February Update
Lindsay and I are finally back in Catalina, after living in Panama City for two months. We are just about re-settled and are adjusting to doing full time ministry with a newborn. We were having a bit of trouble with our car and had quite a bit of work done to it in the city and on the way here the A/C went out and the compressor almost blew up!!! Please pray that our vehicle will continue to be a reliable source of transportation and that we can get the A/C fixed without costing too much.
During our time in Panama City I feel like we gained a better focus and clearer direction on how God wants to use us in Santa Catalina. We are starting the busy season of hosting mission groups. The first group of the season remolded the Sunday school room and it looks 100 times better!!!! Pictures will be coming soon of this, so check back in a few days. We are so excited to have a nice clean space to use to teach and build relationships with the children.
Other than running Sunday school every Sunday, we continue to host Teen Night (every Friday night teens ages 12 and up are invited to the church for games, snacks, and a message given by a local), Kids Night (the same as teen night but on Monday night and for ages 11 and under), and Family Movie Night (we show a family friend movie every Wednesday night with a short message relating the movie to something in the Bible).
While living in Panama City, we expanded our family with the arrival of our healthy son, Caiden. He was born on January 7th (exactly one week before his due date) and was 7 lb, 11 oz and 20 inches long. Caiden is doing very good: eating, sleeping, and loving life! He is such a content baby and is easy to take along with us wherever we need to go. The locals of the town are already in love with the little guy, and we are excited to have him here. We can already see how God is already using him to help build/strengthen relationships between the town’s people and our family. We have added a new ‘Family’ section to the top of the page. This is where we will keep everyone up to date with Caiden. Our internet is not working fast enough for us to upload pictures, but once it is, or once we are back in Panama City, we will upload pictures for all to see how precious our son is.
We have two short-term mission groups coming this month and we are super excited to see what God is going to do within the adults and teens of these groups. We pray that these groups will help strengthen the ministries that are taking place here and that the locals will be greatly impacted.
The construction of the church is still coming along. The last mission group that came to Santa Catalina donated money for the toilets, sinks, and water reserve tank. Once we purchase and install these items the church will have 2 nice new working bathrooms!!! (Something it has never had.)
We just reached the 3-year marker of being full time missionaries in Panama! Thank you for all of your support, with both finances and prayer. We have only been able to do God’s work this long with your help and we pray that you will continue to support the work we were called to do.
Please continue to pray that:
*our family stays healthy and continues to grow together and closer to God
*we continue to follow the path that God has set before us
*we can make the logistics of “going home” to NC for 3 months happen (As of now, we are planning on returning to NC in October through December to visit family and friends. During this time we also will be spreading awareness of what God is doing in Santa Catalina and raising support.
November Update
Well it has still been raining!!! Although we have had some really nice sunny days, there have definitely been some gloomy ones. But here is a breakdown of the past month. We are in an exciting new phase of ministry here.
Church Construction
We have finished the retaining wall that goes around the back of the property that has allowed us to fill in and level that area next to the church, which in the future will make it more of a usable space for events. We have finished the structure for the two new bathrooms and have started on all the finishing touches to make everything look nice. We have now run into a halt due to lack of funds, but are hoping after coming back from the city and the birth of Caiden, we can accumulate more funds and finish things up by mid next year. We still need to buy two toilets, two sinks, a water tank, and A LOT OF CEMENT for doing the repello (stucco). If you would like to make a contribution to the church, please email us and we can direct you how to make it happen. All in all we are happy with where we are at with the construction and the progress that we have made this year, and are super excited for finishing up.
Youth Group
We have had four Friday nights of the Tribe, and it has been going well. We have had about 15 teens every time and it seems they are enjoying it, and hopefully getting something out of it. A majority of the teens that have been coming do not come from a family that goes to the church. This is a great opportunity for the church to grow, and the love of Jesus to spread through the town. We have been having snacks and games, and a 30-minute message. A hotel owner graciously donated a ping-pong table, and we have been playing some four square. The youth Pastor Jorge has been doing a great job. Unfortunately we have not been able to get any other volunteers to help us, which could be a problem. We are praying to we can get other church members come in and make this ministry their own. We are excited to have the groups come and share with them (some of the groups that come consist of youth, and come with their youth pastor).
Family Movie Night
We have actually been doing movie night every week, instead of every other week like we initially planned. We wanted to have something more consistent. There hasn’t been that big of a show up of adults at the movies, but most nights we are pretty full. There has been a short 5 min message that has linked the over all lesson/theme of the movie to some Biblical principle that can hopefully get the kids thinking. We are hoping to come back from Panama City with even more movies to be able to play, when we come back with Caiden mid February. If anyone has kid friendly movies, even surf movies that they would like to donate please let us know (audio has to be in Spanish, because most kids can’t read very well, if at all).
Sunday School
The classroom is a little drier, after this past month we have repaired leaks in the roof. It has been a little harder than initially thought to get commitment by the teen helpers, but we are hoping to talk with them about this before we leave for Panama City. The little ones have been doing great, and are constantly growing in their discipline. We continue to have a class of about 15-20 and have outgrown the tables and benches built this year! A few of them have been coming and sitting outside of youth night, and can’t wait to be a part of the new and exciting ministry that the church has to offer.
Everyday Life
We have been spending a lot of time lately with an American couple that run a hotel and we have developed great friendships with them. They are an awesome couple that help out the community all that they can, and have a huge heart for the kids and have visions of their own for a town free of alcohol problems, drugs, and prostitution.
We have been thinking and talking a bit about trying to a small skate ramp built somewhere in town, to give the kids somewhere to play and ride their skateboards out of the street. All the kids’ love to skate, and it could be a good thing for the town. Not just the locals, but tourists, when there are no waves they can skate. We need a location, and then believe that it will be easy to go from their finding the people to fund it, and build it.
With all the rain and gloomy weather, there hasn’t been a lot of opportunity to go surfing with the kids, and they have also started soccer season, and have been tied up with that. We go through phases where the kids don’t hang out as much, and this has been one of them. The good news is that the ones that do hand out don’t seem to be getting into any trouble or doing any sort of backsliding. Please pray for the kids to stay strong and stay on track.
We are getting really excited about Caiden coming in about a month and a half, and are excited for what the New Year will bring. Right now we just want to finish off strong and get some momentum going that will hopefully continue while Lindsay and I are gone to Panama City for two months. Please pray for the two kids ministries (Sunday School, and Teen night) to continue while we are gone and for the kids to continue grow in their walks with the Lord.
October Update
We are back in Santa Catalina, after a 3 week visit to California. It is definitely nice to be back home, although it has rained everyday except one since being back. The end of rainy season is approaching (it lasts until mid-November) and so it will be super rainy for about a month longer.
California Trip: Our trip to California went really well. We had the opportunity to share with two different churches along with various groups about the work we are doing in Panama. It was refreshing to see so many familiar faces (from groups that come down on short term mission trips) and to be surrounded by people that love and support us. THANK YOU to all who provided us with logistics (plane tickets, housing, food, transportation) and to all those that hosted us at their churches and meetings and for allowing us the time to share.
Refreshed: Since being back from California, we have both felt refreshed about doing ministry here in Catalina. This past week we have been coming up with ministry ideas and are in the planning stages, with 2 new ministries starting next week!
Family Movie Night: Every other Wednesday night we are going to host family movie night at the church. We were graciously given a projector while in the States in order to do this. We are going to set up the inside of the church with the projector and a white sheet and show family appropriate movies completely in Spanish. After the movie we are going to give a brief message relating the movie to Biblical principals. We are hoping that by providing the town with this activity that it will 1) provide a family friendly environment and 2) give people something to do other than go to the cantina. We purchased some movies while in the States, but can always use more for this. If you would like to contribute any movies to family movie night, please let us know!
Youth Group: Starting next Friday we will be assisting with youth group (the name for this is: Tribu de la Joventud--- Tribe of the Youth). This is open to all teens ages 12-18 as a night of fun just for them. We are going to have a time of fellowship, snacks, and games followed by a message. After the message there will be more time for fellowship and games. We do not want to be the leaders of this, but simply want to be the one’s to start it up and assist with it. There is a youth pastor at the church that is going to give the messages and we are asking for 2 volunteers a week to help assist us.
Sunday School: Along with these 2 new ministries, we are continuing to run Sunday school. While in Panama City we met with a children’s pastor and he was able to give us some ideas of ways to keep the class exciting. We continue to have about 20 participates every week and now have 2 teen volunteers to help us and the other adult leader.
Family: We are going to be here in Catalina until the middle of December (if all goes according to planned) and then temporarily relocate to Panama City. We will be in the City for 2 months, until the middle of February. The owners of the house we are renting in Catalina come back for those two months; therefore we need to be out of the house. Caiden is due in the middle of January and going back to the City for these 2 months allows us to have him in a safe hospital, with excellent care and to allow a month of adjusting to our expanded family before coming back to Catalina. Caiden is continuing to do well, constantly growing and getting us both more excited every day to meet him.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and to stay up-to-date with the work we are doing in Santa Catalina, Panama.
God Bless,
Jordan and Lindsay Guy
August Update
We hosted another mission group from NJ this month. We’re thinking that this was our last group of the year, but we are definitely open to more! This group continued with mapping the town, and the basics are now done. The guys of the group worked on church construction and were able to get a lot accomplished in a short time. This group rewired the electricity in the church and now there are 8 lights, instead of 2, and 2 high-speed fans. Flashlights are no longer needed to read Bibles during night services and I had to wear a sweatshirt during a service because the fans work so well.
Construction at the church has been going well. Jordan has been assisting a few members of the church as many days as they can work. The roof on the 2nd floor is done, and before the start of super rainy season! Now the focus is on finishing the new septic tanks, building new bathrooms, and continuing with the finishing of the 2nd floor. We are excited about the progress of the church and greatly appreciate the physical and monetary efforts everyone has put forth. Check out our Catalina pictures (then under the section 2011) to see the progress of the building.
