in honor of indepence day

I hope all is well in Amurrica!
i am currently in panama city, having an incredible time doing ministry both in my hostel as well as in a poor urban community a few blocks down the road. The other day i drove in a taxi past these crumbling (literally) projects with people sleeping on the sidewalk, selling drugs in the street, and prostitutes on the corner. I went back to the hostel and felt like i needed to go back down there. I was really tired and tried to brush it off, however, i couldnt get it out of my head that i needed to be down there. So, Eric and I grabbed our drivers licences (still ID but less important) and just enough money to take a taxi out if necessary and walked down towards the neighborhood of el Chorillo. We got stopped by a cop about 2 blocks down telling us not to go any further we would be shot. However, I could tell my desire to go there was not from me, so i told him i knew what i was doing, we would be fine. we walked two more blocks down and people started shouting out their windows telling us to turn around, dont go further. Finally a woman cooking outside her apartment yelled at us, this is a red zone you are not allowed here. I tried to explain to her that we knew we had to be out by dark and that we just wanted to find a church we could go too and worship with people on sunday. As we argued, haha, I noticed she had some fish cooking on her grill. I interupted her to ask what it was and she said it was jamaican style fish. Soon, as we started asking questions about her and her friends, we went from unwanted intruders to having chairs and seats brought out for usa nd great conversations with neighbors while she cooked fish for us (3 dollars for a whole fish, shrimp, and fried plantanes). We learned about life in urban panama and got to share stories, laughs and the gospel with them.There were kids playing soccer in the street, men lining the sidewalk drinking beers, families bringing their meals to the curb to eat outside with everyone and music blaring out a top story window for everyone to enjoy. At the end of the evening, one of our new friends, stanley, walked us home so their would be no trouble.
It is so cool to see how quickly the gospel can break down barriers. the Gospel is personal, it is individual, does not group people together. The gospel says that God loves people individually, chose them individually, and dies for them individually. Looking at the world with this in mind, color is no longer important, social class doesnt matter, and stereotypes (although difficult) can be broken. I am realizing that that, among many other things, is what is so unique about the gospel and is one of the many things that gives it such power. Lorraine, stanley and their neighborhoods have been categorized. They are seen as poor, dirty, dangerous, and better avoided. They have begun to believe that about themselves and even see themselves as dangerous people. However, despite the fear that so many panamanians and "gringos" have of them and their neighbors, god is not afraid of them haha. The gospel is so much more powerful and so much bigger than that, that it doesnt back down in the face of stereotypes, racism, and dangerous neigborhoods, it thrives. In case anyone was wondering, yes i am very excited about Newark New Jersey.
We got back to the hostel, excited, and as we told people about our evening we were able to easily transition into conversations about what we are all about. We invited people to come back the next day with us to support Lorraine (the fish woman) by buying her fish instead of going to a bigger nice restaurant. so, yesterday, we went back with two friends. Once again, we got stopped by a cop (two this time) and had people telling us not to go any further, but when we turned the corner lorraine jumped up and gave us a huge hug and went and called her friend stanley who had been their the night before. Our friends were nervous, didnt talk a whole lot, but got to be a third party in a night of great conversations displaying Gods love for us individually, his love or people in general, and the way that that should manifest itself in the life of a christian. when we left, both guys that came with us were really excited. one guy had been working as a doctor in costa rica for 6 months and had never had an experience like that with locals. It opened up for a night of great conversations about Jesus, incarnation, love, and travelling in a way that is respectful to locals. Being the 4th of july, these conversations all took place after our journey through the night to find a six pack of the king of beers haha. the whole time really reminded me a lot of summer up in Newark and got me so excited to get out there again and get to live in a community like this. God is really preparing Eric and I alot on this trip for the next year up there. I cannot wait!


- i wish i had pictures, but i did not want to offend anyone or get my camera stolen!

- David