An Offering of Lemons

Through God’s sovereign working, we’ve received an invitation to do a workshop here in November in a church out in a very poor suburb of Panama City.

According to the pastor, this suburb has over 63,000 residents, only 3% of which are professing Christians.  I’m told there are approximately 45 churches trying to serve this residential area, with most memberships under 100 people.  This suggests an large unreached population.

The church itself is on a main road.  It is a one room structure with a metal roof, and thus it gets very hot inside when the sun is out, or very impossible to hear when it rains.

The walls are made of whatever material can be found.  Picture is the block wall.  The back wall is unfinished wood planks, or 1/4 plywood on some battens.  Other times it’s tin.

We attend a prayer meeting on a Saturday morning in this structure to help plan the event in November.

Instead of a Sunday morning time, when the sun would overheat the building, the workshop will be on a Thursday evening after working hours.  This will present a logistical challenge for our team to get there on a school night, in the dark, and without a car.

Pastor leads up a pastors association and his dream is to have several churches squeezed into this little one room church for an evangelism workshop.

Yes, that is a stake holding a piece of plywood in place.

We had rented a car for the weekend to make sure we were able to get out there.  Even with a car, it was still about 45 minutes from where we live.  I can’t imagine the bus trip during rush hour traffic.

The community needs are so great (one block away is a intersection that at least 3 gangs fight for control over – it’s the border between them all).  Crime is a concern being the “gringo” in a poor neighborhood after dark.

The lack of resources is clearly visible in the structure of the church, as well as a little thank you gift we received: a bag of lemons from the tree in the back yard.

Pray for this little church, the workshop, and the logistics of how we will get there.

Missions Institute in the Darien

The Darien is the most eastern province of Panama.  Leaving at 4 in the morning to get to class by 8 am, we travel through the mountains, unpaved roads, fog, farms, teak forests, and jungle to get to a town that doesn’t exist in Google maps.

Off the tourist trail

We drive past clapboard shacks and open sided gazebos with hammocks.  Poverty is visible in terms of housing, and I suddenly find myself wondering about literacy levels.  The next day I am to preach on personal devotions in the Bible and suddenly wondering – will the people be able to read?

We stop at police checkpoints along the way, producing the necessary documents. 

I (Chris) am an unusual sight – tourists don’t usually come this way.  No matter how hard I try to blend in, my white skin and north american looks are so rarely sighted that I get stared at as if I’m a space alien.  I’m definately out of place and off the tourist trail.  This leads to all sorts of scrutiny from the police checkpoints – where are we going, what are we doing, why am I in this area.  The photo below gives a feel for what we were experiencing, though it’s not my documents they were looking at.

One check point makes us stop and take about 10 minutes to answer questions.  We assure the policeman that we were only going 5 more minutes up the road to a church on the right, to teach a class and then we’d be leaving. 

He requests my passport (which I don’t have since it’s at the immigration office getting stamped), so I can only give him my version of the US Green Card and a photocopy of my photo page that I always carry.  I get a lecture on needing to carry my passport at all times, particularly in this area which is full of police checkpoints.  He tells us he could get in trouble for letting us pass without the proper documentation.  I make a mental note — to ask why my ID card issued by the government of Panama not sufficient to show my status as a permanent resident.

Eventually, he lets us continue to our location – Centro de Restauracion Cristiana (Restoration Christian Center).   A mission of the Foursquare denomination in the town called Aqua Fria (Cold Water).

Most of the residents work the farm fields, if they work.   There has to be some form of economic means here, though I wasn’t told just what it was.  

The church is a single room concrete structure for a sanctuary, still under construction.   The town itself has no running water, which is only trucked in by tanker on certain days.  

No indoor plumbing.  Behind the church was a partially enclosed structure with a palm frond roof that housed a family.  You can see their laundry drying behind the church bathroom below.

The common transportation is bus, taxi, and horse.  In fact, the class was distracted by a horse that had gotten loose.  A farmer came and lassoed the horse with ease after cornering it at the fence.  