Sunday school continues to be our most consistent outreach. We are currently doing a 6-week study on the life of Moses and the children seem to really be enjoying it. This past Sunday we had 28 children, including 1 boy who doesn’t usually attend (his parents are not part of the church). His dad came to pick up his son a bit early because they had to travel to another town, and when he came in the classroom he express how impressed he was by the children’s behavior. All 28 children were sitting down, working on their craft, and hardly making noise- he couldn’t believe it. He asked if we have class every Sunday because he wants his child to attend regularly. It is so encouraging when people (especially those outside the church) commend the children’s behavior and our efforts during class or about class.
An American couple that has lived here over 7 years told us they could really see a positive change in the attitude of one of the teen boys that we invest a lot of time in. This boy comes from a very broken home, without positive influences from family members. This couple is not religious in any way but they said they are thankful for the work we are doing. We pray that by spending time with the children and teens that we can change the next generation to be more Christ like.
We hosted our 3rd patio sale this past weekend and it went even smoother than the last one. The night before the sale we asked church members to help set up, and then they were allowed to shop. Usually the town people buy all of the good stuff, and once the madness slows down, the church members get the picked over stuff. By allowing them to buy the night before they were able to get what they wanted. With both patio sale days we raised $200! This time we split the profits between Ambrosio and the church. As always the people asked when the next one would be before this one was over. Thanks to everyone who donated items- we are always accepting new and slightly used goods for this cause.
I have currently been focusing on making a video to show when we are in California--- only 3 more weeks. We plan on talking to as many people about God’s mission for us in Santa Catalina in hopes that more people will get involved. If you live in California and would like us to talk to you, your small group, church, etc, please let us know!
Lastly—our family is still doing well. I just reached week 20 of my pregnancy and Caiden Alexander Guy is continuing to grow daily. He has gotten a lot stronger and now both Jordan and I are able to feel him kicking.
Please pray that:
-all 3 of us will stay safe and healthy
-that we will continue to make a difference in Catalina
-for safe travels to, around, and back from California
-our finances will be met as our budget increases
Thanks and God Bless,
Lindsay and Jordan Guy
July Update
[We have a lot of pictures to upload, but will have to wait until the next time we are in Panama City, at the end of the month, due to slow internet in Catalina. Sorry for the delay, but we will email when new ones are posted.]
Here is a quick recap of what we have been doing this past month along with some exciting things to come in the future…
-We have had 2 interns helping us this summer. One guy from NC was here for 10 days and the other guy from California is here for 1 month. They have been a great help to us and the town has loved having them. Having the interns here has been a great learning experience for all of us and we hope to continue having interns in the future.
-Second Patio Sale was an even greater success than the first! While we were in Panama City this past time we had a lot of people donate items for a patio sale in Catalina. We ended up with so much stuff that we were not able to bring it all to Catalina… which means we will have another sale in the near future! With the items we were able to bring we hosted a patio sale, raising over $100 for Ambrosio! People were waiting outside of the church two hours before we started!!! Thanks so much for all who donated. If you would like to donate new or slightly used items, we are always accepting for the next patio sale, just ask us for details.
-Church construction is continuing and we are now working on creating a town map/church directory. The walls of the second floor are 99% complete and then all that remains is the roof. The goal in making this town map is to help us know where everyone lives, and more importantly to assist mission groups when they go on prayer walks throughout the town. This has proven to be a bigger challenge than expected because a lot of houses are off long dirt paths in the middle of fields. The next two mission groups we have coming are going to be helping us complete this map.
-Our plane tickets are booked; we are going to California September 15th-October 6th. During this visit to the States we plan on speaking at a few churches, meetings, and small groups in hopes to raise more awareness to the mission we are called on here in Catalina. Most of the churches we are speaking with are those that come on short term mission groups to Panama and we feel that it is important that they hear first hand about the positive effect they have on the town of Catalina.
-Our family is growing! We are 1/3 of the way through the pregnancy and our little one is due January 14th. We should find out in a few more weeks whether we are having a boy or a girl. The locals seem to think we are having a boy… but we will see. Please pray for a smooth and safe pregnancy and that both mom and baby will stay healthy.
Thanks to all who continue to support us with prayers and finances. We could not spread the Word to the locals of Santa Catalina without you.
God Bless,
Jordan, Lindsay, and Baby Guy
May Update
A lot of new things have been going on since the April update. We have hosted another team from California and have a small team from NJ here at the moment. Construction at the church has been a slow process, but nonetheless, it is getting done.
Sunday School- The huge improvement with Sunday school is we now have a local helper! Andy, a young adult that attends the church, has recently started helping us teach the children. This is a huge help for Jordan and I as we do not have to do everything ourselves. When we go out of town or simply need a break from teaching, Andy will be able to lead the class. Also, this is the bridge between the class and the church. Previously the locals called it “Jordan and Lindsay’s class”, but we wanted a way to make it more of a part of the church. Now with Andy’s help it feels like a program that the church offers, instead of a program that we offer.
Thrift Store Patio Sale- The patio sale we hosted in April was a huge success. Everything was gone in 30 minutes and Ambrosio, the local that is losing his vision, was able to make $45 to help support his family. (For more information about this and Ambrosio read the February post) Before the patio sale was over the locals were asking when the next one is… they love shopping! We are currently waiting to receive more items so we can host another sale. If you have any new or slightly used items you would like to donate to this cause, please let us know!
Positive Influence- We are hanging out with the local children and youth as much as possible trying to be a positive influence in their life. There are a lot of broken families here, with only one parent involved, or even abuse. Some of the regular people that hang out with us do not attend the church, but we are hoping that they will see the light shine through us and get interested about a relationship with Jesus. Please pray that we will continue to be a good role model to the children, youth, and even adults.
Summer Interns- Next month we have 2 interns coming from the Sates to check out missions and to help us out. One guy, from NC, is coming for 10 days while the other, from Cali, will be here for a month. We are so excited to have this opportunity to share our experience with them. We are hoping that this experience will be a positive one for both of them and that they get as much out of the internship as possible.
California- We are planning a trip to California during the middle of September. A lot of mission groups that come to Catalina, are from Cali and we feel that it is important for their churches to hear first hand how their groups affect the community here. Also, a lot of our support comes from Cali and we want to have the opportunity to raise more support and awareness about the mission we are doing. If you would like to financially help with the trip, please see the “how to support us” section to the right.
Thanks for taking the time to read about our lives here in Santa Catalina, Panama. We have added new pictures to the Catalina section, so please check those out.
God Bless,
Jordan and Lindsay Guy
(Hi Brooke and Weston!!)
April Update
Thank you for taking the time to check out our website and to read about the latest news with us here in Panama. New pictures have been posted in both the Paraiso and Catalina sections, so check them out!
House: We are completely moved into our new house and so far all is good. We are really enjoying having more time to devote to the community, now that we no longer have hotel duties. The locals keep telling us that they prayed for us to move out of the hotel, and so they are just as excited that we have moved into our own house. We have a mission group from California coming this Sunday and we are very excited to be able to use our new house as a main meeting point for this group. We will be using our space for breakfast, dinners, devotions, and a book study. We are excited to be able to use this house as a tool in our ministry.
Thrift Store/Patio Sale: A lot of people have been asking about the thrift store that we mentioned in a blog post in February. We still do not have a location for this so our solution at the moment is to host an occasional patio sale at the church… our first one being tomorrow (Friday, the 15th). J and I placed signs around town announcing the patio sale and we have everything priced at a reasonable price in hopes of selling all of the items. All of the money made goes to Ambrosio, an older local who cannot work, due to lack of vision. We plan on hosting these patio sales as often as needed… as soon as J and I feel we have enough items together to have the next one we will. This being said, if you have any items you would like to donate please let us know. We are asking for new or slightly used items, because these are for purchase and not freebies.
Mission Groups: As mentioned above, we have a mission group coming from California this Sunday. This will be our 3rd one of the year, and we are super excited as this is our 3rd year working with this group. Jordan and I have been super busy preparing for this group, arranging house, outreach projects, organizing meals, etc but know that the town will be blessed by the willingness and openness of the people in this group.
Visas: As you all know, Jordan and I (along with most missionaries that we know here in Panama) have had a difficult time with immigration. The first year we were here we were on tourist visas, having to leave the country every 3 months for 3 days. This past year we applied for missionary visas and were granted a temporary 1-year visa as they processed our paperwork. We never heard back from the immigration office and our 1-year visa was about to expire so we decided to have a lawyer figure out what was going on. We were told the immigration office could not find our paperwork so we needed to re-apply for another 1-year visa. As Jordan and I went to do that the worker at the immigration office informed us that we had been approved for missionary visas on Dec 22, 2010. So with all that being said… Jordan and I have our 2-year missionary visas and do not have to do anything else with immigration until Dec 22, 2012!!! Thank you to all who prayed about this, as this was definitely an answer to prayer!!
This is a brief recap of what has been going on recently. If you would like to know more, just send us an email at jordanylindsay@gmail.com . We would love to keep you updated on more day--to-day things.
Thanks and God Bless,
Jordan and Lindsay Guy
March Update
We just had our first mission group of the year… and they were from Wilmington, NC (where we moved from). Long story short…this group was originally going to Peru for a mission trip, things fell trough, they read J’s article in a surf magazine about what we are doing here, they wanted to check out first hand what we’re doing, and so they came. It was awesome having people from our hometown come, even though we did not know them before. While here, they helped us with Sunday school, held a beach day, and enjoyed seeing how we work with the locals on a day-to-day basis. This group is going to help raise awareness of what we are doing in Panama and they are hoping to start bringing groups every year!
Also, while the group was here the church held a revival. We were able to go one night, and it was super encouraging. There were over 150 people there from not only Catalina, but surrounding towns too. A lot of the people that were in attendance usually have nothing to do with the church. There was an awesome tipico Christian band, including an accordion, and a guest speaker who was on fire for the Lord.
Once the group left, Jordan and I started moving. There were a few things that needed to be done to the house to make it “move in ready” such as screening in the windows, cleaning, and painting. We have been working hard this week and are going to completely move on the 28th.
