Nuevo Tauro sends us on to Puerto Obaldia...at the border of Panama with Colombia

back to Our Walk of Faith

Friday, January 4th--HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM EMBLER!!

I think I forgot to tell you this...last night before we went to bed, Cesar told me not to leave the boat in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. If I had to go, I should go on the boat. There are Cayman (small alligators) in the water near this island, and they are out at night and hard to see. Sure enough, I had to go in the middle of the night, so I went on the boat just in case Cesar was right in his advice. Well...this morning when we woke up, Ronald said, "A Cayman grabbed a dog and drug it into the water in the middle of the night." He heard it all. Talk about God's timing...thank you Cesar for the timely warning!!

I washed clothes again this morning...thankfully it was still early enough that it didn't turn into a huge show again! I talked to Tomas again after breakfast. We also saw Inga again (the lady on the yacht from Holland). She told us that she had been thinking about what we were doing, and she didn't think we should share from the Bible because it is just an intricately woven-together fairytale. As we started to answer her, her friends came up and she had to leave,. Oh, how my heart hurts for her!! The Bible is God's love letter to us...we need to be reading it daily for guidance...please pray for her.

After lunch, the tide and the waves had calmed enough for us to make our voyage to the next island. Celmira, a lady who we met at church on Wednesday night went with us. She lives on Tubualá which is the next island over from where we were going. She was pretty scared of the waves...they were huge today!! I really enjoyed the first hour or two, but then I got sick again. Cesar and Chris hung onto me so that I wouldn't fall out of the boat. Then I just passed out on the deck. Celmira was distracted from her fear for a bit because she was worried about me. I only got sick a time or two more before we finally made it to Mulatupu/Nuevo Sasardi. Oh...how glad I will be to be back on dry ground and not have to worry about the water anymore!!

Mulatupu/Nuevo Sasardi is another large community--about the size of Playón Chico. It is divided into two communities, but unlike Ustupu and Ogubsucun they are divided because of a disagreement over a decision that was made in the Congreso. So the island divided based on which side of the argument you were on. This means that one house is part of Mulatupu and the house right beside it is part of Nuevo Sasardi! Crazy!!

Almost immediately after we docked, Braxis Green came up to the boat. He speaks some English, so he wanted to practice and show us around the island!! He showed us the Baptist church, and we met a couple of the members. Then he took us to his house to meet his family. Finally, he wanted us to visit Teacher Simon and the English class. (Apparently with the widening of the Panama Canal, new jobs will be created. One of the requirements will be that the employees speak English, so the government is sponsoring English classes all over the country. That's why there is an English class in the middle of La Comarca Kuna Yala.) Simon was very excited to have us come into the class. We shared a little with the students, and Simon invited us back to share tomorrow night!!

After the tour, I was pretty exhausted. We went back to Nuevo Tauro and went to bed!

Saturday, January 5th

We hung out on the boat this morning...chatted with each other and with Ronald and Cesar. Chris helped clean out some of the coconuts that were rotten. Then we walked around the rest of the island...the part we didn't see on Braxis's tour yesterday. When we got back to the boat, Simon had come by. He wanted to talk for a little while, so we went to his house. We learned more about the Kuna culture and some really good books to read to learn even more!!

We worked on the boat the whole afternoon today except for when we were preparing for the English class. Hno Rubelio brought coconuts to the boat today, and he invited us to church in the morning. Praise God for an open door!!

Chris and I had a great time talking with the English students. We asked them questions, and they asked us questions!! It was a really fun exchange. We also invited them to church in the morning!! After class, we learned that several of the students go to church there. One of the other students is the new pastor of the Baptist church on Tubualá. How exciting!!

Sunday, January 6th

Chris helped clean out and move some more of the coconuts this morning. There's a small hole in the bottom of the boat, and the weight of the coconuts is causing a lot of water to come in!! We are definitely already praying for their safe passage from the last island to Cartagena. (24 hours on the open ocean in a boat in need of repairs!!)

After Chris got cleaned up, we headed to church. We ran into Ruben (one of the students from English class) on the way there. He wanted us to meet his family, so we stopped by his house on the way. As soon as we got to church, Hno Florentino (one of the deacons) started talking to us. He wanted us to go with him after church to pray for some people and to share about Jesus. After church, we shared a little of our testimony with the pianist. Before we knew it, the pastor was inviting us to speak at church that night!

