Mar 4, 2019 Catholic friends in the mission field

When we arrived to begin evangelism meetings in La Chorrera, Panama, I was surprised that one of our meeting sites was a Catholic school! Because the religious culture in this country is so strongly Catholic, the relationship between denominations is not always smooth.

But, to my delight, this Catholic school was willing to let us use their facility as a meeting venue. They also allowed us to use one of the classrooms for our children’s program and medical clinics, and we held the main evangelistic meetings in the soccer field.

We did one clinic day especially for the school children and many of the students and school staff received free reading glasses! It was a really good opportunity for us to build positive relationships with our Catholic friends in that area. The relationships you make in the mission field are long-lasting and meaningful! You never know what opportunities will be opened up because of the friendships you make.

I know the importance of making personal connections from my own experience!

Two years before this mission to Panama, I had gone there with QHM for the first time. That was when I met Jose. On that first trip, when we needed help with a difficult construction project, he had shown up out of nowhere. We were shorthanded, and he was really a Godsend. I made such a personal connection with him that we stayed in contact over those two years!

Before my second mission to Panama, Jose had asked me to bring him a few books from the USA. With the help of our driver, I was able to get in touch with Jose and meet to give him the books. It was so nice to reconnectÑI even met his wife. It was a wonderful thing to rekindle our friendship from two years before.

Because of this second trip to Panama, Carlos, our driver and I will certainly stay in touch! Every time I go to the mission field I make new friendships and that’s such a blessing. If you go to the mission field, I encourage you to sign up for WhatsApp and stay connected with your new friendsÑyou never know what the impact will be!

John Beishke
Panama, team member

Missions Minute: Daniel Santiago

See how the mission team in Mongolia invited people to the evangelistic meetings!
[vimeo 218812483 w=640 h=360]