For the month of June my squad was in Panama—a country that the World Race has never been to before. My team specifically had the task of “Unsung Heroes” for the month, which meant that we had the privilege of asking the Lord to lead us to new contacts, churches and missionaries in Panama and to meet with them and see their ministry for a day or two. The idea is that we would daily ask the Holy Spirit to lead us to undiscovered or lesser known ministries in Panama that would be a great fit for future World Race teams to be able to work with.
Upon arriving to Panama City, my team spent about 4 days at a hostel there, praying and planning for the rest of the month. We got out a big map of Panama and began researching ministries and churches online. We were finding so many great contacts and opportunities that we wanted to check out, but we had no idea where to start. So we prayed and asked the Lord to show us where HE was calling us to. This month wasn’t about finding the most ministries in the shortest amount of time, but rather traveling to the people and places that the Lord wanted us to find.
While researching hostels in Panama for our team to stay in during our travel, I was having no luck, especially finding hostels in our price range. One day I came across a whole webpage of cheap hostels in a place called “El Valle de Anton”. I looked on our map to see where El Valle was located, and it turns out that 3 of the contacts we were wanting to meet in Panama were within an hour of this little town. After praying some more, we decided to pack up our things and move to El Valle, which was about a 2 hour bus ride southwest of Panama City.
When we got to El Valle, we were astonished by the vast difference the two hour trip had made. Panama City was busy, overpopulated, hot and humid and the land was flat. El Valle was a small, beautiful community surrounded by green hills and mountains, fresh air, and warm rainstorms. There was one main road running through the town where everyone knew everyone, there was only one grocery store, and the choice mode of transportation was walking or biking. Looking around, we were in love. But, we couldn’t quite make sense of why God had brought us there. It seemed to just be a small tourist town where many people just stopped by for a day or two on their way to other destinations. What could this small community have for 8 missionaries from the World Race?
The answer came a few days later when we received a call from a church in town (there are churches in this town?!) that wanted us to come visit and worship with them. After about a 20 minute walk from our hostel we arrived at David and Lisa Carter’s trilingual church—English, Spanish and Kuna (an indigenous people group that lives in Panama).
We met so many incredible people at their church and discovered that they had a ministry that would be absolutely perfect for hosting future World Race teams. Every week we tried to make plans to leave El Valle in order to continue our travels throughout Panama to find other ministries, but the Lord ended up asking us to stay in El Valle for an entire 3 weeks! And day after day He showed us brand new ministries, such as a Christian school up in the mountains, a community development ministry in a nearby fishing village, a Christian camp for kids, and an organization that provides home for orphaned girls and boys. Not to mention all of the ministry opportunities He showed us in the community to daily share the love of Jesus with the locals there.
During our time in El Valle in Panama, there was a dog that we adopted—or rather, a dog that adopted us. We very fittingly named him “Dog” and got used to his presence with us wherever we went; to church, to dinner, to the grocery store, on 4 hour long hikes, to the smoothie shop, on bike rides, and on late night walks around town. He befriended us, followed us, protected us, slept on the couch outside of our hostel, and loved on us each and every day.
When I think of Dog, I am reminded of the way that the Lord relentlessly pursues us in a similar way. His presence is always there with us, hoping for just the smallest bit of interaction or acknowledgement because all He wants is to be near to us and live life alongside of us. His love for us is not in any way dependent on the love that we give back to Him in return, but when we do reciprocate, we experience a much deeper love and connection—one that makes us excited to spend time with Him and one that helps us to trust that He will always be there and will never abandon us.
I am so grateful for all of the beautiful relationships and experiences that came from our time in Panama. And I am so thankful for Dog, who gave me a small glimpse of the Lord’s heart and His persevering pursuit of His beloved children.
“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. I will build you up again, and you will be rebuilt” Jeremiah 31:3-4
