We had to put a picture of Lydia. She was so excited about the "catch" she asked to have her picture taken, again and again!! This animal is very valuable, we thought that the family loved the meat and was excited to eat it. We found out the next day, they canoed over an hour away where they were able to sell the meat for $3 per pound. More poignantly, Lydia comes to visit whenever she sees Dale leave without me. One day she said to me that before she had Jesus in her life, everyday she was only sad. Now she said, with a big smile, she finds joy in her heart. Praise God that though they have very little, he is able to fill their lives with joy.

A few months back I wrote about a 9 year old who had fallen out of his kayuka (spanish for canoe) and died. We came home late one evening to find his father wailing on our front steps. After asking around, we were shocked to find that many of the children who ride to school in canoes alone, and live on the water do not know how to swim. After talking with the parents, we realized a lot of the parents did not know how to swim. So when the YWAM DTS from Panama City contacted us about doing part of their outreach with us we were overjoyed to find out they had several certified swimming instructors. So it was with great fun that the kids jumped off our dock and got their first swimming lessons. I laughed, because the teachers come to the school very dressed up and neither of them knew how to swim. So as the kids practiced their strokes in the water, the teachers practiced theirs in the shade of our boat.

Two years ago we suggested to the indigenous that they plant some rice down on the marshy part of the land we own. When Dale came up for last summer, it happened. When we were gone, they got to work!! So it was a special time when for three weeks the rice harvest came in. We had the good fortune to have YWAM Panama join us with their Discipleship Training Team. They helped pick the rice. For those who don't know, first they walked around and cut, or picked off the rice. Next they put it into big bags and beat it with a stick to get the rice to fall from the small stalk. Then it was laid out in the sun for days to dry. After that they again beat it with a stick, but eventually carved a little stool with a bowl in front to beat it. This mixture was then thrown into the air, where the wind would blow off the chaff, and finally, rice to eat. The neighbors helped, the family of Tboo came from two hours away, and from 1/2 bag of rice seed came 20 BIG bags of rice. Then entire field is now being cut, and a new crop put in for February.

Dr. Vijay Aswani

The family of Tboo, our worker, came to help with the first rice harvest. With them were two grandchildren they hadn't yet seen. One a very sick little boy, 19 months old, who had never walked or talked, with severe malnutrition. We gave them the pills we have for parasites, and prayed for help. That very night, Dr. Aswani called from Panama City, and was on a plane within 48 hours. Olejo is doing better, and even has taken a few steps. However, until the Ngobe understand the need for clean drinking water and sanitation there will be many like him.