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!
Showing posts with label Panama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Panama. Show all posts
Monday
"Bruised but Beautiful Feet" (Panama - June 2005)
What an adventure the last couple of weeks have been. On June 1st I traveled along with 25 others from Destiny Metro Church of Marietta, GA to conduct a church planting campaign in western Panama. We had 16 that worked in the city of David and 10 went along with me to work in the mountainous jungles of the Guaymi Indian Reservation. God was so faithful in guiding us every step of the way - literally!
After a 4.5 hour trip in a 4x4 up the extremely difficult mountain dirt/mud road I started my first section of backpacking carrying everything that I thought I'd need for the coming week of ministry in remote villages. Not even an hour into our hiking journey I noticed a problem - the sole of my boot was coming apart. The problem was that this trail out to the village called Hacha required us to traverse a thigh deep river over a dozen times and most of our walking was on sharp and jagged river rocks. As I followed my national guides I started to worry because I thought that my feet would be the key to our work for the week to come. As the sole of my boot worked its way loose I finally just pulled the thing off and endured the next hour with nothing but a soft rubber cushion between my already aching feet and the stones that lined our path. Once we arrived in Hacha I inspected my boots and realized they were just going to slow me down so I put on my Teva river sandals (heavy duty flip flops) and started to pray for my feet as I never have before.
Over the next day and a half we saw God work some amazing miracles in the village of Hacha. There were only about a dozen believers in this village of about 80-100 people and only one of them was an adult male. We knew that the potential of planting a church there would be dependent upon having a trained adult male leader. As we talked with Virgilio we realized that he had never been baptized. We spent the rest of the day visiting homes in this animistic village (religion that believes that every object is inhabited by a spirit) praying for the sick and sharing the gospel. We also invited them down to the river for a late afternoon baptism service as Virgilio had expressed the desire for his family to be baptized. As the time approached we all made our way down to the river where our national workers (all from other villages where we've planted churches in the past) sang hymns and prayed at the water's edge. I had Joshua (the missions pastor at Destiny) and a visiting Guaymi pastor work together to baptize Virgilio, his wife and his teenage daughter. It was a beautiful sight - both the baptism and the dozens of unbelievers lining the banks to watch in curiosity. After the baptism we invited everyone back to Virgilio's house for an evening meeting where we would serve the Lord's Supper for the first time ever in this village. After dark the round stick house with a thatch roof started to fill with many standing outside the doorway peering in at our service. I preached a simple message describing the Fall of mankind and God's plan of redemption culminating with Christ's substitutionary death. We ended the service by celebrating the Lord's Supper using cookies and Tang (both are available locally) and all of the believers rejoiced at our participation in the Body and the blood of Christ. I was incredibly encouraged as this is the first time I've worked to plant a house church where we actually got the privilege of celebrating baptism and the Lord's Supper - the two things that Christ commanded in regards to planting churches.
The next morning I strapped on my sandals and my backpack and we were headed out for a half day hike to an even more remote village called Oriente. Amazingly Virgilio sent his 18 year old and 10 year old daughters along with us as an offering to the church planting work! As I scrambled through rivers, across rope bridges, and along the ledges of massive river gorges, I prayed that God would establish my aching feet and keep them planted firmly on the rock. Little Judy, Virgilio's 10 year old daughter, carried a live chicken which we planned to kill and cook for supper that night. She didn't seem the least bit phased by what I would consider to be one of the most grueling and dangerous treks I've ever been on. We arrived in the afternoon at Oriente and worshipped in a small house church that had been planted there previously. I focused on training the locals by telling and acting out Bible stories that they could remember and pass on to their families and friends. We used a community house as our base in Oriente, but were focusing our work on the neighboring village of Toloste which had no church. In our 3 days between those two villages we saw 8 people come to faith in Christ, including one of the chief elders in the village of Toloste. He was what I would consider to be a "man of peace" (see Luke 10) and after coming to Christ immediately offered some of his land as a location for a new church to be established.
All of our visits were not as easy as that one. It was in Toloste that I encountered the most extreme poverty and horrid living conditions that I think I've ever seen. One family's house was built literally on top of a pig sty. As I crossed the nasty mud going into the house I entered and saw about a dozen children, some partially dressed and some naked, all filthy. Some of the infants were laying naked on the mud floor staring up at this strange white man the likes of whom they'd never seen. As we shared the gospel with this family we recognized that like many of the animistic Guaymi, they were hard and resistant. However, they did ask us to pray for their sick grandmother. I approached the mat where the older lady was covered in blankets and it was clear to me why she was sick. The pigs were running in and out of the large stick house and she was only a few feet from their wallowing mud pit. I laid hands on this lady and prayed that God would have mercy and restore her health so that the family would repent and turn to faith in Christ. As we left that house I emptied my bag of all my snack bars and dispersed them among the children praying that like the loaves and fish, God would multiply this nutrition and bring health to their frail little filthy bodies. We went from there to another similar home where we were asked to pray for a man's 12 year old son. Upon our arrival most of the village came and stood around the outside of this house peering in as we shared the gospel. We also read from the Scripture about how Jesus healed and even raised some from the dead. Several of the women that lived in this communal family house starting telling us to get out of their house. Our brave young interpreter, Joseph, quickly turned to the man and asked if he were in charge or the taunting women. He hushed the women and then humbly laid some blankets on the dirt floor. I had noticed the bulging blankets curled up in the corner when we first came in but was unable to see the sick boy until his father uncovered him, to which the boy responded with painful groans. As his father picked him up and brought him into the light I was horrified to see the little boy's head swollen beyond recognition - eyes swollen shut. His little torso was frail and disfigured with a skin rash covering it. I'm no doctor but I knew I had no business putting my hands on this child for fear that something may be contagious. Instead we gathered the team around and stretched out our hands over the boy and prayed with all our hearts that Christ would be glorified in that home and that the father would lead the home in repentance and turning to Christ. We prayed the God would do the miraculous and heal the boy. As we walked away from there we all felt overwhelmed with the challenges of the day.
