C&MA Panama

I wanted to go to Panama after hearing the sharing from past STM teams and because of unexpected additional vacation time, I had the opportunity to go this year.  Having a burden for the South American ministry, I wanted to see if this was the place that God may be calling me to go full-time. From the time I arrived, I felt quite at ease with the environment and the weather and enjoyed the experience of working for the Lord with such a large group of committed people from other churches. Even so, the harvest was plenty and the workers were few by the time we split up to our respective ministries. I also soon realized how small a part that we actually play in God’s mission when I found out that another group of the same size was also arriving to run an English camp for teens while we were there for the Chinese VBS. I am seeing a broader vision of God’s mission beyond my own world that makes me more humble to His calling.

I am thankful to my teammates for putting up with my language competency and found that the Lord can use what little we know or speak for His work in communicating through accented English, incomplete Cantonese and/or broken Spanish to share the gospel. I take no credit for those that accepted the Lord as their Saviour for God has prepared the way and we were the vessel He used at the time. Where spoken Spanish was not enough, the Lord used reading of Spanish tracts and Bible and dictionaries bought from a dollar store next door to where we have meals to open the hearts of the teens and children.

One of the things that struck me was the needs of the second and subsequent generations. It was pleasing to meet children of mixed backgrounds or non-speaking Chinese parents, who wanted to come and learn their heritage and hear the Gospel. I felt great compassion for these teens and young adults when I had an opportunity to sit-in for a bit on their Spanish service and to see some of them go off to the English camp with hopes of a different future. I feel that it is important to reach them with the Gospel in Spanish within their Chinese context if they are to maintain their identity, given the long hours their parents are involved in business. Going to Panama has certainly helped me see the bigger picture and the need for more involvement in missions.