined the flashlight at the ground in the hut, you would find dozens of roaches invading our luggage and supplies. In the morning we would have to empty out the roaches from our gear.

Five of us missionaries made a journey 8 miles into the jungle in search of a village named Kapanti that we were told existed on another riverside. We did find the village which looked much like the village we just left. We talked with the Chief about their needs and asked if we could attempt to drill a water well for them at a later time. The Chief agreed and we spent the night in a hut. Both villages have a need for clean drinking water. There is a very high rate of infant mortality due to the diseases obtaining by drinking the river water. Diarrhea problems are common and cause dehydration and sometimes death. The village does not understand why they need to drink from a different source. We talked with them about the quality of water that is under the ground and how it will affect the health of the entire village.

We returned back to Dwar Sikwa by boat the next morning and started evangelizing to the village, hut by hut. Most people when asked what will happen to them when they die state “I WILL GO TO A BAD PLACE BECAUSE I AM A BAD PERSON”. We talked with them about Jesus and some accepted him immediately and others were not ready yet. There were a total of 16 new believers in Christ as a result of the mission trip.

There was a team of two Church builders that were with us and they constructed a new church for the village in three days with the help of the villagers. We had a dedication service and the church was filled with people. Many children attended and around 35 adults sang worship songs written in Kuna Indian Language and attempted to play tambourines.

Members of Soul Seekers Ministry conducted a VBS for the children in the village and it was a great success. The kids were very receptive to the message and had a great time making crafts with the adults. The kids in the village do not get much attention from their parents.

To carry on the evangelical teachings, a pastor from mainland Panama and his wife stayed behind to lead the village in the right direction towards Christ. The couple will remain in the village for 3 months.

We feel that the trip was a success due to the following…
• More villagers accepted Christ
• Reading glasses were dispensed to people that needed them
• A new church was dedicated to God
• The VBS with the children was a huge success
• A new village was discovered for a new well
• A Panamanian Pastor and his wife are continuing the evangelical work

Holy Water Group will return in September to complete the following
• Create bio sand filtration for clean water in Dwar Sikwa since drilling is not an option
• Drill a water well and perform eye exams at the newly discovered village
• Spread the word of God in both villages
• Work with other missionaries to build a new church in the future at the new village.
• Work on bringing healthcare to the village

In order to do this we will need to raise $3,400 to fund the trip. Please pray or donate for a swift return to the jungles of Panama!

On the web at www.holywatergroup.com