We made our way back to Oriente and bathed in the river just before the evening rains set in. Little did we know that the rains would become torrential raising the river to a level that the locals said they'd never seen before. As we started our evening meeting the river had grown so fierce that we could hear the boulders under the raging surface tumbling downstream. We walked up the entrance trail to the village and were shocked to see the whole trail under the rapids. We wondered - and prayed that God would preserve our only way out and that the river would subside by morning. When morning came we were blessed to see the sun and to hear that the river had indeed gone down considerably. As we started the trek back to Hacha the trail was washed out in several places where we had to negotiate some pretty scary cliffs. Not far out of the village I stubbed a toe through the open front sandals and it quickly turned black and blue. I kept praying for my feet that they would carry me back home to see my sweet family whom I missed terribly by this point. I'm not used to being completely cut off with no communication so this trip was indeed hard for me. Little Judy was walking in rubber boots but I noticed she had one in her hand, that foot exposed to the sharp rocks. I stopped her and broke out my first aid kit and took her dirty little calloused feet into my hands and began to clean and bandage them. God spoke to me clearly that these were indeed beautful feet! I pulled out a pair of my socks and gave them to her - you would have thought it was Christmas. She ran practically the rest of the way back to Hacha!
Upon our return there we had one more evening service and several of the seekers from the village came again. It was a sweet service and I left there the following morning confident that God had indeed established the church in Virgilio's house. It looked an awful lot like what we read about in the book of Acts where virtually every church met in a new believer's home. The next morning we made our way back to the road, caught our 4x4 and made the long and grueling trip back down the mountain where we'd meet up with all the others and hear stories of their week. It was a joyful reunion where we learned that 270 people had come to faith in Christ with almost half enrolled and attending discipleship classes. God had established 5 new churches through us in the week. And in one location where I had worked last year to plant a new church, we learned that they were now averaging 60 on a regular basis where there was just the pastor's family before our 2004 campaign! All of this is a testimony to what God can do when we commit our feet to him. They may get bruised and battered, but His word promises, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!" Romans 10:15 And just before that verse it says, "And how shall they preach unless they are sent?" Thank you for sending me out with your prayers and financial partnership . . . that makes YOUR feet beautiful too!
After a 4.5 hour trip in a 4x4 up the extremely difficult mountain dirt/mud road I started my first section of backpacking carrying everything that I thought I'd need for the coming week of ministry in remote villages. Not even an hour into our hiking journey I noticed a problem - the sole of my boot was coming apart. The problem was that this trail out to the village called Hacha required us to traverse a thigh deep river over a dozen times and most of our walking was on sharp and jagged river rocks. As I followed my national guides I started to worry because I thought that my feet would be the key to our work for the week to come. As the sole of my boot worked its way loose I finally just pulled the thing off and endured the next hour with nothing but a soft rubber cushion between my already aching feet and the stones that lined our path. Once we arrived in Hacha I inspected my boots and realized they were just going to slow me down so I put on my Teva river sandals (heavy duty flip flops) and started to pray for my feet as I never have before.
Over the next day and a half we saw God work some amazing miracles in the village of Hacha. There were only about a dozen believers in this village of about 80-100 people and only one of them was an adult male. We knew that the potential of planting a church there would be dependent upon having a trained adult male leader. As we talked with Virgilio we realized that he had never been baptized. We spent the rest of the day visiting homes in this animistic village (religion that believes that every object is inhabited by a spirit) praying for the sick and sharing the gospel. We also invited them down to the river for a late afternoon baptism service as Virgilio had expressed the desire for his family to be baptized. As the time approached we all made our way down to the river where our national workers (all from other villages where we've planted churches in the past) sang hymns and prayed at the water's edge. I had Joshua (the missions pastor at Destiny) and a visiting Guaymi pastor work together to baptize Virgilio, his wife and his teenage daughter. It was a beautiful sight - both the baptism and the dozens of unbelievers lining the banks to watch in curiosity. After the baptism we invited everyone back to Virgilio's house for an evening meeting where we would serve the Lord's Supper for the first time ever in this village. After dark the round stick house with a thatch roof started to fill with many standing outside the doorway peering in at our service. I preached a simple message describing the Fall of mankind and God's plan of redemption culminating with Christ's substitutionary death. We ended the service by celebrating the Lord's Supper using cookies and Tang (both are available locally) and all of the believers rejoiced at our participation in the Body and the blood of Christ. I was incredibly encouraged as this is the first time I've worked to plant a house church where we actually got the privilege of celebrating baptism and the Lord's Supper - the two things that Christ commanded in regards to planting churches.