For those that have car, a 4×4 is the most common form, as most of the roads are simply dirt trails.  The main road at this point is mostly unpaved, and full of ruts and loose gravel.  We put along at under 35 MPH, dodging left to right to avoid potholes

As we arrive, the car is parked under a mango tree.  It’s fruit is in season.  There are mangoes all around the ground.  I’m taught how to recognize a freshly fallen mango – the stem from where it was connected to the tree is still oozing sap.

About 15 students from around the area gather monthly for their class on cross cultural missions.  Today, I’m the professor, and the subject is person evangelism in the power of the Holy Spirit, the foundational course for EvangelismCoach and for PRMI’s Evangelism Dunamis Project.

Teaching in the Darien

Men and women, pastors and ministry leaders gather monthly for a cycle of 2-3 years in preparation for cross cultural missions. 

I spend about 5-6 hours teaching personal evangelism in Spanish, and they spend about 5-6 hours coaching me and gently correcting my Spanish.  I can tell from the interactions that they get the idea of cooperating with the Holy Spirit in the work of personal evangelism.

My Spanish continues to improve.  I still struggle with verb tenses and proper use of pronouns and prepositions, but my vocabulary continues to grow.  They tell me how freeing this teaching is, from the self condemnation of evangelistic failures (because they have defined success so narrowly as getting a prayer out of someone.

Before starting, I give a devotional that morning on the Preciousness of Jesus that was based out of my devotions this past week.  We move into motives for personal evangelism, and step into a wonderful Karios moment of worship, giving thanks to God for such a precious gift in Jesus.

Join us in Prayer and Support

Continue to pray for our ongoing work.

Continue to pray for growing comprehension and communication ability.

Finally, continue to pray that we increase our levels of monthly support to continue making teaching like this avaiable to churches and regions that are like the Darien.  

Would you consider joining our monthly Support team or make a special gift to help us continue?

Worldview Teaching

As I continue to teach mission classes for IPET, last night took me to the heart of Colon.

Again, the descriptions below are not complaints, but an attempt to describe for you some of the places to which we are called to serve. It’s easy to read negativity into these descriptions, so don’t.

The tourist book reads “If you have no business over there, do not go.  If you go, expect to be mugged.”  When I asked to walk down the street to get a soda (about 6 houses), I was taken by car, not allowed to walk by myself.

While I do not fear for my personal safety, the locals know that I’m a prime target and they keep me safe.

A white man in Colon

Last nights class was on worldview.

To help introduce the concept of worldview, I asked the class of Colon residents

“You see a white man (like myself), walking on the streets of Colon alone. What do you think?”

The answers came rapidly and without 2nd guessing:

• “A lost tourist in danger”
• “A gringo”
• “Someone about to be robbed.”

Does this give you an idea of how a white face like mine is perceived automatically?

Can I have 10 bucks?

When I parked the car, a rough looking, unkempt man on a bicycle passed me on his way to some unknown destination.  A white 5 gallon bucket hung off the handlebar.

As I got out, he immediately made a u-turn in front of an oncoming car and approached me.

“Fulo” he called me.

“Listen, I haven’t eaten for days, would you give me 10 bucks?”

This little white face of mine says “money.”

Going to Public School

I enter the school where the class is located – a cast iron gate blocks the entrance. (sample picture from somewhere else)

I open it and as I enter the building, some well meaning but startled people in the hallway quickly ask me what am I looking for.  I’m out of place.

The class meets on the 3rd floor.  As I go up the stairs, I begin to feel like I’m in an movie.

Imagine a war movie and entering a rundown cement building – holes in the cement wall, chipped tile everywhere, dampness, minimal lighting and indescribable smells.

The bathrooms have no running water and reek.

Window unit air conditioners run, but do not dehumidify.  The smell of dampness and mustyness irritates my allergies, but by God’s grace, I still function.

White boards have no pens or erasers (as teachers supply their own).

The condition of this school is not very different from the conditions that are often featured on the evening news – the public education system is known for not attending to these conditions.  This was one of the motivating factors in the recent presidential elections.  (As an aside, in recent weeks parents and students celebrate soap in the bathroom — thanks to the swine flu in Panama).

Class begins

I get a deep joy out of teaching these missionaries in training – in spite of the surroundings and discomfort I feel (my North American worldview).

