Missions Panama May 2010
While we were in country we were able to spend a considerable amount of time with our brothers and sisters at Iglesia Cristo Vive, who have churches all over the country from the province of Chiriqui in teh west to the Darien Jungle in the east. The day we arrived we had the honor of being invited to the one year anniversary of their church in Via Maria, San Miguelito - a very poor slum outside of Panama city. The worship and messages were great and I was able to introduce my friend and student Aguilar who gave his very first expositional sermon. As we have been teaching them to do, Aguilar covered part of the 1st chapter of Romans beautifully, he ”read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading.” (Neh 8:8)
Our 6 hour trip the next day from Panama City to David to meet with the Radio station people served as an opportunity to take the Pastor from CC La Chorrera to take care of some documentation as well as provided a time for us to fellowship and talk about inter-fellowship opportunities between Cristo Vive and Calvary Chapel. My good friend and brother in the faith Anselmo Avedano joined us for the long trip where we worked out schedule for conducting a New Believers/Inductive Bible Study class on Tuesday nights. It is interesting to see how similar we are as churches - they need a bit of instruction on how to study and teach but we definately can learn about how the church needs to serve as a commnity of believers that is truly led by the Holy Spirit. I love my church but I feel that we have some rough times ahead - my encouragement to the faithful: STAY FAITHFUL AND FULL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. We have the quote from the radio station and intend to move forward with the programming. Sergio Lopez, pastor from the Logos hispanic ministry will be the first on the air. We will inform you about when the programming comes on so that those of you interested can tune in on the internet.
We always appreciate your prayers. We have some specific financial needs: (1) we need a consistent commitment for donations to support two fulltime ministry workers. the cost for both is around $600 a month. if you can help with this (or a part of it) for a minimum of a year please write me at erick@1john.com. (2) We need a consitent flow of $500 a month for the radio progarm - this will give is 5 days a week of programming on Faro de David (www.farodedavid.com). we intend to add other programs but want to start with this one. (3) we are looking for help as we get the defunct KWAVE en Espanol going again as an independent ministry. If you have web designing skills or can help with the financial aspect of this project we would be blessed. (4) we are planning two trips later this year to do construction projects - one in Honduras and one in Panama. If you feel the call to come and help out or can help with giving, we will need around 4,000-6,000 per project to get them done.
The rest of the week provided ample opportunity for teaching, fellowship and work. I was blessed with the opportunity to teach through teh 1st chapter of 2nd Peter, encouraging the brothers and sisters down in Panama that our calling as Christians is one of action. We are called to respond and add diligently to the faith that we have the good works that God has prepared for us. As you read this I pray you will also be both encouraged and motivated to respond to the call of Christ in action. There are far more opportunities than there are people. Truly the harvest needs workers. This economy needs to be a wake up call for those of us who have put our trust in Christ - the riches and comforts of this world are not for us, they can dissapear in a second. You are not a Republican, you are not a Democrat, you are not for this cause or that one - you are a slave to Jesus Christ, and a slave does only what his master commands.
Your master has commanded you, as He said to the disciples before ascending:
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. (Mat 28:18-20)