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7-1-06
Hi
(this is in both Spanish and English),
Last night, we had a meeting at El Dorado Baptist Church about future
ethnic Chinese ministries at the church. Tommy Koo, Melissa Koo, Francisco
Yau, Aurora Moreno, Amilcar Fernandez, Francisco Lee, Cheryl Hansen, and
Juan Marcos Hansen attended the meeting. We discussed many aspects of
the Chinese experience in Panama and suggested some possible plan de action.
There was discussion about what languages should be used in the ministries.
It was agreed that using different languages depending on the preferences
of the Chinese groups that we worked with would be a good strategy.
Melissa has been attending El Dorado Baptist Church for about 5 months.
She was previously a member of the Chinese Christian Church in Colon.
She feels very comfortable using Cantonese for worship services, even
though many in the congregation us other Chinese language. She has the
opinion that many members of the Colon church are Hakka. Our research
in the area would show that this may be true of the congregation, but
the many Chinese people in the city of Colon speak the Si Yi dialect of
Cantonese.
Francisco Lee said that using Hakka in the Colon church during his childhood
would have been better as he understood very little spiritual language
in Cantonese.
Francisco Yau suggested several activities to use with the Chinese people
in the area. They include: Basketball games outside the church building,
Ping Pong games in the building, Language classes in Mandarin, Spanish
or English, Trips to see special areas of Panama, Karaoke singing, Community
service events.
Amilcar will help Brother Yau to organize some basquetbol games in the
near future on Wednesday nights.
It is our opinion that we should have a karaoke night as soon as possible.
Ayer en la noche, tuvimos una reunión en La Iglesia Bautista
El Dorado sobre los ministerios chinos étnicos en la asociación
con la iglesia en el futuro.
Tommy Koo, Melissa Koo, Franciso Yau, Aurora Moreno, Amilcar Fernandez,
Francisco Lee , Cheryl Hansen, y Juan Marcos Hansen assistieron a la reunión.
Discutimos muchos aspectos de la experiencia china en Panamá y
sugerimos algunos planes para las acciónes posibles.
Había discusión sobre qué idiomas se deben utilizar
en los ministerios.
Fue convenido que usar diversas idiomas dependiendo de las preferencias
de los grupos chinos con quienes trabajamos sería una buena estrategia.
Melissa ha estado atendiendo a La Iglesia Bautista El Dorado por cerca
de 5 meses.
Ella fue previamente un miembro de La Iglesia Cristiana China en Cerro
Batea.
Ella este muy cómodo usando cantonés para los servicios
de la adoración, aunque muchos hermanos en la congregación
usan las otras lenguas chinas.
Ella tiene la opinión que muchos miembros de la iglesia de Cerro
Batea son los Hakka.
Nuestra investigación en el área demostraría que
ésta puede estar correcta de la congregación, pero que mucha
gente china en la ciudad de Colon habla el dialecto de siyi de cantonés.
Francisco Lee dijo que eso usar hakka en la iglesia china de Colon durante
su niñez habría sido mejor pues él entendía
muy pequeña la lengua espiritual en cantonés.
Francisco Yau sugirió varias actividades para desarrollar con la
gente china en el área.
Se incluye: Los juegos de basquetbol fuera del edificio de la iglesia,
juegos del tenis de mesa en el edificio, clases de lenguas en mandarín,
español o inglés, los viajes para visitar los áreas
especiales de Panamá, Cherokee que conciertos, los eventos del
servicios social, comidas especiales para el grupo.
Amilcar va a ayudar el Hermano Yau a organizar algunos juegos del basquetbol
en futuro cercano a las miércoles en la noche.
Es la opinión de Cheryl y yo que debamos tener una noche de karaoke
cuanto antes.
7-7-06
Hi,
The first photo is of decorations for the 4th of July at our house. The
second photo is of Christine helping with the vacation Bible school at
Iglesia Bautista de Fe in Panama.
