|
Wet and warm Greetings from Panama! We have officially
started the winter months which means rain, rain, and more rain
and with the rain things have cooled down just a little bit. We
pray that this letter finds that all is well with the church and
family.
We would like to thank you for your faithful prayers
and support for our ministry. Although the purpose of this letter
is to
update you on the happenings here in Panama, we are also going to
take this opportunity to share with you a specific need that
we have at this time.
We are praying for a 15-passenger van that
we can use in both ministries, Dolega and Boquete. We have found
one that is in
good shape that is being sold by another pastor for $6,500. We
praise the Lord for the $750 that we have in the van fund
that was given by a church in North Carolina (thank you Beacon).
The need in Dolega for a van is that we would like to start
new bus routes in areas that are not easily accessed by a bus. The
need in Boquete for a van is that the roads in Boquete are
ALL very narrow with a lot of curves which makes it difficult to
maneuver a big bus on those little roads not to mention that a
van would be less expensive in gas. If you are able to help us
with this need and give towards our van fund you can send
the money to our support address and mark it “VAN FUND”.
We would also like to share with you our future
plans of going to the states. When we arrived to Panama in 2005,
our goal
was to be able to go to the states every 1-2 years for a couple
of months instead of the normal furlough of one year which is
normally taken after 5 years of being on the field. We are planning
a trip to the states in August/September for which we
plan to be there for about 4-5 months. Right now we are in the
process of getting all of the necessary paperwork together
(passports, etc.). Please pray that we will be able to get
cheap tickets (we have to buy 4 at full price) and also pray
for a
vehicle that we can use while we are in the states. Since we
will only be there for 4-5 months it is most likely that we will
not be able to visit all of our supporting churches but if you are
really interested that we visit your church please e-mail me at
panama4jesus@yahoo.com
and share with me your interest.
We praise the Lord for what He is doing in Panama
both in Dolega and Boquete and all of Panama. Through our printing
ministry (printing of gospel tracts for other pastors) we are able
to have a part in each and every ministry (about 20
independent Baptist) present in Panama. The Lord has also allowed
this ministry to provide tracts and prayer cards for
pastors, evangelists, and missionaries from Mexico, Columbia, and
other places. Although this is a ministry for which we
supply gospel tracts, prayer cards, etc. to those pastors and missionaries
for cost price or free (if necessary) it has a cost for us.
There is a monthly payment for the machine, we would like to try
to pay off the machine and therefore we could use that
money to print off more tracts also there is the cost of paper,
etc. Please pray for the Lord to provide the money necessary
to keep this ministry floating.
Once again, thank you for your faithful prayers
and support and for allowing us to represent your church in Panama!
May God bless you, your ministry, and your family.
Sincerely your servants in Christ,
Rafael, Tracy, Evelyn, Emily, and Rafael Jr. Rodriguez
|
