Panama! the pre-adventure

time for my first entry on journalisticness for my Panama Online Travel Diary. (the first.)

I'll start with the happenings of the pretrip- AKA training camp.

Training camp was an amazing experience that brought my closer to my teammates. (Jerry and Leah, Marcus, Jesse C., Jesse S., Ana, Laura, Amanda, Angel, Kathy, Ugo, and Chris.)

We had various tasks to do (the rope tricks, leadership exercises, practicing worship) and we concentratedheavily on learning the dramas, testimonies, and explanations of the dramas. these were key to our trip. we also packed and repacked our bags until 7 large boxes of medicine and soaps could fit into our bags and not arouse suspicion with security.
it was quite an experience...

I found out during this trip that i was to be put in charge of prayer for the team. I made sure everyone prayed, kept track of the prayer journal, and called for people to pray during times we needed it most.
it was very exciting!!! I also perfected the worship with Jesse S. (the worship leader). I was going to be singing most of the spanish worship for the trip, so this was a critical step for us.

We rehearsed and re-rehearsed all the dramas....

Bags: Jesus dies on the cross {imaginary cross}... 5 people carrying heavy bags of sin come and fall at the cross. Jesus rises and takes the bags from them, leaving them free from their burdons and they worship him. [point of the drama is so the people of union choco know that god died so he could take our sins from us, and that if we turn to God, he will set us free.]

Sin Bucket- (i lead this one. ^.^) Death comes with it's black cape holding a bucket of sin. he creeps up, sets the bucket on the floor, and walks out. I come in, walking along, and discover sin for the first time. should i touch it?? no.. oh what the heck, yes!!! so i grab the bucket. Now it's stuck to my hand and i can't get it off!!! Ia strong man comes in, so i try and get him to pull it off. he hurts his back, and i'm still stuck with the bucket. Next comes a rich lady. I present the bucket to he, and she buys it!! i try to give it to her, and it won't come off my hand so she takes the money and leaves. I get really mad now!! then a famous person comes in. she looks at my pitiful self, and hands me a boa and sunglasses. I prance around all fanciful, but the bucket doesn't come off so i throw away the boa and glasses. Another person with a bucket on her head comes in... funny, mine was just stuck to my hand!!! we dance around in our sin for a while.... this is fun!!! then she leaves. not so fun. i try to get the bucket off again. Then a really cute guy comes in.... i straighten out my hair, hide the bucket, and smile. wave. wink. he takes my hand. i swing the bucket as we walk, and he sees it!!! thats not cool, he tells me. he leaves. I throw myself on the floor. then i realize my FOOT can fit into the bucket!! great now my foots stuck.
a girl comes in with beer and cigarettes. She pors some in my mouth.. now i'm tipsy!!! she pours it on the bucket... still not bucket-less. she gives me some of the cigarette.. now i'm high. she leaves.... i cry. i cry for a few minutes, and someone taps my arm. it's death and he's holding a knife. he shows me how to slit my throat... to do it or not to do it?? he leaves. is is worth death to get rid of this bucket?? i decide it is. before i can make the cut, a christian comes in and throws the knife to the floor!!! she tells me i'm beautiful, and that she can make the bucket go away. she tells me about God, and what he's done. she reads me the bible. we pray... all of a sudden my foot comes unstuck and i sit on my knees to praise God. I raise my arms for worship, and the bucket falls off my hand. I'm FREE!! i kick the bucket away and prance offstage. the other girl with the bucket comes running... WAIT FOR ME!!!

dead man: a man is spiritually dead. peopel come and try to revive him.. money (my character), a king, a pimp with girls, knowelege, coolness, drugs and alchohol, strength, and all matters of worldly things. the dead man doesn't wake up, because he doesn't have the lord. we all leave in the order we came, and carry him offstage.

blind: a girl is blind... looking for a cross thats right in front of her. a huge chain of blind people, led by a blind person, come around. they feel her there and grab her, putting her at the end of the chain. she falls off, and into the hands of a christian. they show her God and her blindfold falls off. she finds her other blind friends... half of who follow her, and half of who stay blind.

hats: a man is waiting around, nothing going for his life. He meets two christians (me and ana) and they tell him about God, so he wears their hat. when some partyers show up, he tkaes on their hat. same when the gangbangers and girls show up. the only hat he keeps is the christians, so they introduce themselves again. he has so many hats on his head that he can't keep up with his multiple lifestyles. the christians save him and tell him to make a choice... he thinks about each hat... throwing away the party hat, throwng away the gang hat... thinking twice about the girls hat but throwing that away too. he makes the decision, puts the christian hat strongly on his head, and falls to his knees in worship. the christians come in and support him. point of the story?? you can't serve multiple gods.

Doctor Skit: the purpose of this skit is for humor... jesse comes into the doctor with a cough. another few seconds go by, and an itchy guy comes in. he's scratching and itching, and jesse catches it, so the guy leaves. another guy comes in thats throwing up. jesse starts throwing up so the guy leaves. now he's scratchy, coughing, and throwing up. out of nowhere a girl comes in laughing hysterically with now ability to stop. (this is my character.) he starts getting giggly and he girl leaves. another girl comes in crying uncontrolably. he starts crying too. the girl leaves. now he's itchy, coughing, throwing up, laughing, and crying. another person comes in and has this uncontrolable, possessed hand. he gets it!!! another comes in sneezing realy bad. he gets that too!!! another comes in and falls asleep. he falls asleep. another comes in and can't stop screaming. Now he's coughing, itching, falling asleep, waking up screaming, trying to control his hand, throwing up, sneezing, crying, and laughing. a pregnant girl comes in, so he runs away screaming.


thats it for the skits, but they were a whole lot of fun!!!

[songs that i sing: Mira lo que dios a hecho (look what the lord has done); Admirable es nuestro dios {our god is an awesome god); cambiare mi tristeza (i'm trading my sorrows); and the peoples personal favorite, Abre mis ojos (open the eyes of my heart.)

other than that, the highlight of my training camp was getting to throw rubber balls at everyone and wake the boys up by hitting them with pillows. chya XD