Women's Tea

Saturday Night "Pre-Tea" Session :)

Do you know that feeling when you are so proud of someone who is very special to you for a great accomplishment in their lives?!?  Well, that’s exactly how we felt at the conclusion of our women’s tea weekend.  We have held several women’s teas here at CC Panamá, but this was the very first one where the women from our own body hosted the whole thing. Usually, we have teams that come and they are the ones that do all the “work”—planning, decorating, prep work, serving, etc.  God has been raising the women here and it was so much joy to see them excited about all the details of making this tea happen. They actively prayed for the event, invited other women, helped with the planning and set up, cooked, and served it up the day of the event.  They took ownership and worked together until the very last minute! As a missionary, it is super exciting to see God equipping and raising the nationals in this way.  We know that God has great things ahead for these women as they continue to grow in Him!

We had a fabulous and blessed time! We were all encouraged and exhorted to remove those roadblocks that would hinder our walk with the Lord, such as the need to forgive and love those who may have hurt us.  I know that many of the women in attendance were freed from bondage that had been hurting their relationship with Jesus.

All I can say is that God is faithful…ever so faithful!  Thank you for your prayers! :)

Some of the ladies who served. Love them!

Crazy Bunch! :)

 

Weddings...

Mr. & Mrs. Montes

Weddings are beautiful, are they not? I personally love weddings, but why? Perhaps its because weddings are a wonderful celebration of love; a love that has developed between a man and a women and has led them to want to commit the rest of their lives to one another. But even greater still, weddings are such a colorful reminder, such a vivid picture of the perfect Love that satisfies the human soul.  Obviously, I speak of the love that Jesus has for His bride, the church.  The vows interchanged at a wedding ceremony are a wonderful illustration of Christ’s commitment to us as His bride.  And, the deeper beauty in that is that, though men and women may fail to keep those vows, Jesus will never fail in His commitment to us, nor in His love for us. How can we not be drawn to worship Him at the thought of His unfailing commitment to us?!?

So, why am I talking about weddings, anyway?  Well, that’s because we recently celebrated wedding #6 here at CC Panamá. Wohoo! ;)  In our little church, we have had 6 weddings in about 3 years. The amazing thing is that, these couples had been living together for many years…but as they have matured in their walks with Jesus, they have also grown in their desire to be obedient to His Word. Rosa and Luis, our most recent newlyweds, got married on October 29^th. It was such joy to be a part of their very special day!  We have seen God do a great work in their lives and trust that He will continue to do so.  Please keep them in prayer, as we know that the enemy will attack and attempt to discourage them.

The Montes Family <3

 Other News:

We are only a few weeks away from our women’s conference, which will happen November 19^th and 20^th! We are soooo excited to see our mighty God do wonderful and life-changing things in the women of Panamá. We are blessed to have Tania Domingo, from CC Horizonte (Ensenada, Mexico) coming to share with our ladies.  On Sunday, the 20^th, we will have a conference-type outreach. Please pray for all of the women that are being invited to this event. We know that God will bring healing, restoration, and salvation for many of the women who attend.  Specially pray for those women who are unsaved or have walked away from the Lord.  

As always, thank you all for your prayer support.  And a warm heart full of thanksgiving to our sisters at CCSFS. We love you!

That’s all for now.  Happy November to you!!!  :)

With Love,

Rocio

Missions Teams!

August 2011

Hey, hey!  We’ve had a very busy and fruitful season.  The missions teams have come and gone.  We are so grateful for those who willingly came to serve the beautiful people of Panamá.  As I think about the different make up of each team, I am blessed by the creativity of our God.  Each team brought different abilities and gifts that not only blessed and edified the body at CC Panamá, but also the different communities where the message of the gospel was dispersed. 

“There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities,

 but it is the same God who works all in all.”

1 Corinthians 12:4-6

Below are some pictures that will hopefully let you see a glimpse of some of the different activities the teams did.  Words or pictures are not sufficient…but here it goes nonetheless. ;)  

Thank you for praying.  Don’t stop!

With Love,
 
Rocio 

(P.S. I wish I knew how to organize pictures in albums or in a more presentable & appealing way...but until I learn, this is what you get! ha ha)

Team: CC La Habra

The team from La Habra hosted two different women's teas.  The first, at a church in San Miguelito, located in Panamá city; and the second one at our church, here in Chorrera. 
They also had an outreach at IPHE, which is a school for children with special needs. 
We had such a blast with this group!

La Habra Team (plus a few extras!) ;)

Salvation Skit @ IPHE.  Yellow, black, red, white, green. Do you know what these colors represent?

The children at IPHE, a special needs school in Chorrera.

Charlene sharing her testimony at the women's tea at a church in San Miguelito (Blanca is translating).

April & KC leading us in beautiful worship through song.

Lori teaching at the women's tea in CC Panamá (Nelcy is translating).

The beautiful women of CC Panamá & CCLH. :)

Team: CCSFS

The CCSFS team consisted of youth and their leaders.  We loved having them here! During their time with us, they did a soccer outreach in our church community, a school outreach in a community called Los Faldares and a VBS outreach at a church in San Miguelito. 

Here's the young & good-lookin' CCSFS team! :)

Organizing the teams.

Goooooool!!!

The enthusiastic fans! ;)

School at Los Faldares.  Precious children!

