Things Are Happening in Panama

My team partner from last year, Karina Campbell, got an encouraging message from Panama's campus director Secundina a couple of days ago. It was all in Spanish but I've translated it for all you lovely people. This is what Secundina said:

You know what, today I was at the business faculty talking to a class of first year students, and in that group was Jose Maria (A student involved with Campus for Christ). After I finished sharing about about Christ, Jose Maria asked me to let him speak to the class and he began to share his brief testimony about how his life has been changed and he encouraged his classmates to put their trust in God. The truth is, I was very impressed by his valor to stand up in front of his class and share his testimony and now he is very eager to follow up with his classmates. There were 29 students in this class and 18 of them received Christ, many of them confessing it verbally. The same prof asked me to speak to her first year students in social communication and out of the 20 that heard the message, 13 of them received Christ. Pray that many of them will get involved in bible studies, Vida Estudiantil (Campus for Christ) and that God will grant Jose Maria wisdom and grace to follow up on the guys from his class. On Thursday, I will also be giving a talk to a group of first year education students from the very same professor. Now I'm just taking advantage of the opportunities that God has been granting me to share about Christ. Tomorrow I'm going to be getting together with the business students. Thank you so much for your work here and for your prayers. God bless you.

Our STINT team was so encouraged by this message that Secundina sent us. There are only two full time campus staff in Panama at the moment and Secundina is one of them, so to hear stories about students taking the initiative to share about Christ is always great news. I'm sharing this with you guys because it's an answered prayer for me. I know that I can't be in Panama right now, so I've been asking the Lord that he would move the hearts of students in a powerful way and that he would use the campus staff of Panama in powerful ways too. I know that I'm not indispensable when it comes down to it and I know that I'm not the answer to all of Panama's problems. I realize that I'm simply an instrument that God will be using when he decides to use it, so stories like these really put things into perspective. I'll be sending an update soon on my status. If you're reading this, and would like to receive my updates, please just let me know. Blessings

This is Secundina

VIDEO!! A Peak At What It's Like To Be On Stint

Here is a link to a video I made for UBC on what it's like to be a STINTer. My hope is to give you a little peak at the life of a STINTer. It really is just a small peak into my life in Panama. Hours and hours of footage can be shot to capture the hard moments and the great moments of everyday life. Just copy and paste this link into your browser and you should be able to see it:

http://juanwherethelightisvideo.blogspot.com/

Enjoy

Thank You

I'm back in Vancouver now! I just arrived back home on Sunday night from my trip to Toronto. I was over in Toronto for some training and a wedding. I felt that it was a great time of connecting with new brothers and sisters and spending time with loved ones.

To keep you updated on my status, I'm currently at 50% of my needed support to get to Panama. I realize that there is still a lot of money to raise at this point, so I ask that you all keep on praying that the funds will come in by the end of this week. I was really encouraged by all the brothers and sisters that I met up with in Toronto. Some people I met for the first time and some others I met with for the first time in a long time. I felt so welcome and at home there, so I just want to express my gratitude to you all for your encouragement and support. The stories, experiences and advice that you all had to share will not be forgotten. I've also received emails and words of encouragement from people back home and people that I haven't even had the pleasure of meeting yet, so I thank you all too, for your love and support means so much to me during a time of preparation for the field.

At the moment, I do feel there is still quite a long way to go before I am able to go to Panama, but I was reminded the other day that what is impossible for man, is possible for God. Wes and I are hoping to leave soon for Panama and we are confident that this is possible in the Lord, even though it seems impossible for man. So I encourage you to pray alongside us for the impossible. It's an exciting time of trusting in God for big things and getting prepared to trust in God for even bigger things. Here is a list of things you can be praying for:

1.Panamanian students and staff. That the Lord may continue to use them in extraordinary ways to reach their country.
2.Wes and I to reach full support soon so we can leave to Panama.
3.More monthly support for both Wes and I


I do realize that God hasn't stopped working in Panama just because we aren't there. He is using staff and students there at this very moment to change Panama and the world for his glory. That really puts my heart at peace and gives me hope. I know that God is still working there. I know that I am not indispensable and that God will be working in the hearts of people in Panama whether I'm there or not. Friends, I want to encourage you to keep on praying for great things to happen. There is power in prayer and God will move.