We did go with Hno Florentino to visit...first to his house. (I normally don't share when someone gives us a snack or a meal to eat...but this is significant. There is no flour, salt, or sugar on the island because the boats haven't been able to get in with supplies. No flour means no bread. They are waiting on a boat that was still stuck in Ustupu when we left. They were pumping water out of that boat 24 hours per day!) He offered us hot chocolate and BREAD. I have no idea where the bread came from, but that's the God we serve...the One who makes a way where there is no way!!

From Hno Florentino's house, we went to visit his cousins. He prayed with them and invited them to church. Then we went to Heladio's house. We could smell the sickness before we even walked into the house. Once we were inside, we could feel the spiritual darkness. I was shocked!! As I looked around, I saw at least 3 huge statues near his hammock where he was laying. There was a huge box of wooden statues under his hammock right beneath his head. Above the hammock there was a string tied from one end to the other with little wooden statues tied onto the string. YIKES...if those aren't idols, I don't know what is!! Chris and I were praying silently while Hno Florentino and the other brother shared. Heladio goes to church at the Baptist church, and he wants to work with the kids. double yikes! I know that they teach against using these idols and having them in your house. I don't know what the deal is. He's definitely under spiritual attack...honestly, I didn't know what to do. He started crying. He's extremely depressed and has thought of suicide. Finally, I asked if we could pray. I know it was the Holy Spirit that was speaking through me because I was praying with a boldness that I don't normally have. Heladio calmed down...he seemed okay for now. I told him and his granddaughter that he needed to be reading the Bible. Anytime he started to get like that, he needed to read and if he couldn't, she needed to read it to him. Oh my...as Chris and I talked later, we think that he's holding on to these idols and reaching out to God thinking that one or the other will cure him. The thing is, GOD DOES NOT SHARE HIS GLORY!! How many times are we guilty of not really relying on Him? I was impacted today be seeing this...I know that in the US there aren't normally carved idols...but there are things we hold onto...money, houses, cars, people...the danger exists in our country too!

This afternoon, we prepared for the evening service, and Chris helped with the coconuts a little more! We've learned soooo much about coconuts!!

One of the ladies in the church wanted me to sing at church tonight, so I got there early so that we could practice "O Come all Ye Faithful." (It's the only song that I know very well in Kuna, plus it's Epiphany today! It's been a really different Christmas and New Year for us, but I'm still trying to celebrate.) Chris and I were able to share testimony tonight in Spanish. After church, one of the ladies--Griselia--invited us to visit some families with her tomorrow. Pretty exciting to see how God is lining things up!!

Monday, January 7th

Hna Griselia met us at the boat, and we showed her the Evangecube that we use to share about Jesus. She read the paper that goes with it so that she would be able to translate for us if need be. Then off we went...we visited 6 families and all of them prayed to accept Jesus as their Savior!!! Talk about God's favor...please pray for the following people...that it wasn't just words, but authentic acceptance and that they will seek the Lord!!

a) Raulina, Lorenelkis and Lorenzo b) Rosaura, Lusei, Fililina, Yarisnelda, and Blaisen

a) Magdalena, Maybis, and Yackson b) Yobili, Armodilia, Heraldes, Heraldo, Mandobane

a) Yairis, Luzmila, Claudina, Elen b) Rafael, Griselinda, and Griselinda

What an exciting morning!! None of these families have a Bible. So while Chris was working with the coconuts, I went to Pastor Eusebio and Hna Maria's house to copy some verses for them in Kuna. By the time I finished, it was time for prayer. I was so glad that I stayed...everyone had their individual bench just to kneel and pray! Unloading your troubles on the Lord is the most amazing feeling!! Praise God for this special time with Him today!! After prayer, Hna Griselia went with me to deliver the Bible verses and a few other materials to each family that we visited in the morning!!

Tonight we just hung out with the guys on the pier...we especially shared a lot with Cesar again tonight...our time is getting short with them, so we are trying to take advantage of every second. We should leave here tomorrow afternoon. Then we'll be in Tubualá a day or so collecting coconuts. Finally, we'll be in Calidonia...our last island together. Only about 4-5 days left...we still have no clue how we will get to the mainland to keep walking to Puerto Obaldia. We just keep trusting and praying that God will continue to make a way for us! We are also praying for time to share about Jesus with the guys. Lord, we know that you love them more than we do, but after 17 days with them...they are like family. We want them to know You, Father!