Even though we have not been staying at the house yet, we have been working almost everyday the past week. Since we have been working over there we have had a lot of the local kids stop by. It is so awesome to be able to have the kids come by and hang out. They enjoy just hanging out and helping too. I love the fact that they know they can come to our house, but they also know when it is time to leave.
A group from California, Cornerstone, is coming today and we want to stay with them at the hotel… so that is why we are not moving until the 28th (when they leave). This group is one that has been coming for many years. Jordan and I have had the opportunity to work with them for the past 2 years, so we are stoked to work with them again this year. See you soon!
One of my sisters and her husband come on the 29th-5th. Jordan and I are super excited to have family here and to have them help us with our mission here in Catalina.
Due to our move our financial needs have increased. Please see the financial needs section to the right and also the how to support us section. Lately we have been receiving a little over 1/4 of what we need, and with a new rent payment due every month, it is not going to work. What we are hoping is that we can have 100 people commit to supporting us monthly with only $10 a month, therefore covering our expenses. If you can't do that, then even $5 a month really helps. We encourage you to pray about it, and check out on the page how to send support our way; so that we can continue to do the Lords work here in this small fishing village.
This City Is Yours
J and I are back in Panama City for a about a week. While in the city, with “real” Internet, we are able to catch up on videos, songs, and messages from our church in Wilmington. As I was watching a recent music video the lyrics really stood out to me. Below are the lyrics to the song “This City Is Yours”. How perfect are these words for how we feel about Santa Catalina, Panama…. Okay maybe instead of city it should say village… but you get the point.
Elevation Worship: “This City Is Yours”
This city, Lord, it is yours
So break our hearts, break our hearts
For the people who are far from you
Break our hearts
Teach us to love, the way you loved us
Send us out, send us out
Pour out your fire, and flow through our lives
Send us out, send us out
The heart in my chest, it is beating so fast
I can hardly contain all the hope in my veins
As I see you alive in this city arise
Like the sun shining bright
We see darkness and night run from our lives
This city, Lord, it is yours
Teach us to love, the way you loved us
Send us out, send us out
Pour out your fire, and flow through our lives
Send us out, send us out
We'll take to the streets with fire in our hearts
Send us out, send us out
We're Moving!!!
So as mentioned in the last email, Jordan and I have decided to move. It may seem like a crazy idea to move from free ocean front housing, but after praying about it and weighing the pros and cons, we feel that it is the right decision. Originally we figured we would wait until June or July to move, but then we realized that sooner would be better. We found a house at the edge of town (still in Santa Catalina) in which the owners live here for 2 months of the year and then go back to Holland for the remaining of the year. (We will use the time that they are here to go back to the States). The owners are leaving at the beginning of March so we are going to move in around mid-March. The house comes partially furnished… so we are in need of a few items. For those in Panama if you or someone you know have the following items for sale, please let us know. And for those not in Panama (and those in Panama) if you would like to financially help us in buying a few items, you can check out how to on the right hand side of the page. The items we need are:
-small oven/stove
-washing machine
-microwave
-bike (the one Jordan is currently using belongs to the hotel)
-clothes dresser (or 2)
Our monthly financial needs will be increasing once we move as our rent is $450/month (this includes electricity and water), but we are fully trusting that God will provide as He always does.
We are both excited about moving and having more time to invest in the community. When we told the Pastor (here in Catalina) that we found a house to rent he said his prayer had been answered. We did not know, but he had been praying that we would find housing, outside of the hotel, so we could devote more time to the ministry. (While living and working to the hotel, we have to be at the hotel by 3:30 everyday to check in/out guest, along with other duties)
Please pray that we will have a smooth move and get settled into our new place without any problems. Also that we will continue to use our time wisely, especially since we will have more “free time” once we move.
On a side note: If you’re in the Wilmington area, pick up a free copy of the newest Local Sessions magazine. Jordan has an article in it about what we’re doing in Panama. A few pictures are included!
Thanks and God Bless
Jordan and Lindsay Guy
Thrift Store Vision
J and I rode our bikes to the small store to buy phone minutes and bananas…. nothing out of the ordinary. When we were walking out of the store, one of the church members, Ambrosio Espinosa, told Jordan that he needed to talk with us. So we headed back to our house so we could hear what he had to say. [Ambrosio is an older local Catalinian who has vision problems. This past summer a mission group from NJ prayed for healing in his eyes, and his vision improved, but has gradually degraded back. He now has trouble seeing again.] Ambrosio asked if we knew of any job opportunities for him so he could better support his family. Currently neither him nor his wife are working. Due to his sight problem and age he is unable to do labor intensive work such as construction, a job that is usually available to locals. Unfortunately, Jordan and I do not know of any work for either of them to do, but we ran a few ideas by him. He then started talking about an idea that he has had, but needs our help with. Ambrosio asked if when the mission groups come and leave stuff, if he could open a small store to sell the various items to the locals, in turn making a small profit for himself. This way the locals will not seeing the mission groups as Santa Clause, always giving, and also so the locals can gain a since of self- value, being able to purchase clothes, instead of always getting handouts. Jordan and I have had this idea since before we moved to Catalina, but have not felt the timing was right for us to move forward with it… now we know why. God has also placed this “thrift store” vision in Ambrosio as a way for him to support his family. As far as a location for this store goes, there is an empty house in the center of town that the Pastor owns. We are hoping that we will be able to use this house as a store, giving a percentage of profits to the Pastor. Please pray that if this is God’s will that everything will happen as needed.
If you are coming down to Panama for whatever reason, with a mission group or just for vacation, please consider bringing new or gently used items to donate to this store. All profits will go to helping local families, primarily the Espinosas, with a percentage going to the Pastor in use for the building (if that is the location we are to use). We all have items, clothes, toys, sheets, etc, lying around that we do not need… so why not donate to those who do!
On a side note…Ambrosio loves playing the guitar. He occasionally plays during church services, but mentioned that he would love to have his own guitar to play at home. Jordan and I would love to be able to fill this desire of owning his own guitar, so if you or anyone you know, has a guitar they would like to donate, please let us know so we can coordinate on how to get it here.
It’s encounters like this that make me certain that we are where God wants us and that in everyday life we have the opportunity to help the town of Santa Catalina. Thank you to everyone who supports us, because it is only through your help that we are able to have encounters like these. Please pray for Ambrosio and his family, especially for his vision to improve.
Jan 2011 Update
The first half of January we were still in NC and SC. It was so nice spending a full month with family and friends, although we were beyond cold the entire time. We arrived in Panama on the 16th and stayed in Panama City until the 22nd. We had to get our car inspected, buy a new license plate, pay car insurance, update our health insurance, get our teeth cleaned, and other necessary errands before heading out to Catalina. Since we have been in Catalina we have been getting settled back in and working hard. We have been spending a lot of time at the pastor’s house catching back up and making sure we are all on the same page for work that needs to get done this year. We have also been writing an operations manual and making arrangements for mission groups. This coming week we are starting construction on the church. Our goal is to have all church renovations done this year… as it has been an ongoing project for years! The pastor is so excited to have it finished that he has started planning a party to celebrate the completion of the church. Jordan will be the main one helping with construction as it is all with concrete, while I help clean up, organize, and prepare for the next construction stage of the church. The first few things we will be working on are: making steps, blocking the walls, and putting a roof all on the 2nd floor. All of the mission groups we have come this year will be assisting with getting the church done. It is not too late to sign up to bring a mission group to Panama this summer!!! The more groups we have, the faster we can get the church completed and move to another project.
We made a slideshow of the past year and we presented it to a few groups and individuals while we were in the States. If you would like to see a brief summary of our 2010 year in Panama please go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B0kScAoJ2I . (Unfortunately the music that goes with the pictures will not play on YouTube)
Thanks for taking the time to stay up-to-date with what we are doing in Panama!!
Dios te Bendiga,
Jordan and Lindsay Guy
Nov-Dec Update
Jordan and I stayed busy in November and the first part of December in Catalina. We continued teaching Sunday school every week and interacting with various families that live there. We had a few friends from Panama city come out for the weekend of Thanksgiving, which was a lot of fun showing them around our new "town". They all helped us out at Sunday school and the children loved having them. The last week that we were in Catalina we had a guy (Dave) from New Jersey stay with us. He is interning in Panama City in Paraiso and at the Christian school there... but wanted to see what it was that Jordan and I do. While he was with us we had the opportunity to deliver hundreds of gifts to the people in Catalina. The K5 class of the school that I worked at last year (in Panama City) had a toy, food, and clothes drive for everyone in Catalina. Jordan, Dave, and I loaded everything up in the back of our 4runner and drove through "town". We made a few stops in which we opened up our car and everyone was allowed to take 1 food item, 1 piece of clothes, and 1 toy. It was really incredible to see how thankful everyone was and to give to those in need. A few days after this Jordan and I had a Christmas party for our Sunday school class. We were expecting double the usual crowd because we knew word got out that we were having a party... but we did not realize how many people would come. We ended up having over 50 children attend our Christmas party! It was awesome. We played hot potato using Christmas music, hung out, and ate yummy snacks. After this Christmas party, Jordan and I packed up and drove to Panama city. We stayed in the city for a few days finishing up Christmas shopping and then on Dec 15th we flew out to NC! (Thanks to our parents for making this possible)!!! Jordan and I will be in NC/SC until Jan 16th. It has been so nice spending time with our families and enjoying a WHITE CHRISTMAS. We would love to see as many people as possible while we are in the States so if you would like to hang out give us a call at: Lindsay (828-726-7944) and Jordan (910-546-0950).
Attached is our end of year newsletter, picture page, and finance page. We mailed out these to everyone that we have an address for, so if you did not get a hard copy and would like one, please let us know. Enjoy!
