Week 9: Panama Outreach

God has been so faithful and moving during our time here! We just recently reached our half-way point in the DTS and took a short-term outreach trip to Panama to apply what we have learned. As a group we carried out many ministries of mercy including feeding the homeless, playing with orphaned children, sitting and sharing with the elderly, serving an indigenous tribe by assisting in cleaning their school house, dancing/performing dramas in the streets to people passing by and praying with those in need and hurting as they shared their requests, and so on. As the week came to a close and we took the 20 hour bus ride back home, we had time to reflect on why we are here. We began to grasp the vision for our future here. The key is that we believe and then do and not the other way around. This is not faith by works. It’s applying God’s love to others as He loved us first!

All of the time we have spent in classes was preparing us to go out and be God’s hands and feet to His children in need. As Jason and I tumbled around on the floor with a group of orphans., our hugs and smiles were those of God’s to his forgotten babies. When we walked the streets in prayer seeking hungry people to give food to, God opened the door for us to not only share physical food with them but to tell them for Him that He loves them and they are worth caring for, praying for, and loving. Even in the indigenous village where they have heard the gospel numerous times, God opened a way for us to show our love for them by getting to know them as individuals and meeting a physical need by carrying buckets of water from the river to their school. In doing this we gave them a day to watch others do a dirty task to show God’s love for them instead of preaching the same thing they have always heard and asking them to serve us. This week was so humbling and at the same time exciting because God put all of our head knowledge into action by asking us to use our hearts and hands to get dirty and serve others.

Thank you so much for praying and supporting us! The next weeks and months will be even better! God is calling us out into the nations to share his love. We only had a week in Panama but that is only the beginning of this ministry. We wish we could fully express how excited we are to be His tools!

Week 8

Week 8 was taught on “The Holy Spirit” by Steffan Hugo and his apprentice Lindoni. Steffan is the Director of one of the South Africa YWAM bases and has pioneered several of the 15 in South Africa. Lindoni is a native of South Africa and from an indigenous tribe there. Throughout the week we discussed just what the Holy Spirit is and what roll it plays in our lives. The “trinity” as many may already know is made up of God the father, Jesus the son, and the Holy Spirit (or Ghost). Many have a misconception of what the “Holy Spirit” really is. It is what truly speaks to us after the acceptance of Jesus in our lives. It guides us in decisions through prophecies, visions, etc. It is also what gives us our spiritual gifts such as healing, tongues, knowledge, wisdom, and many more. Some may never feel the presents of the Holy Spirit (much like myself) mainly because we are all made differently. It was a good week to just “soak” in the Holy Spirit. We also had an emotional time of giving and prayer with one another.

La Cruz

La Cruz means "The Cross". Up on a mountain-top south of the city of San Jose lie 3 different crosses on top of 3 different mountain tops. It took all day one Saturday for about 10 of us to go. First we left around 9:30 am with a 30 min bus ride up to the last stop on the hillside. Then we hiked about 2.5 – 3 hours up to the last Cross. What an incredible view (as you can see from our sample pictures). The weather was amazing with a cool breeze the higher we got. The mountains we hiked were called the “Mountains of Death” because a long time ago before the Pan American Highway was placed, people had to hike over these mountains and would often fall asleep on top because of exhaustion and die of hypothermia. Today, many take pilgrimages from all over the country to the main cross (the tall metal structure). We were exhausted but it was well worth getting out to see the countryside and exercising at the same time.

Week 7

Week 7 was a random one because the folks from South Africa got their weeks mixed up; therefore we had several of the staff speaking on numerous subjects. The first couple days we talked about "World View" of how the world sees religion. There are many different schools of thought including animism, dualism, fatalism, existentialism, and so on. We discussed what they were, how they were wrong, and what they were lacking. Next we had our student cook speak on hygiene, nutrition, etc. Finally we had what's called Genesis, which is an interactive class anywhere in the world connected via Internet. They can see us and we can see them. We linked up with the YWAM base in Kona, HI for teaching. The guy discussed a few strategies for raising support, personally for our outreach. On the next day the base director from Amsterdam spoke on "Celebrating the Nations". This day was so very special to us. We learned that God truly desires fellowship in Him in our own way. We aren't expected to change our culture in order to become "Christians". We were all created in the likeness of His image and that may show up as a tribe in South America, charismatic culture in Latin America, or even the traditional Roman Catholic Church. We share one thing in common, that we all love the Lord, and this is most important... not our differences in skin color or native language.

Where in the world are we going?

This past week as a group we finally decided where we will be going on out reach! They have divided our class into 2 groups, each with 3 leaders and 12 students. Jen and I are going to the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand! I rightfully named our group the P.I.T. crew after the first letters of each country. Indonesia as you all may remember was affected tremendously, and still suffers from the tsunami in 2004. (The other group will be going to China and India.) We will be leaving mid April. Please, please continue to pray for us involving travel, finances, and now specifically for the people and government of these countries. We are so excited and can’t wait to share it with you.

Indonesia is predominately Muslim, Philippines Catholic, and Thailand is made up of Buddhist. We will inform you more on what we will be doing in each country a little later.

P.S. Photographs are various pics from each country we will be traveling to on ourt-reach and are made possible by Betterphoto.com. Thanks!

Going away for a week!

Hey guys! Sorry for being such slackers, you wouldn't believe how incredibly busy we have been the last couple weeks. We've been prepareing to go on our Panama outreach this coming week. We are leaving tonight (3/9/07) at 9pm. We will be taking a short bus with 29 seats... and 29 students! The ride to Panama City takes 18 hours one way!!! Sooo, we just wanted to let everyone know that we have a lot to catch you up on when we get back next week. Keep up the prayers!

DAY 10: China...a voice for the voiceless

China is the world's most populated country with over 1.3 billion people, 637.5 million of which are women.













* For centuries, Chinese families without sons feared poverty and neglect. The male offspring represents continuity of lineage and protection in old age.

* The age-old bias towards boys, combined with the one-child policy imposed since 1980, has produced the largest, the highest, and the longest gender imbalance in the world. The male surplus rose to 120 boys for each 100 girls.

* Predictions for the next decade are that some 40 million Chinese men will be unable to find wives due to the "scarcity" of females as a result of kidnapping, trafficking and selective abortions.

* Women, who are up to 9 months pregnant with their second or third baby, may be taken to the hospital by regional population control officials for induced abortions.

PRAY: God created man in his own image...male and female he created them. Gen. 1:27

* God created man and women equal, pray that God would reveal this truth to the Chinese culture.
* That China woull stop its one-child policy
* That lives would be valued in new measure

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