i love panama.

Hey guys, I'm gonna have to make this one real short and sweet. I'm stitting here at an internet cafe (im pumped cause they actually sell salads and understand my spanish) trying to catch up on emails etc. (sorry to those i havent responded, i figured a quick blog update would suffice for now) finding time for the internet has been harder than i thought it would be! so lets see..

- we finally have found 2 appartments and us four girls are hopefully moving in tommorow! It's probably a 10 minute walk to the guy's appartment, it's ideal...beautiful, i feel very blessed.

- our visas are still up in the air, and we might have to sign up for classes with an english school or something in order to stay as students etc.

- i'm realizing how much I'm total bait here in Panama, and am learning how to tune out whistling, nasty panamanian men

- i havent gotten sick yet, feel great physically - other than the fact that this city is really polluted. My lungs hurt last week when we were doing a prayer walk around the campus, at 5:30 in the morning...there was like a burning sensation...any ideas? other than a gas mask.

- for those who are curious as to my mailing adress (mom :) the mailing system is really sketch here so i'm not even sure we have one...hehe.?/ all in good time.

- amidst all that is "up in the air" i really feel at home here and God has given me and amazing peace and just unexplainable joy about this city, this country...my teamates, panamanians whom i love and adore, and i just CAN'T WAIT to get on campus.

This feels like heaven.

I hope to get some more time on the internet soon, but we're all very much in limbo until we get settled into our appartments and onto campus....pray for kind administrative ppl and God's continued favor. Much MUCH love, Tricia

Canada meets Panama.

Hello friends and family!! I made it! Wooohoo God is so faithful. I’m sitting here in an Internet place right next to the hotel I’m staying at and it’s surreal. Let me just say that this whole training week was amazing and INTENSE. It was awesome to finally be united as stint teams in Guelph, allowing this trip to really sink in a whole lot more. We had amazing times of teaching and preparations, with language learning, prayer, biblical foundations etc.

Last week the craziest thing happened though, I was hit with the news last week Wednesday that I wouldn’t be able to go to Panama because of the financial status I was at in support raising. It was like a ton of bricks hit me, crushing my body/spirit and everything else. I decided that God was just doing this to show His power and glory through my life. We had the tickets, we had the willing person (me) but I had to “o.k” from head office cause I didn’t have the funds.

So our team united, we prayed, we fasted…we worshiped God and told Him to show us His power and guess what He did? Well in a matter of hours, like 2-3 (I was such a whirlwind) the rest of the funds came in. And let me tell you, I needed 8,000 more to come here and it was pledged and more; from the most unlikely sources. Are you guys getting the idea here? God is faithful. He calls us to do stuff, and nothing will get in the way of his purposes here on earth. He IS powerful, He DOES keep his promises and He is at work in every detail of our lives.

Wow. So it’s just been so surreal being here in Panama. Reuniting with amazing friends, looking for apartments to live in, praying and worshipping in Spanish. I can’t even describe to you how amazing it feels. Amazing. Wonderful. Beautiful. I woke up this morning dreaming in spanish.

i want to hold the hand that holds the world.

Alright...so I do believe this is my final and last “blog of the week” from home, seeing as I leave to Guelph for training this coming Monday. LAST WEEK AT HOME! How beautiful, exciting, tragic, nauseating...everything and more. Preparations to leave with visas, emails, banking stuff etc. have come into place and I am still trusting God with the finances for the trip. I know I’m going, and everything will fall into place in His timing despite all of my impatient prayers.

God’s sovereignty has been more apparent to me this week. Like do you ever wonder if God REALLY cares, if He’s really “got the whole world in his hands” (sing it with me! aha) If you’re at all like me, you question your faith from time to time. But this is what I was smacked in the face with this week…HE DOES! He listens, He knows, He calls people to do his work here on earth and His plans and purposes are perfect despite the way we look at things. Everything that is at all good in this world, He IS.

Last week, My beloved sister Mel and I were talking about what to do on the long weekend. Wanting to do something together of course (cue the violins) We decided that we would go to London to visit friends, for the cuban night at their church and check out this “Fresh Fire” Conference. Mel said, “I know that God wants you to be there, God has something in store for you.” Apparently he did.

Fast forward to the end of the weekend. I have never witnessed so many people getting healed from sicknesses; this woman right behind me said she even heard her bones crack as they were put back into place. It was nuts. That alone reminded me that God wants to move through our prayers of faith. But I was getting pretty tired after less than 3 hrs. of sleep the night before, I gave Mel the “lets go soon” eye but Todd said he had one last word. Just imagine me in a sea of hundreds of people. Sitting there, feeling tired, thinking about how powerful God is…

Before the service, God gave him a vision of this girl in the audience named Patricia. Who, What? Who calls me Patricia anyways. Wait..."a girl under the age of 25, with long blonde hair" shoot, God had me cornered. Remember that you didn’t have to sign up for this conference or anything, I had never even been to London before…EVER. So I went up to the front where Todd was speaking and He smiled cause it looked like me. He told me that Panama is exactly where I’m supposed to be. That there was a banner over my head that said “All Nations” (Panama is the intersection of the nations) That I’m full of virtue and have the brightness of God’s favor on my life. He told me that there’s power in my cheerful disposition. God was speaking right through him, about the mission of compassion and mercy…including children in the slums…

He prayed over me, and commissioned me to go. Let's do this!

Isaiah 14:24 – The Lord Almighty has sworn, “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand.”

through it all.

You are forever in my life, You see me through the seasons
Cover me with Your hand, And lead me in Your righteousness

And I look to You, And I wait on You

I will sing to You, Lord a hymn of love

For Your faithfulness to me

Im carried in everlasting arms

Youll never let me go

Through it all

Hallelujah, hallelujah

Wondering why I've pasted these lyrics here? Well this song is one of my favorites, the cry of my heart to God at this crazy time. I've got two weeks left at home. There are visas to apply for, forms and more forms, not to mention that I'm not at all fully funded for this mission next year. But the plane ticket has been booked in faith. Plus I'm cancelling my health plan in canada for a year......praying for me is more like breathing now. I know that God is able to do more than my mind can even comprehend. He will provide. He will be faithful. He's not gonna leave me stranded, it's His reputation on the line afterall. I will not give into my fears and will cling to faith. Even saying goodbyes are now acts of faith, faith that I won't see the girls I said goodbye to last night (picture above) faith faith faith...what a strange adventure.