Happy New Year!

We are starting an exciting adventure this weekend to start off our work in Panama. Cyndi and I plan on going to a small town called Chepo. In Chepo, we will start a 3 week project where LST has never been attempted before. The local church of 40-50, has been advertising our free lessons and we will start sessions next Monday, Lord willing.

We had the opportunity to go to visit the church and the town on Monday. The challenge for us will be that we are only beginners in Spanish, but no one at the church speaks English. I have a feeling that our Spanish is about to get a power boost! Necessity is the best teacher, right? So stay tuned to find out how that works out. Ha!

There are a lot of details that need to be worked out. And Cyndi and I are going to be asked to do some things that we have never done before, so please pray that God will make everything fall into place, as He has done so many times before. We will not have much internet access while we are there, so you may have to be patient with our updates.

This is the great adventure! Happy 2009!

Panama Pictures

During the holiday free time, we have been exploring our new city. If you would like to see some of our pictures, click here.

Feliz Navidad!

Merry Christmas to all of our family and friends! If you've been reading Cyndi's blog, you already know that we are in Panama City, Panama. We had an uneventful flight (Praise God!) and are in the process of settling into our new environment. We have met some people who are very important to us already, Raul and Betty Alvarado. He is a local native minister and they have three beautiful children. They are both from Panama and went to Harding, built a ministry in California for several years before moving back to Panama. They have been back here for around ten years. They have been helping us get settled in and showing us around. This isn't easy when you consider that Christmas is so near. The Alvarados have graciously invited us to spend Christmas with them. So we will get the pleasure of experiencing the holiday in another culture. That will be really welcome, because being by ourselves would be difficult since we won't be with our families this year.

We are living in the Carters apartment while they are home in Florida for the holidays. We were able to meet Lisa before she left. While they are in Florida, we are hoping to find a place of our own. No success so far. Please pray that we will find something close to the university where we will be reading with students. Housing is very expensive here and we also want to find something reasonable so we can stay for nine months, like we agreed.

We have a difficult road ahead of us. We started learning Spanish when we arrived, but have A LOT to learn before we can even take care of our own needs, let alone carry on a conversation. So please pray that we will be quick students. I think a genuine miracle will be required for that one, but I believe God can do amazing things as we have already seen.

After the New Year's holiday, we will be moving out to a small town called Cheppo. There we plan on spending two weeks doing LST work with the people there. We may be staying in the church there. We may be out of internet contact while there, but will surely fill you in on all of the details once our time in Cheppo is through. We look forward to this challenge.

Thank you for your interest in our lives and how God is using us. Thank you so much for all of you who have given us support and prayers. Just reading our blogs is a gift to us. A special thanks to everyone who leaves comments, if it weren't for you, we wouldn't know that anyone was reading our blogs. Thanks to our families for giving us up for one year, we miss you, especially now. Thanks to our friends who have offered to do whatever we need them to do. The time to ask for favors may be near.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year! God bless you!

Another Transition

It seems like transitions are becoming a habit for Cyndi and I. But that doesn't make them any easier. We are preparing to leave Natal on Monday, Dec. 15th and the good-byes have already started. Last night we had a farewell party and most of our readers came to wish us well. Cris and Lacy coordinated a great time for us all to share one last time together. It is really hard to let go of people that we have shared so much of ourselves with. From the first day we all met, our goals were to give of ourselves and share the Word. We all have relationships that do not go much deeper than, "Hi, how ya doin?" "Fine." "How are you?" "Fine." But with LST, we spend at least an hour per week talking and studying together. Needless to say, these relationships can really run deep.

So as we leave Brazil and look to Panama, it's a mixture of emotions for me. We are leaving close friends and traveling to a place that we've never been before to work with people we've never met. It's real easy to reject this idea and want nothing more than to stay here in Natal with the people we know. But I know that God is calling us to Panama and we will meet and grow to love more people. At this point, it is difficult, but trusting God's will and plans is what we set out to do a year ago. I'm reminded of the lesson that I blogged about at the very beginning: I'm not to make plans and ask God to bless them, I'm to let God make my plans and follow. So that's what I am trying to do, even when I don't feel like it.

Our plane leaves Natal on the morning of the 15th and arrives in Panama City later that evening. We are planning on making contact with Lisa Carter, one of the missionaries before she leaves for the holidays in the US. We will stay in the Carter's apartment for the holidays learning as much Spanish as possible. I plan on sending more details once we are settled in. God bless you and please keep us in your prayers.

Thanks and More Thanks

We have had A LOT to be thankful for, here in Natal. On Sunday night, two young men gave their lives to Christ in baptism. Both were involved in the LST program. We are so thankful to announce that Talis and Jefferson are brothers in Christ. What an incredible blessing to see both of them grow in their faith and knowledge of Jesus. Talis had been reading with Lacy Hefley. The first time I saw Jefferson was at our costume party at the end of October. He has been studying with John Jewell since then. You can see pictures of their baptisms by clicking here! (For those of you that receive our newsletter, Talis was the young man that we highlighted in the reader profile of our last newsletter.)


We recently celebrated Thanksgiving by having a party with our LST readers. We had a great group and served a traditional Thanksgiving dinner to all of them. Our LST team, the missionaries and church members alike pitched in to make it all come together. We got to teach our readers about our culture and really share ourselves with them. Cyndi made some great food that wasn't easy to do in a different culture. But it was a wonderful taste of home... especially the pies. We were really encouraged by the success of the party. Last year Cris Carpenter was the lone American trying to do the same thing. Marisa, a local minister's wife, mentioned how last year they were praying and praying for God to help them reach the community. She said that this year, she can see that God answered their prayers in a great way. (You can see pictures of our party at the same link above.)

Cyndi and I are starting to look to the immediate future. In two weeks, we will leave Brazil and travel to Panama City, Panama. It is difficult to imagine the transition that awaits us. It will be excruciating to leave our coworkers, church family and the readers we have come to know so well. It will be especially hard because we are going to a brand new place that we know little about. All we know is that God wants us there. And I guess that should be enough, shouldn't it? He has taken care of us so well that I am constantly amazed at His grace.

I will send more info about Panama in the next few weeks. Until then, rejoice with us as we celebrate two new lives in Christ.
Visit Cyndi's blog to read more about our Thanksgiving.