Tuesday, January 8th

Ronald confirmed that we would be leaving today, so Chris and I went to tell our friends on the island bye. We stopped by Heladio's house again. We talked with him about the idols and that they weren't pleasing to God, but he didn't want to hear it. He insisted that they were part of the medicine for his healing even though he prays to them and they have to be bathed weekly. We just had to turn him over to God because there was nothing more that we could do. Please continue to lift him up...that God would free him from the bondage that he's in!

We came back from making our rounds, and one of the guys asked if we had talked to Lewis. We hadn't seen him, so we asked what he needed. Apparently two of his friends had arrived with a group of tourist from Puerto Obaldia. Since they were friends, they were willing to take Chris and I back with them to Puerto Obaldia today. We were shocked. We walked to the other pier and sure enough, they had already talked and worked out the details. We would be leaving with them shortly. Chris and I both prayed as we packed...we had hoped for an opportunity to talk to the guys, but it didn't appear that it was going to work out. As it turned out, they were having trouble getting the engine started and all of the guys from Nuevo Tauro were at the boat waiting to see us off. God opened the door!!! Chris and I sat down and shared Jesus with them! It was amazing...there were no interruptions, they were all attentive!! They all wanted to pray to accept Christ as their Savior! Chris and I lead them in a prayer with tears of joy in our eyes!! 18 days of living out Christ's love with these guys...a short time and a long time!! Praise God!! Praise God!! Praise God!!

It was with mixed emotions that we loaded our stuff on the speed boat...we would be on dry land again. We could walk again. But we were sad to say goodbye to Nuevo Tauro and to the Kuna!! We'll be back though...God has definitely given us an open door to work on these islands in the future!!

It was a 2-3 hour ride to Puerto Obaldia, but we were in a fiberglass boat with a 75 horse-power engine, so the time flew by! I didn't get sick at all! We just bounced up and down and enjoyed the scenery...it's gorgeous...untouched!!

When we got to Puerto Obaldia, there was a soldier there who directed us to check in with the police. While we were there, what appeared to be an air attack began to take place. (At least that's what the soldier's thought...they were all grabbing their machine guns and running towards the airstrip. Remember this is the border town with Colombia and there have been attacks from the guerrillas in the past.) Puerto Obaldia is a tiny town, so everyone was out at the airstrip. We had to wait to see someone from immigration to stamp our passport.

While all the planes were buzzing around and landing, Chris and I met Cande. She runs a restuarant and hotel in town. She assured us that if we stayed the night, she would give us a good deal. What a sweet, little lady! As we talked to her, we learned that we would have to take a boat to Colombia or hire a guide to walk with us to the border town La Miel. From there, we would still have to cross the Chocó before we would get to a road where we could walk. Aaaaaahhhhh! We thought that if we could just get to Colombia, we could continue walking! Okay...God has a plan in all of this.

Finally, all the planes landed...it turns out that they are ultralights. It's a club out of Medellín, Colombia who are taking a trip together over their vacations. However, two of the planes were damaged in the landing, so they have to stay overnight too. We haven't actually talked to any of them, but that's the story we heard.

The Panamanian Immigration opened again, and we went down to find out about stamping the exit on our passports for tomorrow. The man explained that we just needed to have permission from the Colombian consolate who was just a couple of doors down. We went down there, but the consolate is in Panama City. His secretary is in charge of the office. We asked her about giving us permission to enter Colombia. She asked us for a plane, train, or bus ticket that could prove when we would be leaving Colombia. When we explained that we were walking and they don't give a ticket for that, she very rudely explained that she would not give us permission to enter Colombia because it was against the rules. I asked her to look at our passports then she could see that we had crossed 7 other countries and Colombia was next on our way to Peru. She had no desire to see our passports or to continue talking to us any longer.

Wow! Again we stand at a closed door...not only are we not to a place that we can continue walking, but we also can't cross the border to get into Colombia!!! Okay...we are going to rest here tonight...pray...try to post so that you know where we are...and pray some more. We know that God didn't bring us this far to drop us off!!! Our God WILL make a way where there is no way. I just don't know what it is yet. We hope to be in communication again soon...but it looks like we'll have to get to a town called Turbo in Colombia before we'll have "regular" internet/phone access again. We love you and are praying for you. God bless you and keep you!