The next morning I strapped on my sandals and my backpack and we were headed out for a half day hike to an even more remote village called Oriente. Amazingly Virgilio sent his 18 year old and 10 year old daughters along with us as an offering to the church planting work! As I scrambled through rivers, across rope bridges, and along the ledges of massive river gorges, I prayed that God would establish my aching feet and keep them planted firmly on the rock. Little Judy, Virgilio's 10 year old daughter, carried a live chicken which we planned to kill and cook for supper that night. She didn't seem the least bit phased by what I would consider to be one of the most grueling and dangerous treks I've ever been on. We arrived in the afternoon at Oriente and worshipped in a small house church that had been planted there previously. I focused on training the locals by telling and acting out Bible stories that they could remember and pass on to their families and friends. We used a community house as our base in Oriente, but were focusing our work on the neighboring village of Toloste which had no church. In our 3 days between those two villages we saw 8 people come to faith in Christ, including one of the chief elders in the village of Toloste. He was what I would consider to be a "man of peace" (see Luke 10) and after coming to Christ immediately offered some of his land as a location for a new church to be established.
All of our visits were not as easy as that one. It was in Toloste that I encountered the most extreme poverty and horrid living conditions that I think I've ever seen. One family's house was built literally on top of a pig sty. As I crossed the nasty mud going into the house I entered and saw about a dozen children, some partially dressed and some naked, all filthy. Some of the infants were laying naked on the mud floor staring up at this strange white man the likes of whom they'd never seen. As we shared the gospel with this family we recognized that like many of the animistic Guaymi, they were hard and resistant. However, they did ask us to pray for their sick grandmother. I approached the mat where the older lady was covered in blankets and it was clear to me why she was sick. The pigs were running in and out of the large stick house and she was only a few feet from their wallowing mud pit. I laid hands on this lady and prayed that God would have mercy and restore her health so that the family would repent and turn to faith in Christ. As we left that house I emptied my bag of all my snack bars and dispersed them among the children praying that like the loaves and fish, God would multiply this nutrition and bring health to their frail little filthy bodies. We went from there to another similar home where we were asked to pray for a man's 12 year old son. Upon our arrival most of the village came and stood around the outside of this house peering in as we shared the gospel. We also read from the Scripture about how Jesus healed and even raised some from the dead. Several of the women that lived in this communal family house starting telling us to get out of their house. Our brave young interpreter, Joseph, quickly turned to the man and asked if he were in charge or the taunting women. He hushed the women and then humbly laid some blankets on the dirt floor. I had noticed the bulging blankets curled up in the corner when we first came in but was unable to see the sick boy until his father uncovered him, to which the boy responded with painful groans. As his father picked him up and brought him into the light I was horrified to see the little boy's head swollen beyond recognition - eyes swollen shut. His little torso was frail and disfigured with a skin rash covering it. I'm no doctor but I knew I had no business putting my hands on this child for fear that something may be contagious. Instead we gathered the team around and stretched out our hands over the boy and prayed with all our hearts that Christ would be glorified in that home and that the father would lead the home in repentance and turning to Christ. We prayed the God would do the miraculous and heal the boy. As we walked away from there we all felt overwhelmed with the challenges of the day.
We made our way back to Oriente and bathed in the river just before the evening rains set in. Little did we know that the rains would become torrential raising the river to a level that the locals said they'd never seen before. As we started our evening meeting the river had grown so fierce that we could hear the boulders under the raging surface tumbling downstream. We walked up the entrance trail to the village and were shocked to see the whole trail under the rapids. We wondered - and prayed that God would preserve our only way out and that the river would subside by morning. When morning came we were blessed to see the sun and to hear that the river had indeed gone down considerably. As we started the trek back to Hacha the trail was washed out in several places where we had to negotiate some pretty scary cliffs. Not far out of the village I stubbed a toe through the open front sandals and it quickly turned black and blue. I kept praying for my feet that they would carry me back home to see my sweet family whom I missed terribly by this point. I'm not used to being completely cut off with no communication so this trip was indeed hard for me. Little Judy was walking in rubber boots but I noticed she had one in her hand, that foot exposed to the sharp rocks. I stopped her and broke out my first aid kit and took her dirty little calloused feet into my hands and began to clean and bandage them. God spoke to me clearly that these were indeed beautful feet! I pulled out a pair of my socks and gave them to her - you would have thought it was Christmas. She ran practically the rest of the way back to Hacha!
Upon our return there we had one more evening service and several of the seekers from the village came again. It was a sweet service and I left there the following morning confident that God had indeed established the church in Virgilio's house. It looked an awful lot like what we read about in the book of Acts where virtually every church met in a new believer's home. The next morning we made our way back to the road, caught our 4x4 and made the long and grueling trip back down the mountain where we'd meet up with all the others and hear stories of their week. It was a joyful reunion where we learned that 270 people had come to faith in Christ with almost half enrolled and attending discipleship classes. God had established 5 new churches through us in the week. And in one location where I had worked last year to plant a new church, we learned that they were now averaging 60 on a regular basis where there was just the pastor's family before our 2004 campaign! All of this is a testimony to what God can do when we commit our feet to him. They may get bruised and battered, but His word promises, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!" Romans 10:15 And just before that verse it says, "And how shall they preach unless they are sent?" Thank you for sending me out with your prayers and financial partnership . . . that makes YOUR feet beautiful too!
