a weekend in Chepo

I had a few moments to contemplate last night as we were in Chepo. It was almost midnight and I was looking for a shower. When I asked our hostest where I could shower she pointed me to the house next door. They had an unfinished shower out behind the house with a lovely view of the stars. I was amused to find that the shower curtain was made from an old political banner: amazing how many uses people find for those after the elections are done.

We were in Chepo working with a small church, specifically with the youth group. Their youth pastor, Fransisco, has been great to work with and is full of vision and wanting to impact his community and beyond. He's the sort of person that it's a joy to work with. I was asked to prepare a teaching for the youth group on dating. Interesting, since the church is Wounaan and the Wounaan don't traditionally date as part of their culture.

However, we talked a little bit about that and I found a Bible story I thought was relevant both to the subject and Wounaan culture. Truly, their culture is in limbo as they live in the midst of a latino community, trying to figure out which aspects of their culture they can hold on to, as others are lost in the melting pot of Panamanian culture. Sadly, what often happens is that minority cultures, when they lose their own customs, take on the customs of the lowest common denomonator. Having no culture ideal of what a good dating relationship should look like, they reproduce what they see going on around them in the community (the results are often painful).

So we were able to reflect some on what God has to say about relationships, whatever culture you are in, and spent an enjoyable time sharing with the youth group. We met after the normal evening service, so we finished quite late (thus the almost midnight shower) but felt it was well worth the time and effort.