God's blessing in Panama

Greetings to family and to friends. 

We continue to praise God for truly His mercies are new every day.  Things have gone pretty fast this summer, but here are some of the updates from the past two months.

From June 23 to June 30, David had the privilege of working with a great group from Olathe Westside Church from Olathe, KS.  They brought down a set of Jesus Film equipment and funds to help with a new mission in Rio Alejandro, Panama.  This is a very depressed area near Colón (unemployment is over 40%) with a great spiritual need as well.  

                                     Church planter Guillermo helping us with the VBS at the school

God opened one door after another.  We were able to do VBS’s in a local public school where the church planter, Brother Guillermo, teaches.  We also did VBS’s in the community, painted and cleaned the park area, and had 2 presentations with the brand new Jesus Film equipment.   

                                               Cleaning, painting and clowning with the kids

Through the presentations, we saw over 60 people come to Christ, praise God!  Through it all, the Olathe Westside team ministered side by side our Panamanian brothers and sisters and were a very bright light in an area oppressed by much darkness.  

                                           The Olathe Westside Team---Thanks for your hard work!

Following this trip, David arrived in Costa Rica to work with a group of 8 church planters that are working in missional zones of Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. This time was followed by a two different trips in July to Nicaragua to meet with other missional zone planters, do an evangelism workshop at a youth camp and to meet with our district leaders there.

David then headed back to Panama with another great US team from Marysville, WA.  We worked close to the city of David (gotta love that nameJ) in the community of Algarrobos.  The Marysville team also brought a set of Jesus Film equipment for the new missional zone here.   

Church planter Carlos talking to the students with the Marysville team

We again, praise the Lord, received an open door at the local elementary school where we painted, made new concrete ramps for disabled students, and cleaned.  We also did VBS’s, did crafts and received a warm welcome from teachers and students alike.  This may be the warmest reception yet for a school David has worked with as the teachers decided they wanted to provide lunch for the team on Friday and had a community farewell service for the group Saturday evening where the director of the school spoke.  

 

We give God much praise as we saw over 40 people make decisions for Christ after two Jesus Film presentations.   For some cool videos of this trip, you can check out this link to youtube where the Marysville church put together 3 different videos on this trip.
Check it out at:
www.youtube.com/user/MarysvilleNaz (once on youtube, click See All--they did one video on ministry, one on the work project and one on the tourism activities)

The Marysville Church doing a special song on Sunday


 Kids at the school showing their new bracelets from one of our craft times which teach about salvation with colored beads--black for sin, red for Christ's blood, white for purity, green for growth in Christ, and yellow for the gold in the streets of heaven.



Although every trip with a US team has been special, David had an extra special blessing as Joshua was able to accompany him on both of his Panama trips.

Joshua did a great job and actually translated his first sermon (from English to Spanish--this is a lot of pressure:) on this trip.  This was a great blessing as the Marysville team brought 2 pastors so we divided the team so the pastors could preach simultaneously at two new cell groups that started in July.  Joshua and Kayley are both real blessings and great missionaries.  

Much love in our Lord Jesus Christ--el Rey de Reyes (The King of Kings)

Back to School

Hello Family and Friends,

Well, it is that time of year when notebooks are bought, backpacks are filled and pencils are sharpened!  Yes, school started this week at ICS (International Christian School) in San Jose.  The kids have had such a fun summer that it was a little hard to think about going back, but reluctantly they boarded their taxi ride on Wednesday morning.  (We have changed companies and our friend that has a taxi is now shuttling the kids to and from school each day.)

Kayley is in 7th and Joshua is in 11th grade this year.  Last year was quite a change for Kayley with 6th grade being located in the High School wing, but this year has been a breeze as she already knows where everything is located.  Both kids have some new teachers and are getting accustomed to the new classes, but otherwise all is well.

The Slingerland kids also go to ICS, so the four of them ride together each day.  So far, so good!

David had a big summer with teams and he really enjoyed having Joshua accompany him on two trips to Panama.  David will fill you in on both of those trips sometime very soon, right David?

The other news is that David has accepted a new position with the mission as Coordinator of Ministries in Nicaragua.  So, instead of focusing on 3 countries in one ministry area (Evangelism), he is working with all ministries for Nicaragua.  This change of position started on August 1st.  Pray for David as he serves the leaders in the four districts of Nicaragua.

Thanks for your prayers! We really appreciate each one of you.

God bless you,

The Webb Family