On Independence day, we invited friends to our home. We had about 25 people
for the get together. After our Spanish class in the afternoon, we came
home to prepare for our guests. My job (John Mark) was to start the barbecue
for hamburgers and chicken. If I had known that would have so much trouble
lighting the fire, I would have used briquette charcoal from the U. S.
At 6 I finally asked my wife to help me cook the meat with an electric
skillet. Cheryl made squash and peppers in the oven. Kelly made two fruit
pies. One was a cherry pie and the other was an apple pie. Every family
brought meat to grill. Cheryl also made baked beans. Mary provided a delicious
potato salad. Gail brought cole slaw. Ilka made a traditional tossed salad
with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots and peppers. Anna brought condiments
and bread for the hamburgers. Yvonne brought yukka and onions for the
grill. She also prepared a patriotic salad. It had three layers of gelatin
that included red. white and blue. The children enjoyed water games and
fireworks. Julie brought various flavors of soda and many bags of potato
chips. She and her husband Terry did not cook, because they had just returned
from the Costa Rica border. They spent three days there to renew their
tourist visa for Panama. Brother Francisco brought his grill for us to
use at the party. Cheryl prepared a game for the adults and youth. It
included quotes of famous Presidents of the United States.
I am excited to hear that Dave Clines, our country coordinator, is planning
a training event It will called "Change and Transition" and
will probably be at a hotel where we can have plenty of space and divide
into small groups, etc. The event is on Saturday, August 19th and is tentatively
scheduled for 9 am-3 pm Lunch will also be served. We will probably charge
$2 for each person which will include the meal. The purpose of this particular
theme is to begin the process of helping our Baptist brothers and sisters
in Panama to see that self-evaluation does not offend God. If churches
can begin to evaluate themselves, they will be able to begin making any
changes in their structures or practices that will allow them to be more
indigenous. One part of the event will focus on biblical change and transition.
Any ideas would be welcome. David is planning to use as much multimedia
as possible, so he is looking for any movies or such that have scenes
that lend something to the theme, let him know.
On Wednesday, we were invited to a birthday party for our friend and co-
worker Peter LAN. Pastor LAN celebrated his fiftieth birthday. We had
nine different courses in addition to the soup. The soup was made from
the stomach of a shark. It was very good. We had chicken of various varieties,
pork, beef, squid, fresh green vegetables, a whole fish in orange sauce,
and hot, spicy shrimp. There was plenty of food. The Lan family took some
of the food home to eat later. They invited about twenty-five people to
the party. There were members of his family present as well as many friends.
Some were Panamanian and some were Chinese. I was the only North American
present.
If I spoke Hakka or Cantonese, I would speak those languages with Pastor
and Mrs. Lan. But I do not speak these languages at the present time.
Therefore, I speak Mandarin with Pastor Lan and I speak Spanish with his
wife. I sat beside Brother Yau. We had a nice time talking at the party.
Francisco Yau told me that he and the young people at El Dorado Baptist
Church are planning a ping pong tournament at the church building this
weekend as an evangelistic event. We are so excited to see that they are
starting to coordinate cross-cultural events.
Next week our family will be going to Guatemala for our regional meeting.
We will be tested for your Spanish speaking ability. Please pray for us.
Your Friends in Christ,
Cheryl and John Mark Hansen
Hi,
La primera foto es de las decoraciones para 4 de julio en nuestra casa.
La segunda foto es de Christine que ayuda en la escuela de la biblia de
las vacaciones de la Iglesia Bautista de Fe en Panamá.
En el día de independencia de los Estados Unidos, invitamos a huéspedes
a nuestro hogar. Tuvimos cerca de 25 personas para la fiesta.
Después de nuestra clase de española en la tarde de 4 de
Julio, volvimos a nuestra casa para prepararnos para nuestros invitados.
Mi trabajo era comenzar la barbacoa para Las hamburguesas y El pollo.
Si hubiera sabido que tendría tanto apuro El para encender El fuego,
habría utilizado El carbón importado de Los Estados Unidos.
