Video of our the DTS Outreach

This Video was made by our friend Chris Collins who; with his wife are staffing the DTS with us.

If you would like to check out their blog as well it is:

http://panamacollins.blogspot.com/

God Bless and thanks for checking out the video!

Congratulations DTS of January 2009!!

Yesterday on Friday the 5th of June, 14 students from six different nations graduated from the YWAM Discipleship Training School.

God blessed us with a great group and we are privileged to have been a part in their process of coming closer to their Creator and learning better how to serve Him. We are praying that as they go on to this next step in their lives that they will continue learning and teaching others about Jesus Christ. It was amazing to see them step out of their comfort zones and reach out to the people around them who are in need of a meaning and purpose in life. They worked as a team and they went through quarrels like a team but the main point is that they were a TEAM.

We will miss you guys! Many blessings go out to our team and our prayers.

Costa Rica

Pura Vida!
As they say here in Costa Rica, Pure Life.
Our last weeks of outreach here so far have been great. Our first week was spent up in the mountains where the earthquake really hit the people hard. We worked a lot on helping to move many many cement building blocks and cement bags and other things to help rebuild houses that had been just been shaken to pieces. We worked for many hours in the strawberry fields to help salvage the crops when so many had been lost. It was a great opportunity because we were working alongside of a local church that has taken it upon themselves to help their community. Right now we are in the capital of Costa Rica, San Jose and we will be working in Homeless shelters and the salvation army....we will do some programs. Our goal is to really be a blessing to our neighbor country.
Thank you for our prayers!

Not What We Expected, But Exactly What God Wanted

Well, our plan was to leave Mexico City on the 9th and return to the base for a couple of days. That worked out great! We got there without any complications and we had some time to rest. Our other plan was to leave on the 11th by bus to Costa Rica.
That didn't work out so well. We got a call from the base director over there saying that we would need to get tested before entering into the country to see if we had the influenza or not. (Since we had just come from Mexico City). He said they might put us into quarentine for a little while once we got up there and the base had no where to put us! So we had to re-think our plans and do some changing.
We took the group to the clinic to get a certificate of health. Almost everyone got it. Although nobody had the influenza, a few people had a cold and Nathaniel had an infection. In the end, the people who were labeled as 'healthy' went up to Costa Rica with Chris and Vanessa on the 13th. Nathaniel, the Glasbrenner family with four kids, Thea (one of the single girls) and I stayed on the base for a little while longer. Tonight we leave for Costa Rica by bus.
We are excited for our time over there. Our group will spend a week up at the earthquake site doing ministry and then a week of ministry in the capital of Costa Rica, San Jose. Then on the 30th we will come back to Panama.
Thank you for all of your prayers! If I am around internet I will try to keep the updates coming...

EPIDEMIC!!

It has been a little crazy here in Mexico. News came about this flu that is going around. We started seeing people walking around with little masks on their faces to keep from breathing in the sickness.... They look a little like Power Rangers is what Nathaniel says. Many Mexicans say that the reason the govornment is making this such a big deal is because they are trying to cover up something else that is happening. I don´t know but we are praying and we know that our God is above any sickness that is going around! Our group has been fine and we are healthy. We left for the Mexican State of Oaxaca on Sunday and we have been going village to village visiting the people and doing programs for them. A couple villages would not let us in because they were afraid that we carried the virus with us.

(We don´t, do not worry)

Please be praying for us so that our grup would know what the next step we need to take is. God can use anything and make it an opportunity.

Mexico!!

We are here! We arrived in Mexico on Sunday. Three less students then when we started. One of the couples had to stay behind and start doing their outreach in Panama because Bertilia, the mother is seven months pregnant and not able to travel by plane. Also Salvador from El Salvador needed to stay behind and go to Costa Rica to start his outreach because they denied his visa for Mexico. So we are all praying for them.
One of the students: Roberto from Panama, was taken for questioning in immigration at the airport in Mexico. They didn't think he was Panamanian! For some reason they thought he was a Mexican. But they let him go and we are here and safe.
We are working with a man here, Chevy Cruz who is working with an Assembly of God church here. About six families have offered their hospitality and we have the student seperated into groups and staying with them. They give us breakfast and dinner everyday and take us to and from the church. If you think of it, please pray for them because they have really been a blessing to us. The family that Nathaniel and I are with have five children. We really have felt welcome.
Yesterday we worked with the Director of the YWAM Pachuca base in Mexico. The group did a program in a park and three people accepted Christ into their lives. In the afternoon we went to a small park where there are kids that live on the street. They do drugs, sniffing the plumbing glue among other things. We did a program for them and some dancing. The plan is to return on Thursday and bring them some lunches and then in the nightime go and do some ministry with prostitutes.
Please keep praying for our group. So far it has been a really good time and God has been working!

Well God is just so cool.

After praying more about the outreach our group really felt that we should be going to Mexico City first and then to Costa Rica. So we were worried about the plane tickets being more. But we had a prayer meeting with the students and we all prayed about how to raise support and we told them to pray about the airlines that they would be more helpful. (We had been trying to contact some airlines and they wouldn't write back or call).

About an hour or so after the meeting I got a call from the airline TACA! The lady was very helpful and she said, "You know what? There is actually a promotion that will start tomorrow for flights going from Panama to Mexico City. How interesting. I will call you and let you know a price."

So yesterday after the students took up an offering among themselves and raised almost $6,000 for outreach!!! they called and told me that the promotion was a 2 for 1 deal! So where we would have been paying $550 per person now we are paying $275. Multiply that by 20 and we saved like $5,000. Didn't I tell you? God is so cool! So now we are working on raising a little more money, we just need to raise $4,000 more. It's been really awesome to see how God is confirming this all. Maybe not all of our details are ready or figured out but God is really showing us that He is in control and He has his hand in this.