If It Ain’t Loose, Don’t Scrape It

Until a week and a half ago, it had been six years since I'd last been in Panama, and that was as a FORO partner. Needless to say, I was apprehensive at best about hosting a team there last week, and a construction team at that. I know more than your average thirty-something female about building & remodeling but not enough to troubleshoot. 

I needn't have worried. Between two missionary families and a few key local members, we were in good hands. It was a learning trip for me as much as the participants: Panamanian history, the various areas of the city, hotels/hostels, hardware stores, grocery stores, restaurants, cultural sites, public transportation, etc. And speaking of participants, the three ladies who joined me for a "girls' trip" extended me all the grace I needed when I didn't have all the answers and dove headfirst into the work cut out for them. They made some serious progress on renovating historic (1946!) Redeemer Lutheran Church's parsonage into a comfortable, livable space for a future missionary pastor as well as future FORO partners, volunteers, etc. It's solidly better positioned for the next team than it was before our arrival. 

All of the scrubbing, scraping, spackling, sanding, and spraying, though, was secondary to friendships forged through sweating together and insightful conversation about how Redeemer fits into the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Panama (IELPA), how IELPA fits into Latin America & the Caribbean (LAC), how LAC fits into the Office of International Mission (OIM), and how OIM works to Spread the Gospel, Plant Lutheran Churches, and Show Mercy globally. 

Note the condition of the bell tower...it looked quite a bit different by the end of the week (no thanks to us - there was a professional crew toiling away from ~6:30-3 everyday). 

The 2nd floor was our home away from home away from home. 

It was jarring to see the structure in shambles, but the progress that's been made so far helped me catch the vision. I have hope that someday soon, it will again be a place where God's gifts are freely given and received. 

Given my unfamiliarity with the lay of the land, I had a full day for prep ahead of the team's arrival. Nearby Albrook Mall, the largest in the country, has two hardware stores, a grocery store...and pretty much anything else you could ever dream of needing.

I unashamedly stalked a) the Facebook page of a Panamanian LCMS pastor who happened to be vacationing with his family; and b) the Instagram of the another [Mormon...] mission team staying at the same hostel as us for restaurant and activity recommendations. Café Coca-Cola, the oldest in Panama and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, did not disappoint on arrival day. Having served guests like Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, Evita Peron, Julio Iglesias, Pablo Neruda, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig since its founding in 1875, they must be doing something right. Yes, I had a Coca-Cola.

Worship at the CPTLN (Spanish acronym for Lutheran Hour Ministries) office. 

All SEVEN of the Rickman children looking at the camera at the same time!

Sunday afternoon, we did The Thing to do in Panama and made our way to one of the canal visitors' centers. The ticket line moved inside just as the almost daily afternoon shower snuck up on us. 

I've been before - twice - but the visitor experience has been totally revamped and now begins with an IMAX movie narrated by Morgan Freeman. L to R: Joleen, me, Katy (back), Debra (front), and Marina, a recently widowed Panamanian deaconess student who was an absolute Godsend.

Enjoying the view from the social area of Marina's daughter's 25th floor waterfront apartment while she walked her dog Dijon before accompanying us to dinner. 

There's a rooftop zipline!

Dinner on Isla Perico, the 2nd of three now connected by a "causeway" built from earth excavated during the digging of the canal. 

Tamal en olla - essentially a tamale without going to all the trouble of wrapping it in a banana leaf and steaming it!

Pastor Rickman met us for breakfast at the hostel Monday morning to start off the workweek with a devotion. At church, he shared the history of the property in a nutshell and gave us a tour of the construction site. 

Ironically, we never actually built this bunk bed. St. John's, Grand Haven: it'll still be there for you in October ;) I did spend nearly all of Monday in this room, though...scraping layer upon layer upon layer of peeling paint off the walls in preparation for them to get a fresh coat. My struggle was knowing when to stop, in terms of quality, not time. The perfectionist in me was seriously wishing an impartial third party would tell me when I had done enough so I didn't spend all week going over the same section until it was down to bare concrete. My motto for Tuesday and on: "If it ain't loose, don't scrape it."

Debra almost immediately gravitated toward refinishing doors and spent all week cleaning, sanding, and repainting several that had been taken off the hinges. 

We even got her a new toy.

Love these sisters in Christ, but I've never felt so tall! L to R: Heidi (member of Redeemer), Griselda (deaconess and member of another congregation in Loma Cová), and Marina. 

Wednesday afternoon, Marina took us for a drive along the Cinta Costera, and then through the ritzy Punta Pacífica and the gridded, planned Costa del Este. 

Thursday night, she escorted us on the metro to yet another congregation, the Los Andes Mission, for Bible study. 

I was blown away by Brazilian Alliance missionary Raphael Voigt's phrase-by-phrase exegesis of Revelation. We were on Lesson 3 of what's eventually going to be a 35-lesson ebook. 

We ended the week the same way it started: Word > work, with great conversation about future involvement and support to boot. 

I left our mark on the hostel's chalkboard wall. Will it still be there in just over two months?

Look at the bell tower NOW!

Marina wasn't about climbing ladders (good thing I'm all about climbing ladders), but she also wasn't afraid to roll up her sleeves and get dirty. 

Back to Los Andes on the metro Friday night...all by ourselves!

I asked Pastor Voigt if he wanted to have the group for dinner one night, and he once again surprised me by planning a service of evening prayer and a ministry presentation in addition to some finger-lickin' good meat. 

I'm in now - committed to seeing the parsonage renovation project through to fruition and infinitely better equipped to do so than I was a week and a half ago. If you or your congregation is interested in putting together a skilled construction team to help, inquire here, and maybe I'll see you there. 

Until next time, blessings in Christ!