To continue from the previous blog….
Once we made it back down the mountain, we made our way to Danny’s car, where he accidentally closed the front door..with the keys inside. So, after three hours of hiking, digging up a garden, not having lunch yet, we are locked out of the car. Danny says he’s going to walk to his house (about an hour walk) and get the spare keys and we were going to wait there.
An hour and a half goes by and still no Danny. Heather started talking to a woman who worked at the building we were standing under, and we found out that we were at the national headquarters for the women of the Nove tribe, one of the biggest indigenous tribes in Panama. The women next door were sewing traditional dresses that they would later sell. Melody, one of my teammates, speaks Spanish very well, and was talking with Estella, the woman in charge. She found out that some of the women in there were Christian, but a majority were not. Melody asked if it would be ok if we talked with the women, and she said yes.
Backstory: around the same time Melody is talking to Estella, I’m sitting on the ground not in the best of moods. I’m tired, hungry (it was around 3pm and we hadn’t eaten since 8am), cold from being soaking wet with the temperature dropping, and overall crabby. I was praying that God would reveal why we were stuck there. I know there are no coincidences with God, and that the keys being locked in the car had to happen for a reason. And He answered my prayer. 10 minutes after praying that, Melody came up to our group and said we had the opportunity to speak to this group of women, and asked if anyone would like to speak and she would translate. We prayed about it, and I felt that I should say something, and one of my other squad mates wanted to say a few words as well. As the two teams went in the room, I stood with Melody and talked about how I didn’t grow up knowing God, and since I found Him how drastically different my life has been. I talked about how this isn’t religion, it’s a relationship, and that God wants to know us all individually. That he loves us all with an unfailing love, even when we don’t acknowledge Him. This is not something I’ve ever done before, and it was quite the experience to say the least.
The coolest part of the story? God used this situation to reach one of the women. Afterwards, Heather was talking with her and she asked if Heather and Danny would come to her house and talk to her about God because she was very interested in knowing more. GOD IS SO GOOD! It’s incredible that He uses every situation for His glory and to reach so many more people.
And this was just the first day of ministry! I’m so excited to see all the ways God will move this month in Panama, and the rest of the year. Thank you all for the prayers and support! I’ll write again soon 🙂
God bless,
Jenna
