August Newsletter!

A Flood of Events and an Actual Flood.

A very busy month topped off with admin work.

When I first returned to Panama to work with YWAM Chiriqui I thought it would probably be a slow start.  I had been gone for almost a year, and don't know some of the new staff.  That has not been the case at all.  In this past month I lead/co-lead two different short term teams, redesigned the YWAM Chiriqui web site (www.ywamchiriqui.org), and helped the victims of a flood in the nearby town of Cerro Punta.

Sorting this massive pile of clothes, shoes, bedding, and random other items for distribution to victims was one of our tasks.  

At the center of aid for the flood in Cerro Punta.  We worked with the Air Navy, Border Police, and regular Police.  

This is the base image I used to create the new web banner for the web site.  The final version is the last of about five banners I designed.

The Flood

On the 17th of this month (August) there was a flash flood that came out of nowhere.  These flood occur not so much from major rains, but rather a collection of smaller droplets that are more dense, collecting in streams and rivers that join at one particular point to form a sort of tidal wave.  This happened in Cerro Punta.  The wave hit when it was dark here, about 7 pm, and hit with tremendous force.  It was so powerful that it took a full sized bus, which had six people in it, and literally tore it apart.  All that was left of the bus when they finally found it was the chassis and scraps of metal.

At the end of the night 9 people had died (three from the bus, three escaped incredibly), and somewhere between 150-200 people were displaced.  The next morning I felt the Holy Spirit saying to go see what i can do to help, and my fellow staff member, Hermes, felt the same way.  

We drove up to Cerro Punta and I wasn't sure what was going to happen.  There were people wandering everywhere  like a zombie apocalypse.  The whole area was completely shut off by the Air Navy and government.  They weren't letting anyone into the town.  I went and spoke with the first checkpoint guard who said we couldn't enter at first, but God gave me an idea that I have never used before here, which was to show the guard my Pastoral ordination card I keep in my wallet.  As soon as I showed him the card his whole demeanor changed.  He immediately let me through, and the next three checkpoints simply waved me on.

That first day we helped the Air Navy load and unload supplies and the first donations that came through.  I was able to meet the coordinator for the whole relief effort, as well as make friends with some Air Navy soldiers, and as a result they allowed us to come back for another two days after that.  I brought a team from the Cayman Islands with me on the next two trips.  We were able to help a lot.  We cooked for the displaced families, sorted clothes and other donations, and worked as hard as we could to help.

Teams and Kings Kids

We also had two teams over the course of the month.  The first team was a youth group from Calgary, Canada, and the second came from the Cayman Islands.  They were both great teams to work with.  We continued the ministries we do every week whether we have teams or not; the nursing home, Arturo Miro, schools, indian villages, and much more.  

Kings Kids camp also ran while the Cayman Island team was here, and Karmy helped to staff that.  This was only the second time the base has run the camp, so it is still gaining momentum.  We had several local kids signed up, but due to heavy rains on the day of the camp they all cancelled on us.  However we still ran the camp with the kids from the home here on base.  They had a mud pit, games, Bible stories, and even a ministry time in Rovira.

Web Site For those of you who have visited the YWAM Chiriqui web site in the past year, you may have noticed that it was way outdated.  The reason for that was because I originally designed that web site, and when I left nobody else knew how to change it!  So it just stayed the same and faded into the incredibly outdated creature from earlier this month.  Needless to say, when I arrived here the very first thing I was tasked to do was fix that.  However, in order to ensure that doesn't happen again if say I go on outreach for two or three months somewhere, it doesn't get outdated again, they asked me to design something so simple that anyone can go in and edit it. So that is what I have done.  It isn't as pretty as I would like it to be, but it also shouldn't get outdated again either.  I am still working on it, but at least it is up and running with current information!

Prayer Requests 1.  Even though we have been here for about six weeks now, there is still readjusting taking place.  Reestablishing contacts, adjusting budgets, returning to the YWAM style of ministry, all of these things are coming into place, but please pray that it continues smoothly. 2.  For Elias who is now doing his school with a missionary family here.  They have five kids and are excellent teachers, and offered to bring Elias into their classes.  Pray that he continues to do well. 3.  For the ministry among the Ngobe.  As you may know our building and ministry in Tugri is at risk right now.  The local religion has taken YWAM to Ngobe court, and is trying to shut down the entire ministry.  The actual court session is tomorrow, and no matter what happens there will be an effect to how we do ministry there from now on. 4.  For the flood victims in Cerro Punta who are still recovering.  Many lost their homes and are waiting for the government to rebuild them as they promised.  However as we all know, the government often makes open promises that they never fulfill, and these people could easily get stuck with nothing now that the excitement of the event is slowing down.

Until Next Time! As always I hope you are all doing wonderfully.  And if you would like to see videos and pictures of the teams and ministries we have been doing, you can go to my Facebook page or my YouTube channel and see lots of them.  Also, feel free to send me an email with any questions or comments at alan.crookham@gmail.com Thank you all so much for your support and prayers, and know that your help truly is making a difference in this nation! Many blessings, Alan

Copyright © 2014 Alan Crookham, All rights reserved. You are on this update list for missions news from Alan and Karmy Crookham because you either asked to be subscribed online or verbally requested updates. If you are on this list by mistake, feel free to unsubscribe and many apologies for the mixup! Our mailing address is: Alan Crookham 3649 CR 770 Princeton, TX 75407