what commission!?

God often uses simple things to bring joy to my heart. This was one of those times:
Friday night we had our bi-weekly "Noche de Conexion" (Connection Night) with students from all 3 Universities we work at. This week, we handed out a questionnaire for the students to fill out, with a few simple questions. Some of the questions were: What is the vision of Vida Estudiantil? How has Vida Estudiantil helped me in my Christian walk? And, what can I be doing to help fulfill the Great Commission in my generation?
One of the students, who accepted Christ the end of March and has just recently gotten involved, read the third question and was like, "What Commission!? What are you talking about?" We told him it was the great commission Jesus talked about in Matt 28:18-20. He responded with, "I need to look this up." So, he went, grabbed a Bible and read the passage. His next comment was, "Interesting. You learn something new each day," and then continued to fill out the questionnaire.
His enthousiasm was encouraging and it reminded me of times when I've learned or understood something new in God's Word - its really EXCITING!

the past, present & future few days

This week we've had Vida Estudiantil frosh tables set up in 3 different faculties, the Science, Law and Architecture faculties.

Today, while I was at the science table, a guy, Toddy came up and asked me what Vida Estudiantil was. I told him some info on it, and then he said he knew someone on staff, but couldnt remember the name. I named off one current staff member, Toddy said no, that wasnt him, and then I mentioned Leopoldo, the former campus director of VE. As soon as I mentioned Leopoldo, Toddy's face it up. He continued to explaine how a few years back in Colon, Leopoldo had really encouraged his father to follow hard after God and was a real inspiration to their family. He also said how they lost contact with Leopoldo, but still hold a special place for him in their hearts, because of his encouragement. This conversation really reminded me that God really does work in His own timing, and we just need to be faithful in serving Him although we may not immediately see visible results or fruit. Leopoldo probably had no idea his encouraging words back in Colon would impact a family for many years to come.

Thursdays also mean we have the Weekly Vida Estudiantil Meeting from 12:30-2! This week we saw about 25-30 people there. It was awesome, as most of the students were in their first year or were friends of students already involved. There were lots of new faces - Praise God!!!

Tomorrow we head off for a 4 day trip to El Salvador. Every 90 days we have to leave the country, as our Visas expire and we want to stay legal in Panama :). We're gonna be staying with Raquel's grandma, are planning on seeing a Panamanian friend living there and the US STINT team in San Salvador. It should be fun!

On another note, we headed out last week on a conference for Semana Santa (Holy Week) from Apr 9-12, with the Crusade church here, La Comunidad. Here are a couple pics from the weekend in Boquete, Chiriqui.

Day #1: Oliver, a Crusade staff member, sharing a morning devotion before the main session

Our team overlooking beautiful Boquete!

Day #4, Sunday - we had some baptisms!!! 13 Panamanians got baptized in the pool.

Have some faith

The end of March and beginning of April means Frosh preparations and time spent connecting with students on campus. Frosh week is the first week of classes on campus, and is where we aim to reach first year students with the gospel and also the vision of Vida Estudiantil. If we can reach first years, they have another 4-5 years to grow in their faith, transform their campus and be equipped to change the world!!

March 23-27 was the first week of classes on the Universidad Tecnologica de Panama (UTP) campus, and we had the chance to set up an info table and Soularium outreach tool in the lobby area of the main building. Many students engaged in spiritual conversations with us through the Soularium pictures and signed up to receive more info as well as weekly Bible Studies. After hearing what the vision of VE was, one first year student, Michael, told Raquel and I he was praying to God to find a group of Christian students on campus, and then he found us! Marielena, one of the Panamanians who works on UTP, got to meet a student named Jesus. They talked, she shared the gospel with him, and he accepted God into his heart. He stopped by the info table each day after that, and also came to church on Sunday. It was so encouraging to see such interested students that are hungry to learn more about God.

Mar 30-Apr 3 was the frosh week on the Universidad de Panama campus. We had the opportunity to enter some first year classes in faculties of law, arquitecture and sciences. We described what Vida Estudiantil was, and invited the students out to the weekly meeting held every Thursday. Our frosh activities will continue over the next couple weeks, connecting with students next week and setting up info tables and using Soularium the week after.

