This week was our first official week starting ministry and to be honest it has been pretty hard for me. I have grown to see that ministry can be a multitude of things. When many people think of ministry on missions trip it typically involves serving others, whether that be children, building homes, praying over people, and etc. For our first month Team Unshakable is doing manual labor. I knew that manual labor would definitely be apart of ministry during these next 11 months but this SoCal city girl is having a hard time adjusting.
My team and I are working with Ethan Shields, the director of Missions Beyond Aviation, to clear 23 acres of land that will be used for a landing strip, his future home, bible institute, auditorium, and a cabin for future camp goers and World Racers. The land is untouched and is filled with trees, mud, cow manure, bugs, poisonous dart frogs, and poisonous snakes like the 4ft. Fer-de-Lance (a.k.a. one of the most poisonous snakes in Latin America) that was killed on Thursday. We have been cutting down trees, vines, and brush to clear out space for the future landing strip. As someone who hates bugs, mud and has never done yard work, it has been a growing process to say the least.
The Lord has been allowing me to open my horizons to what ministry can be. There has been a feeling of guilt as people have reached out to pray for my team to be winning souls and expanding the kingdom, yet we honestly don’t get to interact with many locals at besides the young girls who live at our compound. Ethan told us from the beginning that the work God is doing in our hearts is more important than the physical work that we’ll be doing and our team is starting to understand that more each day. The end of day can be frustrating as we do tons of work yet we can still see 20+ acres of land still untouched. Everyday our team has learned to rely on the Lord, chose joy, and to remember every blessing. My amazing teammate Kayla got a word from the Lord that as we are physically clearing out weeds, brush, and other poisonous things God is doing the same thing in our hearts. He’s clearing the gunk in our hearts and mindsets to prepare us for the next 10 months. Whether that be our attitudes, pride or selfishness, God has to make way in our hearts for new growth and that may be not be fun just as working in the wild fields isn’t always fun. I’m so excited to see the growth in my team and I’s character as we continue to work through this month.
***UPDATES***
-Here in Panama we are working with an organization called Missions Beyond Aviation to build a landing strip. They are American missionaries who help to provide goods to the indigenous Ngabe Bugle tribe.
-My main form of communication is now through this blog, WhatsApp, or by email([email protected]). Leave a comment if you would like my WhatsApp info.
– A HUGE THANK YOU for everyone who donated to help me reach my $10,000 goal to launch. I am forever grateful for choosing to partner with me in this journey. I need to have the full $18,100 by November but my next deadline is $13,000 by September 30. If you would like to become a monthly donor or give a one-time gift you can do so by clicking the donate button in the dashboard underneath my photo.