"Welcome to the Jungle" (Panama - May 31, 2005)
As always I appreciate your prayers and support as I head out on another adventure, this time to the jungles of Panama to work among the Guaymi (pronounced: why me) Indians. I have worked among the Guaymi for the last year and a half but always those at the entry of the reservation in villages along the roadside. We have helped establish about a half dozen churches there thus far. I'm particularly excited about this trip because I finally get a chance to go deep into the jungle, along with Guaymi pastors that we've trained, and preach the gospel in villages where there are no roads, no electricity, no running water, and worst of all, no disciples meeting together (churches). I'll be traveling with 10 others from Destiny Metropolitan Church on this extreme backpacking adventure storying the gospel to these animistic tribal Indians. At the same time we'll have 16 others from Destiny at work on a city campaign in David City. This trip will be a bit different in that I won't be able to bring you the daily updates from the field as I normally do so I ask you to please take the time to print out the attached prayer calendar and make it a point to pray for us daily and I promise to write you with the best stories from the field once I get home. Our travel dates are June 1 - 10. Thanks for your prayers - especially for my family in my absence.
"Training New Staff" (Panama - March 24, 2004)
I just wanted to remind you all to be in prayer as I fly out tomorrow morning for Panama. I will be teaching a Leadership Conference along with my dear friend and new staff member, Todd Szalkowski. Also traveling with us is Josh Yarbrough, the missions pastor from Destiny Metropolitan Church in Marietta, GA. On Saturday we will be backpacking into the jungle to scout out a few villages in the Guaymi Indian Reservation where we'll be sending teams this summer.
As always, I covet your prayers as I travel. God is listening and we can truly feel the impact when you pray and open the way for us. Remember to pray specifically for my beautiful wife, Catherine, and our children, Aidan, Tori Beth, and Caleb. As you can imagine, when I travel it is especially difficult on them.
As always, I covet your prayers as I travel. God is listening and we can truly feel the impact when you pray and open the way for us. Remember to pray specifically for my beautiful wife, Catherine, and our children, Aidan, Tori Beth, and Caleb. As you can imagine, when I travel it is especially difficult on them.
"No Time Not To Go" (Panama - June 23, 2003)
We were in the lush mountain village of El Valle about an hour inland from the Pacific coast of Panama and we had just finished an incredibly successful evangelistic visit where two grown men accepted Christ. Our combined national and North American team was excited about what God had just done, but it was time to be heading back to the church to prepare for the evening service. As we walked down the path away from the house where we’d spent an hour with the two older men, Pastor Eduardo pointed up the path in the opposite direction from the church. I looked down at my watch and back at Eduardo and asked, “We don’t have time to make another visit, do we?” He smiled and nodded and headed up the path leading away from the church. I really needed to get everything prepared for the evening bible study, but I reluctantly went ahead and followed after him. When we arrived at the next house Eduardo explained that the young man that lived there had attended his church a few times, but had never accepted Christ. At first I was a little frustrated at the thought that we were visiting someone who had previously attended the church. So when Francisco came out onto the porch, I asked him if I could share my testimony with him and he nodded affirmatively. As I described for Francisco the way that my teenage years were wasted and how I found true meaning and purpose in life only after receiving Christ, I could tell that the Holy Spirit was at work. So I asked Francisco if I could share with him how I entered into that meaningful life of relationship with my God and Father. In a matter of minutes we found ourselves praying along with Francisco as he cried out to God asking forgiveness of his sins and for God’s help in making a purposeful life. By this time I had come to realize that I had almost missed this divine opportunity by being in such a hurry to get back to the church. We briefly shared with Francisco the follow-up materials and then walked back down the path that we had ascended about 45 minutes earlier. As we arrived back at the little church I started to prepare for the evening bible study while the rest of our team rejoiced in all that God had done through them during the day. As darkness filled the sky Pastor Eduardo made his way under the tin shed church and began to pound out a bass line on his handmade bongo drum. The small group of believers there filled the night sky with a melody that was sweet and sincere and little by little people that we had visited that day started to trickle into the fellowship. Among them was Francisco! I was so excited by his presence, but I still had no idea about the full impact of our short visit with him. The evening service went well – we even had a few more people, including some drunks that wandered in off the streets, accept Christ. Interestingly enough, I saw Francisco leaning over and sharing with a few of them and pointing out to them how to find the answers to the bible study questions – a lesson that he had just learned a few hours prior. That was my only day in the village of El Valle, but the rest of the week I heard reports about the wonderful work that God was doing in that little church – including how He was using a young man named Francisco. In fact, Francisco had shown up at the church the next morning to be trained in evangelism and went out with our group that day! By the end of the week, Francisco had become a leader in the little upstart church of El Valle. And to think . . . I had thought that we didn’t have the time to go visit him. In reality, I didn’t have time NOT to go! Because we went, God multiplied the workforce and built a ministry in El Valle that will long outlive my presence there. Discipleship is a difficult and time-consuming task. But Francisco taught me that we don’t have time not to make disciples.
