Panama City

Sat morning (10th Dec) we had a healing ministry time at the Church where the pastor had spent the last week inviting people by word of mouth as well as through his radio station. What a time of ministry, God totally crashed in with people being touched by His Spirit and the power of His love. We had the afternoon off so a few of us did some sightseeing where we went to see a lock in the Panama Canal. That was such a highlight, learning about the history of the Panama Canal, how the locks work etc. Now it all makes sense, what a light bulb moment of understanding!! We're staying at Gamboa Union Church which is right opposite the Canal so we see the container ships sailing past all the time, easily one every 10min.

A few interesting facts I picked up from the afternoon at the tourist centre include: 

Ships pass through the Canal 24 hours a day; there are three locks, the one I'm near is on the Pacific side and is called Miraflores; two more locks are being built to enable more and bigger ships to pass through the Canal, they are scheduled to be completed in in 2014 which is exactly 100 years since the locks first became operational; when control of the Canal was handed over to Panama from the US it was from a Christian president (James Carter); and the cost for a ship to pass through the Canal is between $300,000-$400,000.