The Morales Family

Summer is long gone, but the running around of

ministry is going strong. The previous Tuesday,

we started going back to “Instituto America”, a

public school, to preach the gospel. We came up

with a play that represented how Jesus took the

punishment for our crimes and never said a word.

Afterwards, I clearly preached the gospel and

many students professed receiving Christ in their

heart. We praise God for what He will do the rest

of the year.

We’ve had the privilege of having quite a few

guests in our church. For our Easter conference,

professor Daniel Oubel from Argentina came and

taught on our Victory in Christ. We also had

Grey Fisher and Keith Watkins fly down to

personally see the ministry in Panama. Have you

considered seeing the ministry first hand? Pastor

Grey gave a weekend leadership seminar, while

Pastor Keith preached a powerful message about

the giants in our lives.

There are two youth groups that are coming on

mission trips to Panama one week after the other.

One group is from Missouri and they will be here

from June 9th to the 17th, while the Wisconsin

team will fly in on June 18th and fly out ten days

later. There will be some awesome ministry

going on with their help. Their schedules include

working at camp, VBS for children 6-12 yrs,

school outreach, door-to-door evangelism,

children’s hospital visit, and more. Pray for these

youth and those who will hear the gospel.

Our youth group got a name change; we are no

longer ‘Friendship Bible Club’, instead we are

‘Coram Deo’. It reflects the attitude we want to

instill in our teenagers. Last year’s goal was to

end with 50 spiritual teenagers in our youth. This

year we are averaging 45 teenagers in our

assistance; so, we have half of our goals fulfilled.

Our teens need your prayers as they feel the pull

of this world. It’s our prayers that our leaders

commit to discipleship.

Eli turned one May 16th, and even though he is not

walking yet he is growing fast and becoming a

sweet boy. Ethan can tell the difference between

English and Spanish, and is learning numbers and

letters in both languages. He won’t give you a

speech, but he is really smart and witty. It’s great,

but can also be challenging. This week we began

praying as a family before putting the boys down

for bed. They are our greatest ministry and we

want to teach them discipline and love for God.

Prayer Requests:

• Wisdom in raising Ethan

and Eli

• The Lord’s Provision

• The youth mission teams

• Grace before the teen’s

eyes

• The arrangements for VBS

 

The Family

Blessings rain down on all of us each day but sometimes they pour!  Those same blessing have kept us on our toes these last three months.  Some of you know all the running involved with the birth of a new baby, the preparation of a conference or a visiting a children’s hospital, and the craziness of far-away family visiting.  However, with all the running one must always take some time to praise God and say ‘Thank You’.

The newest addition to the Morales family, Eli Matthew, is the greatest blessing this year.  He was due May 14th but Jennifer didn’t have any labour pains.  Her gynecologist proceeded to make reservations for a cesarean section for the 16th, unless she began dilating.  So we were bathed in prayers so that Jennifer would have a normal delivery.  We were a little discouraged since Jennifer had been pain free all the way up until the last appointment.  However, as we waited to be attended, Jennifer started having minor discomforts.  From the time we left the clinic and made it to the hospital’s monitor room, she dilated 4cm.  About six hours later, Jennifer was giving natural birth to Eli Matthew.  God is so good in every aspect.

Youth Group

We are slowly chugging along the First Epistle of John with the teenagers.  Unfortunately a few months ago some friends decided to quit ministering with us for not using the youth material they had and ONLY their material.  It definitely has been a trying time.  But we know nothing can replace the  teaching of scripture.  Pray for our wisdom and faithfulness in ministering the Word.

Two weeks ago we visited the children’s hospital.  This is the same hospital Ethan Allen was staying in when he was having seizure like episodes.  Our goal was to preach the Gospel to the ill children and their families.  Our method was simple, split into groups with prepared meals in to-go boxes for the parents and treat baggies with a tract in it.  Most of the parents in this hospital have to watch over their child by themselves so they never have an opportunity to go out for a meal.  The food was well received and the kids were excited for the toys.  Before we handed anything out we explained the gospel with the wordless book.  We don’t know if any received Christ, but we know the seed was planted.

