There are always firsts...

Besides that fact that living in a foreign country is a major first for me, there have been plenty of things that have been new for me these last weeks here in Panama. Let me extrapolate...

1. The first "first" is my first English Class. Sally, the wonderful secretary for the national church, teaches an English class for small students in El Redentor, the church here in Balboa, the area where I live. I had the chance to subsitute teach her class this last Saturday. It was a wonderful class where the students, as well as their parents came to learn English. We went for about two hours, reviewing our numbers, colors, same and different. We also looked at some of our body parts and reviewed those. Head and shoulders, knees and toes was in my head all day! We also, while reviewing our numbers, looked at the story of Christ feeding the five thousand. We made sure to count how many loaves of bread and fish Jesus started with, 5 and 2, and then how many BASKETS of food were left over, 12. The kids were wonderful and I was surprised at their enthusiasm to learn. It was a great warm up as I start teaching my English class within the next week. This week I am working on setting up a schedule for the different churches, so I am getting going on all that. So far I have classes set up in Loma Cova and Balboa. So altogether, so far, I am teach six classes a week. Tommorow and Thursday will bring time to talk to the other pastors and see what times work for them to have me teach at their church.

David and Isac working on their tracing their hands.

Aron tracing his hand

2. I drove for the first time. It wasnt quite as harrowing as "normal" driving, seeing as how I, the coward that I am, volunteered to drive everyone home 3 blocks from a devotion. And not to mention, it was all on back road, where a whole three people drive. And it was at 10 at night, so, yeah, I am really cool. At least I can say I have driven...

3. My first piece of mail from home came. Well, I got a Volunteer LCMS CD, big whoop, that hardly counts (Stacy, its a great CD!). But my first PERSONAL mail came, today. It only took a short seven days to get here, no hardly the three weeks I was told it would take. Thanks Jen, you rock my face off! Today was my first day at the post office, and I actually had something! It made my day. I even took a picture of it to comemorate this feeling of unphatomable joy. Oh, tear :*)

The beloved first piece of mail. Yes, I have enough free time to photograph my mail.

4. My last entry already alludes to this, but I had my first taste of Twinings tea here in Panama the other night. Still living in the high of that moment.

5. My first confrontation with the cops. Thats right, real, big-gun toting cops. We got pulled over becuase, get this, we were driving too slow. Thats right. I dont think it is a good idea to be advertising that Panamanians should drive faster.

6. My first house visit. I traveled with Pastor Ruben, from Los Andes, Marc and Cheryl to do a house visit to a teacher who is very close to becoming involved in the church. One of the many things that God has shown his continous work through the people in Panama. More house visits are on the plate for the rest of the week.

7. First Concert/Recital. And wiat. Not just the first recital I attended here in Panama, but actually the first chello recital here in Panama, ever. My friend Joy takes lessons here in Panama and had her recital tonight. There have been three scheduled in the past, however, Panamanians cuaght drift of it and started protests each time they have been planned. No, not really, although all the others have been cancelled becuase of riots....coincidence, I think not. "NO MAS CHELO!"

Joy and her teacher, Susan Richter, in the Chello Recital.

Well, I could go on forever. These firsts have been a way that I have been blessed mightily by the Lord. My time in Panama has shown me the endless bounds of God's love, and how people from an entire different culture, who speak an entirely different language crave to know that Christ loves them just as much as I do. And I see affirmations of that love in the people's smiles, the children's laughs and the pastors sermons. Yes, there are things that are different, and things that have made me have many cultural "firsts", but it comes to this: We are children of God, working through the love of the Spirit, and we are all one the One who loved us enough to die for us, when we had abandoned, blasphemed and descrated Him. And the community doesnt stop here. I hear of prayers for me in a church in Madison, WI, a place I have no contact with, and I am reminded of the uniting power of God's love. And as I said in my Saturday when we were reviewing same and different, even though we are all different, there is something that makes us the same: That God loves each and everyone of us just as much as the other. Praise be to God!