while im at it.

I'm blog happy today!!!
But I just remembered that I was gonna post a blog about the most important reason I am here in Panama. DUR!
Although I do believe God has really used my team to impact people in the Ngobe and beyond, I feel that the thing God is really doing through us is sharing his heart for the orphans of Panama.

Here in DTS we talk in seasons.
This is a good season.
Starting today.
I made a willing decision last night that I am going to be happy. I said "God, I trust you with my life. And only you will bring me joy. So I will rely on you fully."
Got a problem with that Satan? bite me.
Sorry.....

I am just really in a great mood today...could you tell by my productivity?

So I am going to try to make this brief. Seriously. I hope.

From week one God put orphans on our hearts.
We were introduced to a couple who only in the past few years started a ministry out here in Panama for orphans. They dropped everything in their comfortable lives in North Carolina to move here after God clearly called them to do so. You see, they had been looking to adopt, and they were brought to Panama in the process. They soon found out that adoption is RARE here...and international adoption impossible. So they came here and started Hearts Cry Children Ministry(check em out- heartscrychildren.com).

When we arrived we met with them and decided we would work alongside them to raise awareness about the orphan problem. They told us there are roughly 50,000 orphans in Panama. This is not widely recognized because when they count orphans they only count children whose parents are both dead...not children who are abandoned. Plus no one really bothers counting. As a result many people dont even know there is an orphan problem at all. (we spoke at a church and no one had ANY IDEA there was an orphan problem!!)

What is more there is a cycle that continues because of institutionalization. The kids are raised in much less than ideal living situations (there is often abuse from care-takers and other children, the kids often experiment sexually with each other, and there is always some form of neglect), homes are never found for them (because of the lack of adoption and foster programs), so they grow up not receiving the care they need and end up in crime and eventually they abandon their own children. It is a cycle that is visibly getting worse.

I am not going to go into extreme depth about the orphan problem here for one reason.
We are putting out a publication!!

That is what this blog is about!

I need prayer in this time because my team is working day and night to finish a book we are making before we leave in a couple weeks.
It is my prayer that the book is effective. Without God it is nothing. We have been praying since we knew we were going to be making a publication God's hand would guide us because through Him this book could make a difference!!

So. We have visited various orphanages and conducted interviews learning stories and spending time with the orphans and caretakers of Panama. Now we are putting these stories together into a book with PHOTOS we have taken that will be published in spanish (dont worry ill have an english version in PDF for you all to see!). Every page in the book is a photo, all photos taken by my team! More importantly, the stories. We have personal journal entries from our experiences, journal entries from kid's perspectives, and from people who have been adopted. It is so exciting to see it coming together. When it is finished it will be handed out to people all over Panama to start raising awareness about the orphan problem!

We hope to pass out the majority of the publications in churches in Panama because we believe the church can raise up in Panama and make a huge difference.

Praise report: Matt and misty wrote a proposal to the government. It essentially outlines the problem and presents a solution (basically enforcing the laws that are in place and making new laws) so that proper homes can be found for these children. Misty was a lawyer in the States, and so as you can imagine the legal knowledge helped tremendously and they were able to produce an AMAZING proposal. Well, the week we arrived here in Panama a new president was elected into office. His name is Martinelli. The last president didnt care about orphans, and the system became very inefficient as a result. All orphanages are owned by the government, and government officials try to find family members to take kids once they are orphaned. There is a law in place that says within 6 months if a relative doesnt claim the orphan then they are not eligible to have the kid. But they ignore this law and try for years to get the kid out of orphanges (to get the ugly numbers down), even if this means putting the kid into a totally unsafe environment. Anyhow, the new president. What an amazing time for him to come into office. It just so happens that Martinelli's sister has a heart for orphans and is doing work of her own with them. Matt and Misty had already met her not knowing she was related to someone who would run for office. She totally loves Matt and Misty too. All of this to say that there was a great platform for Matt and Misty to start with. Anyway, last week they had the long awaited meeting at the government building to propose their...well...proposal? hehe....anyway...IT WENT AMAZINGLY. Not only did they totally support all of their ideas, they MADE OFFICE SPACE for them!! They started today!! We havent had a report back yet on their first day..but HOW COOL HUH?

All of this goes to show that God really did have a purpose for me and my team here in Panama. I mean, what a perfect time for us to come. During all of this proposal stuff. Now that they have approval to get adoption and foster programs running they can finally start seeing their visions for Panama's children come true. And to help them let people know they will have our publication to hand out. The thing is is that no one really adopts because there are negative connotations with orphan insinuating that they could never be suitable for a middle class family..its like they are like animals. People would be embarrassed to be seen with them! So sad. So our book makes it clear that these kids are beautiful and wonderful and LOVED and yeah. ITS ALL JUST SO EXCITING.

That is all for now.

I will put pictures up from my visits to orphanages soon.

Questions?
Please ask.
Blessings!
Cambria.