Finalmente de Las 6 en la tarde, le pedí a mi esposa, Cheryl, que
me ayudara a cocinar la carne con una sartén eléctrica.
MI esposa hizo Las zuchinis y Las pimientas en El horno. Hermana Kelly
preparó dos pasteles de frutas. Uno fue una pastel de cereza y
El otra fue una pastel de manzana. Cada familia trajo la carne a la parrilla.
MI esposa hizo habas cocidas al horno también. Hermana Maria proporcionó
una ensalada delicous de la papas. Hermana Gail trajo una ensalada de
repollo. Hermana Ilka hizo una ensalada norteamericana tradicional con
lechuga, tomates, pepinos, zanahorias y pimientas. Hermana Ana trajo Los
condimentos y El pan para Las hamburguesas. Hermana Yvonne trajo Las yukkas
y Las cebollas para la parrilla. Ella preparó una ensalada patriótica
también. Hubo un postre con de diversa gelatina que incluyó
rojo, blanco y El azul. Los niños estuvan gozados riegan juegos
y fuegos artificiales. Hermana Julia trajo varios sabores de la soda y
de muchos bolsos de Las virutas de papas. Ella y su esposo Terry no cocinaron,
porque ellos acababan de volver de la frontera de Costa Rica. Pasaron
tres días allí para renovar su visa de turística
en Panamá. El hermano Francisco trajo su parrilla para que utilicemos
en la fiesta. Cheryl preparó UN juego para Los adultos y la juventud.
Incluyó Las citas de Los presidentes famosos de Los Estados Unidos.
Me excitan para oír ese El pastor David Clines, nuestro coordinador
del país de Panamá, estoy planeando UN evento del entrenamiento.
Se llamará "El Cambio y La Transición" y será
probablemente en UN hotel en donde podamos tener UN montón de espacio
y dividirnos en grupos pequeños, etc. La conferencia Es El sábado,
19 de agosto y lo programar tentativamienta de Las 9 am a Las 3 pm. El
almuerzo será servido también. Cargaremos probablemente
$2 por persona que incluya la comida. El propósito de este tema
particular Es comenzar El proceso de ayudar a nuestros hermanos y hermanas
del Bautista en Panamá a considerar que la autoevaluación
no ofende a Dios. Si Las iglesias pueden comenzar a evaluarse, podrán
comenzar a realizar cualquier cambio en sus estructuras o prácticas
que permitan que sean Los métodos más originales de Panamá.
Una porción del evento se centrará en El cambio y la transición
bíblica. Cualquier otros ideas serían agradable.
David está planeando utilizar tantas multimedias como sea posible,
así que él está buscando cualquier película
o tal que tenga escenas que presten algo al tema, déjelo sabe.
El miércoles en la noche, nos invitaron a una fiesta de cumpleaños
para nuestro amigo Pedro Lan. El Es nuestro compañero de trabajo.
El Pastor LAN celebró su quincuagésimo cumpleaños.
Tuvimos nueve diversas placas además de la sopa. La sopa fue hecha
del estómago de UN tiburón. Fue muy bueno. Tuvimos pollo
de varias variedades, El cerdo, la carne, El calamar, de verduras verdes
frescos, de UN pescado entero en salsa anaranjada, y Los camarónes.
Había UN montón de alimento. La familia LAN tomó
algo del alimento casero para comer más adelante. Invitaron a cerca
de veinticinco personas a la fiesta. Hubo tanto familia así como
muchos amigos. Algas fueron panameños y algas fueron Los chinos.
Yo fui único norteamericano.
Si hablara Hakka o cantonés, hablaría esas idiomas con El
Pastor y señora LAN Pero no hablo estas idiomas actualmente. Por
lo tanto, hablo El mandarín con El Pastor LAN y hablo español
con su esposa.
