Well, we are in Panama City now! I’m very excited for this month, completely different than any other ministry so far. We call it ATL – Ask The Lord. So the Lord has led us to the ghetto of Panama City. It’s kinda dangerous here, but the Lord is protecting us and providing opportunities to pray with people. Our first day here we went out into a nearby plaza, praying that the Lord would guide us and show what kind of ministry we should do. Upon arriving at the plaza, we found a group of people praying and worshiping. So we joined in the dance… literally. At the end of it, we spoke with them, asking if there were specific things in the city that needed help. They gave us some leads that we followed.
And so this week we have spent a couple hours each day at a home for the elderly (Hogar de Ancianos) in a rather dangerous part of the ghetto. The people and the police have all been very concerned for our safety as we walk to the home each day, but we truly feel the Lord has led us there. We have encountered deep sorrow and bitterness there, which is a good place to bring the love of Jesus. There’s Cecilia, Paulina, Victoria, and many others who tell us how they have been left here for 3, 6, 7 years. They cry and talk of their children who never visit and grandchildren they have never seen. Cecilia grabs my hand and kisses it each time I walk in the room. Paulina takes my hand in hers, looks me straight in the eye, and talks, though her words are so muffled I can’t understand what she says. And no, they aren’t “mentally all there”… But even so, they do know boredom and loneliness and abandonment and despair and depression. And we have the privilege to love them for a season, to smile, to let them know they are seen and heard, to remind them of a Savior who has a soft spot in His heart for them.
Plaza Herrera. If you turn left from this statue, you walk into the ghetto. If you turn right, you walk into the tourist section. We, of course, turn left.
A verse that has come in my team this month is Matthew 25:40 – “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” I encourage you to look for these people wherever you are. Maybe you know some in your local nursing home. Maybe you walk past them at church or school or work. I must admit how bad I am at living out this verse. How many times do I avoid people because I don’t have answers, because I can’t help them, because they make me uncomfortable or irritated…? The least, the lost, the broken, the abandoned, the lonely, the invisibles. I know it’s not always easy or pleasant or comfortable. But we need to hear them, see them, love them. “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
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