The Darien Jungle- Click Here for the PowerPoint Presentation (HTML Version)
Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about my mission trip to Panama.
Central Idea: The adventure that occurred as I stepped into the humid Darien jungle gave me a deeper desire to be used by God in foreign missions.
Introduction
It all begins with a desire to love God. When you decide to love Him with all your heart mind, soul, and strength something happens. When I chose to love Jesus and serve Him he began to take me on an adventure that still has not stopped. However, in the summer of 2000 I had one of the greatest adventures to date. We embarked on a journey into the beautiful country of Panama.
Body
I. I decided that this summer I was not going to just sit on the couch.
A. I received a missions brochure at an Acquire the Fire youth convention.
1. They told us the story of Rachel Scott, killed in her Columbine school for her faith, who had planed to go with Teen Mania on a mission trip that summer to Botswana.
2. After being challenged by her story, I committed to go that summer on the mission field.
B. There were many countries to choose from! I finally chose Panama.
C. I sent out a support letter to people who would give money to pay for the airfare, lodging, food, and other expenses I would have.
D. I began to pray intensely for the people I was going to encounter.
II. The day finally came! It was time to go to Garden Valley, Texas for my three days of training.
A. We started by learning “The Journey”, a drama that was the primary tool we used to share Jesus with the people.
1. The drama was about the Journeyman’s search for fulfillment.
2. He finally finds it a relationship with Jesus Christ.
B. I found out that our “three day training” was only going to be two and we left that night at 12:30.
C. When we arrived in Panama, I immediately noticed the poverty.
1. I realized how blessed we are in America.
2. The little houses and run-down buildings expressed the condition of the country as a whole.
D. We got to give the drama at six different places in Panama City.
1. One of them was a school. There were 345 little eyes fixed on us as we presented “The Journey”.
2. We also went to an orphanage for disabled children.
III. The next day we set out on a journey that would indeed be the highlight of my trip. We ventured into the Darien jungle.
A. We departed for the jungle first by bus and then took a canoe the rest of the way.
B. Finally, after six hot, humid, but beautiful hours on the canoe in the noon sun, we arrived at the tribe of Kuna people.
1. When we arrived we went to the hut that we would stay in for two nights.
2. The guys on our team went into the tribal council in which they argued over whether we could stay or not.
C. The next morning we got up and prayer walked the village.
1. I had never seen other guys pray like they did!
2. One of the guys prayed that the kid’s song in the village would change to “Jesus Loves Me”. At that moment the girls where teaching them this very song!
D. The next day we performed the drama for the entire tribe.
1. The people watched intently as we told the story of the Journeyman’s search for fulfillment.
2. After the drama, they listened carefully as our team leader told them how they could know the same Man that the journeyman had come to know.
E. My small group and I shared Jesus with the sagular (or chief) of the village. He met Jesus and asked Jesus for freedom from his sin.
F. After that we saw a man who had a bandage over a huge wound on the side of his hand.
1. We prayed for him.
2. He took off the bandage.
a. The skin tone around the cut was darker than the rest of his hand.
b. He also could not move his hand at all.
3. I heard, inside my spirit, Jesus tell me to get water and pour it on his hand.
4. After arguing for about forty-five minutes with Him, I did.
5. After we had finished praying he was able to move his hand freely and the color of his skin had changed back to its natural tone!
Conclusion
After we returned to the States, we discussed many things. One of things we expressed was how we really wanted to get other Christians to experience what we had experienced. We each made a commitment to get other people to go on a foreign missions trip. At the end of the trip, I was amazed at the things God had done. I am still fascinated by His unlimited power and the love that He has for every man, woman and child on planet earth.