Monthly Archives: January 2014

“She used to be a Christian, but now she has fallen from the faith,” commented our elderly neighbor gesturing towards one of her two daughters as we rested in the cool shade below our home and each finished a delicious bowl of vegetable soup that Colleen had made. This daughter refuses to relinquish her indulgent sin and is willing to be shunned from the family of God and be rejected by her peers and possibly her only social connections. I´m asking you to pray. You see, this fallen daughter is about 50 years old and severely mentally disabled… and her grievous sin is the wearing of gaudy, plastic jewelry. There seems to be a tendency to take the beautiful and perfect Gospel and water it down into a set of petty rules that gain admittance to the church social club. And I know that it isn´t just here.

Kalea wanted to give the adorned daughter a colorful rubber-band bracelet to complement her clash. At first, I whispered “no,” not wanting to increase her sin or upset the old lady. But we spoke with her about her belief and decided it was better to encourage the generosity of a child than cower at religiosity. Although her words were unintelligible, her smile and gestures were unmistakable. She liked the bracelet. 

Apparently, opening a bank account in Panama for U.S. citizens is supposed to be a nightmare under current law (google it). We need to do it to get a visa. We prayed and passed, one by one, through two sets of 3″ thick tubular glass doors after being wanded and frisked by a guy with a big gun. Beam me… in.

God paved the way. 3 desks later, we were in a private office with the manager laughing such that they probably heard it in the lobby. What happened? Well, we were entertaining Kalea on the laptop with videos of the baptism party that took place at our house in Catrigandí. Hitting it off with the managers, they wanted to see what she was laughing about so we shared that the church from Chepo had a baptism and party at our house and showed them the video.

The dear manager, Laura, looked very concerned and serious: “So… the person goes down and when he comes out, he is baptized?”

The video was of our friend Giovany going down the 100 ft. slip and slide we made to enjoy after the baptism in the river! Check it out below. Laura, chinese-panamanian, is a baptist… and didn´t know what to think of this new method!!! We showed her pictures of the  baptism in the river, and we finished our time with prayer in her office. What a blessing.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/mVJn-2724Ho&rel=0]

Having fun with puppets and music in Platanares.

By Colleen

Sometime in my past I could recall daydreams of thinking about having a home of ten children (not my own!). In having a small orphanage of sorts, giving the kids my love in a real way that would teach them how special they are, the kind of love that Christ gives all of us.

God put this on my heart a long time ago…and so when our family started out to Panamá, for me, it felt like a dead end. Little did I know, I had forgotten that our God is a good God, and He goes before us, and prepares for us.

And now I feel as if God has pushed His opened hands towards me and served me with a golden platter, as I find out about the plans for the Church Camp in Yaviza to start a Children´s Ministry, or more like a youth center; to include any and every child that is hungry, or in need of a safe place to care for them.

I´m not really sure how this will unfold, but one thing I know for certain, is that God knows. Somehow I get the feeling it won´t be just ten kids that come here! Our God thinks big. For me, this is a miracle of sorts….being able to put my past into the now approaching present, knowing that while I´ve received a real blessing from God all He wants me to do is to love and obey Him. I will take that step of faith, and He will lead my way!

How has God prepared you to serve? Follow your heart!

The kids having fun making their own memory games.