"What Have You Done With My Son" (Panama - June 16, 2003
I’m back in Lawrenceville, GA now – it was great to spend Father’s Day with my family! Thanks for holding the rope while we were in Panama this past week. God used YOUR prayers in mighty ways. We saw 310 people accept Christ as their Savior and over 80 of them were followed up and started on the discipleship process in the first few days as believers! We had dozens of people trained to share the gospel and make disciples . . . in short, God truly glorified Himself working through us weak vessels. I’ll be sending “stories from the field” over the next few days as I get a chance to write them up. Please read them, pray for the people involved, and give glory to God for the great things He has done. I love you each!
“What have you done with my son?”
“What have you done with my son?” she said. It was testimony time in the tiny little house church that met under a tin shed in the village of Comejen, Panama. The stern looking, well-dressed woman didn’t look familiar to me after the long day of going house-by-house to share the gospel. We had spent the first half of the day in a neighboring village called “El Nance” where this one-year old congregation was already planning to give birth to another church. And now it was about eight in the evening and the rain had been pouring down from the dark sky for several hours. But when the pastor asked if there was anyone that had something to share, this unfamiliar woman stood up and uttered words that stirred my curiosity. Who was she? Was she accusing us of doing something wrong? No. On the contrary, as her story began to unfold the stern look on her face began to lift and her face reflected a nervous smile. It was obvious that she was not a regular attendee of this tight-knit church – so she was justified in her hesitation. But as the words flowed from her mouth into my ears, I eagerly tried to translate from Spanish to English for myself to find out the meaning of her opening question. After a minute or so I turned to Moises Vega, my dear friend and translator and he was grinning ear to ear. I nudged him gently trying not to interrupt her story or his listening to it. Moises leaned over and began to whisper a summary of all that was pouring forth from this dear mother’s lips. And as he began to translate I immediately knew the identity of the woman. She was the mother of Marcos – a nineteen year-old young man that lived next door to the El Nance feeding center that was being partially run by the members of this little church. Earlier that morning we had gone to the feeding center to see where they were planning for the anticipated new church to meet. They had started this feeding center several months ago so that the children that lived in the small fishing village could come and receive a free meal every day, along with a short bible lesson and some Christian love. Abel, the pastor of the mother church, felt that by reaching these children he could raise up a generation of pastors and missionaries. So we went to see what it was all about. After looking around for a few minutes we decided to go ahead and visit a few homes in the community to share the gospel and invite them to an evening bible study. The first house we stopped at belonged to Marcos. He was a typical looking teenaged boy and when we asked if we could come in and share with him, he seemed pleased with the idea. So we went in and sat down and began by sharing a testimony. After that, we started a gospel presentation and handed it off to Kayla, one of the female leaders from the mother church who was out with us. After a few minutes Kayla looked at us and said, “He’s ready to pray and receive Jesus!” So we bowed with him and led him in prayer. When Marcos looked up there was a huge grin on his face and so we decided to go ahead and begin the discipleship process by helping him to get started on a follow-up bible study lesson. As we demonstrated for him how to find various passages in the bible, his grin grew ever larger and he wrote the answers out on the paper with precision and care. After about a half hour with Marcos we prayed for him again and told him that we would be praying for him and with that, we left for the next house. And now, here we sat with the rain banging out a steady hum on the tin roof listening to Marcos’ mother give us the rest of the story. As tears welled up in her eyes she described how for years Marcos had caused her heartache and grief by being rebellious and disrespectful. He even ran away from home a few times not telling her where he was going. And then without a sign, with no hope that he would ever change, the Holy Spirit sent us to talk with him. The mother explained that she had arrived home that afternoon and the Marcos that she had known was gone – and there was a new Marcos there – one that was respectful and loving. When she entered the house she had found Marcos right where we had left him – sitting on the sofa reading his mother’s bible and writing out the answers to those discipleship questions. As we listened to her story that night we were reminded that even against all hope, our Merciful God and Father desires to radically change our lives. So much so that we don’t even remotely resemble who we were prior to our encounter with Him. After praying for the woman the twenty or so members of the little church lined up to embrace and encourage her – and I with them. And as we wandered out into the rain to head back to the Camp at which we were staying, I gave thanks to God that in a single moment old things can pass away and all things can be made new. And in some strange way, the question that Marcos’ mother asked that night is the same question that our Heavenly Father asks of each of us, albeit in a different since: “What have you done with my Son?” And the answer to that question is one changed my life, and Marcos’ life as well.
“What have you done with my son?”
