countdown
the final stretch before Panama
Hi!
Thank you so much for running with me on this journey and for strengthening me with your prayers. I have been so blessed by your encouragements and responses. In case you missed any past emails, I previously shared about:
I originally started this newsletter because God convicted me to share my testimonies leading up to and after my mission trip to Panama. The time has come, and I will be be embarking on a flight to this Central American country.
To be honest, when I first decided to go on this missions trip, I was filled with anxiety and uncertainty about my safety and health. This was worsened by the fact that the location that we are going to has gained notoriety due to its precarious environmental conditions and criminal activity.
My friends know me as someone who is very careful and cautious about his health (especially after the COVID-19 pandemic). One of my work colleagues asked me why I would risk my comforts and safety to go to the jungles of Panama — to a region that is proximal to one of the most hazardous places in the world.
There is but one answer. I have been overwhelmingly convicted by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Ephesians 2:4-8
As I have continued preparing for this trip, both prayerfully and materially, my initial fear has mostly been replaced with excitement. I am so excited to witness the work that God will do in Panama and ask for your continued prayers.
I also wanted to share a specific prayer request — over the weekend, my brother and I both became sick. We rapid-tested negative for COVID, but are waiting on results from the more conclusive PCR test. I am hoping and praying that God would keep the door to Panama open.
In Christ,
J.