We know God wants to do so much more through us and in us. We have a few activities planned that need your prayers.  July 9th we are having the teenager’s parents over for the youth meeting.  We want them to be aware of what is going on in youth ministry; as well as involve them in their teens’ spiritual formation.  With the rest of the youth leaders we are discussing the possibility of having our first teenager retreat.  We desire so much more growth and unity amongst them and hope this retreat will challenge them.  Please pray for this, we are still far from knowing what we are doing exactly.

We appreciate all the support you are to us.  We are here only because of His grace and your prayers.  In Christ, all of our love to you.

CORAM DEO = BEFORE THE FACE OF GOD

After all the busy holidays we finally made some time to get an ultrasound. Haley Emma was the name we had in mind, but it turns out Ethan Allen is going to have a baby brother. We want and “E” name but haven’t found anything we like…

Its a Boy!

“…The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.”

Job 1:21b

ON THE SEARCH AGAIN…

When Ethan was on his way to this world, God provided a great place to call home. It was walking distance to church, had an extra room for guests, and it was convenient for our teens to come hang out and do discipleship. Well, now that a second baby is coming, we have to look for a new place again. The owners of the house are going to bring down this place and construct a small building. God was so good in the past providing exactly what we needed; we are sure he will provide again. As we look at the circumstances, we have no idea how we are going to find a place to call home with all the benefits for ministry. We try to raise our eyes to those things which are set above, where Christ is, but we need your help. Please pray so that our faith will not falter, and that the Lord will guide us to that place he has in mind for us.

Prayer Requests

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 1 John 5:14

• a new place to call home
• a healthy new baby boy
• salvation in Bible camp
• wisdom for Bible Club
• our walk with the Lord
• you coming down on a mission trip to Panama!

Summer + Bible Camp + Youth Group = “Awesome Ministry”

In Panama, January is a summer month which means… BIBLE CAMP! Our goal was to take 50 teens to the Word of Life (WOL) camp, we missed our mark by 3 teens. WOL is a dynamic, Christ centered camp with solid-Bible-teaching and committed counselors to work in the campers’ lives. Even with Jenn’s pregnancy, we were both able to be there. We didn’t want to miss the opportunity to invest in lives and bring new teens to the feet of Christ. Its a great way to start the year because the teens really hype up. This is where Bible Club comes in. We want to grab the teens’ hype and change it into a long-lasting commitment with Christ. So its up to us to plan and envision what God can do with our teenagers this year. Proverbs says, “…without vision, the people perish.” Do you have a vision/goal for your teenagers?

Last year we did a poor job going out and reaching the lost with the gospel of Christ. So this year, we’ve already gone out twice to hand out tracts and invite teens to camp. Hey! Why not pray about coming down to Panama with your youth group on an evangelistic mission trip? We would love to plan an activity like that for this year. It would really grow both youth groups.

VBS

As if summer wasn’t crazy enough, we got involved with VBS. This year we’re not leading the troops; I don’t think we could have planned what our friend Glendon did. Instead of bringing the children to church, he led us to four neighborhoods to take VBS to them. On the third week of January, we were at two different locations with 48 kids and 35 kids at each location on the first day. On the second day, attendance increased to 77 kids and 54 kids! God’s challenge for us in VBS was Jose. On the second day’s lesson, two adults had to exhort him to stay put. Jose wasn’t being rebellious; he just couldn’t hear what was being said or going on. After we realized he was deaf, Jennifer tried showing him the gospel with a Blackberry, but it was to no avail. She didn’t give up on him and that night downloaded the gospel in sign language from Youtube. The next day we failed again because he doesn’t know sign language and the illustrated wordless book was too distracting. Jenn and I just sat frustrated next to Jose. After all our human resources and intelligence failed, the Lord gave us one more idea. Jennifer played the part of a rebellious child with a black heart next to her chest. I was the man with the wounded hands he saw on the book. The main act was Jesus being nailed to the cross and then cleansing the black heart Jenn carried. When we finished our little play, we both looked at Jose and he nodded his head.

I can’t believe summer arrived and is now half way over (for us)! Summers here don’t seem to last long, but a lot is always done. During December a whopping six music concerts were carried out and even if you doesn’t play an instrument someone needs to witness afterwards, which is what Jennifer and I did. We also coordinated a Christmas program where we challenged the congregation to see Christmas through “different eyes”. The children’s hospital invited us to put on the Christmas play there as well.

