Adventures in Panama

Cavin spent Friday and Saturday in Piriati - an Embera village - leading a church planting conference.  This is an area about two and a half hours away from the City.  It was quite an adventure as several of the male missionaries traveled together along with some Panamanian guys who were participating and assisting in the training.  They spent the night in a church along with a lot of other creatures such as bugs and rats.  Needless to say, Cavin did not sleep a lot that night.

....But the important thing is that they were able to lead this conference and see God work in a great way in this area.  Already, this village has sent one of their own families to another part of Panama to live and be missionaries.  This man - Jorge-  shared this morning in La Iglesia Bautista Redencion (Redemption Baptist Church) about how hard it's been to go into another culture.  That may sound a little strange since this is a Panamanian family serving in another part of Panama.  However, each area and people group have their own culture and way of doing things.  He is from the Embera people group and he and his family have gone to a Latino area.  It is a slow work, but they are seeing God work and are now discipling several families in this new area.

This morning Cavin preached at La Iglesia Bautista Redencion.  This is a church we have grown to love over the time that we have been in Panama.  This church and the pastor have been very supportive of the work that we have done here in Panama.   Cavin taught a 6 month church planting course in this church, and they have started 4 new works.  They have a vision for reaching Panama City for Christ through church planting.

Praise God for how He is working all over Panama to start churches in a variety of ways.  He has used us to train people primarily in Panama City, but we have seen many of these people take what they have learned and go to other parts of the country to start churches.

This coming weekend we will be hosting a conference on Chronological Bible Storying.  This will focus on orality and telling the Bible through stories.  This is a technique that works well with a variety of people, and is very effective with those who can't read or write.  Two IMB Missionaries will be coming to Panama to lead this conference.  Please pray that God will use this conference to reach many people for Him.