Floods and Teams

At the flood zone.

What a couple of weeks it has been!  There was major flooding in the nearby town of Cerro Punta.  We had a team of Canadians, and a team from the Cayman Islands which just left yesterday.  It has been a wild time.  For those of you who keep an eye on my YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/AlanCrookham), or my Facebook page, you will have seen my videos of ministry with the teams and during the flooding.  There are still several videos I am uploading from that time, I just had limited access and not much time to do so.

During the time we were helping with the flood victims we were able to go where many other people were unable to.  I went up to the disaster area the day after the flooding took place, less than 24 hours after.  The area was completely shut off, and only authorized personnel and rescue workers were allowed on site.  However the Lord had spoken for me and another staff member to go there and help.  At the first check point it didn't seem like we would get in at all, the police officer was pretty adamant that we could.  It wasn't until I flashed my pastoral ordination card (thank you Faith Fellowship!) that he instantly changed his tone.  Panama is a very religious country, and pastors are given more freedom and respect than many other places.

That was all it took.  After that we breezed through all four checkpoints into the center of the town that was hit.  We weren't able to go to the actual disaster zone itself, which was a little bit outside of town, but we did get to be where all the donations were coming into, and the food was being cooked for those who had lost their homes.  We were also right next to where those people were staying.  It was a somber environment on that first day to say the least.

Pictured: Day 3 (not quite as somber)

We worked with the donations for three hard days, two of them with the team from the Cayman Islands.  It was an amazing opportunity and we did as much as we could.  As you can see in these pictures there was an abundance of clothing donated, and we assisted in sorting it into men and women's, children, etc... in order to be distributed to families effected by the flood.

On a fun note, I got to see the First Lady of Panama, and just missed the President twice.  I didn't get to meet the First Lady, but we was standing across the street with some soldiers.  I did have a lot of reporters taking pictures of me though.  I guess there is something about a giant white gringo carrying boxes of water that looks interesting!  

Aside from the flooding we were all over the place doing a large variety of ministry.  However I don't want to give it all away because I am just about due for a newsletter and don't want to write it all here!  I'll be writing that newsletter in the next few days and you can get more details then!  

Many blessings!