Missions Blog

We finally are with all 28 girls!!! Ages 9-26!! How beautiful they all are inside and out.  We immediately went swimming with them after a quick dinner of chicken rice and chili ?? ?? It is so wonderful to see them and Maria, Giegie and Grace again. Dee taught two girls how to swim. They had the arm movements correct and the kicking close but were tense and sinking like a rock. She taught them to float by relaxing and trusting the water. In minutes they swam the entire width of the pool ??‍?? Even they were surprised. What a perfect illustration for her lesson on trust later in the week. Thank you Lord!!! 

The Resort is lovely and made of wood, even the roof.  It is the girls' Spring break from school so we wanted to do something special for them. They adore swimming and being together with them in a relaxing atmosphere is great. We were there last night and back at Faith House on Monday night. We discussed Psalm 19 last night. Sang together and prayed together. Thank you for your prayers. We have the sense that God is going to do something amazing ?? Love and blessings Dee, Brenda and Glenn

Hotdogs, missionaries, the gospel, and love.

Being our last day in Panama, there was a sense of appreciation, sadness, and eagerness to get home.  But first, the whole team as well as some of the staff from Word of Life took a ride to a distant Panamanian village named Embera.  Our intent was to share the gospel, make friends, and show the love of Christ.  It took almost two hours to reach the put in, along the way we observed the beauty of the Panamanian forests, towns, and culture. Once we reached the river bank we all took an amazing canoe ride along the Chagres river.  It was about an hour boat ride to reach the village.  Upon arrival we were warmly greeted by the villagers. 

There was an immediate sense of unfamiliarity with the village but also equally a sense of surprise and curiosity with the norms of Emberan culture.  The Emberan’s gave us leaf baskets filled with tilapia and patacones to welcome us.  In return, we brought with hot dogs (which they love), candy, chips, and juice.  The Emberans also entertained us with a dance, swam with us in the river, and gave us washable tattoos as the day went on.

After spending a day playing with the children, swimming in the river.  sharing the gospel, and touring the village we jumped back into the canoes.  

The team had a great dinner at the hotel with the group, along with Rubén and Hugo from Word of Life and their families.  

To conclude our night, we had a great nightly devotion that was conducted by Nick, Jordan, and Luke.  We felt the Holy Spirit move through us and had our tears come out as we discussed “getting our hands dirty” as Christians and how that feels when it comes up in our lives.  God blessed us with an amazing last day!

What A Week!

Our team tied a bow on the rest of our projects: installing Wi-Fi for the dorms, installing garage support pillars, and of course buying hot dogs.   Why hot dogs..?  I'll tell you later, keep on reading :)

Just to recap this week's team accomplishments:

• A trip to share the gospel with the children living in the slums of Curundu.
• Painting the endless fence.
• Pouring the concrete for the pool building footer and floor.
• Digging the foundations, pouring concrete, and setting the pillars for the new garage roof.
• Providing laptops, configuration, and training for the missionary students on their way to the Bible Institute.
• Suprise!  A Wi-Fi wireless bridge to the dorm buildings.  This will enable online study of seminary students whom wish to serve at the camp and continue their training.  This provies a tremendous win-win for the camp and the seminary student to practice ministry.

Looking back, God has our team really busy.  But it was so worth it.  Looking back, sharing the gospel, seeing all the smiling faces, giving and receiving testimony of how Jesus has transformed all of our lives has been extremely energizing.  

We're all sad to leave, but very grateful for the staff here at the Word Of Life camp.  We felt welcomed into their homes and lives, accepted and treated as family.  

Oh yea... The hot dogs.. Well, Traci, one of the founders of the camp, has been sharing the gospel with a tribe of ingenious people here in Panama.  They LOVE the hotdogs, and it gives us a chance to share the gospel.  So, we're taking hot dogs for about a hundred tribes’ people for only $40 US.  That is such a bargain to have a chance to share the gospel with an entire village!  I'm pretty sure someone will get baptized tomorrow :)

Blessings to all of you and our supporters, without your prayers and support this amazing week would not be possible.

Here's a collage of pictures from the past day or so, enjoy:

This week, we marvel at the trust and depth of faith that the missionaries at Word of Life camp live every day.  They walk in dependance on the provisions of Christ alone, as their own material resources are so limited.  They have learned to wait on God, trust in His perfect time and expect Him to meet their needs.  When material needs arise, as they always do, they can't write a check or pull out the credit card instead they pray, seek God's direction and obediently follow the path He has set before them.  As they have lived this way for so many years they can quickly recount God's past faithfulness and countless answers to prayer, never forsaking them.  Consequently their faith grows stronger and without realizing it they provide us an inspiring and encouraging example.  We want to emulate them and learn their ways.  We want to serve and honor God as they do. We want to trust Him alone. 

Serve Hard, Love Fully, Smile Alot

Today, after breakfast,  John Zanker led our devotion.  We then went back to work. John, Luke, and Nick continued working on leveling the ground to get it ready for concrete. They used shovels and a wheel barrow to move dirt then mix concrete. They were able to do about three quarters of the concrete floor today. Unfortunately, their hands started to blister.

Brad and Jordan continued painting the chain link fence. Jordan was happy not to get as much paint on himself today. Yesterday he was joking by saying that he got more paint on himself than on the fence.

Glenn and I went to work at the shop. Our job was to sand  and prime the steel that will be used to make the structure for the roof extension. Just about lunch, we finished priming the steel beams.
We then moved on to help Juan, Jorge, and Juanpi to dig the holes where the steel beams will rest for the roof structure. The dirt was so hard because it hasn’t rained. We would put water in each hole to soften  the dirt to make it easier to dig. I praise God for guiding my digging. I was using a steel pick to dig and I was very close to breaking the main water line for the whole camp. Ruben was very thankful I didn’t give him more work too!!!!

Jon Fowler is very happy with our progress. He told us that he didn’t expect us to work on the roof during this trip. He thought we were only going to have enough time to do the removal of the doors and the concrete work by the pool. We are praising God for the progress so far. We also are thankful for His protection. We have only had minor scratches. We have stayed healthy too.

Through a series of very fortunate blessings, John Fowler recieved a donation of 4 long range WiFi mesh repaters, about a week ago.  The dream is to light up WiFi in some of the dorms that will be used for Word Of Life Bible Institute Students.  This opens up many doors for both the students to practice their vocation and bless the kids and staff at the camp with their friendship and sharing the gospel.  The only problem is, nobody really understands how this stuff works.  This is where Bill comes in, he called a few of his network engineering work friends at Dick's Sporting Goods and used facetime to draw out a design, reviewed the documentation, and through John Fowler saying an extra prayer, it's working!  Now we just need to mount it.  Stay tuned for our next blog post :)

Tonight we had the opportunity to hear the testimony of several WOL staff and missionaries. It’s amazing to see and hear the impact that God has had in the lives of so many people throughout the 30 years of this ministry.
So many lives have been transformed. It is very especial for all 8 of us to be a part of what God is doing here. We are very thankful to our supporters for having sent us and for praying for us.