Singin' for Jesus!

Drama performed by the youth. Well done! :)

Jerry sharing the gospel with the kiddos.

The girls singing with this little boy at the local hospital. They made his day!!!

David & Goliath skit at San Miguelito

Team: CC Romoland
Romoland had several medical outreaches in different communities, including one with a group of indigenous people.  The team had a doctor, a nurse, and an ophthalmologist.  The communities were so blessed to have them, since some of them do not have the resources to get this sort of attention.  
Many of them were given glasses and medicine. 

The doctor and assistants setting up..

 

 

Reading glasses for those that needed them.

Many of these people walked over 10 miles to be seen by the doctors.

Dr. Rosalie conducting and eye exam.

She was given these groovy glasses to help prevent her cataracts from advancing.

Getting ready to hop on the canoe to get to the indigenous community.

It's only a 5 minute ride on the canoe...life vests?!? I guess you never know. ;)

A family being seen by the doctor. Don't worry, I wasn't treating the patients. Just translating. ;)

Pastor Bert & Pastor Jose with the Chief.

 Congrats...you made it to THE END! ;)

The Latest!!!

Hey everyone!  Here are a few updates of what is going on here in Panamá!

School Outreach:  On June 23^rd, we had the wonderful opportunity to go into a local public elementary school here in the city of Chorrera!  We were able to share with 1^st graders about Biblical obedience.  We did songs, puppets and talked to them about why it is important to be obedient.  Our time with them was so SWEET!  We prayed with them and made it a point to let them know how much Jesus loves them!

Not only were the students present, but the teachers got to hear the message as well.  Furthermore, when we were finished and went to thank the assistant principal for allowing us to come in, Pastor Bert had to opportunity to pray for her.  She was under a lot of stress and after we prayed with her, she said she felt more at rest.  We are waiting to hear from her to see when we can come back and share with all the other grade levels.  She even asked if we would be willing to do something for the staff!  As she said, “We need help too!”

So, PLEASE join us in praying for further opportunities to make Jesus known at this school and at other schools as well.  We are anticipating for God to do great things!

Reading through Judges, I came across this verse that caught my attention.

“When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did no know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel.  Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord.”

(Judges 2:10-11)

If we fail to instruct the younger generations in the ways of the Lord, they too will become like the children of Israel who “did not know the Lord” and as a result, they will live painful lives of sin and wickedness, without hope.  Our heart is to reach these younger generations and plant seeds, so that when they grow old, they will not depart from His ways (See Proverbs 22:6).

Aren't they adorable?!?!

Singing their hearts out!

Pastor Bert sharing about obedience.

Missions Teams:  We are looking forward to a very busy and exciting season! We have 3 teams from California coming during the next few months.  Each team will be spending at least a week with us, and doing various outreaches here in our community and in other parts of the Republic of Panama.  Please pray for each of the teams and all that will take place. Our desire is that Jesus would be glorified through each of them in all that they do. We want to be led by His Spirit and allow Him to accomplish His purposes through us.

            -Calvary Chapel La Habra: July 5^th to July 12^th

            -Calvary Chapel Santa Fe Springs: July 22^nd to August 1^st

            -Calvary Chapel Romoland: August 1^st to August 10^th

Women’s Ministry:  We are coming to the end of our weekly studies of the “Women of the Bible.” It has been a great time to glean from the examples of these women—both things worthy of imitating and things to avoid. We have all been challenged and encouraged through these examples.  It is so exciting to see the women grow in their love for Jesus and His Word!

Please pray for direction as to what book we should study next.

That wraps it up for this time. Thank you for reading and specially thank you for PRAYING!

“Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love,

 as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us…”

(Ephesians 5:1,2)

It is impossible to be a follower of Christ and not love.  Love should define the life of every believer.  May we grow in the knowledge of His love, so that we may walk in love towards those who surround us.

Hasta la Próxima,

Rocio :)

Resurrection Sunday

Our Easter Sunday was so wonderful here in CC Panamá.  We had originally planned on holding our service outdoors in a nearby park, but due to the weather, we opted to hold it out in our front church patio.  It was such a GREAT time!  

The weeks prior to Easter, we were busy practicing for what would be the make up of our special service.  We had the “church choir” (the first ever!) share a couple of songs; the children also did their “thing” as they sang, danced and gave praise via songs; and finally, we had a group who performed a drama based on the death and resurrection of Jesus.  All of these were such a joy and made our Easter service a memorable one!

Pastor Bert sharing the message.

The Choir—

The choir practices consisted of many laughs and silliness. Most of us have never had any formal singing or voice lessons, so you can imagine the “joyful noises” that came forth from our mouths! :-D  It was a lot of fun and great memories have been made amongst us. 

The Children—

These kiddos always know how to steal the show. They LOVE singing and dancing.  Working with them is always so much fun!  They are naturals!!!

The Skit—

This was amazing!  The group practiced for many weeks and they did a magnificent job!  The skit really brought the message of Resurrection Sunday so vividly. 

 

The Food & Fellowship—

You can’t have a complete day of celebration without some grub, right? ;) After the Easter message, we shared in a tasty pot-luck with the church body.  It was a sweet time of fellowship. 

  

 What a privilege to serve the living God! 

“And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!...

But now Christ IS risen from the dead…”

1 Corinthians 15

With Love,

Rocio :)