Mission to the Americas

Serving Ministries and Missions in Latin America

Coming Along Side Young Life Panama

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While in Nicaragua in January 2010 working with Vida Joven (Hear their stories), I got to meet the new leaders for Young Life Panama.

As I heard their stories of how God is opening the door for Vida Joven Panama, His miraculous provision, and the blessing of others to launch this group, I’m convinced that God is inviting us along side the pioneer leaders to encourage them, help them and pray for them.

Leaders Vida Joven Panama

Working in Panama Viejo

The three Leaders (center of the photo, with Brenda and our friend Stephanie) are working together in the neighborhoods surrounding Panama Viejo.

They’ve been involved in leadership training with Young Life to learn its methods and have started their contact work.

We listened to their dreams of organizing the first Young Life club, and how they are serving the community surrounding Panama Viejo.  It’s all in the launch phase at the moment.

Called to Work Along Side.

Part of our calling here is to come along side and encourage ministries.  These three leaders are pioneering a brand new work, and we get to participate by praying for them and as God opens the doors, providing evangelism training when needed.

Each one is a volunteer, and trying to do this on top of full time jobs or full time university studies.  They are offering their Saturday’s to spend time with kids at the soccer field, introducing themselves, organizing soccer matches, and inviting people to serve the community.  One project they hope to organize is the renovation (painting) of the walls that surround a school soccer field.

This is missional outreach.  Along the way, these leaders look for opportunities to hear people’s spiritual thirst and talk with them as the Lord leads.  It’s not agressive evangelism, but simple contact work and buildling relationships with the community within which they serve.

It was a joy to have them at our home for dinner and hear their stories of individuals they contact, and how that will hopefully lead to a club.   It’s a joy to come along side and encourage them.

Event Summary of 2009

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In 2009 we set this following targets:

Our target is to plan for 15 events in Panama, 12 events in the United States, and up to 3 events in other countries in Latin Americas (30 events total).

In preparing our annual report for the Presbytery of the James, as well as for PRMI which provides our covering here are some interesting statistics:

Live Events (conferences, sermons, classes): 46

  • IPET Classes in Panama/Costa Rica: 16
  • Preachings: 13 sermons in 10 churches.
  • Live Conference Events: 17

Countries Served: Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, United States, Guatemala

Virtual Events (on-line or by telephone): 56

  • Virtual Webinars: 11
  • Evangelism Coaching: 39 individuals / churches.
  • Virtual Sunday School class: 1
  • Expert Interviews: 5

Not only did we meet our event goals for 2009, but we far exceeded them.

God has been gracious in opening doors for us, and then providing for us through His people.

Hear directly from Vida Joven Leaders

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National Leader Vida Joven Nicaragua Testimonial from Chris Walker

Kevin Suywan shares about the ministry of Presence

Another leader from Vida Joven Guatemala explains how learning about the Holy Spirit has helped her minsitry. She’s been receiving Dunamis teaching from PRMI at Vida Joven Nicaragua’s annual training camp

RSS Readers May need to Click through to see the 3 videos.

You’ve Really Given me Liberty

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After teaching on evangelism this weekend Vida Abundante in Calidonia, Maria (not her real name) pulls me aside and tells me

Your teaching has relieved a giant burden I’ve been carrying. . ..

It’s Not Our Job

Maria had heard teaching on evangelism over many years that could be summarized like this

  • Here is a script to memorize.
  • Share that script with as many people as possible.
  • Rejoice with those that pray a prayer.

This is a common teaching paradigm that focuses exclusively on the skills of sharing your faith and in many cases has divorced ongoing discipleship from evangelism.

For years, Maria had faithfully obeyed this teaching. She grew confident in talking to strangers, using gospel tracts, and fine tuning her presentation.

Yet in all her years of energetically “working the program” she hardly ever saw a conversion experience.

In spite of all her confident theology about God working mysteriously, she experienced

  • the mounting feelings of disappointment,
  • the growing pain of continued personal rejection, and
  • the mental energy drained in trying to fight self-criticism.

Her desire to share her faith was diminishing.

She felt totally responsible for all the outcomes.

Evangelism had become a human work.

  • If they don’t repent, I’m doing evangelism wrong.
  • If they don’t accept Christ, it’s my fault.
  • If they don’t repent now, it must be because of some problem in my life.

Evangelism becomes a burden after repeated failures and rejection.

Nobody wants to do that all the time.

There are better ways to enjoy life than experiencing rejection every time you talk about faith.

Finding Freedom

Maria heard me teach on How the How the Holy Spirit draws people to faith.

She saw how God works through a process of bringing people to faith — a conversion to Christ is often at the end of series of key events that God uses.

Watching her respond through the teaching, her face showed evidence of the proverbial “light bulbs” going off.

The emotional burdens that had grown on her from all her rejection experiences in evangelism were fading.

What was building in it’s place was a confidence in God’s sovereignty and a joy that comes with relief from burdens.

She pulled me aside and said

Your teaching has relieved a giant burden I’ve been carrying. . .

She proceeded to tell me how this teaching had

  • transformed her view of evangelism,
  • helped her to see God’s responsibility
  • given her a new fearless freedom to be a vessel in God’s work.

What a joy

There is a profound joy in watching people accept and apply this teaching.

For our ministry partners, this is the fruit of your work — people finding liberty to be more effective witnesses for Christ.  You enable us to fulfill our vision for 2010 of impacting churches in the Americas to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in the work of missions and evangelism.

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