I am extremely ecstatic and excited to introduce you to…Bobby and Shirlene Wood!
The Wood family has been living in Panama on the Island of Bastimentos in the Bocas del Toro region for two years now. They have three kids: Ellie-11, Bella-7, and Ethan-3.
While staying on the island, the Lord led us to this family. They lovingly invited us over to their place for the day. And what a beautiful day it was. By the end of the day when it was time to say goodbye, we were all incredibly reluctant to leave. They baked us cookies, streusel, and lemon bars, and we drank coffee and tea. Delicious! So besides being very wonderful, welcoming, warm and inviting people, they also love Jesus very much. I had the privilege of getting to hear their story of how God led them here.
While Shirlene was in the kitchen, checking the oven to make sure the streusel wasn’t burning, squeezing limes to make fresh limeade, and disciplining her kids from getting into the cookies, she was also sharing her story with us. Talk about a woman of many talents and a great multitasker. Oh and she looks incredibly presentable. I feel I would be such a mess if I did everything she did. She is a real Proverbs 31 woman.
Anyway, enough about this amazing woman I aspire to be…their story…
“We just want to love Jesus,” says Shirlene.
Before venturing to Panama, Shirlene and her husband were asking the Lord where He wanted them to go. They decided they wanted to involve their kids in the prayer process as well. Panama kept popping up, specifically the island of Bastimentos. So after much prayer and discernment, advice from other missionaries, the Lord opened so many doors that made it pretty clear where He was guiding them. So they followed. Shirlene said that there was so much favor from the Lord in everything that they were just so grateful and felt so blessed.
Two years later, they are self-supporting missionaries on the island of Bastimentos. They help the local indigenous, a.k.a. their neighbors, teaching them sustainable living, helping with homework, having cooking/baking classes, Bible studies, tending to any wounds they may have, because oh I forgot to mention Shirlene is also a nurse. They just love a lot on their neighbors, and they try to share Christ with them, but also help them in any way they can.
Bobby, her husband, builds his own solar panels. And they are big into self-sustainment. So they have a lot of skills in agriculture and farming and compost, etc. They are trying to teach the locals how to grow their own things as well and teach them sustainable living. “Bobby is a man of many skills,” says Shirlene. And I believe it. They have 50 acres of land and Bobby built their three houses from the ground up. One is a spacious kitchen/dining hall/lounging/hosting events like playing movies area. Another is a guest house with bunkbeds for visitors to sleep. And finally they have their home. Bobby did all of the electrical stuff and set up the water tanks and everything. They use rainwater to flush the toilets and shower and such. They have clean drinking water from a well I believe. It is a modern day Swiss Family Robinson kind of life.
Their vision is to share Christ with local people and teach the Bible, provide education: health, farming and sustainability.
You can follow them on their blog woodupdate.com.
And one more thing, if I had to rank all of the unsung hero people whom we met this entire month, I would definitely rank them as number 1!
