Mission to the Americas

Ongoing Mission Networking

December 23, 2008 by ecoach Leave a Comment

I had a 2 hour meeting in Spanish with the leader of a parachurch missionary training ministry here in Panama.

His mission’s work is to call forth missionaries from Panama to go to other countries, and to work with immigrants coming here. I’m still not yet sure of the name of his ministry because today’s meeting was as much about simply getting to know one another personally as it was me introducing myself and our work to him. I know that he is connected to several pastors in this country and church planters.

I used the PRMI Dunamis description in Spanish, and gave him the Spanish Language PRMI brochure, plus samples from the material that we have used in Nicaragua and samples of my evangelism material.

We talked about how a PRMI team could come for a 1x conference to get to be known, like another one of our members did in Guatemala. He was thrilled with the idea that team members are members of the Dunamis Fellowship and have completed the entire course.

Quickly, he got into asking me details in terms of a minimum conference size, how the offerings would be processed, and the costs ownership (who covers what) and the like. I think there will be further interest here. There will be further discussions.

We were together last night at a Christmas party where our families got to meet each other along with families from 7 other countries (I love it here)!

They are pursuing more friendship with us, in that they are taking us to church Christmas eve for a "Traditional" service (see: http://www.missiontotheamericas.org/2008/12/a-2nd-christmas-in-panama/ for what I miss about Christmas) and spending a Christmas eve dinner with us in our house.

At breakfast this morning I was simply describing how I missed some of the traditions of Christmas, and this invitation was his family’s response.

A 2nd Christmas in Panama

December 23, 2008 by ecoach 1 Comment

christmasparade I’ll be the one of the many ex-pats to admit it just doesn’t feel like Christmas.

Spending more than 3 decades, but not quite 4, in US, the Christmas season is full of carols, noisy background music, retail shopping, Christmas stories on TV, and then customs like Advent candles, caroling and Christmas eve services. Mailing of Christmas cards and writing a Christmas letter.

Of course, the cold weather, warm drinks, and the possibility of snow.

I still laugh when I hear songs like “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas” or “Outside the snow is falling and we’ll sing a chorus or two. . ”

It’s 85-90 and snow is highly unlikely. There are no chestnuts roasting on an open fire, and jack frost is no where near.

It just feels weird to see Santa in shorts during the Christmas parade.

A musical cantata:

However, Sunday night was different.

We attended “Looking for the Star” put on by Crossroads Bible Church. In a darkened theatre, I was treated to wonderful performance of costumes, and dance, story telling, carols and worship songs, done in both English and Spanish. The narrative was in Spanish, but the songs were in both languages.

The only word I had for it at the end of the night was “speechless.”

To hear the same familiar chorus well sung in both languages.

To hear carols and choruses that have been missing for the last two Christmas seasons.

To feel like Christmas is coming.

To hear a choir and orchestration that I’ve never experienced before.

To see the exaltation of Jesus Christ as the true star of Christmas.

Christmas is here.

I realize that I miss some of the trappings of Christmas.

I miss some of the traditions that support the ambiance of the season.

But I’m glad I was reminded Sunday night not only of what I miss, but of the Child, for whom we are living in this country and working among this people.

The proclamation of His forgiveness freely available is what propels us to work here.

Because of this Child’s birth, we left our nets. Because of His birth, we have given all.

Merry Christmas friends.

(parade photo courtesy of Panama-Guide.com)

Prayer for our Time in Nicaragua

December 16, 2008 by ecoach Leave a Comment

Here is how you can pray for our time in Nicaragua:

Pray for the teachers as we finalize the teaching schedule — that we focus on what the Nicaraguans need; that we are guided in making handouts, that the technology works.
Pray for safe travel for all, and for Susan & Lydia staying alone in Managua the first night. Pray for us to be able to sleep at night and to feel the presence of Jesus there.
Pray for us to really connect with all the new North American Young Life staff as well as renew our love & connections with the Nicaraguans.
Pray for our physical health prior to & during the trip, especially Chris with his allergies.
Pray for unity among our team; that we model team ministry in a way that delights Jesus and that we can offer this as a gift to them. This was one of the big ways we impacted them before and I pray that any attempted attacks of the enemy on our love & unity would not even be allowed to get close.
Pray for the Nicaraguans to be open to learning a new style of prayer/healing ministry; that there will be no offense. The PRMI style is very different from what they may be used to.
Finally, pray for God to heal people in significant, measurable and powerful ways!!

Annual Report 2008

December 16, 2008 by ecoach Leave a Comment

This year has been a success and has been challenging in many ways.

Because of the significant overlap with our work with Evangelismcoach.org, we are branding everything we do as Evangelism Coach International.

This allows Brenda’s work in evangelism training through crafts and Sunday School training to fall under the same branding: from Alaska to Chile.

Together, we did a total of 27 conference events in 3 different countries.

I released my first book for purchase on how to welcome church visitors, (see http://www.welcomechurchvisitors.com) and launched the www.EvangelismBookstore.com.

