Estoy aqui (I am here)

Nos Hemos Llegado (We have arrived)

We have finally arrived in Tocumen, Panama! We landed in the late evening on August 17th and have settled in to our new home. Laura, Nathan and I were greeted by Father Larry and some others from the church at the airport and we were taken to our home and greeted with a great reception of many parishoners and neighbors. The house we are staying at in Tocumen is very close to the airport, so we hear airplanes go overhead every once and a while, but not too often. We have electricity, clean water, kitchen appliances and the works. The house is great and the neighbors that we have met so far are very nice. I met Father Wally today, who is the person I will be working with most of my time in Wacuco starting in a couple months. He seems like a very good guy who can organize to get things done here. There is a link to his website on the right-hand side of this website if you are interested in projects he has done in the past.

It is hard to get used to the language here in Panama because they use many different phrases and words than other Central American countries. It just makes me realize home much I need to learn. I am very grateful for my roommates who know more Spanish than I do, because they are helping me sound less like an idiot. Please pray for me that I may grasp a better understanding of the language so I may communicate well with the Panamanians. Muchas Gracias.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support of this mission. If you are interested in supporting the cause monetarily, you can send a check to the following address. It is tax-deductible and much appreciated because Cap Corp covers all of my costs for the trip. Thank you so much!

Cap Corps Office
301 Church Street
Mt. Calvary, WI 53057


Nuestro Viaje a Wacuco (Our trip to Wacuco)

Today we visited Wacuco to check out the place that will be my home for the next year and a half. I will start working there with Father Wally some time in October. It is amazing the amount of projects that he has done and is currently working on to help improve the area of Wacuco and other surrounding communities. It is about two or two and a half hours from Tocumen, where I am currently staying with the other volunteers. We took the Pan-American Highway most of the way there and we found out that much of the highway near Wacuco was paved by Father Wally and his team of people there. It was quite amazing to visit Father Wally’s place because he has so much equipment and tools that he has acquired through donations that allow him to do so many big projects there. The first project I will be helping him with is the burying of 20km of pvc pipe for the water system he built in that area. Currently the system is not big enough, so he wishes to expand it so more people can get clean water. Before Father Wally came to Panama 18 years ago, the people did not have a source of clean water and resorted to drinking runoff on the side of the road or well water which was very brackish and not good for drinking or cooking. He also has plans to build a dam at the source of the water supply so there will be enough water during the dry season as well. Currently during the dry season there can be water shortages, so Wally drives around in a huge milk truck filled with water and goes up and down the street giving out water to the community. I am very excited to start working in that area and to learn all these different projects that I will be helping out on. Thanks everyone for tuning in! Please keep me in your prayers. Que Dios te bendiga! (God bless you)

International Mission Training

Hey everyone! I am still in Milwaukee doing some international training and will be leaving Thursday morning (August 17th). I am very excited to get to Panama and start to learn the language better and meet many people and begin to form relationships there. The training is going well right now. I am learning a lot and it has been good to be refreshed on topics like adjusting to a new culture. There are four girls doing the international training with us from a Marional group from St. Louis who will be going to Southern Mexico. It has been fun to have others partake in this training with us. All these people are very amazing and have had many great experiences in their lives already that have shaped their beliefs and which give them great passion to do the work they will be doing. It is just wonderful to be encouraged by them and be able to be very open with them. Here is a photo of the Cap Corp volunteers. The two on the left are the ones joining me in Panama; Nathan and Laura. Enjoy and talk to you soon.

Training in Milwaukee

Training has started full force in Milwaukee with the other five Cap Corp volunteers that will be serving in Panama and Milwaukee this coming year. There are three of us that will be staying state-side in Milwaukee and serving in soup kitchens, schools, and homeless shelters and the rest of us (including me) will be serving in Panama. Upon arriving in Panama, I will stay in Tocumen for two months with the two other volunteers and take Spanish classes and help out the local church. After that, I will go to Wacuco, which is a couple hours from Tocumen, to work with Father Wally on water projects.

Training is going very well and I am learning a great deal about the Capuchin Franciscan Order and am growing to love their mission. We had a celebration mass yesterday with all of the priests that were celebrating their 25th, 50th, 60th and 65th anniversaries as priests in the Capuchin order. It was wonderful to be able to celebrate that with them and also have a send-off ceremony for us volunteers as well. It is good to know that we are joining something that is bigger than all of us, a community that is commited to service in the name of Christ. I will post pictures and more text when I have the chance. Until then...