The class is an introduction to worldview, using much of the Ignite material from PRMI, plus lots of personal illustrations from Panama life that I have encountered.

We get to spend about 3 hours talking about a concept that is new – including several illustrative examples of worldview and cross cultural living.

The examples that they then gave me made it clear that they got the concept.

The story that got me

A class member was doing some mission outreach with an indigenous tribe.

This tribe cooks over firewood outside.

The classmate had tremendous sympathy for the major effort it takes to cook a meal – gathering the wood, preparing the fire, etc. She thought a great idea would be to give the Indian lady a stove and a tank of gas to help them cook their food with greater ease.  What a great way to help!

When she returned again after leaving a stove and tank of propane, she arrived to discover that the lady of the house was still cooking with firewood, but on top of the stove which they had put in the fire circle.

The stove was ruined, of course. She felt awful that her investment had been ruined yet after the class last night, she realized she was trying to help where help wasn’t really needed.  Her solution only caused greater problems for the cook.

That cross cultural misunderstanding became very clear last night and helped my student interpret what happened.

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Popular Spanish Worship Albums

This first 12 days of January, we were in Nicaragua on Mission work.  I’ve assembled a summary of worship albums that seem to be popular based on how often we heard songs this week.

El Aire de Tu Casa Jesus Adrian Romero

Te Dare Lo Mejor, Jesus Adrian Romero, live.

Con Manos Vacías – Jesús Adrián Romero

A Sus Pies – Jesus Adrian Romero

Cerca de Ti – Jesús Adrián Romero

Mas Que un Anhelo – Marcela Gandara

I wasn’t able to find exact songs on Amazon to download single tracks.  Clearly, there is a fantastic anointing on Jesus Ardrian Romero.

Healing Ministry of Jesus Conference with Vida Joven

After the Ignite conference in Matagalpa, 2 more team members joined us at the Young Life Camp in the mountains between Matagalpa and Jinotega, for the annual leadership camp for workers. 

Approximately 200 area directors, club leaders, and organizers gathered for an intense week of training — 4 classes a day, 5 straight days — on subjects in areas of evangelism, Bible, psychology, leadership, prayer, worship, and administration of a club.  Our team had responsibility for about 60 leaders (pictured) who have had 6+ years of leadership with Young Life.  Most were area directors and club leaders.

We left a different camp

“We left a different camp,” said David Cathcart, team member from Sylva NC. 

Young Life Nicaragua is in the midst of a leadership transition that affects a multitude of people, their jobs, and their economic support. 

The unknowns of the future and the changes coming provided an anxious back story to our teaching time.  Our team found ourselves listening and praying with and for Young Life leaders, and their national leadership transition team.  Nearly every day during our team meetings and our quiet 1-1 conversations with them.  On Wednesday, we simply set aside a teaching period for worship and intercession for the work of Young Life. 

That seemed to create a breakthrough that lingered the rest of the week and opened the door for more significant ministry and teaching.

This is your ministry

Our team had a sense of calling that though we were teaching on the healing ministry of Jesus, our focus was on empowering local leaders.  Several times before our departure, and even during our team meetings we felt led to pray “This is your ministry.” 

Our group prayer times, lab times, and large group ministry times were run 100% by our class members.  During such ministry times, our team served as the coach — coming along side the class members and helping them lead into ministry.  We were not the ministry stars but rather coaches who empowered local leaders to do the ministry themselves.

For example, during Thursday night’s large group on reconciliation, team member Chris Walker preached a message on relational healing and that moved into a time of personal prayer to forgive people and to seek forgiveness.  Our class served as prayer teams and with a little coaching from us when needed, the ministry went on for about 90 minutes or so.  

Testimonies from that night talked about how powerful it was for them to experience the presence of the Holy Spirit.  Some small and quiet deliverances were reported.  Debriefing the next morning revealed major growth in applicable knowledge in our class — learn and do.

Friday night, team member Susan Lockhart preached on a ministry in transition, founded by Jesus and turned over to 12 local men.  Acts 1.8 served as a preaching verse that pointed out that the ability to change the world is not your own strength, but to go forward in the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.  That led into our class praying for their Vida Joven clubs and areas.  Leaders organized the 200 or so members of the large group into clubs and cities and the leaders from our class prayed for the infilling of the Spirit for their leaders.  

