November 20, 2007

Dear Family and Friends,

Greetings to all of you in hopes that everything is well and peaceful in your lives.  We have been experiencing a series of unfortunate events in the past few weeks.  Those of you who keep up regularly with our blog are already aware of much of what is going on in our lives.  But for the rest, I will briefly fill you in.

First, in attempt to get our Panamanian drivers licenses, Michael lost his California License. He was able to get a new one when he went to the States for the Ordination of the new Bishop of El Camino Real.

Then I injured my ankle.  It's healing fairly quickly and I'm getting around just fine.  After that, we were in a collision with Panama's finest.  We were on our way home from church when our car was hit on the drivers side while I was making a left hand turn.  The police were trying to go around me on the left, but didn't use their sirens or lights to inform me they were there.  The insurance is taking care of the car and I have a court date on Nov 20, this morning! We'll see how it goes.  This means we have been without a car and needed to take taxis everywhere. The university I go to is 35 minutes from my home and taxis aren't too keen on bringing my home.  It's quite a challenge at night to come home.  Luckily we're close to the church so Michael can walk when it's not raining.  

Now that you know the bad news, here's the good news. Michael went to California this month to attend the Consecration of the Third Bishop of the Diocese of El Camino Real, the Rt. Rev. Mary Gray-Reeves.  He had a great time visiting family and friends.  He said it was wonderful.  He was thrilled to meet the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori who he calls the "coolest and only Primada on the Planet Earth."   He also believes the Rt. Rev. Mary Gray-Reeves is a gift to El Camino Real. He had very wonderful things to say about her. He posted pictures on his blog of this event and tells about his trip in more detail than I will go into here.  Please check it out.

There are many other new things to see on our blog.  This month alone you can see photos of baptisms in our parish, the car accident, pictures of the parade for the national holiday.  November is the holiday month of the year in Panama.  Michael posted his sermon for the Feast of All Saints, and there's other writings of other saints.  He also posted pictures of the graduation for the cake baking class. 

Sunday we took pictures of the Thanksgiving lunch we held after the service.  It grows every year.  Michael cooked a turkey, as is his custom. He loves to cook. He'll also be cooking a turkey for our own Thanksgiving dinner on the 22nd. 

We wish you the very best. Have a terrific Thanksgiving and may the good Lord shower many blessings upon you.


http://padremickey.blogspot.com

Your missionaries in Panama,
Mona and Michael Dresbach
mgdbach@hotmail.com  - Michael
mldbach1@yahoo.com  - Mona

Please pass this letter on to everyone. If you would like to make donations or a monthly pledge to our mission, please contact St. Francis Episcopal Church, 1205 Pine Ave., San Jose, CA 95125, 408-292-7090. Please feel free to check St. Francis' web site at www.stfrancisepiscopalchurch.org , which includes an archive of our letters and pictures of our mission.