Partners in Christian Mission
PARTNERS IN CHRISTIAN MISSION
COMPAÑEROS EN MISIÓN POR CRISTO
PANAMA MISSION TRIP 2011
JAN 8 – JAN 14, 2011
Evangelist Kent Svendsen Leads Republic of Panama Evangelistic Campaign
In January of 2011 Reverend Kent Svendsen completed a evangelistic campaign in the Republic of Panama. Svendsen has been in pastoral ministry in the United Methodist Church since 1988 when he was both a student pastor preaching in a small county church and attending classes at Judson College in Elgin, Illinois. Pastor Svendsen became Evangelist Svendsen in late Fall of 2009 after being accepted by the National Association of United Methodist Evangelists.
Evangelist Svendsen who is also a retired Army Chaplain began his work in Panama in 1998 while acting as a chaplain with the 1/178 Air Assault Infantry Illinois Army National Guard our of Chicago, Illinois. While there he made connections with a church / school in the city of Colon and returned the next year with a mission team. At that first gathering in Colon Partners In Christian Mission was formed as a team effort between Trinity Methodist Church and School and the American team. Svendsen then returned a second time and following that other teams returned to work in that region.
In 2007 Svendsen again returned with the military was serving with the 961st Engineers of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This time the work was focused on building medical clinics and school classrooms in the remote villages of the Bocas Del Toro region near the border with Costa Rico. Svendsen then returned in 2008 with Partners In Christian Mission and began work in the city of David as well as the Bocas Del Toro villages. On that trip the focus was on helping a Child Nutrition Clinic and a orphanage in the city of David. Then traveling to the Bocas Del Toro region to help the villages he had created a friendship with in that area. They focused on bringing in school and medical supplies to help the clinics and schools in the area. At that time the evangelistic outreach consisted of a children's evangelistic outreach using puppet skits, songs, hand outs. When the superintendent of schools in the region was asked what was most badly needed she gave the team a tour of the school area. Four hundred students were being taught in two classrooms without lights, with little or no supplies other than the precious ones we had carried into them. But her greatest hope was to have a water tank installed so they could take the hose which was brining a trickle of water down from a hillside stream and fill the tank and have "running water". The team fulfilled that dream and on this latest trip were able to see the water tank.
The school was glad to see the team return and a joyful celebration took place. This latest trip was focused on evangelism and discipleship. A copy of the Jesus Movie along with other resources was presented to Bishop Morales the Evangelical Methodist of Panama. One other resource was the presentation of the "Proclaimer" which is a New Testament audio player which has built in solar panels and a crank that can be used to produce the electricity to run the machine. Five of these machines were presented for use in remote areas to establish on going Bible studies in the language of the people. Proclaimers were presented to both the bishop and Missionary Rhett Thompson as well as the school superintendent in Norteno (that's right the school system can use them in their schools). Two others were also presented with one going to the orphanage in David and the other to the Evangelical Christian church in Molejones. All of the visited were witnessed to with personal contacts and the distribution of salvation tracts.
When talking with the superintendent of schools in Norteno the question was asked: What is your greatest need? Their answer: Notebooks and pencils. Evidently the children are taught and simply have to retain what they learn by memory. The villages subsist by gleaning food from the surrounding jungle and by selling whatever bananas they can cultivate. Most villagers have nothing more than the clothes on their backs and live in elevated huts without doors of windows. Reverend Svendsen promised to return next time with pencils and notebooks for the now over 500 children of the school.
On preparing to leave the Bocas Del Toro region, Adam their team driver (and newest member of Partners In Christian Mission) had a request. Adam worked for the Panamanian Red Cross and had performed some disaster relief in the community of Chiriqui Grande. He asked if we wanted to see the place he had worked at during the tremendous floods of the previous year. He took us close to a small village located next to a stream. "This is a very poor village." He said. We were in shock! The people were living in the same raised huts with no doors and windows as the other villages we visited. But in this case there was no community school or medical clinic nor gathering place for the people. Just one big mud field in which to live in community. Adam's face looked down and his expression turned to one of great sadness. "During the time of terrible flooding the water rose so high that it entered the huts." He said. "It was reported that three children were killed and eaten by crocodiles because they were able to get into the homes of the people." During this same time Adam had filled a boat with food, water, and medical supplies and had hand paddles it into the village to help rescue people. As the team stood their in stunned silence we were so shocked that we didn't even think to take any pictures. Just then two young boys approached us with huge smiles that defied the misery and want of their surroundings. The one young man appeared to be around eight or nine. In his hand was a fishing pole made out of a tree branch with a piece of fishing line and a hook tied to it. Behind him was a youngster would appeared to be about six or seven. In his hand was a string of three small fish which he proudly showed us. They were happy because they had something for their family to eat that day. Plans are being made to return to that village on the next trip to Panama.
Evangelist Svendsen retired from the Army in 2009 with twenty-seven years of service. He is presently the pastor of The United Methodist Church of Plano and Milbrook United Methodist Church. When he retires from pastoral ministry his plans are to go into full time evangelistic work.
