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| December 2006 | ||||
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| A Passion For Change | Daniel's Diary | President's Desk | ||
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| The infamous pirate, Captain Morgan, destroyed the first settlement in Panama 130 years ago. During my visit there in October, CinA Pastor Carlos Jaramillo made a point of showing me how the government is restoring those ruins left after many years of neglect. Carlos has a church and a child feeding ministry in “Old Town” less than one mile from the ruins. While Pastor Carlos recognizes the importance of preserving the nation’s history, his heart is torn for the families living in this poor area of the city. “It’s sad to see our government investing millions of dollars to preserve the history of Old Town, while its future is being destroyed before our very eyes.” He has yet to receive the promised state financial assistance for his family counseling program. As we sat in his car in front of the church a man picked up some drugs hardly a few feet away. Carlos is visibly moved while he explains Old Town families are destroyed by prostitution, Macumba witchcraft and drugs. He is convinced that the only solution is building a godly families in Christ. For the last eight years Carlos’ and his wife’s passion has been to change the future of Old Town through the power of the Gospel. | |||
| I entered the main hall of the child care facility where Hermano Juan and his wife were ministering so intently to a group of adults they hardly knew we were there. I noticed they were not speaking Spanish and Carlos explains that this is a group of parents from the nearby Kuna tribe. The Kuna Indians are a special needs group because they are somewhat outcast from the Panamanian culture and have much difficulty finding work and making a living, For that reason Carlos has a special interest inhelping them as well as drug addicts and others who are needy. We move on to another room and were met by the exuberant voices of children singing Christians songs. They are led by a 12 year-old-boy who, between songs, shares about the love that Jesus has for children. |
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Carlos with his team of three couples spend much of their time and personal resources with the families, providing counsel and meals for sixty children between the ages of 5 and 10 years of age. Each child receives three meals a day and ample Bible teaching. The families of each child must be registered and also come for counseling at least once a week. The church provides what assistance it can but I learned that Carlos buys or recruits donated food for most of the weekly needs in the children’s program. They are literally trusting God from day to day. I can’t help but remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 18:5 “Whosoever welcomes a little child in my name welcomes me.” |
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Before I left, Carlos showed me a large plaza where he has held evangelistic meetings and many young people have responded to the Gospel. Carlos’ three wonderful kids are a vital part of the evangelism team, playing instruments and sharing what God has done in their own lives. They are also bi-lingual and his 17-year-old daughter asked me in perfect English if a group of Americans could come and share the love of God with Old Town. I tell them that I am sure we can find such a group of people in the near future. “The government has spared no expense in bringing archeologist from various nations to restore the ruins of Old Town,” but he exclaims, “Who will restore the families of Old Town? Our country is careful to maintain the history of this place, but won’t the families of Old Town also have a history one day? Who will determine what that will be?” Carlos and the team are working with a passion because they know that God can make the difference. |
 Pastor Carlos Jaramillo and his wife are passionate about sharing the Gospel in Old Town Panama, where drugs, witchcraft and immorality abound. God is using their church and outreach, bringing hope and new life to those who hear the message. |
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