learning to say good bye....

One of the things that I've had to learn over the last two years is how to say good-bye. And I've learned it never really gets easier. I think the thing that makes it the hardest for me is that there's people on both ends of good-bye, either sad to see you leaving or excited to see you coming. The mix of emotions is crazy. Even last night I swung from "I never want to leave," to "This needs to be over." It's insane.

But God is so so very faithful. One of things that I've learned this year is that there are seasons in our lives, and we move in and out of those seasons in His time and not in our own timing, even if we want it that way sometimes. Our team has been super blessed this year to get a chance to take part in the awesome work that God is doing here in Panama. As the Canadian project campus cycle came to a close at the end of May we held a commitment dinner where we challenged students to four things; to walk with God in obedience, to live a life of evangelism and discipleship, to involvement with Vida Estudiantil and to help to complete the Great Commission in this generation. Our prayer had been that we would see 39 students commit and from 3 campuses in 2 cities 44 students took this step and made that commitment. It was so exciting and in a way that helps make it easier to leave.

Leaving people and relationships behind is never easy. It always hurts to say good-bye. Because leaving Panama I know I want to come back but I'm not sure how that will happen or if it ever will. But like learning about seasons, I'm also learning about peace. God has given me this overwhelming peace that in spite of difficulty it's time for all of us to move into the next season of our life. And we can't do that without saying good-bye. But good-bye doesn't mean it's over, whatever it is, it just means it's going to look different. And that's okay. More than anything I believe that God is good. And that makes His plans for my lives and the lives everyone here perfect. I rest in His goodness because I know that in spite of pain He continues to be good and continues to be the sustenance and strength that I need in this difficult time. And so together, we're all learning, how to say good-bye.

some shots from project.

(We've jokingly called ourselves "Team Distraction," and this is why. From L to R: Amanda, Patrick, Krista, Evelyn, Steve and I)

Project has been great but has made for a super intense schedule as we're learning to balance normal life in Panama with the craziness that comes with project. Steve and I have been blessed with an awesome team in architecture/law/science that we've gotten to work with over the last month. Our outreach last Thursday came together super fast and super last minute but it all came together. We did an outreach called, "who is your hero?" or in Spanish, "Quien es tu heroe?" We had t-shirts made for the event and plastered big banners and posters all throughout the architecture faculty. There was a decent turnout of students from architecture and also from buisness administration as the Canadian team working there brought some of thier students with them to the event. That was a huge encouragement to me!

This next week our team is transitioning from a heavy focus on evangelism to more follow-up and discipleship as we're working on meeting up with the interested students from the outreach and from some classroom talks that Steve has had a chance to give in the architecture faculty. At the end of next week our entire project team is holding a "commitment dinner." Both before and at this dinner we will be challenging the key students either from this year or this last month of project to make a commitment to four things;

Walking with God in Obedience

Personal Evangelism and Discipleship

Involvement in Vida Estudiantil

Helping to Fulfill the Great Commission in this Generation

We're praying that 40 students would make this commitment and at the commitment dinner get hooked in with the Panamanian staff and other students so that as we leave there would be a smooth transition for the entire movement here in Panama. Please join with us in prayer with praying that these 40 students would commit to being 40 movement builders, that would change this country from the university to wherever they're heading next!

(all the project ladies at the canal)

(and all the boys at the canal.... they're outnumbered by quite a bit...)

in full swing.

Project is here and this week we were in full swing on campus. Steve and I have the blessing of working with a team of four in the architecture, law and science faculties. For me its coming full circle as three years ago when I was first on project I was in architecture and so it's been a blessing to be back and focusing on this faculty even as I prepare to wrap up with the girls I'm discipling in the science faculties. This week was insane! Every day was long as we've been leaving early in the morning to meet our teams on campus and then the evenings are filled with training or team building activities. But in the middle of the long days and the tiredness that come with those has been an overwhelming sense of encouragement. Spending the days talking with students about their views on God and seeing the students from Canada get a taste on full on ministry has been great. Three girls from the Interamericana campus have also been spending the days with our team translating! It's been awesome to have them partnering with us and our sharing their faith, a couple of them for some of the first times. For me I've simply felt so blessed to get to be here on this project and to have such a great team to work with. The times of bible study and prayer we've had have been awesome and God has been opening doors all over the place for us to do ministry.

