I sat down to write this blog hoping some epiphany would hit me and I would get excited about something, and the words would just flow from my beautiful finger tips to my chrome-carved keys on my laptop. Little did I know, the “writer’s block” monster was lying in wait for me to sit down at my work station. This monster hit me in the face, discombobulating me and almost defeated me before I even began. However, I persevered and hit a quick mental spin move as I began to reflect on what God has been doing.
I realize that usually ministry happens everyday and I don’t re-tell that many stories on my blogs, because in my mind it’s just what I think daily life should be like. But I don’t want to take these stories and experiences for granted. As stories rushed in my mind, I decided I am going to do a 3 blog series (possibly more if I start feeling myself on these short stories). Without further ado, here’s the first blog of this series of ‘stories from Panama’.
1. Magnificence in the Mountains: By Ethan A. Floyd
Saturdays, Mondays, and Wednesdays our group travels with our hosts, Dani and Heather, up the mountain to go minister to kids in a small village named “Oma”. This village, like many others, is very poor and there’s a lot of brokenness and orphan kids missing parents. Other then having a school, which was recently built by the government, this village is very 3rd world. They don’t have running water, they wash clothes and bathe in the river, and most families do not have a good education.
We have been able to join in with Dani and his wife Heather as they go there to teach English and sign language, play sports and others games, and most importantly share the Gospel. This honestly feels like a rag-tag youth group thrown together for mountain kids who otherwise would probably not have a chance to hear the Gospel. The heart for these kids is what attracts them to Dani and Heather, and I can tell the kids love them and look forward to every Saturday, Monday, and Wednesday to see them.
When we first were there, I noticed a lot of the older kids were just there for the sports and not for the “Jesus stuff”. Which is often the case for all youth no matter where you are in the world ha. But my heart really began to burden for a few of the older ones and I prayed God would get their attention. I tried to be intentional and build relationships with them at first but they made it tough. A couple of the older kids had that “too cool for school” kind of attitude going on which is so annoying to me. Fortunately though I realized that as we played basketball and soccer more they really began to respect and warm up to me. This past Wednesday when we were there they even went out of their way to come speak and sit with me. God had answered my prayers and already began to soften their heart.
This past Wednesday night, 1 of the older kids I had been praying for, along with 2 other kids accepted Christ! Praise the Lord, when we worshipped Wednesday night, the kids weren’t just there because of sports. It was real, and God showed up!