Thanks for taking the time to keep up with our life in Panama! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Love, Lindsay (and Jordan) Guy
Attachments:
October Update
Currently we are back in Panama City for 2-3 weeks. Jordan has a few carpentry jobs to do, building cabinets for the extra apartment at the mission base in Paraiso, and a counter top for a good friend. This time in the city is allowing us to spend quality time with our friends and to stock up on items needed in Catalina. We have enjoyed our first week back attending our Bible study, church, and Christian Surfers meeting… having a to-do list once again. Being back in the city helps us realize that we are where we are meant to be out in Catalina as it feels more like home than the city with it’s busyness.
We have now lived in Santa Catalina for a little over 3 months, ¼ of a year. We have been blessed to have a smooth transition period from the city life to country living. Since mission groups have stopped coming for the year (most groups come during State side summer) we have been focusing on the locals of Catalina. We are still concentrating our efforts on teaching Sunday school, during the Sunday church service. Over the past months we have had a regular group of kids attending. Having between 8-15 regulars helps us in preparation each week, and in having a continuing flow of lessons. We feel that the kids that have been attending each week are enjoying learning more about the Bible and are strengthening their friendships with each other and with us. Jordan and I have really enjoyed getting to know the locals on a more personal level and having the opportunity to interact with them daily.
Life in Santa Catalina is different from anything we have experienced before. There is one paved road, the rest are dirt, one stop sign that is covered up by vines, and a handful of streetlights that help light up the otherwise pitch-black night. There is one main store in Catalina, it’s about the size of a typical convenience store in the States, that carries the basics—bread, rice, milk, noodles, soda, paper towels, along with a few other items. Needless to say we do all of our shopping in Panama City and transport it out to our home. If we run out of something that is not sold in Catalina we have to drive one hour to a larger store that has a larger variety. The sun is up by 6am and down by 6:30pm… this allows us to get plenty of sleep. There is close to nothing to do once the sun goes down, except to eat, so most nights we are heading to bed before 9. Life is simple in Catalina. The local men either fish or do manual labor (ie. build or cut grass with machetes) in order to support their families while the women stay at home with the children or help with house keeping at one of the hostels. On a typical day you will see between 5-10 cars on the road. Most people walk, ride horses, or bike throughout the town… we ride our bikes. Due to this much simpler life style we are looking for more “work” to do. We hang out with the locals during the week, talking and catching up, but we want to have more planned activities to do…. other than just Sunday school one day a week. This is our main prayer request, as we need a more productive way to spend our time in Catalina. Currently we read, sew, make household items, or paint to fill our time… but we know we need to spend more time sharing God’s love with the locals, investing in them. Please let us know if you have an idea of what we can do during the week; to be better stewards of the time God has given us with the people of Catalina.
We love this new lifestyle and know that God is using us and stretching us in ways not possible if we were living anywhere else. Thanks for being so supportive of our decision to follow God’s plan for our life, to be His light in Santa Catalina.
New pictures are added in both sections: Catalina and Paraiso. Please take some time to look at them and to pray for the people and projects shown in these photos.
Dios Te Bendiga,
Jordan and Lindsay
August update....
Well we have been in Catalina for a little over a month straight... The mission groups for the summer are over, and it was a great time. There are so many stories of salvations and healings, and new friendships that have been made, that I cannot include it all. But in a nut shell, there were at least 10 or more salvations, and even more healings.... my favorite one is this little boy Angel (he now comes to our sunday school) who had never been able to walk before on his own without assistance. He is 4, and since birth had one leg shorter than the other. So much shorter, about 5 inches, that he was completely unable learn and gain the ability to walk by himself. Him and his mother came to the church service that one of the groups had, and that night the Lord showed up in a huge way, many people were healed, along with Angel. God grew out his short leg, to where now they are completely equal, and he learned to walk by himself that very night right before our eyes. His mother now doesn't know what to do, because he's now running all over the place, where before we was always at her side, because he couldn't walk.
Like I said there are many many more stories, and the point of it all is God is good, he loves us, and he is the God of miracles. Healings aren't just things that you can read about in the bible they are happening today, and I have witnessed them in the past, and recently in this past month or so. Jesus said with faith only the size of a mustard seed, we can move the mountains, and to us the mountains are moving in the town of Catalina.
Aside from ministry with the groups, Lindsay and I have been getting right in to trying to integrate into the community. We have been spending a lot of time with the Pastor and his wife, and with others in the community, trying to build friendships and show the love of Christ to all. I (Jordan) have also been trying to hang out with the teen boys and all the young surfers as much as possible. We share the love of surfing, and I am trying my best to share my love for God with them. I have a friend from Catalina, Oli, who is 15, that is an incredible surfer, and a good kid, that I have been trying to spend as much time that I can with. He is a believer, and I am doing what I can to be a leader to him, and help him grow and walk with God. It is very hard for kids his age, because he is one of the only Christians of his age, and other than myself, as far as I know the only surfer that tries to follow God. So if you could please pray for Oli, that the Lord will speak to him, and the Lord will speak to me so that I can speak some truth into his live, and that his relationship with the Lord will strengthen and remain strong.
Other than this Lindsay and I have Sunday School for the Kids. We average about 15 kids every week, with ages ranging from 2-13 or so. We do this so the the parents of the kids can attend church and not be bothered while they are trying to listen to the service. It has definitely been a learning process these past weeks, getting to know the kids and having the kids getting to know us. The kids are beginning to truly love and respect us as leaders in their lives... and we hope and pray that this will continue, and our vision to help bring up this next generation for God can be achieved.
With ministry aside, Lindsay and I are doing well, our marriage is doing really well, and our relationship with the Lord great too. We are being surrounded by new friends out in Catalina, and really and truly now feel at peace because we feel like we are finally exactly where God wants us and we are doing his will. We thank you all that have been praying for us, and we know that without God and your prayers we could not be where we are today. Please feel free to email us if you want to know more stories from this years mission trips.
Start thinking about getting a group together for next year, and book it now before it gets all filled up!!! Contact us with any questions about how to do this, we can assist you with all your needs, from organizing the trip, to booking your flight and planning transportation... all you need to do is get together a willing body of people that want to serve God and experience what he is doing here in Panama, and around the world!!!
Catalina Move Update
We made it safely to Catalina and have been settling into our new house. We had our first mission group stay at the surf lodge and we were able to assist this group a little bit. This group hung out with the local children and also held a mens and women's Bible study. It was great to have the first group of the summer.. and for them to stay at the lodge so we could interact with them daily. At the moment there is a small group of men from NJ and also a group from Washington State. We had the opportunity to serve with the NJ group while they were in Catalina. We helped with an addition to a local family's house... the project did not get finished due to the rain... hard to do concrete work when the sky is falling. Hopefully another group will be able to finish this project. The Washington state group just left for Catalina today.
Jordan and I are back in the City. We arrived yesterday and will be returning to Catalina tomorrow. We had to come back to the city to do some immigration work and to get groceries for a month. At the moment we do not have internet at our house in Catalina... and it does not seem that we will have it for a few weeks. The internet company is out of the modems we need (the only one's that work in Catalina). Until then, we will use the internet cafe... a short drive from Catalina... to check our email. Due to the lack of reliable internet, we will not be able to post pictures for a bit. Please understand that when we do have good internet we will post lots of pictures of our new adventures.
While we were in Catalina we attended the local church that we will be assisting. They were all very welcoming as the Pastor introduced us to everyone. Our first project we will be working on is starting up a Sunday school class. Currently there is an empty room to use, but no leader... so that is where we come in. This will allow the members of the church to focus more on the service instead of keeping their children occupied/quiet. We are very excited to start this task and to teach the kids of Catalina about Jesus. This will also allow us to work on our Spanish before we begin teaching the English classes to the children.
As stated before... we will post pictures as soon as we can. Thanks for staying connected to us and for supporting the mission God has called us to.
Love,
Jordan and Lindsay
June Update... We're Moving!!!
Our big move is coming up... in 2 days!!! The time has come when we are moving out to Santa Catalina, the location we moved to Panama for. I feel that this will be a much harder transition than our move from NC to here (Panama City). Santa Catalina is a very remote village 5 hours from where we currently live. The closest grocery store, pharmacy, clinic, and other "needed" things are an hour away with the closest larger town with a "real" grocery store and hospital are 2 hours away. We have been mentally, physically, and spiritually preparing for this change and feel that we are ready. We plan on moving this Thursday! We will be working with the community and assisting mission groups during the day (the 1st group of the summer is here this week) and then working at the surf lodge from 6pm-morning. We will be living on site at the lodge and helping with any problems that occur during the evening/night hours. By working at the lodge we have a free place to live (which greatly lowers are needed monthly support) and we will have more interaction with the international traveling community. Our first task with the community is teaching English. The pastor has asked us to do this to better equip the locals to interact with the tourist and more importantly to go into the world and tell others about Jesus. We are excited to start this teaching process as a lot of the community has expressed their eagerness to learn English with us.
Our monthly finances will be completely changing once we move. I have a predicted estimate in our finance section and will update it once we have lived in Catalina for a bit and know more accurately. As with most moves, money is needed to get supplies for the new place, so this month we require a little more than usual.
As stated before we have a mission group from California here now---the 1st of about 5 groups coming this summer. This is the 1st group to stay in Paraiso!!! Is it so rewarding to see the mission base being put to use and to know that the hard work (especially Jordan's) was for the kingdom of God. This group along with the others that come will be venturing out to Catalina to share God's love with the community.
We ask that during this transition period you pray for peace and safety for us. This is a huge step in faith but we feel that this is where God really wants to use us. Our ability to communicate with the locals and travelers is of huge importance so please pray that our Spanish will quickly improve.
Along the lines of communication...the internet is iffy at the moment in Catalina so we will be unable to communicate via internet for possibly a month. Please know that we will update as soon as we can on how our "new life" is going.
We would LOVE to have visitors!!! Please check out the website of the lodge we will living at, at www.hotelsantacatalinapanama.com
We appreciate everyone’s support and could not be here without you. Thanks and God Bless!!!
May Update
This month has seemed to be pretty a pretty relaxing one. Considering that there has been no drama to speak of. Thank God this month has gone relatively smooth. Thank you to everyone who stepped up and sent us extra support, or new support all together. With out all of you, living here would be impossible!!