Monday morning Dorrie (one of our project directors...) and I walked with the Buisness Administration team over to their faculty and were planning on taking some time to share and them do some discipleship together. As we started a conversation with two students, a professor walked up to us and asked to talk with us. As we followed him to his office I was a little unsure of what was happening... more curious as to whether we were in "trouble" or not. We quickly learned that Francisco is the Director of Student Affairs. As we talked with him about what our goals and purpose was we had a chance to share about what we were doing. Francisco loved that we were here to work with the students and shared a little of what was on his heart about the student population in this new campus. Over that morning and the next morning we had a chance to connect with the Dean of the faculty and get classroom talks set up on time management including a chance to share the gospel openly in each of these classrooms! It's such a great opportunity!! The team that's in this campus is super excited and I know that God has opened up this huge door in this new faculty! And it's crazy to think it happened 10 minutes into our first morning on campus!

The stories go on but more than anything God is showing himself faithful in so many ways. This past Thursday we had 42 people at the weekly meeting on the national campus. This was such a huge answer to prayer as we've been praying to see 40 people at the weekly meeting! Then, following the weekly meeting our team had a chance to meet with some of the more committed students and plan an outreach for this upcoming week. It was great to meet with them and see them get excited about reaching thier campus. Please be praying for the outreach this Thursday!!! We're doing an outreach called, "Who is your hero?" with a huge media promotion campaign followed by a Thursday even with testimonies, a drama and a speaker focusing on why we know Jesus is our hero, He's saved us from death! Its happening quick but we're trusting God that He'll pull all the details together in His perfect time!

they're coming!

It's May and for a stinter that means project is on the way. Every summer students from across Canada spread out on 6 week missions trips, we call them projects both within Canada and around the world. For us here in Panama that means tonight we have 3 Canadian staff arriving and 17 students on Tuesday! Its a chaotic and exciting time but I know that our entire team is looking forward to having this fresh injection of manpower and excitement over the next 6 weeks. This upcoming week will be spent in orientation with the students, training them to minister cross culturally and preparing them to work in teams on the campuses within Panama City and Santiago, a city three hours from here. The next 4 weeks we'll be focusing on campus ministry with a large amount of getting out and sharing our faith on campus. From there we take 3 days off to rest and refocus and then we're off to the interior of the country. We'll spend 6 days working with families and showing the Jesus film in two villages that are isolated and completely different from Panama City. Its a interesting experience as the living conditions are anything but normal for us, but its so cool to see what God does during this time our lives and in the lives of those we come into contact with. From there it's 4 days of debrief and then home time! Somedays project seems like it'll go on forever but most of the time it flies by in a whirlwind of activities. I would ask that you be praying for our team and the new Canadian team especially over the next 6 weeks. Some initial prayer requests would be the following.... Please be praying that:

-the staff and students would have safe travel here to Panama
-the students would adjust to be in a foreign culture quickly
-our staff team would have wisdom to lead this project in a way that sees God glorified above all
-for translation and Spanish skills as the vast majority of the upcoming team doesn't speak spanish, we'll need Panamanian students to help us out with this!

Thank you so much for your prayer support! It means the world to our stint team and really is making a huge difference here in Panama! I'll keep you updated as we go! :D

frosh continues and another note..

Frosh weeks, the weeks where activities are focusing on interacting with first year students and exposing them to the vision of Vida Estudiantil, have seemed to continue and continue, as the a unique class schedule on the national campus made us change our plans. Last week we were able to set up tables in the various faculties and have some great interactions with the students. Later on that week we had been debating how effective the tables had been. Some good conversations had happened but we hadn't had the traffic at the tables we had expected. Last Thursday rolled around and we prepared for our first weekly meeting of the semester. No one quite knew what to expect. But as I arrived at TUAL (the ampitheater where we have our meeting) I was surprised to see Juan Carlos sitting with a group of new students, many of whom we had met that very week at the information tables. We had 28 people in attendence which for us was one of the highest numbers ever. We've been praying that we would see the weekly meeting grow to a constant attendence of 40 and with that, we were well on our way. Many, if not all of the students there signed up to get involved in a discipleship group. And so, this upcoming Monday morning we're kicking off our guys and gals disicpleship groups. Please be praying that the students would remember to come and that we would have a great time of fellowship and growing in the word together. Your prayers are so important to us! One of the things that I've been learning is that I need to be persistant in my prayers... check out Luke 11:1-13. We need to keep on asking!
On a completely different note, this last weekend my missionary visa and the teams tourists visas were expiring so we needed to leave the country. God totally blessed our team with super cheap tickets to El Salvador and so we were able to travel there over the weekend. We stayed with Raquels grandmother and had a great time getting to know her and the rest of Raquel's (and some of Juan's) extended families. We also had a chance to visit Selegna, a friend of ours and a Panamanian missionary serving with Campus Crusade for Christ in El Salvador. Another highlight was getting to meet the American stint team serving in El Salvador. We had a great day hanging out with the other stinter's! It was amazing to get to connect with them and I left our day today super encouraged and excited about what God is continuing to do both here in Central America but also at home in Canada and the States.

