Today, I was in our local grocery store and ran into a friend that I hadn’t seen in nearly 5 years plus.

What a thrill it was to inform my friend about the upcoming relocation to Panama, stepping into a dream first started as a crazy thought nearly 10 years ago. The excitement of stepping into God’s vision oozes out as we sat and visited for an hour before grocery shopping.

My wife and I have found that we get a variety of responses to the news:

1. What an adventure!
2. Are you nuts? Why would you do that?
3. Dang, I wish I could do something like that!

We feel perhaps a little like the disciples when they “left their nets and followed him.”

We leave the security of a steady job, reliable paycheck, the benefits of living in the United States, a reliable postal system, wide use of credit cards — lots of everything. Our house, our neighborhood, our little Spanish church. We are leaving anything that might be a “net.”

To follow Him.

Last evening, I preached my first sermon in Spanish. It’s a personal milestone.

10 years ago, I began to sense a calling that one day I’d preach in Spanish, but for many years, did nothing about it until that sense of calling developed further into our family’s mission to Latin America.

It was a seed planted in me during a trip to Costa Rica in 1997. Nurtured via mission work in Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Panama, and vacations in Costa Rica, Ecuador and Peru.

A vital question
One day I was talking with the pastor at Eternity Church about Latin American Missions and wanting to preach in Spanish and he asked me “What are you doing about it?“

As I heard myself give him an answer, I heard myself give only excuses.

No action, just dreams.

Stepping into the vision
In January 2006, I took a prayer retreat to the mountains outside of Asheville, North Carolina.

There I sensed God’s direction to take some academic classes in Spanish at our local college. I took private tutoring in the summer, and enrolled August of 2006 to begin one year of academic study in Spanish.

During that same prayer retreat, I also sensed God’s direction to connect with a local Hispanic church. This church has been a vital part of stepping into the vision of ministry in Latin America. (You can read about them at Evangelism Coach).

Last night, the church gave me the opportunity to preach in Spanish.

Text: Psalm 32:1-5
Point: Dare to be a sinner! There is forgiveness in confession.
It alliterates better in Spanish: “Hay perdon en confesion.”

Wow
To step into a vision, to know that God is using you, to fulfill a purpose for which you’ve been created (Eph 2.10) is one of the pinnacle experiences of life. This was just the first sermon, one of many that will come in the future as we minsiter in Latin America.

The Beginnings of Ministério Internacionál Ir

Ministério Internacionál Ir (Go Ministries International, or GMI) began from a sense of calling the Lord put in the hearts of various people from different countries to create a multi-denominational parachurch organization in Panama that offers support to the local churches, primarily those located in remote areas and in areas of poverty.

In 2002, a group of people in met in Panama with the same vision: to establish a non-profit interdenominational and multidisciplinary team to support the churches in need.

GMI was organized as a group of volunteers based in Panama.

What is GMI?
The entire ministry team believed that Mark 16:15 is the basis for its ministry, and thus the name, Go Ministries International.

Since 2002, it has been operating as a loose association of volunteers who pay their own way.

Since its effectiveness, reputation, and financial operations have grown considerably, it is in the process of formalizing itself as a legal non-profit entity recognized throughout Latin America.

The ministry does not charge for its services and does not pay a staff, and is primarily funded through non-cash contribution of goods and services.

What does GMI do?
GMI works on the mission frontier, assisting missionaries currently working among unreached peoples. Panama’s frontier is the generally inhospitable Darien jungle, which is the border region between Panama and Columbia.

Medical Missions

GMI coordinates medical missions for both foreign and domestic medical teams among high-risk communities, including the frontier of Panama. GMI works with the governmental health authorities and local churches (if any) to arrange and manage these outreaches. GMI coordinates the medical care, the counseling room, and medication dispensing. GMI arranges for local business to donate some crackers, milk, eggs, and other things, which are given out at the end of the patient process.

Feedback indicates that often this little meal is the difference between having eaten or not having eaten that day.

For foreign medical mission teams working with GMI, GMI arranges for duty free import of materials and for temporary licensing of doctors to practice in Panama.

Pastoral Care and Development

For pastors and their spouses, GMI organizes retreats, camps, and trips, to help foster a sense of camaraderie. These times for pastoral retreats also serve to provide a brief respite from the demands of ministry.

Many pastors have shared about tense situations or conflicts in their homes where these retreats have been able to provide the space to decompress and seek healing. Many have not taken their spouses on a trip in more than 10 years. Some had never been in a hotel with pool or taken their wives to dinner because they just can’t afford it.

Children’s Minsitry

GMI conducts children’s ministry, usually in connection with local Children’s Pastors. Over the past year 29 festivals for children have been organized, focused on teaching children how do to evangelism. Clowns, puppets, singing, games and bible stories are all used to present the gospel.

Many times, local leaders that GMI has trained ahead of time do the actual work at the events. GMI provides educational materials for these events.

Other various ministries

In 2006 GMI offered various other training events, with an average of 3.5 per month, for pastors, leaders and potential leaders, and Sunday School directors. Approximately 2050 people have attended from all over the country. Many of these are focused on teaching on evangelism.

Also in 2006, GMI conducted large conferences for church leaders to attend plenary sessions, training events workshops and various networking events. About 820 individuals attended. GMI coordinated the agenda, speakers, teachers, accommodations, transportation and meals for the days.

When I first met the director for Ministerio Ir, I asked him about the minsitry and what it does.

His reply included the following

1. Teach and train on evangelism in partnership with the local church.
2. Teach and train children’s workers for children’s evangelism.
3. Do the advance groundwork to receive foreign medical mission teams.

Since we first met three years ago, a new priority has been added to that list:
1. To provide care and continuing education to pastors.

Continue to pray for the ministry. The priority is to pray that the government of Costa Rica will release the organizational papers that will open up the door to lots of funding opprotunities. Ministerio Ir has filed papers in Costa Rica, but does most of its work in Panama.