Enoc and Yaneth
Libney and Abner
The mountains
This ministry
The farm
Everywhere I look I see God’s love. I’ve only been in this place for 1 week but I feel like I’ve been a part of this family forever. They adopted us as daughters on day 1 and told us they were our Panamanian mom and dad. They love us so well and feed us too much delicious food. “Dad” is full of jokes and always has candy for us and “Mom” makes the most incredible food I’ve had in Central America and her smiles light up any room.
We work long days but we couldn’t care less. We’ve had so much fun every day and look forward to whatever they have for us tomorrow. We have planted hundreds of coffee beans in soil that was mixed with way too much chicken poop. Ignorance truly is bliss because our first day we didn’t realize we had poop all over our hands and ate lunch after just rinsing our hands with water… sorry mama! We’ve roasted and ground pound after pound of coffee and we’ve bagged, weighed, and sealed every bit of it! We spent half a day picking peppers and the next half hiking down a mountain to the most beautiful hidden secret a family could have. I refer to it as Narnia, others would just say it’s a beautiful spot by the river. This past Sunday we had the honor of traveling 6 1/2 hours to the top of a mountain with Samaritan’s Purse to pass out Operation Christmas Child boxes! Having filled those boxes in the past, it was so surreal to get to see first hand what a blessing those are.
On day 3, Enoc told us all about the farm’s history and showed us where he was born and where his great-grandfather planted coffee. He told us how they almost lost the farm when the economy tanked here in Panama and how no matter how bad things got, the Lord always provided everything they needed. Then he told us the vision behind their ministry. He told us when his great-grandfather would harvest the coffee every year, he would give most of the profits to the church. His legacy has developed into a growing ministry around the world.
Their ministry is called el Sembrador 365 which translates to The Sower 365. They use the number 365 because eventually, their goal is to support 1 missionary for every day of the year. Before I knew it, I was in tears. I could feel how much the Lord loved this family and how blessed they were. I knew in that instant that in some way, shape, or form, this place was in my future. This family will always have a place in my heart and this ministry will always be important to me.
I’ve fallen in love with this place, this family, and this ministry and I’m soaking up every second because thinking about leaving actually makes my heart ache..
-H