For more pics of our trip check out the following link!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=243306&id=523285093&l=981db7f264

it all started with a balloon.

Today was one of the days of frosh week on the national campus. We had an information table set-up in the walkway in front of Chemistry. Unlike in Architecture the day before not a lot of people were stopping and we weren't getting into a tonne of conversations with a lot of students. Later on a young lady approached me and asked for a balloon. I asked her why and she said that she needed it for a chemistry lab. We began to chat and suddenly there was a group of 7 or 8 first year chemistry students surrounding the table. Derek and I got talking with a young man named Javier and his friend Vanessa. Both of them were Christians and super interested in getting involved. Javier even said that he wanted to take advantage of the time that he had in university to grow in his faith. It was super encouraging for both Derek and I to talk with some first year students when we had been praying to meet first year students. For me too, to see their hearts for the Lord and their desire to get connected in and growing in their faith was amazing! And to think it all started with them seeing a balloon on a wall... it made me smile!

whats coming next...

I just emailed out this update about plans for next year but if you're not on the list here it is just in case! Let me know what you think!

There’s not a day that I walk down the street in Panama City without being faced with the poverty that is so rampant here and around the world. As I finished my first year in Panama God began to work on my heart in a new way. I had always wanted to reach the poor and the outcast of society and felt that best way I could do that was through reaching future leaders on the university campus. Campus ministry does a spectacular job of reaching the leaders that will decide and change their nation from the top of society to the bottom years down the road. But the more I began to question God about what He was doing in my heart, the more I realized He was calling me into a different step of faith. Over the last year and a half I’ve begun a process of asking questions. Questions about my own heart and attitude towards the poor, what Power to Change as a ministry is doing about it and most importantly what Gods heart is for these people. This drove me into the word and the answer of what my reactions should be to the poor couldn’t have been clearer than when I read the words, “give to everyone who begs from you...” (Luke 6:30 ESV). And so I began to ask myself, “what does it look like for me to give?” The more time that I spent in prayer, the more I realized that I wanted my life, in every day, to be invested in reaching the poor in a concrete way.

As I looked at what Power to Change was doing internationally in the field of relief and development I was floored by the mission statement of the humanitarian branch of Power to Change, Global Aid Network (GAiN); “to demonstrate the love of God, in word and deed, to hurting and needy people around the world, through relief and development projects.” Jesus demonstrated through both word and deed his compassion and love for the poor and outcast, and GAiN is striving to do the same. I had the blessing of meeting with GAiN last summer and also when I was home in January. I began to ask questions about what they were doing, to share what was on my heart and to see if there was a place for me to put my passion for building into people and for reaching the poor into practice.

As of July when my stint is over, I’ll be transitioning out of campus ministry to work with GAiN at Power to Change headquarters in Langley, BC. I’m stepping into a new role as the coordinator of International LIFE teams, teams of individuals who have a vision for the ministry and are committed to investing their labour, influence, finances and expertise. This could be on a water well project, a project working with orphans or a relief or development project. My role will include working with the new development of the LIFE team office so it can effectively serve the various departments of GAiN. I’ll also at times have the opportunity to join these teams in the field. I’m amazed at how God has provided an opportunity to use my passion for building into the lives of people, for mission work, for working with the local church body and for demonstrating the love of Christ to the poor through tangible action, into a cohesive role within an international development agency.

Within Power to Change, whether in campus ministry or in GAiN, we talk a lot about faith adventures; a dynamic journey where people discover a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, experience the life-transforming power of the Holy Spirit by helping someone else discover Jesus, and inspire others to do the same. What I love about this is that we are all called to be a part of this; to be on a faith adventure ourselves and to bring other with us on this faith adventure. As I begin a new step on my faith adventure I pray that you will continue to be a part of that with me. Over the last two years, you have continued to blow me away and encourage me with your faithful love and support, whether through prayer or financial support. Panama has been eternally changed because of you! As I prepare return home, I will need to raise a full staff salary to be able to move to Langley and begin work with GAiN. Currently, I am slightly below 50% of the monthly support I will need. Would you purpose to pray about continuing with your support as well as possibly increasing your support as we take this new step together?

