Missions Blog

Today we learned about the Armor of God! We had two sessions of teaching by Brenda on all of the elements of the Armor of God. The coloring activity in the morning helped inform the afternoon activity of actually making these items described in Ephesians 6: The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit.  

During this time, Dee was doing a session with the Faith House staff on how to care for children who have experienced trauma! Great tools while working with these Myanmar refugee girls.

Enjoy these pics! What a joy to watch them be creative and soak in God's love! Thank you for your prayers!

Another great day with the girls at Faith House. Glenn started off our teaching today about toxic shame and how Satan uses it to keep us distant from God and makes us feel like we aren't good enough. He stressed to the girls that they are deeply loved by God and nothing can separate them from him once they believe in him. Glenn also taught on how to share the Gospel this morning.

Dee wrapped the afternoon in a discussion of Who is God? He is the Shephard, Bread of Life, Savior, Light in the darkness.

The girls enjoyed unwrapping their tie dyed shirts from yesterday illustrating how unique and beautiful they are. Squeels of joy when they saw the colors!

Faith House also has a large garden. Jackfruit, mango, eggplant, banana and papaya for now. More to come when the rainy season is in full swing.

Thank you for your prayers. We covet them as we continue to minister to these 28 girls and 6 staff.

Last night with great excitement we arrived in, Mae Sot.  It's been a long journey to get here, we met with a flight delay and then a brief quarantine when we arrived in Thailand while we were tested for COVID 19 and waited for the test result. Praise God we were all negative. The Faith House team Maria and Grace met us at the airport and then took us to see the girls.  There are presently 28 girls at Faith house and six of them are new having just fled the war in boardering Myanmar and finding refuge at Faith House.  Today we begin our teaching with the girls on creation and how they are created in the image of God.  Our theme this week is they are daughters of the most high King.  Our team has experienced God's providential hand already many times as He has faithfully made a way, we praise Him for that.

We finally are with all 28 girls!!! Ages 9-26!! How beautiful they all are inside and out.  We immediately went swimming with them after a quick dinner of chicken rice and chili ?? ?? It is so wonderful to see them and Maria, Giegie and Grace again. Dee taught two girls how to swim. They had the arm movements correct and the kicking close but were tense and sinking like a rock. She taught them to float by relaxing and trusting the water. In minutes they swam the entire width of the pool ??‍?? Even they were surprised. What a perfect illustration for her lesson on trust later in the week. Thank you Lord!!! 

The Resort is lovely and made of wood, even the roof.  It is the girls' Spring break from school so we wanted to do something special for them. They adore swimming and being together with them in a relaxing atmosphere is great. We were there last night and back at Faith House on Monday night. We discussed Psalm 19 last night. Sang together and prayed together. Thank you for your prayers. We have the sense that God is going to do something amazing ?? Love and blessings Dee, Brenda and Glenn

Hotdogs, missionaries, the gospel, and love.

Being our last day in Panama, there was a sense of appreciation, sadness, and eagerness to get home.  But first, the whole team as well as some of the staff from Word of Life took a ride to a distant Panamanian village named Embera.  Our intent was to share the gospel, make friends, and show the love of Christ.  It took almost two hours to reach the put in, along the way we observed the beauty of the Panamanian forests, towns, and culture. Once we reached the river bank we all took an amazing canoe ride along the Chagres river.  It was about an hour boat ride to reach the village.  Upon arrival we were warmly greeted by the villagers. 

There was an immediate sense of unfamiliarity with the village but also equally a sense of surprise and curiosity with the norms of Emberan culture.  The Emberan’s gave us leaf baskets filled with tilapia and patacones to welcome us.  In return, we brought with hot dogs (which they love), candy, chips, and juice.  The Emberans also entertained us with a dance, swam with us in the river, and gave us washable tattoos as the day went on.

After spending a day playing with the children, swimming in the river.  sharing the gospel, and touring the village we jumped back into the canoes.  

The team had a great dinner at the hotel with the group, along with Rubén and Hugo from Word of Life and their families.  

To conclude our night, we had a great nightly devotion that was conducted by Nick, Jordan, and Luke.  We felt the Holy Spirit move through us and had our tears come out as we discussed “getting our hands dirty” as Christians and how that feels when it comes up in our lives.  God blessed us with an amazing last day!