“What have you done with my son?” she said. It was testimony time in the tiny little house church that met under a tin shed in the village of Comejen, Panama. The stern looking, well-dressed woman didn’t look familiar to me after the long day of going house-by-house to share the gospel. We had spent the first half of the day in a neighboring village called “El Nance” where this one-year old congregation was already planning to give birth to another church. And now it was about eight in the evening and the rain had been pouring down from the dark sky for several hours. But when the pastor asked if there was anyone that had something to share, this unfamiliar woman stood up and uttered words that stirred my curiosity. Who was she? Was she accusing us of doing something wrong? No. On the contrary, as her story began to unfold the stern look on her face began to lift and her face reflected a nervous smile. It was obvious that she was not a regular attendee of this tight-knit church – so she was justified in her hesitation. But as the words flowed from her mouth into my ears, I eagerly tried to translate from Spanish to English for myself to find out the meaning of her opening question. After a minute or so I turned to Moises Vega, my dear friend and translator and he was grinning ear to ear. I nudged him gently trying not to interrupt her story or his listening to it. Moises leaned over and began to whisper a summary of all that was pouring forth from this dear mother’s lips. And as he began to translate I immediately knew the identity of the woman. She was the mother of Marcos – a nineteen year-old young man that lived next door to the El Nance feeding center that was being partially run by the members of this little church. Earlier that morning we had gone to the feeding center to see where they were planning for the anticipated new church to meet. They had started this feeding center several months ago so that the children that lived in the small fishing village could come and receive a free meal every day, along with a short bible lesson and some Christian love. Abel, the pastor of the mother church, felt that by reaching these children he could raise up a generation of pastors and missionaries. So we went to see what it was all about. After looking around for a few minutes we decided to go ahead and visit a few homes in the community to share the gospel and invite them to an evening bible study. The first house we stopped at belonged to Marcos. He was a typical looking teenaged boy and when we asked if we could come in and share with him, he seemed pleased with the idea. So we went in and sat down and began by sharing a testimony. After that, we started a gospel presentation and handed it off to Kayla, one of the female leaders from the mother church who was out with us. After a few minutes Kayla looked at us and said, “He’s ready to pray and receive Jesus!” So we bowed with him and led him in prayer. When Marcos looked up there was a huge grin on his face and so we decided to go ahead and begin the discipleship process by helping him to get started on a follow-up bible study lesson. As we demonstrated for him how to find various passages in the bible, his grin grew ever larger and he wrote the answers out on the paper with precision and care. After about a half hour with Marcos we prayed for him again and told him that we would be praying for him and with that, we left for the next house. And now, here we sat with the rain banging out a steady hum on the tin roof listening to Marcos’ mother give us the rest of the story. As tears welled up in her eyes she described how for years Marcos had caused her heartache and grief by being rebellious and disrespectful. He even ran away from home a few times not telling her where he was going. And then without a sign, with no hope that he would ever change, the Holy Spirit sent us to talk with him. The mother explained that she had arrived home that afternoon and the Marcos that she had known was gone – and there was a new Marcos there – one that was respectful and loving. When she entered the house she had found Marcos right where we had left him – sitting on the sofa reading his mother’s bible and writing out the answers to those discipleship questions. As we listened to her story that night we were reminded that even against all hope, our Merciful God and Father desires to radically change our lives. So much so that we don’t even remotely resemble who we were prior to our encounter with Him. After praying for the woman the twenty or so members of the little church lined up to embrace and encourage her – and I with them. And as we wandered out into the rain to head back to the Camp at which we were staying, I gave thanks to God that in a single moment old things can pass away and all things can be made new. And in some strange way, the question that Marcos’ mother asked that night is the same question that our Heavenly Father asks of each of us, albeit in a different since: “What have you done with my Son?” And the answer to that question is one changed my life, and Marcos’ life as well.
"Holding the Rope" (Panama - June 8, 2003)
Thank you for “holding the rope” for us this week while we’re in Panama. We arrived late Friday night with our team of 28 North Americans. On Saturday we had our orientation for both our North American and Panamanian teams. We are working with 8 different mother churches here who desire to plant another 10-12 churches this week.
Last night after orientation we had an opportunity to go down to the beach (Pacific Ocean) which is only a 5 minute walk from the campground that we are staying at. We had an awesome time of worshipping our Heavenly Father there. As I looked up into the night sky at the millions of stars I was reminded of the Rich Mullins song “Sometimes by Step” - “Sometimes I think of Abraham; how one star he saw had been lit for me.” What an incredible thought! When God told Abraham to look into the heavens and realize that his descendants would outnumber the stars (Genesis 15:5-6), one of those stars that he saw represented ME! And one of them represented YOU as well. As I gazed up at the night sky I realized that although Abraham lived some 4-5 thousand years ago, God’s promise remains and you and I have inherited that promise because we are descendents of Abraham; not by race, but by faith. “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations . . .” (Romans 4:18). And so the promise remains – and that promise is why I am here in Panama – and that promise is why you are partnering with us through prayer. God has told us to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20) and as sure as the stars are set in the heavens – the stars that our team looked up in wonder at last night – the same stars that you will see if you take the time to look up tonight – those stars have been set there as a reminder for us to trust God for spiritual descendants. Against all hope Abram believed and became our father – and against all hope I’m going to believe that God uses this week to bring many into glory! Will you believe with me? “By faith, Abram . . . was able to become a father because he considered Him faithful who made the promise. And so, from this one man . . . came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.” (Hebrews 11:12)
Holy Father, we consider you faithful. You have made a promise to bring forth spiritual descendants through us and for that we are grateful. Direct us to those here in Panama for whom You lit a star in the evening sky. And multiply the work here so that believers become as numerous as these grains of sand on this seashore. Thank you for choosing to use me. And thank you for choosing to use the ones who are reading this message. Lord, we believe!
