David returned from a great trip to Panama with a youth team from Sutter Creek, California. It was a great 10 days with this enthusiastic and very flexible group of youth and leaders.
The team joined with the local church leaders to minister in two areas of La Chorrera which is located west of Panama City. The first area is called Portrero Grande and the team assisted this church by adding roof to the new structure. The photo below is the current church where they have been meeting for services and activities. The second photo is the new structure which now has a roof to protect from sun and rain.
Of course, the team managed to find some time for fun too and had a great time playing soccer and football with the local youth. We also had a special time at the river one afternoon.
Concrete work is always everyone's favorite and this team spent their fair share of time and sweat making a floor for a building as well. We had a special celebration service Wednesday night as this was the first service under the new roof.
The team also spent much time working with the children of the community. The team came prepared with the VBS program and skits to music and both were very effective and ministered to the community. This program was held at a near by local school. The team also spent time helping clean at the school that morning.
The team also spent time in the community of La Milagrosa which has no prominent evangelical churches. The big projects there were the painting of the public pre-school and putting up the new water tank. We showed the Jesus Film there that evening. This is a community with many problems including drugs, gangs, and prostitution. However our goal was to come in with community service and evangelism to help launch a new cell group. It is interesting that the name La Milagrosa means The Miraculous...please pray for God's presence to be seen in this community in a special way and for Hermana Flor, the new cell group leader here.
As always, thanks for your prayers as we praise God for His many blessings for our teams and for us in travel and ministry. It is incredible and impossible to describe how strong the testimony of the Holy Spirit is when a US group that doesnt speak a lot of Spanish and a Panamanian group that doesnt speak a lot of English develop such strong bonds in such a short time. However, it makes it easy to remember that our God is not limited by anything, including our language and when we are serving Christ, though language and culture may differ, the Holy Spirit brings a unity that is unlike anything the world knows. Our God is a great God. Thanks Sutter Creek for your love and your friendship, you will be remembered in Panama!
Love in Christ,
David, Shelley, Joshua and Kayley Webb
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