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your faithfulness both in prayer and finances. I know I say this often but it is so true, none of this could happen without you. I’m looking forward to taking this next step because I know that I’m not taking it alone! Lets go change the world together!

frosh frosh frosh

In Panama we have many crazy opportunities that we don't have doing ministry in Canada. Take last week for example. Last week was the first week of classes at the Universidad de Panama, or "national" as we call it. Monday was spent sorting out last minute details and trying to sort out the class schedules for the different faculties that we're focusing in this semester, architecture, law and science. Unlike Canada each year of students is seperated into groups. The students stay in the same goups throughout the year, going to the same classes and having the same professors. Which makes life a little simpler for us! Over frosh week, our goal was to expose every first year student to the vision of Vida Estudiantil (VE) and give them an opportunity to get involved. So what better way to do that then to talk in each of there classes. Tuesday morning rolled around and found our team with Secundina split into two groups on campus. Each group would sit outside the classrooms where we knew the first years were and wait for the class to change. As soon as the prof would exit the room or as soon as the students stood up we would enter the class and ask to make a quick announcement. Then we'd get a chance to quickly share with the students the vision of VE, give them a schedule and an invitation to our Connection Night and the weekly meeting held on campus. It was a quick way to connect with all the first year students. As we had a chance to enter all 13 of the first year classes we'd targeted it was neat to think that we'd been able to acheive one of our goals of exposing the first year students to VE.

Frosh week (well more like frosh month... :) )activities are continuing this week with a focused drive to evangelize and then next week with a blitz of information tables situated in four focus faculties on campus. The feedback from the tables at UTP last week has been great and we've been seeing students get involved and hooked in on that campus. Please pray that we would have the same positive response next week on the national campus!

The team is also traveling to Boquete this Easter weekend for the annual Cruzada church conference. Please pray for safe travel and a restful weekend with the church and staff up there!

On a personal note... I was quite sick last week with a combination of migraines and nausea which led to me needing to take a full day off campus. After a restful weekend I'm feeling better but still not 100%. Please pray that over this busy time I would be able to heal completely and wouldn't be plaqued by any more migraines!!

taking another look.

Our team has been working this year through a training program from Campus for Christ called Ministry Prep 1010. We're just wrapping up the section on evangelism and for me it's in a timely fashion as our first week back at UTP was this week and we're full time at the national campus as of Monday. Evangelism and discipleship are the two pillars of our ministry and even though I wouldn't say that I'm a gifted evanglist by any means I've learned to love sharing my faith. There are tonnes of different viewpoints and opinions on evangelism but as we talked this morning for me it came to the point that simply going our and sharing my faith is effective. It may not be the most culturally acceptable thing to do but it works. As I was reading through an article on evangelism I found the passage below really encouraging and challenging in mutliple ways.

"Christ called His followers to a radical life, which contradicted the expectations and cultural boundaries. One of these expectations was to refrain from associating with certain "undesirable" types of people on the basis of their appearance. Although Christ refuted this practice with His own lifestyle, many today would justify and call for this behavior as part of "avoiding the appearance of evil." Many cultural patterns are counter-productive and actually work against the evangelistic enterprise- not to mention the truth of the gospel. I'll sum it up to say that the greatest barriers to successful evangelism are not theological; they are cultural.

We must admit that first, it is impossible to act in such a way that we will be universally understood and accepted. -And second, as we move through life, it is inevitable that we will find ourselves on the wrong side of some man-made fences. Does 1 Thess. 5:22 say that we should never do anything that might look like sin to someone else? Did Jesus follow this principle? Christ avoided evil of every kind, yet He did not always avoid the "appearance of evil." He wanted to please his father. Christ lived in the tensions and He calls us to do the same.

Some would measure the maturity of a Christian as one who has most successfully separated them from the secular world where they live. But if we are to follow Christ's example, the mark of true maturity is not withdrawal, its penetration."

I think that there's always the struggle for us to be in the world but not of it. But be encouraged. The power of the gospel never changes and is so not dependant on us. We just need to be where God is calling us to be and be faithful in the precious time that he gives us here to live our lives out in this world. I love the verse in 1 Peter 2:12; "Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." We live among the world and in front of the world. But that doesn't mean we need to put on a show, but my prayer is that more and more we would simply be Gods ambassador's here and demonstrate His love over and above anything else.

exciting.

