Day 5 (10/15/24)

 It was another beautiful morning. There is nothing quite like being greeted outside your hotel balcony by palm trees waving their fronds and a cruise ship going by. How often do we get to wake up to THAT in Iowa?



We were back at Dios Es Grande (Loma Cova) today. When we arrived at the church, the sanctuary was full and there was a line out the door of people who wanted to go to the clinic. 



Apparently more people had already been registered for the Eyeglass Clinic than what we would have time to serve, so the police had been called to help manage the situation. 


It is always a difficult thing to have to turn people away, but it is especially difficult when people who have already registered have to be told that they will not be able to participate in the clinic. None of this commotion phased the dog at the house next to the church, however...



We served the police first, as several of them were interested in going through the clinic themselves to obtain glasses. Then we served the community. The stations ran smoothly, with little modification from yesterday. I started to pick up a few more phrases in Kuna that Jazmin (who was interpreting for me most of the day today and yesterday) had taught me. We started the day with her going over the pronunciation of several English words she was working on saying from yesterday (like Surgery, diabetic, pterygium) and I tried pronouncing for her some of the Kuna words she had taught me like asu (nose), bolla, bolla (blurry blurry), and Noengambi (Hello).

Similar to yesterday, Griselda and her husband had prepared for us an amazing lunch which we ate upstairs 




After lunch, it started to rain, at times fairly hard. 




But we did not have to modify much, except to route people a slightly different way to get from the sanctuary to the nursing station so that they wouldn't have to get wet standing outside in the rain. Otherwise we kept doing what we were doing at our respective stations.






After clinic was over, we packed up and gathered in the sanctuary to say goodbyes and thank yous. This is the Our Redeemer team:



And these are some of the translators who worked alongside us:



Then some of the Kuna sang us a song:



The Kuna then presented each of us with a handmade gift...


Pastor and Craig thanked the congregation for hosting our team and for giving us an opportunity to come and walk alongside them - 


Then we went upstairs where several of the Kuna women had laid out their Molas for sale. And we celebrated Micah's 15 birthday!





As we left the sanctuary, we know we will miss our friends here, but we also know that Jesus will be with them until we meet again. We are thankful for the short time we had together.


The drive home was back to reality....



However, this time we stopped at Micah's (aka birthday boy's) choice for dinner - that famous Panamanian restaurant called "McDonalds at Westland Mall"



Apparently all the activity and foreign languages these past few days has taken its toll on certain members of our team who entered here to go to the bathroom....


(not to worry, a gentleman escorted them out before they got TOO far....)


As we reflect on today, we think about Dios Es Grande Lutheran Church. They are no longer a vague imagination in our minds, but real people. We join them and people throughout time in saying "God is Great" :

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
His love endures forever. 
Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever. 

to him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever. 
who by his understanding made the heavens,
His love endures forever. 
who spread out the earth upon the waters,
His love endures forever. 
who made the great lights—
His love endures forever. 
the sun to govern the day,
His love endures forever. 
the moon and stars to govern the night;
His love endures forever

(Psalm 136:1-9)


Lord, You ARE great. May we always praise You. Bless the people who worship You at Loma Cava. Their needs are many. So many cannot afford to buy something we take for granted -  a pair of glasses. Some chuckled at the thought of ever seeing an eye doctor - it is just not something they can even imagine being able to afford. Two today told me they just want to be able to read the print in their Bible again. Lord, the need is great and the workers are few. We ask that You would send out workers into Your harvest field, so that many may be moved to see and respond to the needs of others, and that the church at Loma Cova which bears Your name may be a light to the community....We know that You are great, and that You can do anything. May Your will be done in Loma Cova and around the world.

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