This was their ministry!  Empowered Leaders.

Of that night, team member Susan Lockhart writes: 

The Lord led us beautifully as our team took on different roles at different times, and as we worked together with our class of leaders to empower them to pray for their people.  I think a real hallmark of PRMI’s ministry — the team concept that focuses on listening to the Spirit, was a true blessing for them, and provided a great model for them as they have a leadership team in place for each Vida Joven club.  

100% Frog

My favorite drawing from the whole week appeared mid week on the classroom wall.  It was a drawing of a frog, with the caption: “100% Frog.”  

When Susan first introduced “lab time” in our class, she asked what do you do during lab time in school?  

The quick answer: dissect a frog!

Lab time is where the class breaks into small groups for prayer ministry to try “the stuff.”  For example, after the segment on physical healing, volunteers who had physical pain agreed to be prayed for and other members prayed for them.  Some people with aches and pains reported signs of instant healing, and some healings will need medical verification.  

After a few “lab time” events, this drawing appeared.  

Bringing Healing.

Team member Susan wrote:

One image that stays with me is the last night, after I had preached, I was up on the stage watching the room when my eyes fell upon a young man who was resting in the Spirit on the floor in front of me.  His shirt had risen up in back to reveal a several-inches-long huge scar. The peace and joy on his face were such a contrast.  Who had inflicted that scar?  A parent? A combatant in the civil war waged in his homeland when he was a child?  

I had to stop myself from entering into the grief mode that it had been my privilege to carry, and to reflect on the transcendent fact that “By His stripes we are healed.”

God moved mightily in so many ways — a soul-stirring mix of power and love. Answering God’s call to Vida Joven Nicaragua was worth going into debt, airplane turbulence, digestive turbulence, long days of travel and other “inconveniences.” 

My thoughts

As the team leader, it was a privilege to be part of this team.  Our family’s ministry of evangelism training  in the Americas partners so well with PRMI’s calling to teach globally on the person and work of the Holy Spirit that this trip is one of the highlights of a early 2009.  

During our worship time on Wednesday, the Lord gave me a word to share with our class.  The Lord also took the rest of our team into a deep intercession during the worship time that stretched even our intercessors.  

We felt that our work impacted the future of Vida Joven.  These are men and women that are rebuilding a society torn by civil war and even class warfare.  They are learning about marriage, forgiving others, and growing into God’s dream.   They are shaping the generation that will change the country.  We know that communities will be changed.    They grew up in a generation abused, abandoned, and wounded by war.  They grew up in areas of high crime, drug related gang warfare, and broken families.  However, they know that Jesus calls them to a greater work: advancing the Kingdom of God and that they are called to invite people to start following Jesus.

What excited us most is that we know that these leaders “Get it.”  They will take this teaching, and apply it in their Vida Joven clubs with great enthusiasm.    The healing work will continue and should we be invited again for the 2010 camp, I’m sure the training will continue with a year’s work of practice and experience to debrief.

Ingite Conference at La Fuente Church Matagalpa

A team of 4 from PRMI met up in Matagalpa Nicaragua to work with La Fuente church over the first weekend in January 2009.   Matagalpa is a city about 2 hours to the interior of the country from Managua, the capital, and is tucked in a mountainous valley in central Nicaragua.

Pastor Raul of La Fuente (pictured with  me) was our host, and founding Pastor Orlando Rutledge served as our translator during the entire event.  Since we were in town for an event with Vida Joven, we were invited to have an additional conference in the city with La Fuente church.  A big thanks to Pastor Orlando for arranging this.

Forty to sixty people met with us at La Fuente, which meets in a former warehouse that stored and distributed farm fertilizer:  Concrete floors, terraced concrete slabs and a slight slope to lower a slab to a level appropriate for a truck loading dock.  The steel plated entrance door is right at the street and slides to the left to allow cargo trucks to back in and be enclosed.  Sounds echoed off the concrete wall, and wall mounted fans keep the place relatively cool even in the hot Managua sun.

This conference was the first of its kind for La Fuente, so attendance results were a surprise: More people than expected. 

