A note from LCMS Missionaries James & Christel December 2009

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Merry Mother’s Day! Mother’s Day in Panama is December 8. In fact it’s a national holiday here in which everyone takes the day off. It’s a big deal here as a lot of moms are the head of the family. They take care of their kids and work to provide for their children. When observing moms you can see the love in their eyes, but also the hard work and things they’ve had to do in order to keep their family together. The other thing I have noticed a lot is that moms take on other children as their own. Even if the child’s mom is around and cares for them; moms here tend to have a sense of care for all around them. I think it stems from the importance of family. Family is first and foremost, yet family doesn’t always mean blood relation. I truly love that about Panama. This last Sunday, some of the churches here celebrated the day as we often do on Mother’s Day. The service was centered on moms and the precious gift that they are in our lives. The service I went to was packed! There were a lot of kids and people I hadn’t seen in a long time. It was great to see their faces and talk with them. After the service the kids and youth put together poems and songs that they performed in gratitude for their moms. It was really special to see. After church, our friend Milton cooked dinner for everyone and all of the “non moms” served the moms of the church. The moms then received a small gift and a card. It was a beautiful day in thanksgiving to God for the blessing moms are in our lives.

Prayer Requests:

• Safe travels for James as he returns form Jamaica

• Christmas outreach events • Raising up of leaders in Latin

America• Demetrio as he continues

work at a new mission plant

In preparation for Mother’s Day, James and I were able to help our friend Demetrio in an outreach project at a mission plant in which he is working. Demetrio is a new pastor and is starting a church about a ten-minute bus ride from his home church. Since there was no church in La Esperanza Demetrio started making house calls and got to know the community. He now has catechism class with the kids from the village who meet at a house a community leader lets him use. They have made benches outside the house and use the inside of the house for storage of tables and things necessary for the class. It’s so awesome to see God at work here working through Demetrio. They are starting from nothing and working solely with the Word of God. No building, no pews, no music equipment, only what was offered from the community and the sending church. it’s kind of the way it was in the book of Acts right? This is very true, but what often goes unheard is the struggle to keep it going that way. When you first start any ministry there is always the momentum that makes it seem that everything is possible and everything will be a success because you are working for the Lord. But then it seems as though reality sets in, worldly reality. Photos courtesy of Nancy Reiter

Then issues start arising, you start wanting things to make the ministry more effective or run better. You have other churches that want to help, people who want to give money, and organizations that want to be a part of this great new venture as a small part in your decision-making. These issues become roadblocks to what seemed to be a great work of God. How to build a church, a mission plant, or a ministry is a challenge in creating a healthy future for the group of people you are ministering to. These are just some of the struggles that Demetrio faces along with community challenges in leading these people to God. However, he has a gift and God is guiding him every step of the way. He wanted to do something for Mother’s Day in order to reach out to this community. An idea was to go from house to house and take a family photo. James and I were privileged to help Demetrio and work with him in taking the photos and talking with the people. This allowed time for contact and the ability to return on a later date with a photo to give them. Demetrio was also able to talk with the families about coming to an event he was planning for Mother’s Day, which is just down the path from most of their houses. It was a beautiful opportunity to be with God’s people and share His love by seeing the work He is doing through Demetrio. I ask that you please keep Demetrio in your prayers and his sending church as they continue to work in sharing the Gospel with La Esperanza -Christel

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photo outreach