Paraiso
The mission base is basically done. Our friend Aaron is staining the floors, and then after that, we will be ready for the groups. It has been a long and tiring process, so thanks for all the prayers and donations that everyone has been sending our way to make this building a possibility. Now we just want to invite people to come and see it!!!! So start planning a trip!!!
Christian surfers meetings have been taking place in the base for the past month or so, and it has been really encouraging to see what we have been working so hard on to finally be used. It is really awesome to see the people of CS (Christian Surfers) grow in their relationship with the Lord. We have seen lives and heart totally changed, so huge praises to the Lord for this ministry!!!
This month Jordan has been working hard trying to helping the Cottons finish their house. They are moving in permanently in the next week. It is coming down to the wire, but it will get done... well done enough for them to move in anyway.
Catalina
We have not been to Catalina this month, but will be going shortly. Jordan's mom is coming to visit this next week, for a couple weeks (yay!!!) and we will be going up there to show her the town, and introduce her to all of our friends out there. We are starting to get prepared for the next big movement of our lives out to Catalina, and definitely need prayers sent our way. It is not going to be an easy transition, but we are confident that God is with us and is leading the way. Our Spanish has greatly improved, and once we move out there, where no one speaks English, it will improve even more at a quicker pace.
We will be hosting a team up there basically the first week that we will be living there, so we will be jumping right into things. There is a lot of thought and prayer being done on how to best spend our free time while groups are not in the town. There are a lot of ideas floating around, and we will inform everyone what will be going on as soon as it is revealed to us. But we are very excited to see what God has in store for us. Plus the waves are absolutely pumping there almost everyday!!!!! It definitely will be nice to get back to where we feel the most comfortable, and that is on the coast, right near the ocean!!!
So please everyone, start thinking about coming to visit us and experience how God is moving in our lives and the lives of the people of Panama!!! There is so much potential for God to do some amazing things with Catalina, and you don't want to miss it!!! If you are interested in putting a group together, just let us know and we can begin to make arrangements!!!
Well that is the gist of what is going on in our lives right now, nothing super crazy, but it is a good change to be able to feel relaxed every once and a while... God bless, and cuidate everyone!!!
April Update
A lot of major things have happened over the past month... below is a recap of what all has occurred
Paraiso
-The power is working 100% in all 3 parts of the building!
-The mission base is nearing completion and has been the location for Christian Surfers meetings for the past month.
-Jordan is staying busy completing the finishing touches and helping the Cottons finish up their section as they move in the first of June.
Catalina
-After a "scare" about working at the surf lodge plans went from the worst situation to the best in less than 1 week...
-The new situation is: we are the "night managers" of the surf lodge, working only from 4-8 or so, we still have a free place to live, and this will allow us A LOT more time to work with the community, assist with mission groups, and to test out the Surf and Serve idea that Jordan has
PRASIE GOD for His control of our lives!
Immigration
-Our paper work was accepted and we now have 1 year carnets (basically 1 year residency)
-After 2-3 months we will find out if we were approved for missionary visas-- we'll keep you posted on this
Spanish
-For the past month we have been taking 8-10/hours a week of class
-This is keeping us very busy, but know that it is what we need to correctly learn the language
Bank Account
-After trying for over a year to open a local bank account... we were finally approved and have one open!
-The main reason we wanted to have an account here was so our health insurance could be paid automatically
Finances
-Since Christmas we have had a very limited amount of monthly support
-We are in great need at the moment as we have a power bill that is due and that we can not pay (it is $218)
-Since this past weekend, when we figured up our monthly budget, God has greatly provided for us... both on Sunday and Monday we were given free pizzas for dinner!!!
-It is through the difficult times like these that we must rely solely on God and for his provision... and it reminds us that even when we have more than we need to depend on Him too
Thank you for all,
Jordan and Lindsay Guy
March Update
A huge praise: the power is back on in Paraiso! Thank you for all of the prayers as this was a huge step in getting the base completed.
With the electricity on the work progresses... currently the floors are being sanded and stained. Once this is complete the bunk beds will be assembled and appliances and furniture will be bought and put in place. We are really looking forward to seeing the building put to good use when groups visit this summer.
We are still waiting on obtaining all of the papers required to apply for our missionary visas. We did receive the long awaited letter from the Pastor in Catalina but are now waiting for other papers from various offices.
The bank called us the other day and told us we had been accepted and that we just needed to show them a letter from immigration stating we are in process of obtaining visas... this would be easy to do if we had that letter. We can not get this needed letter from immigration for the bank until we get all of the papers to give to immigration. This is a long process as we have been working on it since Jan and it can get discouraging. So, please pray that we will stay hopeful and that everything will come together in time.
We have both been staying busy with work and are looking forward to having next week off for Semana Santa (Holy Week). One of Lindsay's sisters and brother-in-law is coming for a visit during this week and we are looking forward to showing them around our home.
Please note the change of how to support us financially... you can now donate online!
Project Category: Missionary
Project: Guy, Jordan
Attached is Newsletter #4. Please print this out to put in a visible location as a reminder of how God is using us here. Also feel free to pass it along to anyone that might be interested.
Thanks for being such a huge part of our life!
Jordan and Lindsay Guy
Attachments:
Feb Update
One year ago from today we we're on a plane en route to Panama.... crazy that we have already lived here for a year! We could not have made it this far with out everyones support so thanks for trusting in us and believing that we are fulfilling the mission God has called us to. Below is a recap of what has been/is going on in Panama.
Also...Please check out our new pictures... there are some under the 'Everyday' section and also the 'Paraiso' section.
Paraiso: The mission base is coming along nicely... even though recently we ran into a problem. The electricity had been working from when it was previously hooked up, but a few weeks ago the power company realized this and turned the power off. The guys have been working hard at fulfilling the requirements that the inspector requires before turning the electricity back on. We are expecting the power to be back on next week.
2 weeks ago we had a group of professional skaters come from the States to do two outreaches. This group was originally planning on staying at the base, but due to the electrical issue they did not... so we are still waiting on the "first guests". At these two events the skaters skated for a bit, a local's only contest was held, Tom Curren (a pro surfer) played music, and there was a Walking On Water movie premiere. All of the events were "Christian based" and after a message some of the guys accept Christ! It was really neat to be a part of a non-traditional outreach event and to see how stoked everyone was for the Lord. Prayer Request: That the electricity will be turned on quickly so the last minute projects can be completed.
Visa Situation: We are currently still on tourist visas which means every 3 months we must leave the country for 72 hours. Although this gives us a mandatory vacation, we don't have the finances or the desire to do this much longer. Also, in order to work at the surf lodge in Catalina we must be on different visas so one of the owners of the lodge (who is also a lawyer) is helping us obtain missionary visas. If granted this visas we will be able to stay in the country between 1-5 years without being required to leave. While in the States over Christmas we received all of the required paperwork and our lawyer has had it since. Unfortunately the only papers we are lacking in order to start the application process is documents form the church in Catalina. We have been trying to contact the Pastor in Catalina but have not had much success... therefore we are going this weekend to talk to him (and hopefully receive the needed documents). We would not be in such a rush for this, but our papers from the States expire after 3 months... and it has already been 2! Please pray for us to get this process started as it will be a huge blessing to not be on tourist visas!
Bank: Last week we applied for the second time to open a bank account here. We applied about 8 months ago and were rejected because we have no proof of living here long term (since we're on tourist visas). The main reason we want to open a local account is to eliminate the international ATM fee... it quickly adds up. It is a long process to open an account here and we have no idea if we'll be accepted this time or not. This time we presented more documents proofing that we have lived here and plan to continue living here. Prayer Request: That the bank will see that we are here long term and will allow us to open an account with them.
Spanish Lessons: We have still not started our immersion class due to the sickness of our teacher's mother. Please pray that her mother will quickly heal and that our teacher will safely return to Panama.
Finances: We are in need of more monthly supporters! The past two months we received less than 50% of our needed monthly amount. Please pray about joining efforts with us so that we can continue living the life that God has called us to.
Thanks for all of the prayers and financial support! Keep us updated on how things are going for you!
Love,
Jordan and Lindsay
January Update
Happy New Year! We hope that this year has started off as good for you as it has for us.
We spent the first half of the month in NC and SC visiting with family and friends. It was great to catch up with everyone and to simply be the States. Although we had some time to relax most of the time we were hoping from place to place trying to visit with people and get things done. While in NC we had the chance to play in snow (a huge change from the Panama weather). We arrived back in Panama on Jan 15th... glad to be back home and not living out of a suitcase.
Since being back we have been non-stop. I am still working full time at Crossroads Christian Academy working with kindergarten, first grade, and tutoring in English. I love my job and am blessed to have one, but know that it is just until the end of this school year (when we move to Catalina). Jordan has been super busy working on the mission base in Paraiso. His two main projects are laying down new hardwood floor and finishing the kitchen counters. There is a mission group coming in a week and will be the first group to stay at the base. Although it is not 100% complete, it is a lot closer. Finishing touches are being done so the group will have a comfortable stay at a semi-construction site.
We have not been to Catalina since Thanksgiving, but are planning on going mid-Feb when I have a week long break from school (for Carnival... Panama's version of Mardi Gras). The surf lodge that we will be helping run is still being built and we are excited to see the progress since our last visit.
One of the owners of the surf lodge in Catalina has arranged for us to take intense Spanish lessons with his mom. It is a 6 week program, everyday for a few hours a day, but at the end of the course you are supposed to be 80% conversational. We are both excited about this as it is what we need to be able to interact with the locals easier. Due to a sickness in the family, our tutor has been in the States since we have been back in Panama. We do not know when she will return, so our lessons have been postponed. Please pray for the health of the family member and for a safe return to Panama.
We have added new pictures to the "travel" section and to the "everyday" section. Unfortunately a lot of our pictures got deleted from our computer, but as we take more we will add them.
Thanks to all who follow our life in Panama and to those that support us through prayer and fiances.