Last night after orientation we had an opportunity to go down to the beach (Pacific Ocean) which is only a 5 minute walk from the campground that we are staying at. We had an awesome time of worshipping our Heavenly Father there. As I looked up into the night sky at the millions of stars I was reminded of the Rich Mullins song “Sometimes by Step” - “Sometimes I think of Abraham; how one star he saw had been lit for me.” What an incredible thought! When God told Abraham to look into the heavens and realize that his descendants would outnumber the stars (Genesis 15:5-6), one of those stars that he saw represented ME! And one of them represented YOU as well. As I gazed up at the night sky I realized that although Abraham lived some 4-5 thousand years ago, God’s promise remains and you and I have inherited that promise because we are descendents of Abraham; not by race, but by faith. “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations . . .” (Romans 4:18). And so the promise remains – and that promise is why I am here in Panama – and that promise is why you are partnering with us through prayer. God has told us to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20) and as sure as the stars are set in the heavens – the stars that our team looked up in wonder at last night – the same stars that you will see if you take the time to look up tonight – those stars have been set there as a reminder for us to trust God for spiritual descendants. Against all hope Abram believed and became our father – and against all hope I’m going to believe that God uses this week to bring many into glory! Will you believe with me? “By faith, Abram . . . was able to become a father because he considered Him faithful who made the promise. And so, from this one man . . . came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.” (Hebrews 11:12)
Holy Father, we consider you faithful. You have made a promise to bring forth spiritual descendants through us and for that we are grateful. Direct us to those here in Panama for whom You lit a star in the evening sky. And multiply the work here so that believers become as numerous as these grains of sand on this seashore. Thank you for choosing to use me. And thank you for choosing to use the ones who are reading this message. Lord, we believe!
"When I Look at the Stars" (Panama - June 8, 2003)
Thank you for “holding the rope” for us this week while we’re in Panama. We arrived late Friday night with our team of 28 North Americans. On Saturday we had our orientation for both our North American and Panamanian teams. We are working with 8 different mother churches here who desire to plant another 10-12 churches this week.
Last night after orientation we had an opportunity to go down to the beach (Pacific Ocean) which is only a 5 minute walk from the campground that we are staying at. We had an awesome time of worshipping our Heavenly Father there. As I looked up into the night sky at the millions of stars I was reminded of the Rich Mullins song “Sometimes by Step” - “Sometimes I think of Abraham; how one star he saw had been lit for me.” What an incredible thought! When God told Abraham to look into the heavens and realize that his descendants would outnumber the stars (Genesis 15:5-6), one of those stars that he saw represented ME! And one of them represented YOU as well. As I gazed up at the night sky I realized that although Abraham lived some 4-5 thousand years ago, God’s promise remains and you and I have inherited that promise because we are descendents of Abraham; not by race, but by faith. “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations . . .” (Romans 4:18). And so the promise remains – and that promise is why I am here in Panama – and that promise is why you are partnering with us through prayer. God has told us to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20) and as sure as the stars are set in the heavens – the stars that our team looked up in wonder at last night – the same stars that you will see if you take the time to look up tonight – those stars have been set there as a reminder for us to trust God for spiritual descendants. Against all hope Abram believed and became our father – and against all hope I’m going to believe that God uses this week to bring many into glory! Will you believe with me? “By faith, Abram . . . was able to become a father because he considered Him faithful who made the promise. And so, from this one man . . . came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.” (Hebrews 11:12)
Holy Father, we consider you faithful. You have made a promise to bring forth spiritual descendants through us and for that we are grateful. Direct us to those here in Panama for whom You lit a star in the evening sky. And multiply the work here so that believers become as numerous as these grains of sand on this seashore. Thank you for choosing to use me. And thank you for choosing to use the ones who are reading this message. Lord, we believe!
Last night after orientation we had an opportunity to go down to the beach (Pacific Ocean) which is only a 5 minute walk from the campground that we are staying at. We had an awesome time of worshipping our Heavenly Father there. As I looked up into the night sky at the millions of stars I was reminded of the Rich Mullins song “Sometimes by Step” - “Sometimes I think of Abraham; how one star he saw had been lit for me.” What an incredible thought! When God told Abraham to look into the heavens and realize that his descendants would outnumber the stars (Genesis 15:5-6), one of those stars that he saw represented ME! And one of them represented YOU as well. As I gazed up at the night sky I realized that although Abraham lived some 4-5 thousand years ago, God’s promise remains and you and I have inherited that promise because we are descendents of Abraham; not by race, but by faith. “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations . . .” (Romans 4:18). And so the promise remains – and that promise is why I am here in Panama – and that promise is why you are partnering with us through prayer. God has told us to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20) and as sure as the stars are set in the heavens – the stars that our team looked up in wonder at last night – the same stars that you will see if you take the time to look up tonight – those stars have been set there as a reminder for us to trust God for spiritual descendants. Against all hope Abram believed and became our father – and against all hope I’m going to believe that God uses this week to bring many into glory! Will you believe with me? “By faith, Abram . . . was able to become a father because he considered Him faithful who made the promise. And so, from this one man . . . came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.” (Hebrews 11:12)
Holy Father, we consider you faithful. You have made a promise to bring forth spiritual descendants through us and for that we are grateful. Direct us to those here in Panama for whom You lit a star in the evening sky. And multiply the work here so that believers become as numerous as these grains of sand on this seashore. Thank you for choosing to use me. And thank you for choosing to use the ones who are reading this message. Lord, we believe!
