Last Saturday we went as a family to San Antonio—Not San Antonio TX, but San Antonio Panama.

This is the hometown of our new friend Kenia Cabezon. She is from the Wounaan tribe. One of the indigenous people groups of Panama.

We were invited out to have a fish dinner with her village of about 45 or so people. I did not take my camera…but I wish I would have.  I thought: “If my friend Tano or Gary or Bill invited me over for dinner I would not necessarily bring my camera. I do not want to go and be a tourist in their home…” I thought it might be rude or something. So I did not take it.

I missed an opportunity to get some great shots of life in the village. I have borrowed some pix from other people who did bring their camera. You can see them in the gallery section.

We left by van from the Campus and headed out towards Gamboa. Gamboa is a beautiful city. It rests on an island along the Panama Canal. There is not much to it, but what is out there- including Gamboa Union Church, where I am an Elder- make it a very quaint community.

We arrived at The Dock on the far side of the island…the jungle side from the Canal. We grabbed our stuff and hopped in the taxi that was waiting for us. As we all climbed into the taxi, the driver told each one of us where to sit. Front or back; left, right or middle to keep the weight balanced in the taxi.  We kept the gear up near the bow to keep it elevated out of any water that might seep into the taxi.

It was about a twenty minute ride through very thick vegetation to the island. You could see “trails” made by the boats- or maybe cut through by the people- that were clear of vegetation.

It was great to meet her family in their village and share some of what we do at YWAM with them through Dramas, testimonies and just hanging out with the family. I got to play a little soccer with the kid…we lost. So much for the German heritage helping with my soccer skills.

Here are some pictures from our time on Saturday:            

               This is our Taxi

       Here we are on the way out to the village

I helped lift up a house so Felipe could insert a new  support beam

  Playing a little Futbol

Local kids playing in the rain

      Hiking to the “neighbors house”

      Going up into Kenia’s home

     They invited us in to get out of the rain

          Coming back to the dock

It was a great day. We had some wonderful food cooked open the open fire and great fellowship with the family. Thanks for stopping by. God Bless.