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