Mission Experience

Panama | OM International

If someone told me 2 months ago I would experience the things I did on the Mission Extreme course, I would have told them they were crazy. I arrived to Panama at the Mission Extreme school in mid February 2007. I was greeted by the staff with open arms, and warm hearts as my taxi pulled in the  OM Base in beautiful Volcan, Panama. The base was amazing! A very large house with plenty of room not only inside, but outside as well. The base was surrounded in a setting that was absolutely perfect for one to really have the chance seek the presence of God.

The course started immediately after my arrival as there was little time to waste. The first week of the course was class room study. We learned a great deal about other cultures besides Central America. I would almost call the study a crash course, being that there was so much information given in such a small amount of time. Not only did the school teach about other cultures, but many other practical lessons as well. Our group was taught many useful evangelistic dramas, skits, and most importantly how to give your testimony in front of a crowd. After the week long classroom study, we immediately set out into the field putting to use our newly learned studies, and that is were the real fun started.

For the next 5 weeks we encountered anything and everything the jungles of Panama could throw at us. We encountered every aspect of being a new missionary in training. I remember leaving for our first outreach with our group of 8, that this would truly be the start of something amazing that the Lord had provided. We were all in this together, and to be honest, we really didn´t know what to expect. We all had been on a short term missions trips before, but nothing like this.

The word ¨Extreme¨ was always used back in the states as a very open word. People would use the word to describe anything from rollerblading to fishing. I remember seeing this commercial before I left San Diego that said ¨Come Extreme Bird Watching¨ and I remember thinking to myself... Extreme bird watching?? How on earth can that be extreme? And as we arrived in the sleepy town of Bocas De Toro on the Caribbean side of Panama, I thought to my self, ¨Wow, now this is Extreme¨.

Our group of 8 was embarking on a journey that would go down as one of the most memorable missions trips I´ve ever encountered. The first week was incredible. We were taken all over the country side by canoe. Everywhere we went was an adventure in itself. Sleeping on church floors, cooking on open fires, attending church services that lasted more then 3 hours, but all of us couldn´t get enough! Our group from the very start was bound together with the love of the Lord. Every decision we made was guided by his loving hand. Everyday was packed full of experiences. We would set out almost every morning preaching the gospel door-to-door, or I guess in our situation, hut-to-hut. Following our evangelism almost every night was an amazing church service were people from near by villages would walk hours to arrive.

I had always wanted to have a better experience with God, and by the end of the first week, I had received just that. I was so impacted by how the Lord worked through me. As my Spanish was very bad, it didn´t stop me from pouring my heart out in ever opportunity I had to share the love of the Lord with every person I encountered. By the second week in the Mission Extreme school I truly felt like a new man, a new man of the Lord.

It would be foolish to try and sum up the 2 month course in just a few paragraphs. What I encountered here in Panama was nothing short of a miracle. I had asked the Lord before I even left to put me in a position that would better serve him. Put me in a position that I would have to rely on him daily to pull me through. A position that would allow me to seek to him for my strength and that is exactly what he did. By no means do I want to scare anyone off any who reads this off from coming here and experiencing what our group did. But I do want to encourage those of you out there that really want an opportunity with God, and to see how powerful and mighty he really is, to come. Come see how you life can be changed in just 2 months! I encourage anyone who´s call in life is missions, or those of you who would like to experience it in a short-term form to make reservations now! Take it from me, the Lord with not disappoint you!

Credit: OM International
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