Travel
Most of our travel is with Youth with a Mission.
God lays a country on my heart and I begin to pray. Before too long, I receive more clear direction. I send an inquiry to the YWAM base in the country and see if there is a connection.
Most recently, Sofia and I have traveled to Mexico and France to teach English as a second language. Often this is our tool to travel. Secondly, I feel God has called me to support these bases financially. Again, I wait on the Lord and He usually gives me a figure, I say yes and let him figure it out!!
I go to Montana regularly. My YWAM roommate lives between there and Washington state. Her sister, another YWAM classmate, lives in MT and we spend time connecting, praying and pouring into each other's lives.
To be honest, I never know where I am going or when. I sometimes think, how nice, I will be home for a while, only to find out God gave me Panama during a prayer time three weeks ago. Before I know it, He is giving YWAM Panama $20,000, money he allowed to pass through my account but only briefly. So here I sit in Panama, waiting for more black spray paint to finish painting the girls' bunk beds. I would never have thought this possible when I set my goals in January for 2023.
In August, God sent us to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. I resisted and insisted I would NEVER go to PV. Too touristy for my taste. Well, the leaders there needed someone to cover their English classes while they returned to the US to settle her mother's estate. Before I even spoke to them, God gave the exact dates we were to go and I purchased the ticket. One Tuesday morning, He told me buy my tickets and the date. I did, still without any contact in PV.
Ten days later, the leader of the base replied asking if there was any chance I taught English as a second language. Of course she asked!!
While there and with the leaders in the states, God asked me to donate $5000. What? How? He asked me to obey. I agreed. As it turned out, I rented my home while away for $4800 and again, God had the money pass through my account with a clear designation for the YWAM leaders in PV. Turns out, while closing their mother's estate, an unexpected tax bill for $4800 was incurred. They prayed, having know idea how God would cover it, but He assured them He would. The next day, my donation, made online, came through for $5000.
This is how I travel, this is what God does and takes this bag of bones and tosses me on a plane for his greater purposes.
It's a wild ride. Never boring. Sometimes frightening . . . when God asked me, a single mom to give $20,000 it felt scary, but I remembered how He provided for the Mexican donation and knew HE would do it. Believe it or not, about the same time He asked me to give this ENORMOUS amount of money, I received an Email an old investment of mine had a little extra money to distribute and I could expect in my account soon- $14,000. Only God can do this kind of thing. And I would receive this the following month as well!! $28,000.
Proterillos Arriba in Chirique Panama
For one week, I am helping helping a friend of mine clean, paint and arrange one of the girls' "dorms". Youth With a Mission runs a school here called JOGAR JUCUM. For the past 40 years JUCUM, Youth with a Mission is Spanish, has invested greatly in the indigenous communities across the country. Now they have a school for indigenous students to come either attend a nearby public school in the morning and have tutoring, Bible classes and mentoring in the afternoons or students do all their studies here at the school.
My job this week is to reconnect with an old friend I met when the kids and I lived and worked in this school in 2005. She is the "Abuelita", grandmother to many of these students. She has served with YWAM for 25 years here in Panama.
We have enjoyed painting, hanging new curtains, and cleaning the dorms in preparation for the start of school next week!!
We incorporate a little fun as well. We leave Wednesday for two nights at an eco-lodge high in the rainforest.
The time spent here has completely blown me away!!