January was no slower. A few months ago, the owner of the commercial building where our church is at was forced to ask us to leave. It’s a really long story but in the end, he gave us an old parking lot for us to turn into a sanctuary. We did the transformation in January with the help of two work teams, one from North Carolina and the other from Missouri. The temporary sanctuary looks great, but the work is far from over. The owner also gave us the place next to the parking lot. In the end, the new location is about three times bigger than the old place! Isn’t God Awesome! When we were stumped, He was making provisions. So in April we will be working again to make a more adequate sanctuary and a YOUTH ROOM! Any volunteers for work?

We are excited about having our own youth place, but it will be mostly empty at first. We want it to be a place where the teenagers will want to be and be confronted with the Word of God. So if you have a spare pool table, foosball table, or an extra pulpit, it would quickly find a home in Panama. Pray.

Bible camps are not quite over; unfortunately Jenny and I can’t be counselors this year. We still make the trip once a week to the camp grounds. We check up on the work staff since most of them are our teenagers. With them gone and this being the first year we have Bible Club during summer, attendance has been low. However, God has still surprised us with what he is doing in their lives. I started a new discipleship last week with a young teenager who has a very teachable heart. Jennifer and I are also expecting a very teachable and young heart. Dr. Karnakis said baby Ethan could arrive any day! We are so excited and nervous about our first son. I’m sure many of you know the feeling. His crib and room are ready. There are stuffed cars on the wall, and he has a bunch of baby clothes from the baby shower. He will probably out grow most of it in three months. Please pray for what God is doing in church, in us, and in Ethan Allen Morales. Expect another email soon announcing his birth!

We have had an awesome Easter week. For this year’s Easter Conference we had an eloquent Bible teacher whose ministry is teaching over the Bible Broadcasting Network radio. Raul Ferrero walked us all over the Bible as he taught about the first passover, the geographical place, and God’s timing for the sacrifice of His Lamb. We Celebrated Resurrection Sunday with a BIG breakfast for the church before Sunday School; a presentation was made during Sunday School (SS) launching off what should be a new stage in our SS program. We’ve developed a program that goes through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation in six years and thus laying a solid foundation for kids. The purpose is to educate with excellence the church of God so that it may uphold the Truth. Our goal is that by the time a child is 18 and has gone through all our Sunday School Program he will have no need of a Bible School. Not that we don’t want to send them, but we want to be that thorough! There is definitely a lot to pray and plan about so please join us with your prayers.

Ending Game for the day.

Ages 3- 5 years.  This class was made at a last minute notice after seeing so many little ones.

Welcoming songs.

Arts and Crafts time.

God is so good!

Jenn and I just got done with two super weeks of bible camp.  Probably the coolest thing was seeing God’s Word do the real working in hearts.  There was a kid (Luis) in my cabin who almost opted for a weekend party instead of camp.  Praise God he didn’t; as the week unfolded and God’s Word was preached one could tell by his joy and sharing that something had occurred within him. He just didn’t know how to articulate it.  Thursday night after the campfire, he admitted praying and asking for his heart to be “opened up to God.”  So, I grabbed him Friday evening and led him to Christ.  Have you experienced the excitement of leading someone to Christ?  He was still nervous about returning to his city and falling back to old habits.  So, the best thing I could do was share God’s word to encourage him.  I emphasized that the Christian’s Victory doesn’t depend on not falling but on getting back up!  He left our conversation relief on his face.

During the two weeks of camp we had around 400 campers and 150 of them manifested receiving Christ.

Camp is over but we still have busy plans: VBS for next week and our Bible Club launch date is March 21st.

The only worry that has come up is my heart.  I don’t want to get so busy with ministry that I forget the God of the ministry.  You could pray in this manner tonight for Jenn and me (along with a bigger place for us).

P.S. Check out the camp pictures

Hi! This is Paco and Jenn.  We just started working on our website, so you may want to come back later for major changes.  First of all, we want to thank you for visiting us.  We would like to share with you what God is doing in us and through us.

Our mission is to glorify God with our lives in a growing relationship with Him, and by reaching the lost with the Gospel of Christ and discipling them.

For the year 2009, we will be working full time with Friendship Bible Church in the Sunday School Program and pastoring the youth group.  Pray that God will give us the wisdom and love to reach the people whom we come in contact with.