As I reflected on all these activities and had a quiet time on campus yesterday, I came across a word that summed it all up: faith, as seen in this verse:
1 Tim 1:4b - "...advancing God's work - which is done by faith."
I couldnt help but think that our faith in God, that He'll accomplish exactly what He wants to, and will always be at work through His Spirit in the hearts of man, is the backbone of our ministry. Sometimes we may see a lot of fruit on campus, in the form of really excited students or those who accept Jesus as their saviour. Other times, it may be such hard work, seem like everyone is apathetic and like nothing is happening. Regardless of what we may be visibly seeing or feeling, we need to have faith that God is doing things and moving in people's hearts.
Isa 55: 9-11 - "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so it is with my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

The info table and Soularium board at UTP; talking with students

The team at the UTP tableWelcome sign for 2009 year at Universidad de Panama

More Laborers

Quiet time reading, Mon Feb 16: Ps 9, Matt 9, 2 Kings 6-8
Journal entry:
Matt 9:36-37 -" 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.' "

I remember reading this passage on that Monday, and praying both for my heart (for an increase in compassion for others who are lost), and also for others, that they would be sent out into the harvest fields.

Then, last Tuesday, at staff meeting, we got to hear from three different people, two from South America and one Panamanian about joining to work the harvest fields. Marquis is a student who was involved with the Vida Estudiantil ministry in Santiago, and just accepted the offer to do a one year internship on campus there (kind of like what I'm doing here, but within his own country). He is finishing off his university thesis until August, then will support raise for a couple months, and hopefully be on campus by late this year. It was pretty exciting hearing how God had impacted his life through Vida Estudiantil and how he wants to not only serve God this year, but also the rest of his life. Another man, Edgar, also shared how he is considering joining Leadership Impact group here in Panama. He shared with us during the meeting how he and his family were in the US, but then lost everything. They only had their suitcases and a few things when they came down here, and now he wants to serve God with his whole heart. And, thirdly, there was Patricia. She is a geology prof at the Universidad Tecnologica who is considering joining staff with Campus Crusade too (unfortunately, I didnt catch much of her testimony...my spanish translation was too slow, haha).
I left the meeting feeling very encouraged that God is indeed at work, and IS raising people up to work in his harvest fields...especially the harvest fields here in Panama. There is such a great need, both here and around the world!!!

"Jesus said to them, 'My Father is ALWAYS at his work to this very day, and I too am working." John 5:17
"Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together." Psalm 34:3

'I' is for Idalisis and Incredible

This week has looked a little different than all the other ones. The university semester is on a short break, and regular classes begin again on Mar 23 (UTP) and Mar 30 (Univ de Panama). So, we've been doing a variety of Canadian summer project and frosh preparations, and our monthly day alone with God. Here's some highlights from the week, from Monday & Wednesday:

Monday - Juan Carlos, Derek, Raquel and I left the city to visit the Vida Estudiantil crew in Santiago. We went to do some initial Canadian project preparations with the staff member there, Duby, and also to pray over the campus.
While we were waiting on campus that night for students to come to a prayer walk around the campus, a girl walked up to us. I immediately recognized her, although she was new to the VE movement out there. IDALISIS!!! Wow. Lindsey, Raquel and I had initially talked with her, and her two friends on the Univ de Panama campus in Panama City while we were evangelizing (see Oct 21st blog post). And since then, she moved to Santiago, and is neighbours with one of the VE students, Cielo, who invited her out to VE. Idalisis decided to further check out VE, and is now actively involved. It was incredible to watch her face and hear her words as she told Raquel and I how she has grown in her walk with the Lord since October. She said she feels a lot more peaceful and has changed much since the fall. She definitely had changed since October, as I could visibly see that peace and change, in her mannerisms and overall outlook even as we talked. Praise God who orchestrated our initial meeting in Oct and used that short conversation to transform Idalisis' life!!!

Wednesday - Today was our Day Alone with God (DAWG). Once a month we get a day to spend solely with God, doing such things as reading and meditating on the Word, praying, reading Christian books, etc. This day is pretty vital, as its so important to refresh oneself in the Lord, especially as we're always ministering to others and pouring ourselves out into them.
I started reading 2 Thess that day. 2 Thess 1:8-10 really stuck out:
"He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you."
This scripture passage left me with a bitter-sweet taste in my mouth. My heart felt so heavy for those who don't know Him. Imagine that: being subject to eternal destruction and separation from God. There cant be anything worse than that - being punished with destruction and apart from everything that is good, that is God. This is a motivation in itself for the urgency of sharing the Gospel!!! On the other hand, my heart was hopeful and excited, as I thought about what it would be like to marvel at God. Thats what we get to do, friends! I'd encourage you to meditate upon that a bit this next upcoming week. That day is gonna be incredible!