Monday morning the team was at UTP to begin the craziness of frosh activities. We set an info table up with some balloons and tuneage and simply talked with students all morning and into the early afternoon. It was great to reconnect with the students there that I`ve worked with on the summer project last year. I ran into two girls our project team had seen come to Christ and they told me that this year they had more time and wanted to get involved in Vida Estudiantil all over again. A group of 3 first year students walked up to me and asked how they could get involved in a bible study and yesterday a student approached the table and said that this was an answer to his prayers. He had been praying for a Christian group so he could connect in with Christian community and continue to remain rooted in his faith. And there we were! As more and more students approached the table, we had both the opportunity to share the gospel but also to simply cast the vision of sharing the gospel with the students at UTP and seeing students come to Christ and then grow in their faith. I believe that God has great plans in store for this university and as we begin to plant seeds I believe with all my heart that even years down the road the our actions now will continue to impact eternity.

"Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
Matthew 9:35-38

Yesterday we had our weekly staff meeting with a couple of surprise guests. Marquis, a student was there from Santiago as well as another gentleman named Edgar. Marquis shared with us first and told of his experience with Vida Estudiantil and how he came to make the decision to accept the challenge to a one year STEP (a one year internship) working with Vida Estudiantil. This is huge!!! Marquis came to know Christ through Vida Estudiantil and now two years later he's taking the step of coming on staff for one year. Edgar shared his testimony next and how God has brought his through huge times of brokeness and despair but also restoration as his family traveled to Panama with everything they owned in 12 suitcases. But at the end of his story Edgar simply said, "I want to serve God 100%." And now Edgar's praying about coming on staff with Leader Impact group here in Panama. Lionzo (our national director) then shared about another lady named Patricia who has come from Colombia and is praying about working with Cruzada.

As we heard story after story of the people that are coming to fill some much needed positions I was simply blown away. God is bringing people from some of the least expected places to come and work in His harvest here in Panama. As I think about leaving Panama in July part of me's afraid for the team to leave because I see such a need for laborer's here. But then I hear of person after person committing to serving God wholeheartedly and again I realize that it's not about me at all. God has His perfect will that He's going to work out here in Panama and at home in Canada. My part in that is to follow where He takes me. Because He's calling me where I need to be and calling others to see the Great Commission fulfilled here in Panama.

perseverance

"So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart."
Nehemiah 4:6

This morning we had a meeting with our campus staff team. Secundina, our national campus director started the meeting by talking a bit about the book of Nehemiah and the story of the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem. How Nehemiah and the people of Israel overcame intense opposition and rebuilt the wall. Secundina said this morning as she looks at this story she sees a common theme, and that is one of perseverance. This is a story that´s come up many times throughout the last year and half I´ve been on stint. Secundina asked us about our perceptions on the movement and how its changed and how it hasn´t over the last years. There´s things that have changed for the good and things that we as a staff team still need to improve on. But I think that Secundina was onto something this morning when she talked about perseverance. We´re coming up to the busiest time of our Stint year, as classes begin again on the national campus and at UTP. But at the same time we´re halfway through stint and I think the tendency could be to coast through the rest of the year. But it´s now that we need to push on more than ever. Please pray for our team over the next months. Pray for strength and that we would persevere onto the end!

:D

So... March is here! I think that's insane that time is flying so fast. And speaking of flying our team is officially booked to come back to Canada in July... which is also craziness!

But this week was really encouraging for me. I hadn't been on campus in two weeks because of heading out of town for Mike and Dorrie's visit and then last week heading to the jungle for Carnivales. And so, it was great to be back!!! One of the things that I love about campus ministry is that when we do get back on campus it feels like home. We had a great week of getting back into the swing of things, whether with staff meetings or sharing! Steve and I had another opportunity to meet up with Juliana and Jennifer on the Interamericana campus. We did the third follow-up lesson and just had some really good conversation on who the Holy Spirit is and what His role is in our lives. At the same time Juan and Karina met two students who both prayed to receive Christ and then even came for follow-up the next day! It's been super encouraging to see students enter into a new relationship with Christ but then also to come back and meet up, eager to learn more about what this new relationship means! There's good things happening all the way around! Please keep these new students in your prayers over the next weeks!

Icandi.

