He has been there and done that, so he will be a wealth of information! We are both very excited about the mission!
While we were talking, he reminded me about some 'land mines' we would need to avoid in our preparations and our trip to conduct such a mission. It saddens me to know that the land mines he spoke of are placed there by Christians! It is unfathomable that fellow believers would provide barriers to keep other Christians from showing Jesus to the lovely people of Panama... It saddens me even more deeply that those Christians are from my own fellowship!
I told him I was aware of a couple groups who acted like (and even said sometimes) they 'owned' the Panama mission efforts... and that one group in particular has become quite comfortable with sending letters to the elders of other congregations 'warning' them that they were 'doing it wrong'... employing the extra-biblical practice of 'group disfellowshipping', which, to me, is nothing short of spiritual blackmail and terrorism!
Anyhow, before my blood pressure could get elevated, he told me he had a vision just the other night about these brothers and sisters...
- my friend was in heaven, and he watched as God took these brothers and sisters to the edge to look over into the pits of hell. When they asked God why He was showing them this glimpse, He replied "that's all the people you hindered from hearing about Jesus because of your ignorance and narrow-mindedness!"
I told my friend that his was a much more mature, grace-filled version of the 'vision' I have of those folks... my vision ends with God pushing them into the abyss...
I know, I still have 'grace' issues... and a lot of growing up to do...
Anyhow, please pray for our efforts...
and may God Bless us as we remove ANY barrier to showing His son to the people of Panama!
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