"Reunited in Panama" (Panama - April 2004)

Thank you for taking the time to pray for me as I traveled to Panama to conduct a Church Planting Leadership Development Conference. It was an incredible trip and the Lord blessed in many ways.

I left home at 5 a.m. and arrived in Panama City, Panama at 3:30 where we quickly boarded a public bus and traveled to the city of David, arriving at our hotel at 10:30 p.m. As you can imagine, I was exhausted and wondering how I would be able to function for the two day conference that I was supposed to lead.

We woke up the next morning and made our way to the conference site not sure how many people would actually attend. Upon our arrival I was utterly humbled and my leisurely travel the day prior was placed into perspective. I was introduced to one pastor, Eusebio, who had traveled 3 days by bus all the way from El Salvador! He was 67 years old and I would soon learn that he had the strength of an ox and the vision of the Apostle Paul for planting churches. There was also Johnny who traveled from Costa Rica after an English-speaking translator returned to his church with a report of all that God was doing through Global Missions Fellowship in Panama. By the end of the weekend Johnny was in tears of repentance crying out that God would use him to plant churches. Then there was a group of about 25 Guaymi Indians that had walked some 8-10 hours through the mountains to come and participate – one of the ladies was even pregnant! By this time I had stopped grumbling about the coach flight and air-conditioned bus that I had to ride in. In all there were nearly 70 leaders in attendance for this conference.

But one of the conference participants stood out above all the rest. Back in 1996 I came to this area on my first ever mission trip. Little did I know that my participation in that trip was in response to the prayers of a woman that I had never met. Her name is "Itzel" and she lives in a tiny village in North Western Panama called "Tejeras". Itzel's village had no evangelical church and she had to travel over an hour to a larger city to attend worship. Itzel had begun to pray as Jesus instructed in Matthew 9:38 - "Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest." Back in ’96 I became the answer to Itzel's simple prayer! When I arrived in Panama, I invested several days training Itzel and a few others in how to share the gospel and going door to door through her village. By the end of that week over 70 people had made professions of faith and Itzel's prayer for an evangelical church in her own village had been answered! On that last day with Itzel I had left her with a modest gift of about $40 to help cover her expenses in hosting us for the week. I left Tejeras and traveled back to the city of David where the host churches had planned a celebration service in honor of the missionaries who had come to help them start new churches. I remember kneeling at the altar that night as many came by to pray over me - most of the voices I did not recognize. But then I felt a tear drop fall down onto my neck and I heard a familiar voice . . . it was Itzel along with many of those who had accepted Christ in her village. They had used the money that I left with them to rent a van and come to thank me once again for helping them! As you can imagine, I left the country of Panama changed once again by a "Divine opportunity" that God had placed before me.


Now here I stood in San Felix, Panama eight years later and to my amazement, Itzel was there at the conference! As we saw one another we embraced and cried out praising God for how He had used us to touch one another’s lives back in 1996. I learned that the little church planted in Tejeras had planted another church in a neighboring village. And now Itzel had come to learn how to keep that vision growing by planting even more churches!

The conference went great. Everyone was blessed by the biblical instruction and practical application that I challenged them with. At the end of the conference we challenged the participants to take the materials we provided and reproduce the conference for people under their influence. The result is that the 70 people there committed to train over 500 others in how to do evangelism and discipleship in a way that starts new churches! As I read Itzel’s commitment I was overwhelmed to see that she had committed to train 100 people herself. And I thought to myself, “What if I had missed that opportunity back in 1996? What if I had missed this opportunity to be here today?” There were obstacles back then and new obstacles today, but when faith becomes sight I can only thank God for the grace that brought me to this point.

And I praise God for you . . . the people that have been a significant part of our growth in ministry through your prayers, financial contributions, and encouragement. And Itzel wanted me to give you a message from the church in Tejeras. They thank you for what you have done to change their lives. And although you may never meet Itzel this side of heaven, I am quite confident that she will greet you on the other side and she’ll have hundreds, if not thousands, that she has brought along with her!

The Rest of the Story . . .

After that first night of the LDC several of us men decided to drive over to the Pacific beach and sleep out under the stars. It was an incredible night listening to the waves crash 30 yards away and looking up in wonder at more stars than I had ever seen in my life. All I could think of is God’s promise to Abram that he would make his descendants as numerous as the stars – wow, what a promise! And there I lay on a beach in Panama looking up at those same stars
working to see that promise come to fruition through the Great Commission.

When the conference came to a close we headed up into the Guaymi Indian Reservation to meet with leaders there and select the sites where we will bring our team in June. The ride up over the mountains was unlike any I have ever taken. It was 4x4 the entire trip with us three “gringos” and about 15 others piled into the back of an old LandCruiser truck. From the outset we had to choose our rut carefully because we would be spending the next 4 hours in it! By the time we arrived in Cuernavaca, it was already dark. We hiked into the village by flashlight (no electricity up there) and set up camp in the small tin church that a team had constructed last year. The wind was fierce, blowing at about 40 mph but we squatted in a little stick hut with the beautiful Guaymi believers and looked on as they cooked our oatmeal supper over a small fire.

The next day we hiked and drove through several other villages greeting the small congregations along the way. The Guaymi are descendents of the Mayas and most worship spirits and ancestors. So these small churches are working to push back that darkness. Many of the pastors/leaders that attended the conference accompanied us through the day. In one village called “Escopeta”, there is no existing church. We visited with the “Chief” there and I shared the gospel with him. He did not receive Christ, but he did give us permission to bring a team there to work in June. We were so blessed to work alongside these modern-day Guaymi “apostles” who are carrying the gospel to places where it has never before been preached. Even though most of their congregations have fewer than 20 adults, they, like the church in Antioch, were praying and sending out missionaries to take the gospel deeper into the mountainous reservation. What a blessing and privilege it is to be a part of what God is doing among the Guaymi. Please pray for them that they would be strong and courageous and that the word of God would spread through them and churches be planted in every village!