Bible Chapel Mission Trip Blog
Hola from the warm country of Panama!! We have been so blessed by our experiences here in Panama. God truly has been working through us all each and every day! This morning, Brad kicked off our morning with Matthew 20: 25-28 and Mathew 22:36-40. We discussed how we can serve others and show God's love here. And how we can continue to maintain a servant's heart when we arrive back home.
We embraced humility, discussing the importance of giving all the glory to God instead of to ourselves when we serve others. We reflected on why we serve and our motives when we serve. Pam enhanced the devotion by talking about Agape love.
Earlier in the day, the children had fun painting their carnival bags for Friday and participating in games such as volleyball and basketball. Some activities were canceled due to the rain. When the rain decided to subside, the pool was opened! It was there that we witnessed something so special.
The kids must take a swim test and pass before they are allowed in the deep end of the pool. Today, one sweet, mischievous little boy continued to sneak over to the deep end without taking the test. Pam told the lifeguard, and he had to take the test. Before the test, the little boy prayed near the pool. Guess what? He passed the swim test!! What a wonderful example of faith in Jesus Christ this young child displayed!
The evening ended with Bible trivia and a bonfire, where the children had the opportunity to dedicate their lives to Christ by throwing a stick (a representation of sin) into the fire! What a testimony to the World of Life and how they are impacting these children's lives!!!
Wednesday marked our second day of camp, after a powerful first night. Around 180 campers, ages 6–12, heard the Gospel, and it was so cool to see 68 little hands raised as children accepted Christ into their hearts. Each of these children received a colored Gospel bracelet—both as a reminder of their decision and as a tool for counselors to use as they disciple them throughout the week.
The Gospel will be clearly presented each night, and we are excited to see more little hands go up as Christ continues to change hearts.
Today was another beautiful day in Chame, Panama. The kids spent extended time in large group Bible lessons and then with their counselors in small cabin groups, learning more about who Jesus is and how much He loves them. The counselors here do the hard and joyful work every day—teaching, protecting, dancing with, and loving on these kids.
Our team is really coming together as well. We’re serving in many different roles: as lifeguards at the pool, helping at the zip line, building items for camp, doing crafts with the kids, and encouraging the missionaries who serve year-round.
Finally, there is exciting news to share! In just a few weeks, they will open a brand new hotel that will have 24 rooms and sleep 48 people. This is so exciting as it will make a huge difference in the ministry they are able to do. It was a blessing to pray as a team in the hotel for God to finish it well and reveal his plans for it
The Kingdom work that Word of Life Panama is doing every day is truly inspiring and Spirit-led. We are incredibly grateful to be part of this first week of scholarship camp and deeply thankful to God for the prayers and senders He has provided to make this possible.
Today, January 13, we welcomed the kids as they got off the buses. The kids had a great time swimming, even in the rain. They had to take their swimming test to make sure they were safe enough to swim in the deep!
We got to have a fun day of zip-lining in between raindrops. We had about 30 boys and 25 girls!! We ended with a presentation of what was to come for the week!
After months of praying, meeting, and planning, our team will fly out of Pittsburgh early Saturday morning (January 17) to the Santiago airport in the Dominican Republic. From there, we will take what we have heard can be an adventurous drive to Jarabacoa to serve at The King’s Kids with Global Ministry partner, Robin Sweitzer, and her team.
The King’s Kids is a grassroots Christian ministry that educates, equips, and transforms the lives of underprivileged children through the gospel of Jesus Christ. During our time in the D.R., we will spend the weekdays providing Bible study teaching, VBS activities, and painting projects for a local church and home. We invite you to follow our journey through this blog. Regular updates will be made throughout the week (as long as technology works as planned).
We thank you for your prayers and ask that you join us in praying over these specific requests for this weekend’s travels:
- Favorable weather conditions for flights to remain scheduled and on time
- God’s hand of protection for safety and good health for our team
- Our luggage would not get lost or damaged in route (all of the suitcases are filled with crafts, sports equipment, Bible lesson activities, and donations to bless those we will be serving)
- Our team would glorify the Lord in words, actions, love for one another, and for others
- God’s protection and provision for our families while we are in the D.R.
- For the hearts we will be ministering to would be softened to hear and receive the Good News of Jesus Christ
“Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Psalm 34:8a
This has become a key verse for our team. We want to seek Him, step out in faith, and commit to follow Him in joy and obedience. We want to boldly proclaim His goodness! And we want to invite others to taste and see that the Lord is good!
Together In Christ,
Dilo, Naomi, Kevin, Debbie, Darlene, and Melissa
Hi everyone!!
Today is October 3, and today starts the first night of the Women’s Conference for 2025!
Before all the women arrive to camp, we have some last minute things to accomplish. Alaina and Jessica help with the decorations like making a flower arch that was on the stage along with setting up all the tables for the women.
It was amazing to see all of the missionaries and our group come together to get this work done. Even the missionaries' children were helping us!
Jessica and Alaina also got to practice speaking Spanish, and they are definitely getting better!
Both Jennifers, Jennifer Christensen and Jennifer Zebo, were in charge of making brownies for the last day of the conference. The work it took to make these brownies was crazy but I know they will taste delicious!
After most of the work was done, it was time for everyone to eat another delicious meal! Today we had spaghetti with either red or white sauce. We talked with more of the missionaries and their children and learned more about their stories and how they got to Word of Life Panama.
After lunch, we had some downtown to relax and spend more time with some of the other women. A little while later, it was time for dinner and for all of the women to arrive at camp!!
It was so exciting to see everyone filing into the office to receive their greeting bag with supplies you all helped fundraise for! Then it was time for dinner, we went into a time of worship and time in our Bibles. Lots of pictures were taken and many friends were made.
Once we finished, it was time to go off to bed and get some rest for the next few days!