If you have any questions or would like to arrange a trip please contact us either through this site or via email at jordanylinday@gmail.com
Dios Te Bendiga
December Update
As most of you know Jordan and I are in the States right now for the holidays. We arrived late on the night of Dec 20th and are flying out Jan 15th. While here we are traveling around trying to see as many friends and family as possible. We have definitely enjoyed seeing everyone, the convenience of everything, the food, and hearing English all around. While in the States we are talking at various churches and groups to inform people of what we have done in Panama the past 10 months. We have created a slideshow to present to people and have it posted on YouTube at this link
Panama Missions
Paraiso: Before we left Panama the base was nearing completion. The exterior concrete walls have been colored, and the interior walls are finished. All of the interior doors have been hung and the trim is complete. There are a few details that still need to be completed along with cabinets for the kitchen. There is a group of skaters coming to Panama in February and we are hoping that the base will be ready for the guys to stay there.
Catalina: We went to Catalina over Thanksgiving to enjoy time with the locals and to attend the Christian Surfers retreat. While there Jordan got to surf with some of his friends and we both had a great time of fellowship with the other members of CS. While in Catalina we had the chance to stay in our future home at the surf lodge. It is not finished, but livable. We both like the place, although it is much smaller than our apartment now and will take some getting used to. We do not have a definite date of our next trip to Catalina, but it will most likely be near the first of February.
Thanks to all who have supported us and we hope to see everyone while here. If you would like to get together please call us at 910-545-2085 or send us an email at jordanylindsay@gmail.com
Happy Holidays,
Jordan and Lindsay
Mid November Update
God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. Genesis 1:31
With the end of the rainy season approaching everything in nature seems to be at its peak beauty. The plants, trees, and grass are an incredible green and the sounds of animals fill the air daily. Any day now the "daily rains" will stop and for 3-4 months there will be no rain. Not only is our surrounding that God made good, but the life that we have been given is good also.
God has been ever faithful to us and is constantly showing us that we are supposed to be here.
-We are in our 4th housing location since living here and 2 weeks ago, we thought we were going to have to move again. Luckily God is in control of everything and worked the situation out in our favor… we we're able to get our contract changed from 12 to 9 months. We are staying in this apartment until the end of June, when we move out to Catalina.
-The other day we came home from grocery shopping to find money in an unmarked envelope under our front door. The amount was very close to the amount we had just spent!
I spoke too soon when I said that our 4-runner was working 100%. This past week we took our car back to the mechanics (our 3rd one since owning the car) to get the transmission fixed again, along with some other stuff. We had to get quite a few things fixed that our first mechanic worked on. We picked our car up yesterday and it is working better then ever... they even washed it for us free of charge! Please continue to pray that our 4-runner will be a reliable source of transportation as it is a huge help to living here. Moral of the story... you live and learn.
Jordan and I had the opportunity to take a short trip to Catalina a few weeks ago. I was thrilled to see that the kids remembered me, even though I haven’t visited with them in months. Every time I hang out with the children I feel a sense of peace that Catalina is where God want us. We will be going back to Catalina this Thursday-Sunday as I have two days off for Thanksgiving. There is a Christian Surfer retreat there over the weekend, but we are going a few days early to visit with the locals and check on what the pastor may need.
As stated above, we are moving to Catalina at the end of June to be full time missionaries. We were recently asked to be on-site managers for a surf lodge that is currently being built by two of our friends, who are followers of Christ, that live in Panama City. Instead of us moving to Catalina and immediately working with the locals on community development we will work at the surf lodge and have a presence in the community. This will allow us to gradually work our way into fully being accepted by the locals. By being on-site managers of the surf lodge, we will be able to reach the nations with God’s word as people from all over travel to Catalina to surf. Also, our financial needs will significantly be reduced, as our room and board will be covered. Although this opportunity seems ideal, please pray that we make the right decision as we haven’t fully decided to take the offer, and that all of the small details will get worked out with dealing with such a major decision.
Jordan has been working hard at the mission base in Paraiso. The interior walls are painted and the trim is being put up. The main task that Jordan and Dan are working on is putting all of the electrical wires in conduit, as this must be done for the building to pass inspection. Once this is done the AC units and lights can be hooked up, a huge step in completely the base.
We are getting excited that in less than a month we will be in NC visiting with friends and family for Christmas. We hope to see as many of you as possible while there.
Thanks for everyone's support... please keep us updated on how life is in the States!
Dios Te Bendiga
Mid October Update
Time is flying by... we have almost lived here for 8 months! Now that we are in a "permanent" home (at least until June, when my teaching contract is up) I feel that we really live here and aren't just visiting.
Felipe the 4-Runner is finally working 100%! As stated in previous posts we have had quite a time with our car. It was in the shop for 2 1/2 months only to get it back and it still wasn't fixed. Two mechanics later... it is working as it should be. Thanks to everyone for helping us financially with the mechanic bills and for praying for us to have reliable transportation. Having our own vehicle makes living life much easier.
I have been staying super busy working at school. I am there from 7-11:30 teaching, 11:30-12:30 tutoring a little boy in English, and then 12:30-2:45 tutoring a little girl in English. Although I always said I would never be a teacher, I am so blessed to have this opportunity to teach these little ones. I am learning more from my 5 and 6 year old students than I thought I would. Not so much "educational material" but teaching methods. When we move out to Catalina I am hoping to work with the locals in basic education. There is a school in Catalina, but there is a good percentage of people who are illiterate. The skills I am learning and using to teach my students now will greatly help in teaching the people of Catalina. As always... God's plan is bigger and better than ours. He knew that this teaching position would prepare me for our move.
Jordan has been hard at work on the mission base in Paraiso. Him and Dan have been working long hard hours trying to get the building completed and ready for mission groups. They have almost finished the drywall in all of the rooms... this is a huge task and has taken a lot longer than anyone thought. Jordan and Dan are also having to take apart the bunk beds that were built and in place in the base. The floor of the building is going to be sanded and stained, and neither can be done with the huge beds in the way. Jordan has also been working at Boa Surf House a little bit, but not as much as he was, as he is really focusing his time and efforts into the mission base.
Jordan had the chance to go to Catalina at the end of September to "check up on the locals". He went with Dan to see how the progress of the church building was going and pray with the "community spiritual leaders". Once again, I couldn't go because of work, but we are planning on going out there during one of my many breaks in November.
Last week we had 2 of our friends from NC come for a visit. Nick and Liz came to enjoy the surf and sun, which gave Jordan a break from working. We all had a good time catching up and showing them around our new home. Over the weekend we went camping on a beach that is in the middle of nowhere. It was so nice to get away from the busyness of city life and to stop, relax, and simply enjoy God's creation without distractions.
This week we have been back in our "normal" schedule. We are trying to figure out when we are going to Costa Rica to renew our visas. They expire around Thanksgiving, but we do not want to be traveling then, as we want to be with our friends during the holiday. We are either going to go to Costa Rica before needed, or try to get a month extension on our visas. This leads us to our exciting news...
We'll be in NC & SC from Dec 20- Jan 15th!!!! I just "bought" the plane tickets today. Since our families could not come here for Christmas they bought us the plane tickets so we could go there. A HUGE thanks to our families for doing this!! We are still trying to figure out when we will be where, as our families live on opposite sides of the State, but as soon as we have it figured out we will let everyone know via a new post. While in NC we are going to talk to as many church/groups as we can to raise awareness of what we are doing here and how God is working in Panama. If you would like us to talk with your group, please let us know so we can set something up.
We can not thank you enough as we would not be here without the support from you. Please continue to pray for us to stay on the path that God has called us to.
Dios Te Bendiga (God Bless)
Mid September Update
I can not believe it is already the middle of September! We have lived in Panama for over 6 months, somedays it seems like we just moved here, and other days it seems as if we've lived here for much longer. Because there are only two seasons here (the wet and dry) I forget that it is getting cold back in the states. The weather here has been nice, hot, humid, and raining a little bit almost everyday, as expected since it is the rainy season. I never thought I liked Fall, but knowing that I won't experience it this year, makes me kind of miss it (especially in the mountains).
We have not had any mission groups come down since July, but have one coming down in the middle of October. This is a group from California that consists of a few of the same people that came in April. We are excited to meet back up with these friends we made and for them to see how much God has done in the life's of those they met here.
Although we haven't been hosting mission groups our everyday life has seemed to get extremely busy. Jordan is working at the mission base in Paraiso from 8-3:30 M-F and then at a local surf shop from 4-6 doing ding repair and art work. This week and the next he is only working on the mission base working extra hours to try and get the dry wall repair done. We have had a few local workers do the dry walling, but they did not do it correctly so Jordan and Dan are fixing almost all of the walls and ceilings. The base is coming along, definitely a lot slower then we all hoped, but it is showing progress (as you can see in the pictures).
I am staying busy as an assistant K5 teacher and tutoring a boy in English. He knows very little English and must pass a English test before able to get into 1st grade. This is a fun, but stressful, job. Today I was offered to work full time, and accepted the offer. So now, after teaching and tutoring I will help out at the school wherever they need me. I am so excited about this as it will help us out even more financially.
We finally have an apartment to live in for a year! There has been a lot of ups and downs of this apartment so far, but God has showed us that we are to stay here. The school is letting us use extra furniture so our apartment feels like a home. Unfortunately, the rent is $750/month, which is why I'm so thankful the school offered me the full time position, as it will now pay our rent.
The past 2 months have been difficult with our car in the shop due to a leak in the transmission, but we finally have it back. Unfortunately, the alternator is now messed up so the car is once again going back in the shop. We have found a new mechanic that will hopefully be quicker than the last.
Some days I want to pack up and move back to the States, to live a "normal" life. Thankfully I know that the Lord has called Jordan and I to live here and to work for Him. At times that is the only thing keeping me here. Although we have experienced a number of hard times here, we are extremely blessed with incredible friends and God's protection. We want to thank you for supporting us though prayer and finances as this is only possible through your help. Please consider coming for a visit to see the work that God is doing here... we would love to have you!
Enjoy the life that God has created you to live!
