• Kid Mission Gone Tribal
Another Kid Mission, this Short-Term Mission trip was to Panama. This trip was sponsored by Bread of Life Church in Torrance and the 4 Christ Mission out of San Diego. This July a team of 70 of us flew to Panama, then we went down the Pan American Highway in three buses. There were several stops, but one was going tribal…
One of our ministry stops was to visit the Embera Puru Indian Tribe. On our first visit we stopped to just look around, make contact with the Chief to let him know we arrived. While we were there we prayed over some land that the Chief donated on a previous visit to the 4 Christ Mission so they could build a church for his people. No group has ever worked with this tribal group. So were breaking some new ground by being there.
On this first visit the children gathered around with curious excitement, as seventy guests unloaded from the buses to have a look around and meet the people. They knew we were coming and were both glad and curious to see us.
The particular Tribe is the Embera Puru Tribe is an indigenous group of 900 (including the children) from the Darien Jungle of Panama. (I learned that there are many other Embera Tribes)
This is what their homes look like. The homes are raised above the ground to keep snakes and animals out of their homes.
These are Embera Puru woman in typical dress. We met these ladies at the Panama University Cultural Fair. They were there to sell some of their handmade wares.
Three days later we returned to the Embera Puru village, this time with medical doctors, dentists, nurses, and free medicine and medical services set up to help the people.
While the medical ministries were setting up their practice, our children’s team met with all the children in their school to put on a program just for them. The children were dressed up in their school clothes. Our children’s ministry featured great puppets, illustrated and choreographed music, a clear gospel message and take-home theme crafts. My team did a great job. I shared the gospel and all the children responded to the prayer for salvation. We learned later that no one had ever come there just to minister to the children. It was such a blessing to be there.
Here you can see the children enjoying their own copy of the Born Again Birthday Book in Spanish. All the children are learning Spanish in school, in addition to their own language, so our booklet fit right into what they could understand. Every child there prayed to receive Jesus as their Savior and Lord. It was a very happy time for them and my team. We prayed for this to happen.
Later that afternoon, there was another team that did an evangelistic program for the adults, which consisted of music, drama, message and an invitation. The response of Embera Puru Tribe was just incredible. This whole tribal people group are responding to the gospel. It was like living in the book of Acts.
Since our July trip, we have heard that the 4 Christ Mission has started building the church for all these new converts, which is almost everyone there. Pray for these new Christians, they need to support them in our prayers.
Leave a Comment