Abundant Care: Holistic Ministry to Children in Panama

aheckman — Mon, 06 Jan 2025 18:28:05 +0000

Abundant Care: Holistic Ministry to Children in Panama aheckman Mon, 01/06/2025 - 18:28

JANUARY 6, 2025 ~ AMY HECKMAN

“I thank God because I am part of the child development center!”

Eyrá grew up attending the local Nazarene child development center in her community in Panama, a center focused on afterschool activity and academic support. Growing up in a place affected by the challenges of poverty, her center was a place of refuge. Not only did Eyrá receive holistic care that supported her growth and development, but she also found a life-long faith in Christ through the guidance of the teachers and staff.

Eyrá

“I wanted to be in the center, and I was excited about each activity,” she shares. “I met Jesus, I gave him my life, and he entered my heart. Now, I help as a teacher.”

Now, as a college student, Eyrá is thrilled to give back to the center that helped shape her early years. Her role as a teacher allows her to provide other children with the same abundant care, knowing how vital the ministry can be to a child.

“I thank God for the center that was God’s strategy to reach me,” says Eyrá.

Maritza works in the same center alongside Eyrá in a support staff role.

“I am the dining room director, in charge of making meals and snacks for the children,” she explains.

Maritza, on left

In addition to her staff role, she has also experienced the program's care as a parent.

“The center is part of our life and the entire community,” she shares.

Maritza's four children have all attended the center. Her oldest children have moved on to college, while her younger children, in fourth and sixth grades, are currently enrolled. She credits the center for their spiritual and academic growth.

“All my children have [had] good grades, and all my children serve God,” she says. “I thank God because my children have grown up [here], and I thank God for allowing me to be a part of the center!”

For Eyrá and Maritza, this ministry has been a deep source of spiritual, intellectual, physical, emotional, and social support and care. The program, funded by generous sponsors, provides resources that might not have been accessible otherwise—and this is the reality for thousands of children around the world enrolled at other church-led centers. While poverty and need may impact their upbringing, children who are supported through sponsorship and a child development center find the tools needed to unlock a door to a more hopeful future.

When you sponsor a child through Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, you become an integral part of an unfolding story of grace and hope. Learn more about how you can make a difference here.

Panama

children and youth

Holistic Child Development

Love in Action in Panama

aheckman — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 17:47:49 +0000

Love in Action in Panama aheckman Thu, 01/12/2023 - 17:47

Love in Action in Panama

JANUARY 12, 2022 · AMY HECKMAN

In Panama, the Rio Abajo Church of the Nazarene created a compassionate outreach in the fall of 2022 called “Love in Action”. Their purpose was to serve the asylum-seeking and migrant population traveling throughout the country. Venezuelan families have formed the bulk of recent migrants moving through Panama, and in October of 2022, a change in asylum prospects for these families meant more were pausing and staying in Panama for extended periods of time. Some were waiting for flights and others were trying to figure out how to earn enough money to keep traveling or return to their country of origin. Church leaders realized that these adults and children desperately needed support while they waited.

A team of 35 volunteer church members set up stations in locations where migrants were staying in order to share and distribute hot meals, hygiene kits, medicine, milk and formula, diapers, and funds to assist with travel. Most importantly, the volunteers provided encouragement, taking time to pray with people looking for hope. Some of the volunteers also provided entertainment for children of the families they encountered.

Juan, an asylum seeker traveling with his wife, crossed paths with the volunteers in Panama. The journey had been hard on them both, and they were struggling emotionally and physically. The church offered to supply housing for the couple, giving them 20 days of refuge in the church building. When one of the local pastors shared the gospel message as part of this compassionate outreach, Juan and his wife decided to become followers of Christ. Church members noted how this caused an upturn in their spirits and health, almost immediately. Juan recently got back in touch with the volunteers to share that he and his wife ended up returning to their home country. They joined their local Nazarene church, and have even been able to start a new business.

One leader explained that the Rio Abajo church was looking for a deeper way to serve when they chose to reach out to the migrant community. “We developed some small projects, but we felt that God called us to something deeper,” he shared. “God used this opportunity to get us out of [our] comfort and show us that He has great purposes.”

In addition to supporting people on the move, the Love in Action project is also making inroads in caring for people who are living without homes and those enduring long stays in hospital waiting rooms.

“God longs and desires to embrace the most vulnerable, but it is through His church that he can do it,” said the leader. “In other words, we must carry the greatest commandment from loving your neighbor to immediate action, [and] that is love in action.”

Panama

Refugee and Immigrant Support

Compassion

Panama

Abundant Care: Holistic Ministry to Children in Panama

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