Dios Te Bendiga
Newsletter Issue #3
Attached is the 3rd issue of our newsletter "The Guys Are On A Mission". Please print this out
and use it as a reminder to pray for the work God is doing through us. Feel free to also print this out and pass along to those that might not have internet access.
Attachments:
July Update
July has been full of various activities, from hosting mission teams to having some of Lindsay's family visit.
We have had 3 mission groups come and help out at the mission base in Paraiso, Catalina, and also in Curundu.
The background and updates of what has been going on in both Paraiso and Catalina can be found in previous entries but this has been our first month going to Curundu. Curundu is one of many poor areas of Panama City and also one of the most dangerous. Our church, Crossroads Bible Church, has a Christian school in this area located on a "crack street". This school not only serves as a way for children to receive an education in both school subjects and Christianity, but it is also a safe haven for them to hang out at and be influenced positivity, away from the spiritual and physical danger that is all around them.
The first mission group that came was Waveuth from California. They went to Curundu for a few days to hang out with the kids. They taught them songs, played games, and did arts and crafts with them. They also simply loved on them. This group, along with Jordan, traveled to Catalina. During the time there (I, Jordan) spent a good majority of my time getting to know a local friend more, and basically build on our friendship. His name is Bienvenido, which means welcome in English. I got to know more about him and his family, his troubles with work and other things, while learning more about the community from one who has lived there a good portion of his life. I got to pray for/with him a lot, and we were able to encourage each other that God is in control and always has a plan. Also during the time in Catalina the group went around the community and visited houses to pray for and share the love of Christ. Through this we learned of many things that only go on indoors. There are possible brothels, definitely young, teenage prostitutes, and rampant cases of child molestation. This group was also exposed to the many cases of alcoholism in the bars and streets at all hour of the day. It is for these reasons that this town desperately needs Christ's endless love, mercy, and grace shared with them. The more and more we go to Catalina our eyes are opened more to these kind of things, and also our heart grows for the people. We ask that everyone will pray for God to reveal himself to the people of Catalina in a way that will change the town from a place of darkness into a holy place of God. We also spent a lot of time with the kids doing Vacation Bible School teaching them Bible lessons and performing skits depicting the stories they were teaching. In the afternoons we would take the kids to the beach and play/surf with them. It was a memorable week of fun and growing with the community, and we are both excited to go back as soon as we can. Check out the pictures from this trip under the "Catalina Pictures" section.
I (Lindsay) stayed back and helped with the second mission group that came because we are house sitting and could not leave the house vacant for an extended amount of time. This group was a high school group that came from Pennsylvania. The first few days we worked in Paraiso painting walls and repainting a neighborhood swing set. This group also went to Curundu and hung out with the kids. The kids that hang out at the school are incredible and I love spending time with them. It is also helping me learn Spanish because none of them know English. This mission group headed out to Catalina the same day that the first group came back to the city.
The day after Jordan got back from Catalina with the group my mom and younger sister arrived!!! They were our first visitors and I loved having them here and showing them around my new home. We stayed busy touring around trying to fit as many sites in as possible in the week they were here. While they were here we showed them the mission base, went to the arts and crafts market, walked around the Causeway, went to the beach, toured the Panama Canal, showed them Casco Viejo, went to the zoo, for a hike, and to a waterfall, and lots more. There are lots of pictures under the "Everyday Pictures" section if you'd like to see everything we did. It was a lot harder to say bye this time, because I do not know when I will see them again but it was worth it having them here.
During this entire month we have been looking for a place to move. It is a lot harder to find an apartment here due to the fact that we are not fluent in Spanish and because we have to find a place that is close, in our price range, and safe. We thought we had a place lined up but ended up not having the correct paper work they needed. To give us more time in finding a place we can rent till December, we are moving into an apartment that the school rents- for a month. This was definitely an answered prayer as we were running out of time. We are moving today, a day before the family comes back that we're house sitting for. This apartment is across the street from where we previously lived, a perfect location, as most of our friends live in this neighborhood.
Today is my last day of "summer" as I start working at the school tomorrow. The students arrive next Wednesday, Aug 6th, and I am excited to see how this school year will go and meet all the students.
And I, Jordan am excited to get back to working at the base on a consistent schedule again. It has been a little more than half a month to where I have been tied up with family and groups, and have not been able to have much time getting things done that need to be done.
Now back to packing... but thanks for reading!! And thanks to who all have continued to support us, we would not be here without your help!
Dios Te Bendiga!
Mid June
A lot has been going on here in Panama. Jordan has been working hard to get the base "live-able" in time for the next mission group, which arrives on July 9th. There is still a lot of work to be done, but we are staying hopeful that it will be ready for the group. The main projects being worked on at the moment are: fixing the roof (there was a leak), rebuilding the front steps, changing out the support beams (from wood to steel), finishing up drywall (so the walls can soon be painted), along with other small jobs.
I, Lindsay, have not been working on the base lately but have been busy helping at the school. The church we attend, Crossroads Bible Church, also has a school, Crossroads Christian Academy. This school is like a school in the states only it is here in Panama. I have been substitute teaching for all grades K4-High School and in all subjects. This past week I accepted the position of kindergarten teacher assistant for the 2009-2010 school year. This will help us out financially, but will put us behind a few months with our plans to move to Santa Catalina.
We recently traveled to Costa Rica to renew our visas. While there we had the chance to hang out with friends from NC and to relax. Also while in Costa Rica, I l (Lindsay) lost my phone. Since being back I have replaced my phone and the new number is shown in the “How To Contact Us” section to the right. Although Costa Rica was nice, we are both glad to be back home in Panama.
Closer towards the end of June we will be purchasing a car!!! Our friends have been super generous allowing us to borrow a vehicle when needed, but it will be much easier to get around when we have our own.
Today, June 15th, we moved out of our apartment. We are house sitting for a family until July 29th. The parents of this family are our small group leaders and they are traveling to the US for a few weeks. God’s timing is perfect! We had to be out of our apartment by today and they needed us to stay in their house starting today. Jordan and I are currently looking for a place to move once this family comes back.
And last but not least… my (Lindsay) mom and younger sister are coming to visit! They will be here July 18th-25th and I could not be any happier to know that part of my family will be here soon. I am really looking forward to showing them how God is working through my life here and to show them around this beautiful country.
We would like to thank everyone that has graciously been supporting us… without support we would not be able to continue living out our life for God. Support through both prayers and finances are always needed.
Prayer Request
--that we will find a place to live from the end of July to December
--our finances will be met, especially with the purchase of our vehicle
--that all of the families traveling this summer will have safe travels and will return to Panama even more on fire for God
--for our marriage to continue to thrive
Mid May
We haven't had any more mission groups since the large California one so we have had time to really focus on the renovations in Paraiso. Jordan has been laying tile, building counters for the bathrooms, fixing and hanging the front door, and a few other various jobs. I, Lindsay, have been trying to stay busy helping Jordan and also cut and hang drywall in the apartment connected to the mission base.
We still love life here and are getting used to living in another country more every day. Today is our 2nd Spanish lesson and we both are learning more by interacting with the community of locals we encounter.
This coming Sunday, May 17th, is our 1 year anniversary! We are planning on going to El Valle, a small mountain town about 2 hours away, to celebrate and relax.
Also coming up is our 3 month marker of living in Panama. This means we have to renew our tourist visas. On May 23rd we are taking a bus to Costa Rica to visit with some friends that serve as missionaries there. We will be staying in the town where we met on a mission trip 3 years ago. We are planning on being in Costa Rica for about one week. This required trip will cost us about $300.
Another extra financial requirement is that we are purchasing a Toyota 4Runner at the end of June. A family that lives across from us is moving back to the States and is selling there vehicle to us for $4000. We researched and found that this was the best deal we could find.
Although we received half of the support we needed to last month, we are continually to pray that God will bring supporters into our life to help us carry out what He has called us to do. If you feel led to support us, we suggest looking at our monthly financial needs (column to the right) and choosing one thing that you can pledge to monthly to contribute to or fulfill. This will help you know where you money will be going. A small amount monthly will help us out greatly!
We thank those who have supported us so far and pray that you see the benefits of where your donations have gone.
Attached to this journal entry is the 2nd issue of our newsletter. We emailed this out to all on our distribution list so if you did not receive it please let us know so we can add you. Feel free to make copies of this and pass out to those that might be interested.
We hope everyone is enjoying the warmer weather and we hope to hear from everyone soon.
Attachments:
Cali Group in Catalina
Jordan and I had the opportunity to travel to Catalina to help out with a huge mission group from California. The group consisted of about 40 high schoolers, 15 family members, and 10 adults/leaders. We helped transport food and water to Catalina and set up lodging for everyone. We were both skeptical at first on how 60+ people were going to effectively work in such a small village, but as always God knows how to handle every situation.
Jordan, Aaron (a missionary from Cali that lives in Panama for 1/2 the year), and I left for Catalina on Friday, April 3rd with the suburban packed to the max. We arrived in Catalina before the group to set up a few tents and ensure that all accommodations were ready. The group arrived late Friday night and went straight to sleep to rest up for the next few days of working.
The group was able to get so much work accomplished in the short amount of time that they were there.
--Two days of vacation bible school took place and were filled with happy kids, crafts, face paint, Bible stories, balloon animals, and songs. There were so many kids from the community that came both days and they loved interacting with the mission group and hearing about God.
--Another part of the Cali group picked up trash in the community and on the beach. They made a huge difference in the aesthetics of Catalina. We wanted to clean up the trash so the locals would see how much nicer their environment looks without trash everywhere in hopes that they will continue picking up after themselves.
--The rest of the mission group did construction work. The first two days they painted the pastors house and store. It went from a cracked/peeling blue and white to a nice smooth melon color. Pastor Reyes and his wife Maria were excited to have their residence transformed. The construction crew also did some work on the church.
Along with these 3 main projects the mission group also hung out wit the kids during their free time. Playing games and teaching them a little English made the kids so happy and they loved just being around everyone.
Jordan, Aaron, and I headed back to Panama City on Tuesday while the mission group from Cali went to Tonosi to continue with their mission work.
