Almost daily, around 2 pm, the San Felix sky goes dark with clouds that are ready to dump masses of water over the beautiful greenery that make up this city; all of this partnered with lightning that fills the sky and thunder so strong the ground shakes.
Knowing this daily occurrence, we know we need to work diligently this morning to get our first coat of paint up on the cement walls of the outside of the church before it is time to break for lunch.
Simultaneously to the project we are undertaking on the outside of the church, on the inside a music conference is taking place to teach various music skills to the indigenous people from the churches that have been started in the area.
The music conference is being lead by a couple from the States who are now serving in Costa Rica as missionaries and a team of young people from Costa Rica.
At lunch we all come together to share a meal in the home of our ministry host here in Panama.
Thirty of us enter into the dining and living rooms, filling every chair, couches, and spot on the floor with plates filled with delicious chicken, rice, and beans. The room is rich with laughter, conversation, and stories in both Spanish and English.
As we sit there eating and conversing I can’t help but keep looking around and thinking how incredible it is that I get to sit in this room and share a meal with all of these people from many different places who have all come together for one single purpose: to glorify and spread the love of our Almighty God.
This is the true picture of what is it to be one body for Christ.
Over and over again, month after month, I realize this is my favorite part of the entire Race: having the opportunity to travel to different places and see the same body moving to achieve the same purpose… Christ.
We easily lose sight of this fact; He created us to function as one body with His purpose to serve.
These precious moments in Panama are what Peter was describing when he wrote “God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another” (1 Peter 4:10).
I challenge you to ask yourself: How can you better serve the body of Christ? What is my role in this uniformed goal?
All of us watching the World Cup after lunch.