As our boat pulled up on the shore of Icandi and as we unloaded equipment I felt like the whole place was something out of a movie. We were surrounded by massive huts and packed dirt pathways snaked in and out of buildings and trees. It was the furthest away from quote on quote "reality" I’d ever been before. We call these trips “missions experiences” and for me this was definitely a little out of my comfort zone. I’d been on 3 of these trips before but never in such rustic and at times brutal living conditions. All 10 of us, the 6 stinters, the Tillinghasts and 2 Kuna pastors who came with us stayed in one massive hut, sleeping in hammocks and changing in darkness to try and grab some sense of privacy. But the people there were absolutely beautiful! I had never been in a Kuna village before but we were welcomed in as all the children and some of the men carried our equipment and set up our hammocks. The women were pretty shy and the language barrier didn’t help but we were still able to exchange smiles and have some conversation through our translators. Kuna women don’t speak Spanish but all the boys and therefore the men do, so it was interesting to be back in a situation where I couldn’t quite communicate at the level I’m used too.


The 3 and a half days we spent there were full of constantly changing plans and activities. We spent times throughout the day working with various families and Juan Carlos and I found ourselves grinding corn, cutting and gutting fish, machete-ing a little field and cutting and peeling green plantains. It was a totally new experience for me but one that we both enjoyed. The first day we didn’t really get a chance to talk with any of the families as we simply worked on our tasks, but as Juan Carlos said as we were working on a little field, “I hope that somehow this shows them the love of Christ.” And I pray that it did. We were able to have a bible study we the Kuna ladies on both days that we were there and I was able to share my testimony one of these days. This was while the boys on our team were entertaining and keeping all the tonnes of children distracted with singing songs and crazy re-tellings of bible stories.


The children too were absolutely amazing! We were mobbed as we walked throughout the villages and many a time I felt a little hand grab mine as we were walking to and fro. It was fun to play with them and teach them new games but also super encouraging hearing them sing Christian songs well into the night.


On our final evening there we had a chance to show the movie, “Magdalena.” It’s a newer film that uses scenes from the Jesus film and new scenes to tell the story of Jesus through the eyes of a woman. The message was powerful as the gender relations in a Kuna village are drastically different but not necessarily bad. When we asked a woman what her purpose was, she said it was nothing. It was sad to see women think that they were worth nothing but through the women’s bible studies and through seeing the film my prayer is that they know Jesus loves them and that they’re worth dying for.

It was a challenging three days but more than anything I left encouraged. There’s good follow-up set in place and a pastor named Lazaro that’s been visiting the village once a week. He’s respected by the chiefs and in the village and so as he continues to work there along with another Pastor named Leno I have a lot of hope for this village in spite of the challenges that are there. The beliefs of the people are so close to Christian beliefs; they say we have the same God and they believe that Jesus was the son of God. But they see no need for a saviour because their salvation is based on works. If the good things you do outweigh the bad ones you get to go to heaven. They're missing the truth of the word. The bible has been translated into Kuna but is still not in this village, the pastors have bibles but the people don't, many of them can't read. But my prayer is that as Pastors Lazaro and Leno teach from the word and build the church they just received permission to build, the truth about Gods grace but also the truth and need for a saviour would be spoken and received.

we're back.

We’re back in the city and ready to leave all over again! David and Santiago was great and Steve, Dorrie, Mike and I had a great time connecting with the students and one of the volunteers that work with the movement. For me it was exciting to see many of the students I had met last year still connected in and faithful with the ministry. But even more than that hearing their hearts to follow God through all the ups and downs and discouragement was a testimony to God’s hand at work in their lives.

In Santiago we met up with three students from the ministry; Enoch, Marquis and Melissa. Mike and Dorrie were curious to hear their life stories and so away we went. Enoch went first and explained about his Christian upbringing but how as he got older church just became something he did socially. One day he was walking along on the university when he saw a piece of paper on the ground that said, “Are you a Christian?” and advertising for a Vida Estudiantil meeting. Enoch went, in his words thinking that maybe there were cute girls there and ended up being invited to a retreat VE was having. He ended up going and in a quiet moment under a palm tree he said that he felt the Lord spoke to him and he decided in that moment that he was going to follow God no matter what and for his own belief and not anyone else’s. I remember hearing about this retreat because the team that was in Santiago on my project put it together... it was over 2 years ago. Today Enoch is still connected in with the movement as well as being super involved in his local church. For me it was so cool to see how God has been moving over the years and how the Canadian partnership with the Panamanian ministry here has gotten to be a little part of that!

Please keep the team in your prayers as we leave tomorrow for the Darien jungle where we’ll be on a four day mission trip in a Kuna village. As always pics and details to come! Thanks so much for staying tuned!!

this week.