We loved having the opportunity to help out with the mission group from California and want to thank everyone that came because you all truly showed Catalina how incredible God is and gave hope to the community by loving on them.
Recap of March & What's to Come
We hit our one month of living in Panama on March 25th...and we're still loving it! We have our own apartment and are getting situated slowly. We bought a mattress...but so far that is all we have other than what clothes and tools we brought from the states. We are both trying to be content with what we have because to most of the world we have a lot.
The mission base in Paraiso is coming along nicely. We have had 2 short term mission teams from New Jersey come and 1 from California so far. These groups contained plumbers, electricians, carpenters, general contractors, and in general people on fire for God. These teams have helped not only with the building process but also to remind us why we are here; to fulfill God's purpose in our life.
On April 3rd a team of 60 is coming from California. This group consists of 30 high schoolers and the other 30 are families. We will be going to Catalina to work in 3 groups. One group will be in charge of helping build the church, another will be painting the pastors house, and the last group will be hanging out with the locals teaching them about God and simply loving on them. We will be in charge of one of these groups, while 2 other leaders have the others.
We have internet at our new apartment so we will be able to update everyone more regularly. Please keep in touch and check out our pictures, a few more were added.
Life so far in Panama
We have been here for a week and a half and so far everything is going great. We have been staying busy working on the mission base in Paraiso, mostly putting insulation and drywall up. Not the most glamorous job…but it has to be done. We are slowly adapting to the different lifestyle and living in a different country. We have a cell phone, but are still needing to find an apartment (we are in a temporary one at the moment), get insurance, buy a car (we are borrowing one for a little bit), and set up bank accounts. Those are just the big things that must get done soon on top of working at Paraiso. We have joined a small group and love it and the people in it. Wednesday we are going to Santa Catalina for the first time to check it out and to start forming relationships with the community. This Friday we start our Spanish lessons, which we desperately need. It is hard getting around without knowing much Spanish, especially the way the Panamians talk. They leave off endings of words and combine others together. We are meeting more people which is definitely a plus…but we still miss everyone back home. Thanks for the continued support both through prayers and finances.
We have posted pictures at jordanylindsay.myphotoalbum.com
Enjoy!
Trying out the new site
Once again we are changing the way we are keeping in touch with everyone. We had a blog at (jordanylindsay.wordpress.com) and our pictures on different site (jordanylindsay.myphotoalbum.com) but decided it would be easier and more user friendly to have everything on one website...so here it is! This is going to be our main way of updating and sharing pictures with all of our friends and family. Please pass this link on to anybody you know that might be interested in staying up to-date on our life as missionaries in Panama. Thanks for the continued support through prayers and finances.
Below is our previous blog entries that we had posted on the wordpress website.
The work we have been called to do
The first year or so we will be living near Panama City, getting acclimated into living in another country, learning the language, getting community, attending church, and helping renovate Casa Paraiso. This is a wooden structure that used to house canal workers, but has been purchased by the Jordan Foundation to host short term missionaries as they travel to Panama to work. This building will also be the location for Christian Surfers of Panama. This link shows a video with more information about what we will be doing… Casa Paraiso . Once we have completed renovating the building in Casa Paraiso we will move to Santa Catalina. This is where we will live for a longer amount of time, which is unknown by all, except for God. Here we will be building a lodge to host short term missionaries and evenutally surf lodges. We will be in charge of taking care of the missionaries while here and interacting with the community. One of our main goals is to be light to the people that live in Catalina. This link shows a video that contains more on what we will be doing while in Catalina… Santa Catalina .
This is just a brief overview of how we will be living out Gods plan for our life. If you would like more information, please do not hesitate to ask.
As always…prayers are needed as we are about to take this huge leap of faith and move away from our family and friends.
Exactly one month left in the states..
A lot has happened since the last post. The main thing is that we are leaving in one month from today…Feb 25th. We haven’t booked the tickets yet, but we’re planning on it within the next day or so. We have been researching tons of websites to make sure we’re getting the best deal, and we finally found it. The tickets aren’t too expensive…but then they add on random fees and now charge for checked-in bags. Its going to be difficult packing all of our “needed stuff” into just 6 bags (1 carryon and 2 checked/person) since we don’t know when we’ll be coming back to the States, or when we’ll have our first visitors to bring us more items. Not only do we need everyday items…but also Jordans tools. Since we will be doing a lot of construction the first few months, tools are a necessity. I’m sure all of our packing troubles will be a small bump in the road we’re starting on.
Another huge thing is that we still do not have a “finance filter”. This is an organization that handles our finances while serving as missionaries. This “filter” will allow those that want to support us financially to write the donation off as tax deductible. Once we have our “filter” people will be able to write checks to this organization then they will do the paperwork to ensure that it is tax deductible, and then pass the funds on to us. We have been working on finding this “filter” for a while, and we haven’t had much luck. At the moment we think we have one, but are still waiting on the reference letter to be sent to them. Hopefully this will all work out so that those who want to help us, will be able to. I (Lindsay) have been struggling with the finance issue through all of this. Once we buy the plane tickets, we will be really tight with money, and since we don’t have our “filter” set up yet, we will not have any inward flow of money once we move. This scares me. Last night I barely slept wondering if it really is God’s will for us to be missionaries or if its just something we want. After an intense talk at 4am with Jordan we decided to just keep praying about it and that God will handle the situation in the “right” way if we just give it to Him. Today at church I got slapped in the face by the message. The entire hour I felt as if Mike (the Pastor) was speaking directly at me. One thing that really stuck out was that the amount of money we have is not important, God will provide what we NEED. This really hit home, even though when we’re living in Panama, we probably will be poor to Americas standards, but we will have everything we need to survive. Another thing Mike said was that opening our hands and releasing our hold on money teaches us to trust God and to bless others with our hands. SLAP—-since we are going to be building while in Panama our hands will be major tools in blessing others and showing them Gods love. Proverbs 11:24-25 states…One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. No matter the amount of money we have, Jordan and I know that we must continue to give 10% of our money to God and He will take care of the rest. If He can trust us with little, then He can trust us with more. This message that God told through Mike today (exactly one month before we leave) was a huge confirmation that Jordan and I just need to trust and take the huge leap of faith in moving to Panama. Once we get there we will have everything we need to live and we will be blessing others and bringing people to know and accept Christ. Although I am still nervous I am now stoked more than anything— that I have been given this incredible oppurtunity to fully trust in God and use the talents I have been given to fulfill my purpose of life—to share Gods love with others and to try and live my life as Christ lived.
I’m going to try and update more regularly so the posts are so long…
Please pray for Jordan and I and that we will continue to seek God’s wisdom and to live the life he has called us to live.
Psalm 119:1-8
Background: The Call to Panama
As some of you know Jordan and I are planning on moving to Panama in Feburary to do mission work. We both felt led to move to Central America, but we were unsure of what do to exactly, that is until we went on our honeymoon. We didn’t have the typical honeymoon, staying in a resort getting pampered and relaxing, instead we bought plane tickets to Panama and that was it. We took our honeymoon one day at a time, catching buses with our huge backpacks on traveling from place to place staying in the cheapest (& safest) places we could find. We stayed with a couple and their 2 kids in Panama City for a few days (they are from New Jersey but recently moved to Panama to be missionaries and Jordan had met them surfing in Hatteras)…so they weren’t complete strangers to us. They had another couple that was staying with them and helping them out (also from NJ) to do mission work for a month. I wasn’t expecting to become so close with these people on our honeymoon, but God had different plans, and as always His plans are better then ours. Over the 10 days of our time in Panama we hung out with both of these couples, not everyday, but a good amount. As most know I am not the kind of person that feels comfortable around people I just met, but it was different. I talked to these people (Dan & Jess, and Pete & Lisa) like I had known them forever. We all had so much in common that we could talk about that it never got akward. Anyways…Jordan and I planned on spending the last 3 days of our honeymoon on Isla Taboga, relaxing on the beach, hiking, and trying to have a “typical honeymoon”. To get to Taboga you had to take a boat from La Playita, which was about a 30min drive from where we were staying at the time. The first time we tried to catch the boat Dan drove us and as we pulled up to the departure location we saw the boat pulling away. We went back to the city and hung out, deciding to catch the boat at the later time that day. After lunch we caught a taxi back to La Playita with plently of time to catch the boat….only to find out the boats didn’t leave but once that day, so the one time we could have caught the boat was when we saw it pulling away. By this time I was frustrated and broke down and starting crying. Here we were stuck at the departure site for the boat with our huge backpacks and nowhere to go. This was not what I had in mind at all. I didn’t want to go back to the city because I already felt like we had mooched enough, but it was either pay for an expensive place to stay at La Playita or take a taxi back and stay for free. We decided to go back to the city and to just stay there, not eat their food, and leave for the boat early in the morning. When we got back to the city we told our story to everyone and they could tell how disappointed I was about everything. All I wanted was to spend some alone time with Jordan on our last few days together. Dan, Jess, Pete, & Lisa were planning on fixing a nice dinner and having hang out & game time. When we told them we didn’t want to mooch, they insisted…so we ended up eating with them. It was at this time that we got a confirmation to be missionaries in Panama. Dan talked about the mission of what his family is doing by starting up the Jordan Foundation and it really helped us all think about what it is were planning on doing. We all shared what we want to do, what we feel led to do, and how we’re trying to go about it. He informed us that there is plently of work, and much needed help, with the mission they’re doing. It was as if God was talking directly to us calling us to live out the life He designed us for. Just as I was really discouraged and not liking Panama at all, God reminded me that it isn’t about me and what I want, but its about Him, always…even on our honeymoon. It was this night at the dinner table that Jordan and I felt led to live our life as missionaries in Panama. I had never felt so sure of something…my whole attitude on life completely flipped. Jordan and I talk(ed) with Dan & Jess and they are helping us figure out the logistics of everything. Incase you were wondering…we managed to get to Isla Taboga the next day and enjoyed our time there relaxing and enjoying each others company
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