Missional Living

Praying for the Neighbors
Over at Evangelism Coach, I write about beginning to pray for our neighbors.

Even before we left America, we were beginning to pray for those in our immediate area. As part of the discernment, this is the neighborhood and building that we felt led to move into. Knowing that God directs our steps in His sovereignty, we know that we will accomplish some kingdom purpose here.

This idea of praying for your neighbors, getting to know them, and to demonstrate the love of Jesus in tangible ways, is part of the missional lifestyle. It’s observing those around you, noticing, and listening to the Spirit’s prompting about conversations. Eventually conversations will follow.

We don’t know our neighbors yet. We see the maintenance man and security guards everyday as we come and go. We’ve met one or two in an elevator and exchange plesantries (people here don’t talk in elevators either for the most part either), but we’re still the new folks in the building.

We’ll probably make a big scene when our cargo arrives in a few weeks and people get to see how much stuff Americans pay to move when they resettle here. We’ve already wondered if we packed too much in that 20′ container and will it all fit.

Walking around
The other activity we do a lot of is walking. No car, so we walk.

We’re Walkers, what do we do?

We’re learning the bus system, use taxis to get home from wherever we have walked. Doing so gives us a chance to observe the hustle and bustle of the city. To watch people. To listen to glimpses of conversations as we walk past crowded bus stops.

We begin to get a sense of a city’s heartbeat by just taking the time to watch and prayerfully learn. Nehemiah took the time to pray after he got to Jerusalem, and one of my mentors has encouraged our family to do the same — take the time to pray and listen for God’s activity in the city.

Let me ask you this?
Are you praying for your neighbors? Do you have a sense of God’s vision for where you live?

NPR’s story on Panama

NPR did a radio story about Panama’s growing economy.

For us, part of understanding the local culture is to understand some of the business environment, trends, and it helps us to gather information about what people are talking about. Read or Listen to it here at Panama’s Exploding Economy Attracts Investors.

When we look out our window, we can see residental and office towers being built at a pace that seems to be one floor a week. Old two story buildings are being torn down on the water front and 40-60 story condo buildings are going up. Real Estate is an active market here, though some are concerned about a speculative bubble.

Real estate and the booming economy is something that nearly everyone talks about here, so it helps us to get a pulse on the heartbeat and rhythm of the city.

Centro Cristiano Betania

For now, the church that our family will connect with is Centro Cristiano Betania, in the Foursquare denomination. We have visited the church on three of our last trips to Panama and have enjoyed the services, experienced the worship, and in each case, solid biblical teaching.

We’ve been welcomed by people in the congregation every time we’ve visited. Even though its a large church, several hands of welcome have been extended to us. Since I stick out like an American, people also try to speak English to me.

We’ve been blessed in the past by the hospitality of the church, and as a family, this is where we feel called to connect.

We are not the only ones

We are not the only ones voluntarily relocating to Panama.

At Panama Investor Blog there is a whole article of statistics on people emigrating out of the US to live overseas. Its an interesting read. It doesn’t really address the motiviation of people wanting to live outside of the US, but rather points at current trends of emigration.

Making adjustments

Now that we’ve been in our building (the yellowish one on the left) for a few days, its time to find the new rhythm of life.

A new chapter begins

We have arrived safely in Panama to a not quite ready apartment. But flexibility is the key to life here.

Two days ago, we packed up all our remaining possessions into an orange 20′ sea going container. Friends helped us load it up and it was a tight squeeze, but it fit.

It was quite the freeing discipline to declutter possessions. Selling some things evoked some tears (like Brandon’s first crib or my yard tools). The emotions caught us by surprise — some were sentimental pieces. Some items we were glad to sell off, wondering why. Ebay and craigslist repositioned some cash for us that will carry us for a few months.

When the house was empty, it was hard not to be reflective. We held a youth lock in on day 1 when we owned that house — it was vacant to. It’s been a place of many memories, but no longer our home.

The emotions of moving finally caught up with us in force. We had been able to ignore the emotions — always stuff to pack, stuff to sell off, phone calls to return. But once it was all done — we felt.

One of our deepst family friends was with us that night and we spent time praying with her and her for us. It was a sweet time of memory making, and a time of closing out that chapter of life in Richmond VA.

More Goodbyes

Some of our dearest friends were with us on Sunday night for dinner. These friends have been with us since the late 1980s and have had the privelege of helping to shape the vision of ministry in Latin America.

In fact, one of them asked one of the key questions in our discernment of this next chapter in our life: “Do you think you are living in the wrong country?” This question was one of those questions where time stands still. A life altering question that shapes a destiny. No one had ever asked, so I never had to answer. Once confronted with the question, it was clear — yes, we were called to live in Latin America. Why didn’t we think of that?

Earlier in the day, we were roasted by one of our churches, Victory Life Fellowship, who expressed their love for us by inviting us to share the ministry and having us fellowship around the table with them after the service. Their kindness to us, generosity of the people, and the all around love shown to us got us a little teary eyed.

It’s been a month of goodbyes. Our Spanish church, Victory Life, and a few other Presbyterian Churches that I’ve covered for vacationing pastors have all said their goodbyes. It’s been an emotional month for us.

Blessings.

Religion in Panama

Over at the Panama Guide, you can find a pretty accurate, though dated summary of religious life in Panama. Read the whole article at Panama Religous Freedom Report (2003) – Panama Guide.