Panama….where to begin. We’ve been here a week now. So many new sites, sounds, smells, and scenery. It’s a beautiful lush and green country, but with that come the bugs as well (yes we’re covered in itchy bites), and having cockroaches, geckoes and ants in the house is normal. As well, it’s rainy season and every afternoon/evening is a thunderstorm. We’ve already experienced on our first day of ministry an hour hike up a mountain and getting caught in a torrential downpour on our way down.
What our ministry looks like: we are partnering with an amazing couple, Danny and Heather, who run the ICJesus ministry that works with the Ngobe people. We’ve been doing a jumble of different things from playing in the children’s home, cutting out craft projects, digging a trench, hoeing a garden, to prayer walks and interceding for the town and the people of Panama.
What life looks like for us: we have found our days to be very flexible and going with the flow. Plans change quickly and you don’t always know exactly what you’re going to do, but it’s wonderful. Getting locked out of the vehicle and waiting under some shelter led to meeting a lady in charge of an organization who showed us in the room where she was leading a group of women in sewing their traditional clothing. Two girls shared their testimonies and we were allowed to pray with the women! It’s all God’s timing.
As a team, we agreed to read 1 Peter for the first week and discuss what we’ve each learned from it. Chapter 4:7-11 stuck out to me as an overview and an encouragement of what we’re doing here.
“But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
We are all different girls with diverse gifts and talents living and working together. We have our preferences and opinions on things. But through God’s grace, we’ve been able to live in harmony and discover who each person is. We’ve shared our testimonies with each other and continue to learn and see how God is working in each of our lives to becoming more like women after God’s heart. Thank you for lifting me and my team up in your prayers.
-Britteny
