Van Halen and Barry Manilow

Panama City in the background (it was breezy that day!)

The last two weeks have flown by and our time spent in Virginia doesn’t feel like it actually happened. I really enjoyed spending time with family and my girlfriends. It was a little bit of a recharge to be around such love and support. My Aussie friend, Noeleen, sent me a forward the other day (I’ll admit I don’t read 99% of the forwards I get) about how the best thing a woman can do for her health is to nurture her relationships with her girlfriends. We share our feelings with our sisters/mothers/friends during our “girl time” which helps us to create more serotonin - a neurotransmitter that helps combat depression and can create a general feeling of well-being. Apparently this was studied in Stanford but regardless, I would have to agree with the benefits of spending quality time with my girls. 

After our time in Virginia, Dustin and I flew to Panama for a conference (cue Van Halen’s Panama). We were asked by the senior pastor from Grace Fellowship Church in Snellville, Georgia to attend this conference and report back our findings. We traveled to Israel last summer with our friends Jamie and Donna Winship and a group from Grace Fellowship Church. The conference focused on partnerships between North American and Latin American churches. We met a lot of great kingdom minded church leaders and look forward to seeing some of them again in the near future. 

While we were in Panama, we had enough time to visit the Panama Canal. It was interesting to learn the history of the canal as well as getting to watch several container ships pass through the locks. After reading the vacation guide that was in the hotel, Dustin and I hope to someday come back to see and experience more of the country. Especially now that we have friends we can visit while we are there. I smell a road trip!

So now we are back in Nicaragua, spending a few days in our house in Managua and trying to squeeze in some meetings with people. I had my fastest meeting to date with Pastor Berman about the Adult Literacy curriculum we are trying to implement in Nueva Vida. It might have been a five minute meeting but it was probably the most productive. He has found a group of adults who are interested in facilitating the classes and has also found a local woman who can partner with me in this adventure, who can continue to work on this in Nueva Vida even while I am in Port. This is very exciting to me since there wasn’t much I can do from Port and the Pastor is way too busy to be taking on the tasks I need to get done in order to start this program. Celebrating small victories!!

Today, Dustin and Alvaro are bonding as they tackle the craziness that is our yard! I am working on my Adult Literacy presentations for the upcoming training this week in Port. We have several more teachers who are interested in being facilitators so we decided to hold another training conference. Tomorrow we are waking up crazy early so we can catch the first flight over to Port. Our house is ready and waiting for us so we get to move in as soon as we arrive! 

*If you’re wondering why I referenced Barry Manilow....the trip to Panama was the first time I flew Copa Airlines. Do I need to explain any further.....?