Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Panama Mission Effort - Day 6 - June 7

Today is our free day... we have three choices: Beach trip, Volcano hike or Coffee plantation... (river rafting was cancelled because of rain - and there has been a LOAD of it! Some of our people have reported seeing animals in pairs....)

Breakfast is own your own this morning...

We walked to a very scenic overlook for the devo this morning, and Neil brought a very meaningful devotional thought... then we circled up and held hands and sang several songs while looking at the beautiful view!

Then back to Lyn & Joy's to catch our respective rides for our excursions...

My family went to the beach; I drove the van, and in addition to my family, Josh, Tatiana, Pablo and Sheila made the two-hour trip... we stopped for breakfast at the same roadside restaurant we stopped at last night on the way to worship at David... it was awesome!

Then on to the beach! After a 2-hour drive, we finally rounded the last corner and the beach opened up in front of us... the view was spectacular! The ocean has always moved me, and this view of the Pacific ocean was singularly moving. We had the entire beach to ourselves... unbelievable.

We spent 3 hours playing in the surf, chasing sand crabs and body surfing in the 10 foot waves... an extraordinary experience! Cara and I went back to a small village to buy some refreshments, and returned with cokes and plantain chips and a couple sweet breads from a roadside stand...

After we ate, we decided to head back... we needed to get ready for the final night banquet and we had a two hour drive ahead of us.

We stopped briefly at the mall in David before heading up the mountain to Volcan... we got back by 4:30. What a day!

We got ready for the banquet and met at the Loco Pollo for the evening meal! It was Cara's birthday, so after a sumptious meal of Tacos and Burritos, Joy brought out a very pretty birthday cake and we sang happy birthday to Cara! She was thrilled! Joy had a few words of thanks to the team, then each team member took a turn to speak. It was very heartfelt and very emotional!

After dinner we returned to our quarters to pack and bed down for our last night in Volcan... we were asleep by 11 or so...

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