Panama Mission Trip: The Jungles

Here’s my last installment, one well overdue, on my mission trip to Panama. Our trip was a week long.  The first several days we focused on inner city ministry.  The last several days we had the privilege to go into the jungles of Panama and present the Kunas, an indigenous people group, with the message of hope, love and redemption through Christ. We did this through the “Freedom” skit along with interpersonal ministry.  We had a blast getting to know several families and playing with many of the children in the village.

To give you a better perspective of our experience in the jungles I asked Daniel Smith, a Kuna with an awesome family history, to write up a brief summary of how his people first encountered the Christian faith.  It is a fascinating story and only a glimpse of their rich history.  In Daniel’s words:

Around 200 years ago, most of the Kuna population moved to the coast in northern Panama. Those that stayed behind inhabited villages around what was then the Bayano River (it became a lake in 1979 when the government dammed it).  Most of the population lives in villages on the coast of Panama. (more…)