Packing For Panama

Packing can be a source of excitement, or of stress. It really depends on who you are as a person. For me it is both. Part of me is excited that I'm putting together the last details of my trip. While packing for a missions trip you have to ask a lot of questions such as...

1. What will I be wearing each day?

   

   My suitcase before the shoes

2. What will I need in order to sleep relatively comfortably? 
3. What is the water situation and how is it best to carry it? 
4. What is the food/snacks that I will want, and that won't melt in heat or explode at altitude?
5. What are the most practical shoes for the jobs I will be doing?
6. What are things I would bring and then leave on the base that others could use? 
7. Is there anything the missions team leaders have that they would appreciate others bringing down? 
8. How much space/weight do I have in order to get all of the essentials there and back? 

These have been a few of the questions I have used to guide my packing. I am bringing one checked bag which can weigh up to 50 lbs. and have a length+width+height of 52 inches. These actually left me with some flexibility after I put in my sleeping bag and air mattresses for me and my mom (she's putting the tent in her suit case). I chose my clothing* and shoes, and also packed some snacks. I still had quite a lot of room so I checked with our missions team leader and ended up packing about 20 pairs of children's shoes as well! I'm really excited to be able to unpack them down in Tugri and see kids faces as they're given out :) 

My carry on was a bit of a different story. I am taking my High Sierra back pack, and I wanted to use my space wisely as well as save my back as much as possible. This means only things I deem absolutely necessary and also nothing that weighs a ridiculous amount. I know that there are risks involved with checked bag traveling and that in the past someone had had their baggage lost and not had it the entire time they were in Tugri. With that in mind, a few things had to be in my carry on:

Toiletry bag dissected 

1. My toiletries (toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, medicines, hair stuff, lotion for sun burn, perfume because showers are non-existent) 
2. My underclothing (after all, I can survive in the same pair of pants for a week, but the same underwear? No)
3. My bible and journal, and I'm not saying that just because it's a missions trip
4. Earplugs (apparently one of our team members snores; loudly)
5. Toilet paper (this is not something that they believe in rural Panama, just so you know)
6. Bandannas, a hat, and work gloves 
7. My wallet, passport, license copies, and other legal things, for obvious reasons.

Packing depends greatly on the climate. Packing depends greatly on the motivation of the trip. Packing depends greatly on YOU. I'm making this list and writing this post for ideas and maybe a reminder to some of you looking to go on this trip in the future. It is not an end-all by any means. Use it in any way you see fit! 

Packed Away,

  Alyssa

* An all inclusive list of the clothing that I packed is listed below:

1. 2 pairs of jeans
2. 1 pair of capris 
3. 1 pair of knee length sport shorts
4. 1 long sleeve shirt
5. 2 hoodie sweatshirts (I'm wearing one on the flight down there)
6. 6 T-shirts
7. 1 tank top
8. Swim suit (for bathing and the day we are at the beach)
9. Under clothing, of course
10. 1 pair of old tennis shoes
11. "barefoot" shoes
12. Baseball cap
13. 3 bandannas
14. 8 pairs of socks
15. Sweatpants for sleeping and traveling
16. Sport shorts for Panama city
17. Light jacket

Prayer

The Panama trip is only 5 days away! I have been counting down with much excitement...and also quite a bit of anxiety. Travel comes with uncertainty and some fear for me, and I'm also unsure of what it's going to be like down there. This requires a lot of prayer! As a group we have several prayer requests:

• Safety and good health for the team
• That all our flights and connections run smoothly and on time and all our luggage arrives at our destination
• Good weather that encourages the Ngobe to come to our meetings and does not hinder construction
• That the Lord would be drawing the Ngobe to come to our meetings
• Open hearts of the Ngobe to understand and experience the Lord Jesus Christ
• Good turn out and effectiveness for the adult Discipleship Training School that the head of our trip will be teaching
• Good turn out and big impact for our Children's Program
• Good turn out and open hearts for our community outreach programs at night
• Energy and strength to complete pouring the concrete floor of the giant ministry building
• That each of us would have a maximum impact of God working IN US and THROUGH US for His glory
• That the Lord would knit our hearts together and that our team would have a great time serving the Lord together

If you could take a moment and pray over even one of these, the team and I would appreciate it so much! God is going to work in incredible ways in us and through us down in Panama and after we come home as well. 

Personally, I would love it if all of you could pray against nerves and anxiety. That I would follow through with Philippians 4:6-7: 

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

I know this goes for many members of the team. It's natural to be nervous about a new experience, but it's important to trust God in it all!  

Pray

I've been struggling with writers block the last couple days. I tried to write about the language of the Ngobe, than I tried to write about the government, than I tried to think of a new topic…nothing was working for me. I needed to take a step back. Yes, I want to learn about these people: their history, culture, language, government, and everything that makes up their surroundings. But I don’t need to learn these things.

I've found that what I truly need as I go into this is to cuddle up with my savior and talk to him about it. He wants me to PRAY for these people! He wants me to PRAY about my own spiritual growth! He wants me to PRAY! I will never be able to learn everything there is to learn about these people in the few short months before this trip, but I don’t need to. I need to learn more and more about the God who loves me, and loves these people!

He has commissioned all of his followers to go into the entire world and preach the gospel. For some, that is serving their community, or their church; for some, it is traveling to the ends of the earth. For me in this moment, it is taking his love and grace to the Ngobe of Panama.

I am learning to love, because I am learning how much he loves me. This is what I need to keep learning. I would love to learn about the government of the Panamanians, and I am going to study their culture, but more than anything I am going to dive in to God’s word and learn what he has to teach me.

Because let’s face it: he knows what I really need.

Excitment

     Every time I think about it, all I can do is smile! I am really going to Panama! This has been such a gift from God. I know he has so much to teach me through this trip, and I am eager to learn. I want to learn while I'm there, but I also want to go in with a knowledge of the people I will be meeting, their language, their customs, their situation. I want to have this process documented so that I can look back in the years to come, smile at the memories, and remember the stories.
     So here we are, writing about an experience I pray changes my life. All I can think is, "Here I am. Lord, send me."