I'm at home with the girls anxiously awaiting the arrival of two staff members from Canada. Mike and Dorrie are on their way down to "meet" Panama and prepare for the arrival of the summer project of students heading down throughout May and June. They'll be in town for the next week. Tomorrow the 4 of us, Mike, Dorrie, Steve and I will be in meetings with the national staff to talk about the vision for the summer project. Then, later in the afternoon we're setting off for a rapid 3 days of travel to the other side of the country and back. Not that far really as its Panama. We'll be heading to the city of David first and then we're off to Santiago. The goal for the four of us is to connect with the local staff and volunteers in the prayer that we'll be able to send summer teams to each of these cities, as well as Panama City this summer. David doesn't currently have any staff members but we're praying for that and are excited to meet the committed group there. Steve and I were there last year so I'm looking forward to revisiting the ministry there and seeing where they've been the last year and where we're looking forward to going. Visiting Santiago is always a joy and connecting with Duby (the local staff) and the group of students is awesome!

Please pray as we travel through the country over the next week. We'll be leaving Monday and returning sometime Thursday. Pray that we'll be able to have good conversations and get solid planning and preparation in place for the summer project. We're excited to get rolling! Also please keep in your prayers the group of students currently in the application and support raising process to come to Panama this summer. Summer project is always one of the highlights of he year and for me was an absolutely life changing experience! Thanks so much for all your prayers! I'll let you know how it goes!

i was going to blog but...

Hey everyone! I was going to blog away like normal when I received a link to an article in my inbox and it would be great if you took a look at this. It's a great article that got posted about our trip to the Dominican Republic.... pretty cool!

http://ccci.org/locations/americas/panama/panama-to-dominican-republic.aspx

change.

I feel like a part of me is growing up and getting ready to move into whatever is next. At the same time growing up comes with a lot of change and that's not something I deal with well unless I have control over whatever it is that's changing. But that's not how life works, especially life with God. Everything here in Panama is such a huge part of me, campus ministry included and so as scary as it is to leave it all behind I know that a lot of things will come with me. All the memories and all of everything that I've learned here. People are in our lives for a season and longer or more unexpected than others. And yet as everything changes and time continues to pass by there really only is one constant. Christ. Time and time throughout the Psalms David comes back to the refuge and shelter of the most high. Its as if David knows that's his only safe place. I don't know whats to come as everything around me seems to be changing but I know that God calls us into these ever changing season and that He'll be beside me every step of the way.

"The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong for the Lord upholds his hand."

Psalm 37:23-24

contentment.

"For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
2 Cor 12:10

At church this morning, Pastor Todd talked about embracing our weaknesses. How our normal reaction is to push the things that are our weaknesses away but that we should embrace them as it's then and there that Christ is able to demonstrate his strength and his over abundant provision. I was looking at this again tonight and thinking about how much this makes sense. Todd said that our strengths can actually become Christ's rivals as we depend on them instead of depending on Christ. And yet, when we're weak Christ is able to act and remind us how much we're dependent on Him. As I was looking at this again tonight I began to think about the word contentment.

How are we content and what does that even look like? This is a question I struggled with last year and it was then that I wrote the following. I came back to it again tonight and wanted to post this. My prayer is that as we learn to be more and more content in our circumstance and in who Christ is, we would rest in Him and more than anything abide in His amazing love.

Someone once told me that the way to be content in my situation was to be happy with what was on my side of the fence. The age-old analogy tells us that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence but I really just think it looks that way. As humans we always tend to look at what we don’t have and see it as better or improved. And yet, chances are everyone else is looking at our grass and thinking it’s the better pasture.

“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all things through him who gives me strength.” Phil 4:11-13 (NIV)

“Not that I am implying that I was in any personal want, for I have learned how to be content (self-sufficient lit. Greek word autarkas) (satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or disquieted) in whatever state I am. I know how to be abased and live humbly in straitened circumstances, and I also know how to enjoy plenty and live in abundance. I have learned in any and all circumstances the secret of facing every situation, whether well-fed or going hungry, having a sufficiency and enough to spare or going without and being in want. I have strength for all things in Christ who empowers me (I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength into me; I am self sufficient in Christ’s self-sufficiency).” Phil 4:11-13 (AMP)

As Christians we are not resigned to circumstances, we are content in them. To be content we need to believe God when He says He is strong in our weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9, “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”) With this knowledge we also need to rest in knowing He is God (Psalm 46:10-11, “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”) Paul learned to be content, there was a process and unwittingly a struggle in learning to be content in spite of imprisonment and everything else he faced throughout his time of ministry.