I provided coaching for 3 individuals and two churches.

During the summer of 2007, our family was in the US for 6 weeks to raise funds, supporters, and attend the PRMI family camp.

Networking

Most of our time in Panama this year was focused on networking and giving conferences as they come. We encountered a huge setback last year when the ministry that invited us here closed down, leaving us to have to rebuild our own network. I’ve been seeking to connect with people who can open doors for us.

We have to adjust from our original plan and we’ve been discerning our next steps.

I continue to work on language acquisition.

Plans for 2009

Our target is to plan for 15 events in Panama, 12 events in the United States, and up to 3 events in other countries in Latin Americas. We did 30 events last year, but the majority was in the US.

We seek to grow more events here as our network grows. We realize this plan may be very aggressive, but it is our dream to minister in this part of the world.

I will continue to pursue language acquisition and certification.

We plan on releasing at least three more e-books, and developing a CD/DVD distribution strategy to repurpose a lot of my teaching to generate revenue from online sales.

It is also our goal develop our support base to a sustainable level that supplements our speaking fees and online sales in the US.

Pioneering for PRMI

Part of my plan is to network for PRMI into Latin America on the back of the networking that we are doing on our own. PRMI material is part of my ethos and I would like to have PRMI teams join me.

Right now it’s a season of networking and introducing the ministry of PRMI through the connections that I build through evangelism training.

Continue to pray for the growth and impact of our work. We are grateful to our supporters who pray for us and invest in our work.

Caimito Children’s Congress

December 15, 2008 by ecoach 1 Comment

Brenda and I finished our workshop at the 1st Children’s Ministry congress for the area of La Camima.

This congress was an outgrowth of the Teaching Children’s Workers in Arraijan in July of this year.

Because of common issues lack of finances and accessible transportation not every one can come to a leadership conference like the one in January which was about 2 hours outside of the city, or the one in July that was about 30 minutes away from the city.

As Brenda and I were praying this morning, it dawned on us that nearly all the attended arrived by foot, or by taxi. In the very small parking lot (which is plot of land), it was just our car, and the car for the other speaker.

Meet Raquel

One of those attendees, however, Raquel, was inspired to organize one for her local area. She managed to gather about 40-50 men and women from approximately 10-15 different churches. I am unaware of the final count.

Raquel is the children’s pastor of this little church. She’s been investing in that church for 12 years, and now some of her students from 12 years ago are now sending their children to Raquel to participate in the Children’s ministry.

In spite of the lack of resources and difficult access to training, se has perserved and their church of about 50 members is currently ministering to about 200 kids on a weekly basis. The church has already added a children’s classroom building, but already it is overflowing (see the video).

When we first met Raquel and Christian to plan this meeting, we heard their heart for this area. We heard stories of at-risk kids, and then we heard about the hardships and challenges of ministering in that environment. We heard their heart about training other children’s workers who couldn’t get to these conferences so far away. She approached Brenda and I about doing something for them in their little area.

Getting to the Congress

Though we rented a car, at times we felt like a 4×4 was more suitable for the road conditions. Heavy construction equipment from a local mine has destroyed what may have been a road. Potholes, washouts, missing pavement marked this road once we left the developed area.

The area would be considered rural. Google maps doesn’t do well out there. I tried embeding one, but the embed didn’t work.

The Children’s Leadership Workshop

Brenda did a 2 hour workshop on creativity for creating crafts and object lessons.

In this country where more than 1/3 live on under $100 a month, money to buy craft ideas is not easy to spend. It’s not as if you can go to Wal-Mart or a Michael’s.

Instead, Brenda helps children’s workers use stuff that is already in a house: toilet roll tubes, styrofoam trays, egg cartons. This particular lesson was on creativity — how to find the ideas and how to brainstorm. Almost as close to costing $0.00 as you can get.

For example: Brenda made this scene out of paper towel tubes, paper towels, a cut up toilet roll tube, some rubber bands and some shredded paper. I think the total cost may hae been under $1.00 for the yellow paper.

I gave a 1 hour lecture in “heavy” Spanish on getting and maintaining a vision for Children’s ministry. It was a challenge to prepare that in Spanish, and I was grateful to have gotten it done. This makes the 5th workshop I have given entirely in Spanish. I’m growing in confidence and I’m told growing in fluency.

How do you keep a vision for ministry even when kids rebel, when there are no resources?

How do you perservere in your vision when the going gets tough?

I focused on getting filled again with the Holy Spirit, praying for your vision, and recruiting others to pray for you and serve with you. It may seem basic to some of us, but these things always serve as a good reminder to refresh the weary.

Our video

Finally, I’ve put together a brief video that I hope will give you a feel for what we did.

To do a workshop like this, we have to rent a car for the weekend. Continue to pray that we’ll receive more workshop opportunities as well as funds to pay for our expenses. To advance our work in Latin America, see directions at Donate Online to Support our Work