2 Years of Ministry

This past week, on July 19, we passed the two year mark of our work in Panama and in Latin America.

It’s been two years of ups and down, highs and lows, all the time believing in the promise of God that called us here.

To revisit our purposes and the promise of our calling, here is a summary.

The Calling and the Promise

“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed. . . . just as it had been said to him “so shall your offspring be.” .  .  .  . He did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. (Romans 4:18-21).

I’m not Abraham, but the Lord reminded me that he gave us a calling and promise when we were called here.

We came to Panama with a calling

to Ignite the Church in the Americas in the power of the Holy Spirit to passionately fulfill God’s call to reach the nations.

This plays out in three parts

1.  Evangelism training.

We give workshops in personal evangelism and church growth for individual churches, individuals, and also regional groupings of churches.

Workshops vary in length from 2 hours to a full weekend.    This training is taking us all over Panama, and into other countries.

The Lord has also opened to the door for training missionaries for cross cultural missions, whether in the home country with immigrants, or abroad.

2.  Serving Mission Teams.

Over the past two years,  we served a team from Seacoast in Charleston SC and then one from Richmond VA this year.

We are praying for more open doors to partner with local mission organizations that bring teams to do outreach in our city.

We firmly believe that street evangelism is not to be disconnected from a local church and we serve a local church to help in this area.

3.  Teaching Children’s Ministry leaders.

The whole family is involved in children’s ministry leadership training as the Lord opens the doors.

We continue to pray for more open doors in this area that Brenda may be able to give more presentations and grow her webiste.

As part of the promise given to us,

Panama was to be the hub from which we operate.

Panama is the airline transportation hub for Latin America, and as such, we live close to the airport.

Our ministry is international in scope, continuing to give evangelism training in the US and in Latin America.

Time in Venezuela, Nicaragua, the US, and next month Guatemala.  Costa Rica remains in discussion, as does Colombia.

Amazed at God’s care

Through it all, we’ve had to rely on God’s provision from God’s people.

There have been times we have faced the end of our bank accounts in under 45 days.

Yet there appear surprises in the mail that continue to sustain us.

Planning for the future

We are grateful for the support that has been given to us over the year.

We need to grow it to a sustainable and somewhat predictable level to free us up to ramp up more ministry.

Our budget for this coming year is about $3500 a month.  $5000 a month would enable us to save for the future.

We are not quite there and ask you to join us in praying for more supporting churches and individuals.

We ask you to pray for more paid evangelism teaching engagements in the US with churches and regional governing bodies.

How can you respond?

1.  Download and print our partner response form

You’ll need a PDF reader to view it.

Print it out and stick it with your devotional materials as a prayer reminder of what God might be calling you to do with us.

Whether you choose to donate or simply pray for us, still print this out.

You can print and distribute to mission committees and prayer groups.

2.  Donate.

• By Credit card: Automatic recurring contributions or make a special offering by visiting our support page.  I’ve put up a video screen cast to show you how.
• By Check: Mark your gift for the Mission to Americas.  Make check payable to PRMI and mail to PRMI, P.O.Box 429, Black Mountain NC 28711

We need people to join our monthly team as well as one time gifts.

Our desire

We long to see the church in the Americas equipped to do the work of evangelism.  We invite you to join with us as you are called and empowered by the Lord to do so.

The Earth Shakes

Overnight on July 4, about 1:42am, we awoke when the earth shook underneath us.

A 6.0 earthquake had just rocked the city.

Centered about 60 miles Northeast, 28 miles down, it was enough to startle us.  (Just north of El Provenir on the map below).

The weirdest sensation.

A growling rumble wakes me up (thinking it was a passing truck or something).

Increasing rapid vibrations as the window blinds tremble.

The bed in which we were sleeping begins to vibrate side to side with a rapid frequency.

Suddenly the entire building is swaying and the furniture is moving across the floor.

It’s like being on a boat that is tossed by waves, when you can’t grab your footing.

Venetian blinds banging against walls and windows.

It’s over.

Within 15 minutes, a 6.2 preliminary report is found online, and revised within moments to 6.0.  (Source: US Geological Survey)

Panama newsgroups and twitter are all full of chat messages – did you feel it?  What were you doing?  You ok?  How is your building?

Some of my friends slept through it.

Others were awakened, like us.

Damage reports

Because of its depth in the earth (28 miles down), damage discovered seems to be light.  Building cracks, drywall cracks, a few trees that fell over.  No reported injuries.  Some loose canned goods fell from grocery store shelves.

For us, we have a new crack in our ceiling, but we live in a steel reinforced cement column structure.  Other than that, it’s just our nerves that shake a little.

Panama’s Earthquakes

Panama has seismic activity.  Most is often in the western provinces of Chiriqui near the border with Costa Rica.  The US Geological society has a record of reports since 1990.

According to published reports in La Prensa, a 6.3 struck in 2000, 6.0 in 1995, 7.3 in 1974, and 6.9 in 1951.  No pattern, but you can see that it happens.

Reflections

The earth is not supposed to move like that.  It’s not supposed to rumble and groan.  But in reality it does.

We normally don’t think of the power involved to sway cement buildings and rattle the earth from a pressure point 28 miles down.

I suddenly think of just how small and powerless we humans are in comparison to some of the forces of nature.

The building rocking back and forth felt like I was but a grain of sand being sifted by a gold hunter.

But I’m also compelled to think on the sovereignty of God and the sustaining power He gives us.

The prophets use imagery how the earth shakes when God speaks to communicate the power of God (Habakkuk 3:5-7).

Mountains will bow down and the seas will roar at the sound of His name.

I simply have no words left and will simply worship.

UPDATE:

Three aftershocks have been reported.  Sunday night, 11.10pm, a 5.3 aftershock was recorded and felt.