2025 Panama

Coming down for breakfast this morning, the lobby looked different. Where there had been some sofas just yesterday, there was now a fully decorated Christmas tree! After breakfast Pastor led a worship service in his hotel room, with the message based on Acts 1:8. This had been our group's Bible verse throughout the trip - each person would say one word of it and that's how we knew if anyone was missing from the group.  Acts 1:8 You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. We are witnesses. A witness is one who has seen something and who tells about it. We have seen what Jesus has done for us, and so we tell about it - with our words and with our lives. This knowledge that Jesus died for us is not just knowledge that we store away in a corner of our brain somewhere. It is a knowledge that shapes our lives We live our lives differently because of this knowledge. And we want to share this knowledge with others so that they too ma...

 The day dawned sunny and beautiful, birds singing, a cargo ship slowly going by. We met in the hotel lobby at 8, boarded our bus, and again passed the statue of the canal diggers on our way out onto the causeway. The ships waiting to go through the Panama Canal are seen in the far distance but are seen better here We headed to Mi Ranchitos for breakfast Everyone got a delicious breakfast, with lots of options to pick from, including this banana topped pancake stack,  avocado toast, or strawberry french toast. Anyone see anything wrong with this picture? ...Yes, I have the Coke Zero and Pastor has tea! In case you were not aware, Pastor doesn't drink Coke Zero for breakfast!!! After all, he said, it just doesn't go well with eggs. (ok, thankfully I had avocado toast)....Not that he doesn't drink Coke Zero in the morning - he assured me he had already had a Coke Zero before breakfast. (Not sure if that was ONE Coke Zero or AT LEAST one Coke Zero).  After breakfast we again...