Chris Truax took a team of 9 North Americans to Panama on Dec 27, 2009 - Jan 4, 2010. They went into the Bocas del Torro region of Panama to work in three different jungle villages of Ngobe people. The three villages, Monte Lirio, Barranquilla, and Guabal, did not have a church. In fact only Monte Lirio had been visited by a team before (a year ago). This was ground breaking work for the Kingdom of God. Although as you know the Lord went before us and paved the way. We found in each village, persons of peace to help us establish a new church in their village. Many of the Ngobe people are hungry to know more about God and His Word. Many had never heard about God before. Some responded quickly to the Good News while others will need more time to process this new information before the Lord opens up the eyes of their hearts.
The team was able to share the Gospel 210 times to people in their houses, and another 1,001 times to people in group settings (children's meetings and evening meetings)! Praise the Lord! God then opened up the eyes of 93 individuals who prayed to receive Him as their personal Lord and Savior! Thank you Lord for letting us be a part in your plan! Please pray for these people, their follow-up, and discipleship.
In order to give you a glimpse into the people behind these numbers, here are a few stories from some of the N. Americans on the team.
This was his first mission trip, in fact this was his first time even setting foot on an airplane...
" The greatest memory I had was the first time I presented the EvangeCube (a Gospel presentation tool). God allowed me to be calm and think clearly. The man I was talking to seemed like he was really trying to grasp what I was telling him. After I had finished, the man told me he wanted to be saved and I was just amazed at how easy God made it for me to lead him to Christ. It made me start to wonder what had been holding me back from sharing the Gospel earlier in my life."
There is much power in the prayers of God's people as witnessed by one of the team...
"Juselino (Panamanian site leader) called Orluis (Ngobe translator) and I (Andy - N. American) up to put our hands on and pray for a man who was having trouble putting his faith in Jesus for a number of reasons. When we all began praying, the walls came down and he accepted the Lord. Seeing the power of prayer and a man's heart change because of the Holy Spirit and prayer was amazing. God was right there in everyone's heart. The smile on his face showed God was in his heart as well."
One of the team saw first hand how a little compassion can open someone's heart to listen...
"I joined the national leader (Moises Vega) and we wandered off into the village where we encountered a small boy trying to collect sun-drying cocoa beans before it rained. We helped him while unknowingly his mother watched. Impressed by our act of kindness, she invited us to her hut and shared some local cuisine with us. We planted the seed of friendship and invited the family to our main site the next day. She appeared the next day and I had the opportunity to share the EvangeCube [a tool used to share the Gospel] with her. I later saw her name on a tract, indicating a profession of faith in Jesus Christ."
God can use you to touch people's lives for eternity just like He used these individuals. Check out our list of trips going out soon on the "Pray, Give, Go" tab.
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