You Just Never Know

God never ceases to amaze and surprise me. I just never know what He's gonna do next, what He will teach me or how exactly He is gonna work. And, I like that.
Like on Tuesday, Mar 3. Steve, Juan Carlos and I set out to take pictures of the campus and some students for a STINT video to be sent to Canada. We ended up meeting up with one of Steve's disciples, Joel, and took some pictures with him and two of his friends. This photo-shoot evolved into a gospel presentation, and both Abdiel and Karleen, two law students at the Universidad de Panama, accepted Jesus as their Saviour.
And today. I hung out with my friend Brooke, and we toured Casco Viejo (old quarter of Panama City, that has amazing architecture). We ended up talking with a lady named Mary Jo, walked amongst the buildings with her and conversed over some delicious gelato. Brooke and I were able to be a blessing to her, share our faith in a very relational way and talk about spiritual things in a laid back manner. Neither of us expected to meet her and be able to be such a tangible representation of Jesus and His love to her.

" ...keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy." 1 Pet 3:25 Message
You just never know, so be ready.

A little Kuna village called Icandi...part 2 of 2

For the rest of our days, our team split into three groups, each one with a Kuna translator and went to meet some families to help them with their household chores. On Monday, Derek and I went with Pastor Lino, and met 2 different families. We got to serve them practically, sweeping their dirt floors, helping gather firewood, rock babies to sleep in hammocks, grind corn and carry plantains to the hut. My favourite thing I got to do help a mom out by rocking a precious little baby girl to sleep in a hammock. She looked so peaceful as we both swung together.

Derek and I carrying plantains...they were surprisingly heavy!!

On Tuesday, Steve, Raquel and I went out with Pastor Artemio to simply talk with the families, learning about their lives, sharing ours and engaging in some spiritual conversations. I was impacted by the second house we visited, and the comment the lady made to us. We were talking and somehow the topic of travelling came up. We shared that we were from Canada, she said she didn’t want to travel to Panama City, and then she said that we must have a lot of money as we are able to travel. The first thought in my head was ‘well, actually, we don’t,’, and I immediately shared my opinion with Steve. He responded back with, ‘well, we kinda do.’ That really got me thinking, as the perspective totally depends on who your comparison audience is. Compared to the typical Canadian white collar worker, we as missionaries don’t make a lot of money. But, compared to the many people here in Panama and especially in the Kuna village where living is very primitive, we have so much. Wow. As that continued to circulate in my head, the Spirit led me to this verse:
“...from everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” Luke 12:48b
I have been given much, and as a result have a lot of responsibility. And, with the amount I’ve been entrusted, much will be expected of me. I pray that God would give me wisdom and knowledge to use and invest all he has given and entrusted me, time, talent and treasure wise.

On Tuesday night, we also got to present the Magdalena film, which is similar to the Jesus film, but from a woman’s perspective. About 175 men, women and children came out, and our team also got to do some dramas, as well as share our testimonies. Pastor Lino gave a gospel message at the end of the film as well.

Derek sharing his testimony (3 way translation style: english --> spanish--> kuna) before the Magdalena film.

Showing the Magdalena film

It was cool to see how God used our simple presence in the village. The pastors had been talking with the Silahs (men) in charge of the village in regards to building a church. Two months ago these discussions had begun, and then a month ago the Silahs had said no. However, with our visit, the Silahs saw a demonstration of the commitment of support to the village, and how the missionaries are dedicated to serving the Icandi people. And, in the Silah council meeting they had on Tuesday night, they said yes to the church again and the construction date was bumped up to start Mar 15!

Walking through the village with the kids

Overall, I pray that our presence and ministry in the village would somehow bring the Kuna people there a step closer to knowing Jesus as their saviour. They are a people whobelieve in God, but not in Jesus, thinking salvation is based on works only. Please pray for spiritual transformation in this village, that their spiritual eyes would be opened, the church construction and for the weekly visits the Pastors make.

Bye, Icandi!!! The view of the village as we left on Wednesday afternoon.

To see more pictures, click this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=221939&id=618945586&l=800c9

A little Kuna village called Icandi...Part 1 of 2

Incredible, touching, impacting, and eye-opening are a few words I would use to describe the adventure we embarked on from Sun, Feb 22 - Wed, Feb 25.
Our team got to go on what’s called a Missions Experience, where we live and serve a remote community in Panama for a few days. For this trip, we got to go to a remote Kuna Indian Village, called Icandi, along with Todd & Marielena Tillinghast and three local missionaries to the area, Pastors Lino, Artemio and Lazaro (they've been ministering in the village for a while and their relationships with the people allowed us permission to come to the community).

