July Prayer Letter
Dear Pastor & Friends,
News from PANAMA! Here is our latest update! Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter and most importantly praying for us!
We purchased our land! We are waiting for the paperwork to be processed and once that is finished we will be able to start building! We are hoping that it’ll be within the next couple of weeks. We are impatiently waiting; it seems like time is standing still for this part of the process. A few prayer requests while we wait: 1.) For the right building crew; some of our people will be able to work the construction but we will also need people from outside the church; 2.) For the Lord to provide more funds for the construction. 3.) Of course for the paperwork to go through the necessary process.
Our men and teens have already started working on the land putting up a fence and clearing the land.
Needless to say everyone is very excited and anxious for the construction to start. In the meantime, we continue to hold our services in a building that we are sharing with another church. We are very grateful for the opportunity to use their installations for free.
We have had many visitors in the last couple of months; some have stayed and some have gone. We are working with the ones who have decided to stay. Please pray for one family in particular that we have started marriage counseling. We are praying for the Lord to salvage their marriage and family. Our attendance has been consistent between 130-150 but we can’t really go any higher to due space of where we are at now.
We also have received our paperwork approved and signed making our church an established church recognized by the Panamanian government. With that accomplished we have many plans for the future. Please pray for us as we try the doors. One of those doors is to have a children’s home & a rehabilitation-training type home for young ladies. The Lord has opened some doors and we are going to be pursuing those doors shortly.
These past four-five months, since our return to Panama, has been full of activity, not only for the church but also for our family. We had two, Rafael Jr. and Evelyn, with broken arms-praise the Lord they are healed now. Last month my wife experienced a miscarriage and needed to have a procedure done in the hospital and she also has recovered.
We covet your prayers! While we definitely have seen God’s hand in our ministry we also have seen the devil at work trying to discourage folks.
Thank you and God Bless!
Your Servants In Christ,
Rafael, Tracy, Evelyn, Emily, Rafael Jr., Elisabeth
