Monthly Archives: September 2014

Howdy from immigration!

We’re trying to get our visa. Please pray that it goes well. We are grateful that Kalea makes herself at home with other kids in unlikely places.

Things are moving fast here at the end of the road,  Yaviza. New partners and renewed vision has breathed life into this church-owned property,  and it feels somewhat like being part of a winning sports team marching towards the championship.  One of the big “games” that we are determined to win is the aforementioned radio station to be operated here on-site by the Emberá and Wounaan. The initial study has been conducted by Avant ministries and the light is green,  the equipment has been donated and awaits us in Canada,  groups have committed to helping with the construction of the necessary infrastructure to house the equipment and people operating the station,  we’ve even been given the verbal go-ahead from the director of Panama’s equivalent to the Federal Communications Commission and promised the license.  The only remaining step is to comply with the requirement to conduct a formal technical study by a Panamanian engineer and complete the relevant documentation.  While this task normally costs upwards of $5,000 plus legal fees, a compassionate professional has offered to do the job for $2,000,  the remaining legal paperwork costing about $1,000. So… Without further adieu… We are asking if you might be called to financially support in part or full this last,  big step towards accomplishing the long-standing goal of operating a radio station by and for the people in the rural communities surrounding Yaviza. Are you called to be part of this?  We invite you to pray about it.  Donations can be made directly to the project through Mb Mission here: Yaviza Camp Please be sure to let us know so it can be earmarked for the radio.

Blessings

There lived a poor woman with her young daughter and handicapped son in a makeshift shack in the yard of her adult, delinquent son.  One day,  the son ordered her to leave.  Carrying what wood she could,  the woman set out to try and find a dry place to spend the night with her children. She went to the church where,  despite her financial poverty,  she had been devoting 3 days per week to cook for the abandoned children of the community. At the same time,  a member of the community learned of her situation and felt moved to give her a plot of land on which to live. At the church lived a family that had left everything to care for and teach the same abandoned children.  They also had compassion on the woman and decided to build her a minimal structure to withstand the tropical rains on her little square of land. The same community member was moved by the efforts of the family to help the woman and decided to give them,  also,  land on which to build a home. Unfortunately,  when the first rains of the year saturated the land, the area they were given flooded,  and they realized that they could never build there. The poor woman,  in turned moved by the plight of this family that had sacrificed so much to help her decided, “Listen…  If you don’t mind being my neighbor,  we will divide my land,  and you can build your house here.” The next time they were gathered together at the church the pastor asked,  “Woman,  why are you so happy today?” To which she responded,  “Because now I have good neighbors.” Sorry I don’t have a picture of Robinson with Maura,  that many of you have met here in Yaviza.

It is unquestionable that United States and other wealthy nations have shown tremendous generosity through giving used and new clothing, amongst other things, to less developed nations. We can, however, question our discernment about which T-shirt would be most appropriate to give.