“Contentment, then, is the product of a heart resting in God. It is the soul's enjoyment of that peace which passeth all understanding. It is the outcome of my will being brought into subjection to the Divine will. It is the blessed assurance that God doeth all things well, and is, even now, making all things work together for my ultimate good. This experience has to be "learned" by "proving what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Rom. 12:2). Contentment is possible only as we cultivate and maintain that attitude of accepting everything which enters our lives as coming from the Hand of Him who is too wise to err, and too loving to cause one of His children a needless tear.

Let our final word be this: real contentment is only possible by being much in the presence of the Lord Jesus... It is only by cultivating intimacy with that One who was never discontent that we shall be delivered from the sin of complaining. It is only by daily fellowship with Him Who ever delighted in the Father's will that we shall learn the secret of contentment.”

A.W. Pink

amazing grace

"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me....
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.

T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear...
the hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares...
we have already come.
T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far...
and Grace will lead us home.

The Lord has promised good to me...
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be...
as long as life endures.

When we've been here ten thousand years...
bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise...
then when we've first begun.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me....
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see."

This is one of my favorite hymns which we actually sung Wednesday night this week at Crossfire, our youth group at church. It was beautiful for me to hear a new generation of youth singing a song that has been such a blessing to generations before. The words, and the grace of God doesn't change in any moment, and I was simply reminded at how amazing the gift of this grace is that we have.

christopher

We were back on campus this week for the first time since classes let up for exams in December and it was a super encouraging week. The atmosphere on the universities is one of tranquility as the number of students is down and the it simply feels like summer... because it is here! Juan Carlos and I went out sharing and met a young man named Christopher. He's a Christian and we had a chance to share with him about the Spirit filled life. It was simply a fun conversation as we got to know him a little more and asked he asked questions and we simply got to talk together about our lives. I had to run off for a lunch meeting but later that afternoon Juan Carlos looked at me and said, "did you hear what happened after lunch?" Christopher actually went sharing himself with Karina and Juan Carlos. I guess as they went out Juan Carlos was doing most of the talking but every now and again Christopher would engage in asking a question like, "how would you explain salvation?" ... questions that we had asked him only a couple hours before. And that was the entire tone of this week, one of encouragement as the entire team had the chance to meet new students and share with them the love of Christ. Steve even changed a tire for a young lady in law as Raquel talked with her about Christ. It was a great week! Please keep praying for us and for this summer semester. It's such a special time to be on campus, we're having a blast!

where we've been....

(the team at Christmas)

It's been a while.... a month actually and I'm amazed at how quickly time flies. Christmas came and went and in 2nd year Panama stint tradition we made a turkey and headed to the beach on Boxing Day. Christmas seemed really special this year as we went to a Christmas Eve service and even throughout Christmas Day we took time to pray and read the Christmas story. It was a great time of simply being together as I was reminded of how special Christmas is all year round.

From there I was blessed to be able to head back to Canada.... the land of crazy snow this year. I had a great time reconnecting with everyone even if it was freezing. I hadn't thought I was going to be able to go home and so every moment was special as it was an unexpected blessing to be home.

(back to snow in Canada!)(My dad, brother and I at home in High River)(Costa Rica... back to the sun!)

I flew directly into Costa Rica last Tuesday and the team (+ Mackenzie and Mark, Steve's friend and brother) had a great 5 days. For me it was a blast to reconnect with the team and have some good time to simply catch up and hear how everyone's time off had been. The weather wasn't great by any means but we made the best of it and spent one afternoon renting bikes and biking up the coast watching surfers and getting caught in sudden outbursts of rain. The 13 hour bus ride home on 3 buses was kinda a bummer but we made the best of it and arrived in Panama at 5:15am in good spirits. Crossing the border in itself was one of my favorite moments as we simply walked over a single lane bridge, got our passports stamped on both sides and we were good to go. Not a lot of security and the bridge itself was looked like it had seen some better days.

(crossing the border)

As I was waiting for the rest of the team to come through customs I had a chance to chat with some little boys, two brothers that worked cleaning shoes and watching suitcases and cars. They were in a great mood even though they were in such need. They put a smile on my face as they asked me how to say some things in English and asked about a Canadian nickle that one of the team members had give them. I think more than anything they reminded me how we need to be open and willing to take the time for the people that can surround us but that we sometimes don't even see.