Jennifer and Alex Cabezon

Monday evening we returned from a six day trip to the community of Platanares. As I have shared in the past, Platanares is a small Wounaan fishing community along the Pacific coast. As I pondered what to write about our days there, I am struck with the dilemma I often face: there is so much to share. Should I write about the trip there, about how we had to get to the dock at 2 AM in order to catch the high tide, and the ensuing trip downriver as the girls slept on the deck? Should I talk about all the teaching that we did, the people that we talked to, the things we learned? When you invest 6 days of your life on a trip like this, the impressions and moments can seem overwhelming to share. So I will share just one. The second morning we were there our hostess, Eleida, asked us to visit her two sisters in law who lived up the hill from her. The first visit was long and she was eager for us to stay. Finally we pulled away and went to visit the other sister in law, whose na...

I wanted to share a quick encouraging story... Recently Alex and I have been praying about having a property for our YWAM center here in Chepo.  The idea of aquiring a property is a big challenge for us, considering the fact that we don't exactly have $70,000 in our back pockets. We were talking about this with our little volunteer team two days ago, and praying about how God will lead us in the future.  After our meeting we spent some time just chatting and Fernando, one of our volunteers, shared the following with me... "Quite a while ago God gave me two visions. In one vision I was in a place I had never seen before. Someone was showing me around this place, but in the vision I couldn't see who the person was.  I felt it was significant to my future. "The next vision was of me being given a large property. In the vision I understood that the property was not for me personally, but for the church. Only instead of being like a traditional church the property...

Most missionaries will probably tell you that ministry is often full of lots of just plain hard work, with a few moments interspirsed that are pure joy, when you get to see something extraordinary, or connect with someone in a special way. Last night was on of those moments. Nothing spectacular happened, at lease it wouldn't seem so to one looking in from the outside. But for us, it was a sweet moment of fellowship and friendship.  Alex had helped put together a potluck, so after a brief service, everyone got their plate of rice, plantains and Panamanian style chicken spagetti, and sat around, sharing and talking.  I enjoyed talking with one of the young ladies in church as we made lemonade with raspadura together.  She told me that she has an English entrance exam coming up for University, and we agreed to study together this coming week to help her get ready. One of the girls in the youth group had a birthday yesterday and surprise party had been put together for h...

Overwelmed. That describes our experience this last weekend in many ways. Overwelmed by what God is doing in the lives of Wounaan belivers all over Panama. Overwelmed by the hospitality and generosity of the Wounaan people.  And yes, tired as well. We started out on Thursday of last week, waiting at the port of Coquira . Soon our captain arrived and the process began of buying the gasoline, and waiting for the rest of the crew to arrive.  Meanwhile the girls and I enjoyed a breakfast of fried tortillas and beef at a small restaurant. Soon everyone arrived, including our team from YWAM Chiriqui, and the boat was loaded.  We headed out down the Bayano River, only to realize that our motor was too small for the weight.  So we turned around again and switched out with a friend's larger boat and motor.  And we were off again!    The day was sunny and we covered ourselves as much as we could. The wind was low and we made good progress.  About ...

Once a year the Iglesia Evangelica Unida (Wounaan churches) gets together for a weekend event, featuring teaching, fellowship and planning.   Last year Alex attended alone as it was being held in a village near the Colombian border, and recent confrontations with the Colombian FARC made it unsafe for me to attend. This year we plan on attending as a family, as the event will be held in a coastal community which we have visited before.   Alex is heading up the planning team for youth activities during the event.   They hope to combine sports and outreach for the young people who attend, and are encouraging young people from Wounaan villages all over Panama to make the trip. We will be traveling out on February 14 th , and spending the weekend in the community of Maje, along the Pacific coast.   Its past the village of Platanares, a trip of about 7 hours total by boat.   Besides looking forward to a time of ministry to Wounaan young people, it’s also ...

  (Our recent team from YWAM Chiriqui) It seems as though I blinked my eyes and January was gone.   It went by in a flurry of activity for us.   At the beginning of the month we welcomed our good friends and fellow missionaries Steve and Malana Ganz, who will be living in Panama this month and working alongside us from April on.   The day after an all-Panamanian team from YWAM Chiriqui.   After three weeks of ministry with the team, they moved on to another location, while yet another team (also from YWAM Chiriqui) arrived. Perhaps you will forgive me for the infrequent updates now.   J While very busy, this past month has also been rewarding.   The day before we received the call letting us know the YWAM Chiriqui team would arrive, a vacation Bible school for the children at the local church was requested.   While I would have loved to say "yes", I knew it would be hard to pull off on my own.   The timing of the team’s arrival ...

As I wrote earlier, Alex has been investing a lot of time in the youth group at the local Wounaan church, helping them get together, get organized, and start reaching out to others. One of the big obstacles in their minds is the lack of funds.  Every time anyone starts talking about doing an activity our outreach, the first big objection that comes up is that there isn't any money.  Most of the kids are students, and some of them are working to pay for their own schooling; their parents are at home in the village, and unable to contribute much.  For them, just having bus money for the week is a big deal.  One young lady missed school for a week because her shoes had broken and she couldn't buy another pair.  At another house we visited, the young man who was home was having a cup of coffee and crackers for supper, while the girls had bought one hot dog to share for supper. So the thought of having them money to do an outreach, visit another village, or plan ...