MISSION TRIP 2014
A New Perspective
BY MALISSA FLORES, ‘16
WHEN I WAS ASKED to write about my experience in Panama
during our Kingsway mission trip this past December, the first
thought that entered my mind was “Where should I begin?”
For ten days in Las Boquillas, a city in Panama, six staff and 25
students from Kingsway took part in building a church and holding an evangelistic series. Every day we would go to our worksite
half an hour away from our apartment. At the worksite, we would
work hard to build the foundation, frame, and finally the roof of
the church and Sabbath school building. In the evenings we
would change into Sabbath clothes and go to a school across
from our worksite. Some of us would stay at the school and help
with Vacation Bible School while others went to the evangelistic
series. It was such a blessing to help out with VBS and be a part of
the evangelistic series and witness the people growing in number each night that we held the program. It especially touched
me during the last night of our evangelistic program when an
alter call was made and a number of people came forward. It was
amazing and inspiring to see the tears of those who went up and
witness how blessed and touched they were by the evangelistic
series. I believe heaven was rejoicing that day.
Halfway through our stay in Panama, we took a day off from
construction work and had an excursion day at a resort. I truly
appreciated God’s creation when we went to the resort because
the palm trees, beach, and the whole scenery was breathtaking.
We all had so much fun at the resort and it was a nice break especially since we had been working hard at the construction site
for the past couple of days.
Another significant part of our mission trip was the two Sabbaths we spent there. On the first Sabbath, we were able to walk
to different houses and sing to the people. We then prayed for
them and gave them tracks and invited them to the evangelistic
series that took place that week. The last Sabbath we spent
there, the church members could not stop thanking us
for taking part in building the frame and roof of their new
church and Sabbath School building. Although we were
not able to complete the church due to a limited supply of
building materials, they were still so happy and thankful that
they had a place where they could worship God with all their
heart and soul sheltered from the heat of the sun and rain.
And that was an inspiring sight to see.
Being able to visit a less fortunate country also really
helped me appreciate what we take for granted here in
North America. In Panama, people have so little but yet they
are very grateful and happy for what they have. The children
who came to our VBS program each night were so happy
and excited to learn about Jesus and even though we did
not understand each other, the language barrier was not a
hindrance for us because we all came with the knowledge of
whom we were worshipping. Going on this mission trip was
a real blessing for me and put a lot of things into perspective.
Every day that I spent in Panama, I was able to witness and
enjoy the beautiful creations of the Lord. The country side,
mountains, and beaches were breathtaking and showed
how creative our Father in heaven is and has an imagination
far greater than any human being can comprehend. It was
such a blessing and amazing experience that has helped me
grow in my spiritual walk with God and I learned to appreciate Him so much more. I thank God that He allowed me to
have this experience and I pray that God will continue to
use me and other students at Kingsway to bring others to a
knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
KC Contact Winter 2015
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