"Fruit that Remains" (Panama - April 2003)
We returned yesterday from a wonderful weekend of ministry in Panama. Your prayers were instrumental in opening many doors for evangelism and church planting. Please read over the following summary written by my mentor and supervisor, Mike Jorgensen. Mike led me on my first ever mission trip 7 years ago and has been instrumental in my life ever since. That first trip was to the country of Panama, and it was on that trip that I sensed God calling me to invest my life in His work through missions. It is a blessing to see all that God has done since that first trip back in ’96 – in my own life and in the lives of our Panamanian brothers and sisters. And now because of your faithful prayers, you are sharing in God’s work there as well:
(pictures are available by clicking on links and by visiting: http://www.ggrobinson.com/)
Thanks for praying for our Panama Leadership Development Conference. Now back here at home, I am savoring on the glimpses of God's glory that He gave us the last couple days in Panama--
Partners in the Gospel: God has given us wonderful National Directors in Panama--Moises and Talsidia Vega. We thank the Lord for the gifts of exhortation and vision He has given Moises. God has given Talsidia gifts of encouragement and administration, and for those gifts we too thank the Lord. God is using Moises and Talsy mightily in all of Central America, and we give Him praise for this.
Prisoner to Pastor: Sunday we met Aristedes, one of the leaders of a church planted last year. He told us that he had learned some of our LDC material . . . while in prison!
Several years ago a prison guard named Marcelino worked with our teams. God ignited his heart, and he wanted to reach people for Christ on the prison island where he worked. So he recruited a team from his church to go to Coiba, the prison island where he worked. Over time, he led teams to plant 8 churches in the 14 prison camps on the island!
Then he started teaching the new Christian prisoners our LDC material about evangelism, discipleship and church planting. There Aristedes began his first steps toward leadership. Now Aristedes has been released, and is a leader in a new church plant! God has brought glory to himself by changing a life in prison, and now using that life to change others.
Awana Plants Churches: Today we met with Pastor Ricardo. Several years ago one of our teams helped his church start an Awana club. Over the years many, many, many kids came to Christ. So many, in fact, that they were not able to continue bussing the kids to the church. So they have started two new mission churches! Now they can continue to minister to the kids, and also to their families!
11 Year Prayer: Yesterday we stopped to visit another church planted last year. We met Lucas, an older lady who now hosts the church. She thanked GMF for sending a team to work with her church last year, and told us that she had prayed for 11 years for a church in her own neighborhood. The church now meets outside her back door, and they are starting to build a small church building on land she has donated!
The Kingdom Mosaic: Jason Tarn is a youth director for the Houston Chinese Church and will be taking a team of his youth back to Panama with us in June. As an American born Chinese, Jason has a heart for seeing the world come to Christ. He joined us in Panama to encourage and worship with our Panamanian brothers and sisters in Christ. What a beautiful thought . . . Chinese, Panamanians (of Spanish, Mayan, and African descent), and North Americans all working together to build the Kingdom Mosaic that is spoken of in Revelation 5:9 – God’s incredible love is demonstrated in its ability to transcend all cultures!
Thanks for praying to help build the Kingdom Mosaic . . . what a day of rejoicing that will be!
(pictures are available by clicking on links and by visiting: http://www.ggrobinson.com/)
Thanks for praying for our Panama Leadership Development Conference. Now back here at home, I am savoring on the glimpses of God's glory that He gave us the last couple days in Panama--
Partners in the Gospel: God has given us wonderful National Directors in Panama--Moises and Talsidia Vega. We thank the Lord for the gifts of exhortation and vision He has given Moises. God has given Talsidia gifts of encouragement and administration, and for those gifts we too thank the Lord. God is using Moises and Talsy mightily in all of Central America, and we give Him praise for this.
Prisoner to Pastor: Sunday we met Aristedes, one of the leaders of a church planted last year. He told us that he had learned some of our LDC material . . . while in prison!
Several years ago a prison guard named Marcelino worked with our teams. God ignited his heart, and he wanted to reach people for Christ on the prison island where he worked. So he recruited a team from his church to go to Coiba, the prison island where he worked. Over time, he led teams to plant 8 churches in the 14 prison camps on the island!
Then he started teaching the new Christian prisoners our LDC material about evangelism, discipleship and church planting. There Aristedes began his first steps toward leadership. Now Aristedes has been released, and is a leader in a new church plant! God has brought glory to himself by changing a life in prison, and now using that life to change others.
Awana Plants Churches: Today we met with Pastor Ricardo. Several years ago one of our teams helped his church start an Awana club. Over the years many, many, many kids came to Christ. So many, in fact, that they were not able to continue bussing the kids to the church. So they have started two new mission churches! Now they can continue to minister to the kids, and also to their families!
11 Year Prayer: Yesterday we stopped to visit another church planted last year. We met Lucas, an older lady who now hosts the church. She thanked GMF for sending a team to work with her church last year, and told us that she had prayed for 11 years for a church in her own neighborhood. The church now meets outside her back door, and they are starting to build a small church building on land she has donated!
The Kingdom Mosaic: Jason Tarn is a youth director for the Houston Chinese Church and will be taking a team of his youth back to Panama with us in June. As an American born Chinese, Jason has a heart for seeing the world come to Christ. He joined us in Panama to encourage and worship with our Panamanian brothers and sisters in Christ. What a beautiful thought . . . Chinese, Panamanians (of Spanish, Mayan, and African descent), and North Americans all working together to build the Kingdom Mosaic that is spoken of in Revelation 5:9 – God’s incredible love is demonstrated in its ability to transcend all cultures!
Thanks for praying to help build the Kingdom Mosaic . . . what a day of rejoicing that will be!
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