While the charismatic leaning congregation is familiar with experiencing the person and work of the Holy Spirit, the Ignite conference from PRMI was the first systematic teaching they have received in a while and many folks found it personally refreshing.  For many, the theology sections on world view and the review on the Holy Spirit as the 3rd person of the Trinity were most helpful.

I taught on issues about worldview and the person of the Holy Spirit, and other team members taught on the 4 works of the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and receiving the fullness or baptism of the Holy Spirit (Sam Hale pictured above).  Saturday night, during the worship service, we had lab time and prayer time for the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

Sunday, I preached through Matthew 9 about getting the Father’s heart for the harvest field.  We had lab time and prayer time for the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

After lunch on Sunday, we visited with Raul and Pastor Orlando to discuss the event, hear testimony from them, and to discuss future plans. 

During the event, a woman who heard us during our 2007 trip drove up from Managua and shared some updates from our ministry visit there.

Caimito Children’s Congress

Brenda and I finished our workshop at the 1st Children’s Ministry congress for the area of La Camima. 

This congress was an outgrowth of the Teaching Children’s Workers in Arraijan in July of this year. 

Because of common issues lack of finances and accessible transportation not every one can come to a leadership conference like the one in January which was about 2 hours outside of the city, or the one in July that was about 30 minutes away from the city. 

As Brenda and I were praying this morning, it dawned on us that nearly all the attended arrived by foot, or by taxi.  In the very small parking lot (which is plot of land), it was just our car, and the car for the other speaker.

Meet Raquel

One of those attendees, however, Raquel, was inspired to organize one for her local area.  She managed to gather about 40-50 men and women from approximately 10-15 different churches.  I am unaware of the final count.

Raquel is the children’s pastor of this little church.  She’s been investing in that church for 12 years, and now some of her students from 12 years ago are now sending their children to Raquel to participate in the Children’s ministry.

Getting to the Congress

Though we rented a car, at times we felt like a 4×4 was more suitable for the road conditions. Heavy construction equipment from a local mine has destroyed what may have been a road.  Potholes, washouts, missing pavement marked this road once we left the developed area. 

The area would be considered rural.  Google maps doesn’t do well out there.  I tried embeding one, but the embed didn’t work.

The Children’s Leadership Workshop

Brenda did a 2 hour workshop on creativity for creating crafts and object lessons.  

In this country where more than 1/3 live on under $100 a month, money to buy craft ideas is not easy to spend.  It’s not as if you can go to Wal-Mart or a Michael’s.  

Instead, Brenda helps children’s workers use stuff that is already in a house: toilet roll tubes, styrofoam trays, egg cartons.   This particular lesson was on creativity — how to find the ideas and how to brainstorm.  Almost as close to costing $0.00 as you can get.

For example: Brenda made this scene out of paper towel tubes, paper towels, a cut up toilet roll tube, some rubber bands and some shredded paper.  I think the total cost may hae been under $1.00 for the yellow paper.

I gave a 1 hour lecture in “heavy” Spanish on getting and maintaining a vision for Children’s ministry.  It was a challenge to prepare that in Spanish, and I was grateful to have gotten it done.  This makes the 5th workshop I have given entirely in Spanish.  I’m growing in confidence and I’m told growing in fluency.

How do you keep a vision for ministry even when kids rebel, when there are no resources?  

How do you perservere in your vision when the going gets tough?

I focused on getting filled again with the Holy Spirit, praying for your vision, and recruiting others to pray for you and serve with you.  It may seem basic to some of us, but these things always serve as a good reminder to refresh the weary.

Our video

Finally, I’ve put together a brief video that I hope will give you a feel for what we did.

To do a workshop like this, we have to rent a car for the weekend.  Continue to pray that we’ll receive more workshop opportunities as well as funds to pay for our expenses.   To advance our work in Latin America, see directions at Donate Online to Support our Work

Children’s Evangelism Workshop December

December 13, we will be conducting a Children’s Evangelism Workshop in Panama, in the Las Cumbres area north of the city.

Brenda will be doing work on more crafts, which will be put up on her website, and I will be giving a lecture on Child Evangelism.

UPDATE: