First Team

A discipleship training school team arrived from Costa Rica for 10 days and we got our base officially started. We ministered to the Ngobe children in the school next door to us and also went to the mangrove villages nearby. In this house we found a man who had shriveled legs and arms, and had been on the floor for 8 years. Having bilingual students allowed us to communicate with others here. In the house over the water was a man unable to get off the floor for 8 years, his arms and legs atrophied. He smiled and thanked us for taking the time to pray and visit with him. The whole school was totally excited about our base, and some are even praying about coming back to help us staff during this pioneer period.

Church Work

We started going to the Anglican Episcopal church in town. They have the only English speaking service, and when we showed up it doubled in size!! Dale and I are currently doing the worship with our guitars, and Reanna and Mitch help with the singing. We volunteered to spruce up the adjoining hall, which was in bad need of some paint and cleaning. There was an earthquake here a few years ago which damaged the floor. It wasn't a serious quake, but did shake up things that were not built well. Soon after we cleaned it up there was a wedding shower, and the first wedding the church has seen in years. Pray that this will be the beginning of new life in Jesus in this little church, and that His Spirit would come in power.

Thanksgiving by Reanna

Our Thanksgiving was a relaxing day. We went to Red Frog Beach, the beach on the other side of Bastimentos, our island. The waves were very big and awesome because we were having a wind storm that week. I wanted to surf but don't have a board and probably would have gotten killed. Mitch swam some and we walked around looking at everything. It was a very beautiful scene. For our dinner we had chicken because we had ordered a turkey but the store it was in was closed so we could not pick it up. Such is the way of Panama. We also had potatoes with gravy, a fruity jello, and apple pie. It was all very tasty. Bingo, now re-named Bonita, kept us company that night. We are missing the family back home a lot, but are very thankful that God has been providing for us. We are always praying for the church and our friends and family. Please write us via email or comments!!! We always love to hear from all of you. Happy late Thanksgiving!!!


Mom and Re were so excited - our first mokey siting

December 4th, 2006 FIRST OUTREACH

We can't believe it's already December. Time is just flying by. We are gearing up for a busy December, and working hard to get ready. We are thrilled to announce that our very first team is arriving in just a few weeks. They are 15 DTS students from Costa Rica led by Ryan and Sarah Bedenkop. Here is an excerpt from Sarah's recent letter, it's such an encouragement to us!!

When God led us to serve in Panama, He specifically spoke to go to the Ngobe, a little indigenous group that we knew little to nothing about. At the Panama city base, Ryan was able to serve on some outreach teams to the Ngobe, but the boys and I never had the opportunity to go share with this people group. For a border run, God directed us to Bocas Del Toro. It was there that our family visited our first Ngobe village, most likely on isla Bastimentos. During our time, God continued to put it on my heart to pray for the start of a YWAM base in the area to host teams and minister specifically to the Ngobe. Then after my DTS in Panama, God led us to serve in Costa Rica. It was just as clear that we were to move here and lead the DTS as it was to go to Panama. As we obeyed, I never thought that I would be able to share with the Ngobe again. Then, … our first outreach … to Bastimentos, to share Jesus with the Ngobe. When I found out that your base was on Bastimentos, I squealed to Ryan that the island is filled with Ngobe. Then, after reading your notes, we realized that much of the ministry we would be doing as a team would be specifically with the Ngobe. And, it looks like we are the first team to help you get established, God is allowing us to play a part in the founding of the ministry as well. Our God is a mighty God, this could only be orchestrated by a God who knows our hearts and deepest desires. Not only will our family as a whole be able to minister to the Ngobe, but we are also bringing a team of our first DTS, to disciple and challenge them to catch God’s vision for His world. That’s even more powerful than just the Bedenkops. It’s exponential!

Isn't it awesome how God orchestrates his people? At the same time the leader from the Panama base and his family will arrive, so there will be about 25 here. The team will stay for two weeks.

We are also excited that we will be hosting a medical team in January. We have already done some recognisance work, and found a place for the team to backpack into which is remote and will help many of the Ngobe who are unable to get medical care. Neal Sander, a contractor, was at a meeting about a road project, and he said everyone was grumbling and complaining about it. Upon further investigation, it turned out that they were all concerned because they couldn't get medical care for their children.. His face was just beaming as he shared how he would be happy to get the word out for us, and several different tribes will come for care.

We have been busy finishing the walkway up to the house, cleaning and painting the downstairs where the termite trails covered the walls, and purchasing supplies for these teams. Plastic chairs, eating utensils and plastic plates and cups. We've ordered the ceiling supplies to replace the ceilings we had to tear down, and hope they'll get here soon. We are also wanting to build picnic tables so there is someplace for all to eat. They will be staying until two days before Christmas.

Praise Reports

We got our boat!! Finally we can get off the island without calling the expensive taxi's who sometimes show up. We're still learning how to drive!! Guess what, there's no brakes in the water!! The biggest issue is determining how fast and which direction the current is flowing as you kick into reverse to slow down when docking. It hasn't been accomplished to perfection yet, a few bumps and bruises have occurred.

Also, Mitch's meds came through customs ok. We're so thankful to all who have been praying for them. These took about a month, and his Dr. was kind enough to include lots of samples to make up for the time lag.

We also had our first "big" shopping trip. A quick 30 minute plane trip to David. This is the closest city with a Costco type store. We quickly found out shopping here ain't like the states. Each store has it's own eclectic variety of goods, with no particular order or organization. We also found out you can't return things here, so you have to first spend a day price checking, then retrace steps to purchase. Fortunately with so many people moving here Toby has devised a service to help us Gringos. She picked us up at the airport, drove us around, negotiated prices, and then delivers all of our good via her 16 foot truck. It was supposed to be delivered a few days later, which turned into two weeks. Hey, in Panama the ferry might not run, the roads could be washed out, or they frequently have "protests" which block traffic. Now that we have her number we can just email her, and she'll do the shopping for us and send it along. For those of you who know how much I don't like shopping this is a great deal!! All for $7.00 an hour, which is way above the normal $2.00, but way less than a regular taxi, and we wouldn't have had a clue where to go. This also includes the delivery. Then I headed for the YWAM conference in Mexico, and Dale and the kids took the bus home. It's a money saver, but takes 4 hours.

Solar electric is almost working. We had to replace a motherboard on the inverter panel, and have also had to add a converter so that the generator could use 220 when recharging the batteries and it would go quicker. We're learning a whole new "solar lingo" here along with our Spanish!!

Making new friends. Reanna has attended her first "bash", and we've gotten to know the few people who attend our church better. It's wonderful to have a face recognize us when we head into town.

First apprentice

Dale has been working this week with Louis. He lives nearby and is married with no children. Louis canoes 2 hours every morning to get to work on another island, and back again in the evening. He has shown up all three days Dale asked him to work, which is unusual here. We've asked over 5 people, and he's the only one that's ever shown up on time, or at all. We've been praying about asking Louis to be here full-time, as our first real apprentice. He's hard working, and diligent, and we'd love to share more of the Lord with him. However, he needs to provide for his wife, and he also lives with his parents and 11 other siblings. He's asking for $1.50 an hour for his part-time work, and Dale said there was a little forboding in his eye, like was that too much. The Indians here are the very lowest on the social scale, often seen by others as equal to dogs. Please pray about whether God would have you partner with us in providing training for Louis, and being able to pay him the salary he's asking for. We want to start slowly, once we have been able to train one, we can then use his help in training others. Also pray for wisdom, the system is different here. We would need to pay his social security as well, which is more like our workmen's compensation and hospitalization combined. It would cover if he got hurt at work, or became ill at home.

YWAM DNA Conference, Ensenada, Mexico

Hi!
I just returned from the YWAM conference in Ensenada, Mexico. What a thrill to be annointed by Loren Cunningham, and to sit at the feet of Darlene Cunningham and David Hamilton as they shared the stories of God's faithfulness to this generation. These pioneers stepped out in faith on the word of the Lord to begin to encourage young people to go to all the nations of the earth. Today, YWAM is in every nation. One of my favorite stories involved 3 girls who prayed and heard the Lord tell them to go into the Amazon jungle. They searched the web, asked people, even called other missions organizations, and everyone said there were no people there. Three months they searched and prayed; God repeatedly gave them this direction. So they boated as far as they could, then switched to canoe, and finally hiked for four days through dense jungle. Then a fierce looking people surrounded them. After spending three months with them they began to understand their language. The old witch doctor knew her people were all going to die. She held her hands up to heaven and implored if there could be only one God, send someone. Three months later the girls showed up. They brought some of these precious new Christians out of the jungle, and the first time this language was ever heard outside their people, it was as they praised God with their own songs!!!! It was a totally unheard of people group, but God knew where they were, and He wanted them for His own.
We don't need to be in the jungle to find the lost, we just need to look around wherever God has placed us, and begin to pray with urgency that the enemy would be bound, and the Holy Spirit loosed so these people can also know their creator.