Our trip started out with a 2.5 hour bus ride from Panama City, to a small town called Bayano, situated beside a large brackish lake. We unloaded all our stuff and waited to load our boat, as the village was another 45 minutes by boat across the lake. The boat wasn’t what I expected at all, as it was a dugout canoe with a small motor on the back. It definitely served its purpose well and we set out on the water.

View of the Icandi Kuna Village from the lake

As we approached where our village was, little people began appearing from what seemed like nowhere, and ran down the hill to meet us. As we unloaded our bags, many of the Kuna people (kids included!) whisked them away, carrying them to our then unknown accommodation. We ended up staying in a large hut, owned by a Kuna lady by the name of Flor, who is the woman leader of the village. She graciously opened up space for us, while some of her family moved into the kitchen for our stay. The men of the village helped us set up our hammocks and mosquito nets, Steve and Lindsey went off to cook dinner in the new kitchen consisting of a open fire pit, and many Kuna 'supervisors', wondering what in the world they were cooking.

Each day began bright and early at about 5:30. On Monday and Tuesday, we got to help with a Woman's Bible Study, and also met and served families in tangible ways.
Each time Pastors Lino and Artemio visit the village, they had been hosting Bible Studies for the women, as during the day, the men are off hunting or fishing. This visit, they were able to arrange the meetings again and so we got to help out with it. Over the two days, Marielena, Lindsey Raquel and I got to share our testimonies with them, and then pastor Artemio shared a Bible message.

Marielena sharing her testimony at the Women's Bible Study

It was incredible to see how many kids there were in the village! They were pretty much constantly around us, clinging to us and clearly vying for love and attention most of them didn’t receive from their parents. During the women’s Bible Studies, we got to sing some songs with the kids, play games and teach them a Bible Story. It was touching to hear them often singing “Jesus, yo te amo...” (Jesus I love you...) long into the night after each day.

Playing games with the kids

Raquel and I with some of our new "ANAI" (friends): Griseliana, Cecilia, Anaeliana, and Pinelia

Circulation...

Sometimes there are just too many things circulating in my head to blog about just one thing. This is the case today. I planned on posting something new today, but when I sat down to write, no one event or topic really jumped out at me. So, here are a few things to read about:

1. Last Saturday, we had the 2nd annual Vida Estudiantil Valentines Day party (or Dia del Amor y Amistad, Day of Love & Friendship as its called here). We played some games, ate some great food and heard a talk from Oliver and Zulma. Oliver works on the UTP campus here, and he and Zulma have been dating for almost a year now. Since our group was primarily composed of singles, they got to share with us how God can really use this state of singleness to work in us, draw us closer to Himself, and prepare us for the future. They also shared on relationships in general, whether romantic or not, and how to construct successful ones.

2. I've been learning a lot about Peace lately. A couple of meaningful verses have been:
Col 3:15 - 'Let the PEACE of Christ rule in your hearts...and be thankful.'
Phil 4:6-7 - 'Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the PEACE of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.'
Isa 26:3-4 - 'You will keep in perfect PEACE those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord is the Rock eternal.'
Rom 8:6b - '...but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and PEACE.'
I noticed some correlations here, namely between peace and thankfulness, and how peace is in our hearts and minds. Its a conscious choice to be thankful, and we have to both think on peace and believe it in our hearts. I think what gives me the most peace is fully trusting in the Lord, that no matter what is going on, He has good plans for me, loves me and is in control. Especially as I look forward to next year after STINT, and have no clear idea what that may look like. At times it looks daunting, but I can be at peace with it, as He is so trustworthy with my life.

3. This Sunday, after church, our STINT team is heading out on a Missions Trip to the Darien Jungle. We will be working in a Kuna Indian Village there. This will for sure be an incredible experience, as we'll be sleeping in hammocks with mosquito nets, aren't allowed to bring many of our daily toiletry necessities (only a tooth brush, towel, and bar of soap...nothing else!) and will be doing some acts of service ministry for the people. If you could pray for safety and that God would move powerfully in this village, that'd be awesome!!! More updates will come....

Above: Playing a game at the Valentines day party

Below: Oliver and Zulma sharing some relationship wisdom with us

A simple surprise...

I received this link in my inbox on Friday:
http://ccci.org/locations/americas/panama/panama-to-dominican-republic.aspx

Its talking about the trip we took to the Dominican Republic in November. Its a cool little surprise & encouragement that we made the national Campus Crusade for Christ news!! GO PANAMA!