“And he departed from our sight that we might return to our heart, and there find Him. For He departed, and behold, He is here.”
– St. Augustine
God is with us. We see that in the Old Testament when God dwelt in the Tabernacle. We see it in the Gospels when Jesus came to earth — God was with us in human form. And now we have the Holy Spirit who lives inside of every professing believer of Christ. His cleansing work on the cross made it possible for us to have the Spirit of God inside of us.
But, what is the evidence of that? Where can we see that God is here now? In the Old Testament it was in a pillar of cloud hovering over the tabernacle. Then, when Jesus was on earth, obviously his presence was seen and felt because he had a physical body. But now? What do we have that shows us God’s presence in this age after Christ?
The evidence is in the Church. It is not simply a building or a gathering. It is people. People who in whom the Holy Spirit dwells.
So, why am I writing this? Because, I have felt so tangibly God’s presence on this earth through the people of the Church ever since landing here in Panama.
Story time.
When our month in Dominican Republic was about halfway over, we were told by the program that our next country, Panama, would be an “open month.” Let me define this for you. Usually, we are connected to a ministry and upon arrival to the country, we join that pastor, missionary, or established ministry in whatever they are doing.
“Open month” was this: a plane ticket to Panama, a budget and nothing more. Unlike the other months, we would have no connections. The model is to teach us to depend on God to lead us and have ministry be apart of “normal life.” Right off, I had a lot of issues with this model and questions as to how this month wouldn’t just be a waste of my time. Having ministry be apart of real life isn’t just living somewhere. It is a job where building relationships with and loving co-workers is a ministry. It is having a church family and serving them or in your community with them. It is everyday life with friends and family and loving them well. As I thought about this concept, I was failing to see how wandering around in country with no connections could turn into effective ministry. (I could go on on this topic for a long time haha). I was also quite concerned about the safety of my team (of four girls) being on our own in a strange country. So, to say that I was not thrilled about this news was an understatement and I started to dread the upcoming month.
Nevertheless, me & my team (shoutout to Candor!!) started praying and talking about our month in Panama. We knew we wanted to find something to partner with but had no idea where to start. Individually, we started looking at hostels, churches, airbnb’s, and just anything that could give us a starting point but our flight to Panama was approaching fast and all we had was dead ends.
This is where it gets good.
A missionary from MTW (if you know you know) responded to an email and connected me with the name of someone who was spending the month of June doing ministry in Panama.
Sound’s cool.
This guy (from SportXchange) told me all about the ministries they’d be doing: visiting different indigenous tribes, going to an orphanage, working with a few different churches and more. He also offered to pick us up from the airport the day we arrived.
Woah.
Fast forward to the day before our flight to Panama, we had a ride from the airport and a hostel within budget through someone else I had reached out to. At least we had a start: somewhere to go and some solid connections in the country.
We landed and were immediately met by these people who were SO kind and welcoming. They took us to lunch, to get sim cards, to a grocery store, then offered to take one of my teammates to a clinic to address a medical issue. WOW. I remember feeling so grateful in those first hours in Panama that these strangers saw our need and were willing to help us get on our feet.
After that all of that, we headed to the hostel I had booked. Let’s just say that it wasn’t ideal. We were basically in two bedrooms of a lady’s apartment and it was just a strange situation — none of us felt great about it upon arrival. But, at least we had a place to stay. Maybe we could look into something else now that we were here. A few hours passed and our new friends ended up inviting us over for dinner. They picked us up and there aren’t really accurate words to describe the feeling that night, of being surrounded and so well loved by these people we had just met. They fed us a home-cooked meal and we all told stories, laughed and joked around. It felt so much like home.
Later that night as they were dropping us off at our sketchy hostel, the leader of the group said something like,“Hey, we know this is a weird situation y’all are in, and we want you to know that you are welcome to move into this house with us and join us in our ministry and we will make it work.”
There was no hesitation to our “yes.”
The next day, they picked us up again and this time we had all of our stuff. They drove us over to the house they are staying in this month and had a room prepared for us. Get this…a unbelievably comfortable bed, a hot shower, air conditioning, a variety of foods we haven’t eaten in a long time, an espresso machine (I mean, seriously???), and these are seriously only a few. The list goes on. They told us to rest and gave us the space to catch up from an exhausting ministry, debrief, then a hectic travel day getting to Panama. (We slept SO much haha.)
That was the start of what has been an unforgettable month. We have gotten to tag along in most of the ministries that SportXchange partners with. We have visited churches, met missionaries and been able to witness what God is doing here in Panama through this network of believers. It has been incredible, to say the least.
Now, back to what I was talking about way back at the beginning of this post.
The Church.
There are A LOT of passages in Scripture that speak to the Church. He tells us how to choose our leaders in 1 Timothy, how to fellowship in Acts 2, how to maintain unity in Ephesians 4, and the list goes on.
Of the directions given to the Church, the following stood out to me this month. He teaches us to care for one another in the body of believers. Paul writes about it in his letter to the Philippians and it is just another piece of what the Church should look like.
“Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
[Philippians 4:14-20]
Paul says that these fellow believers gave him the care he needed and more.
He thanks them.
And he thanks God.
He knows that it was God at work through His people. God equipped and informed and supplied those early church Christians because He knew what Paul needed more than any human could. And because He is God, he provided not just what was necessary, but in abundance.
And let me tell you, it is quite an overwhelming feeling to see so clearly the provision of God. Coming into this month I felt so helpless and out of control and purposeless. The Lord showed me, yet again, that (1) my faith is too small, & (2) that full dependence on Him is the best place to be. Not only did we have a place to stay that was beyond comfortable and new friends that loved us well, but we got to participate in ministries that are well established and discipleship-focused & meet missionaries that live in Panama and could share with us what God has been doing in this country.
So, how does this lesson affect me going forward?
Well, first, in the way I view the Church. Not just my church family at home, but every professing believer of Christ in all of the world. I feel like I have a better understanding of it and it’s purpose and responsibility.
As believers we should exhibit unity and love and peace and joy.
John 13:35 says,
“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Our love for one another.
WHY is that so important?
Because, it is the evidence of the presence of God here on earth.
Like St. Augustine said, “Behold, He is here.” He is here because we, as the Church, have the his Spirit within us.
And I know now that that is not only for unbelievers to see and wonder about, but also for believers to understand and be encouraged by.
This concludes my attempt at describing to you what this last month or so has been like. If you have made it this far, THANK YOU for taking the time to read this very lengthy post!!! It’s my longest yet (by a lot). I have been trying to process it for weeks and am grateful to have finally found a way to put it into words.
Signing off!
Until next time, friends 🙂