Me senté al lado del Hermano Yau. Tuvimos UN tiempo agradable para
hablar en la fiesta. Me dije que él y la gente joven en la Iglesia
Bautista El Dorado estén planeando UN torneo del Ping Pong en la
iglesia este fin de semana. Somos así que excitado para ver que
están comenzando a coordinar Los eventos cruz-culturales.
Será UN evento evangélico. La próxima semana, nuestra
familia irá a Guatamala para nuestra reunión regional.
Nos probarán para su capacidad de habla española. Ora por
favor para nosotros.
Sus Amigos en Cristo,
Cheryl y Juan Marcos Hansen
Late breaking news flash!
Cheryl had the opportunity to share the good news of Jesus Christ with
one of the young ladies that has joined for our outings in the last couple
of months. She called and talked to Cheryl for quite a while this evening.
Pray that she and others in that group will come to know the Lord as their
personal Savior.
Cheryl and John Mark Hansen
7-9-06
Oh No...... Did I hear what I thought I heard? He wants me, a first time
visitor to the men's Sunday school class, to read Second Corinthians 5:17-20
out loud in front of group in SPANISH!?!?! Didn't I just tell him that
I was a language student and that I was sorry that my Spanish wasn't all
that good? Talking is fine, but reading?
Reconciliando and embajadores just don't roll off the tongue
of an old guy with dyslexia (by the way I had to use the spell check just
to spell that word!). Praise the Lord that Brother Tomas Koo was sitting
next to me to help me get through it! Maybe all the rest of the guys will
feel better about their reading skills in their native tongue after listening
to me, HA!
Welcome the world of the missionary! Please pray for our language study
as we TRY to communicate the good news of Christ with those around us!
7-16-06
Despite the fact that we did examinations in the lobby and hallways of
a hotel in Guatemala, Cheryl and I both showed some improvement in our
Spanish. We had a great week in Guatemala- meeting people, hearing about
great church planting movements right here in Middle America and the Caribbean,
and enjoying the great cool mountain weather of the ancient city of Antigua.
Thanks for your continued prayers! I have attached a photo of Cheryl with
our friend Wilma, who is the "Spanish tester" in our area. Please
pray for there family is they prepare for retirement with international
missions children and grandchildren in different areas of the world.
We appreciate you!
Cheryl and John Mark Hansen
7-18-06
Well, today is the big day. Cheryl and I are flying to London today to
start a European cruise! We are visiting 7 European countries to celebrate
our 25th wedding anniversary. We have saved our pennies for many years
for this event. We are meeting our good friends Gene and Cindy Morrow
in London. They did ALOT of mission trips to Nebraska with Second Baptist
Church of Springfield, MO. Cindy headed up that ministry for Second for
several years.
We will be returning on July 31st to Panama City ready for action!
Our other news is that our son Nathan has announced that he is getting
married to Miss Amanda Morse. They met at the Universities of Nebraska
- Kearney. She is a TCK (Third Cultural Kid) like Nathan and spent some
time growing up in Germany. We thank God for her and are looking forward
to getting to know her better.
Happy Trails,
John Mark and Cheryl Hansen
8-2-06
Thanks so much for your kind prayer support of our ministry in Panama!
We just got back from vacation as I shared with you about a couple of
weeks ago. We had a great time in seven different northern European countries.
The weather was for the most part beautiful, but unfortunately we brought
the hot Panama weather with us! During our cruise we experienced a record
heat wave, but clear skies made for great pictures. It was a great way
to celebrate our twenty-five anniversary with our friends Cindy and Gene
Morrow.
We are so thankful for Francisco Yau's willingness to watch our house
during our time in Europe. We are working closely with Francisco in our
Chinese ministry and appreciate his heart for the Chinese in Panama. He
has done a great job of building on the relationship that we have with
the wonderful leadership at El Dorado Baptist Church. Amilcar, Aurora,
Tomas, Melissa and Pastor Fernando. In the same vein, Francisco and Kelly
Lee have been great consultants in the ministry and also have been willing
to help with any projects that we have needed them for. We also appreciate
Kelly Lee's thoughtfulness in helping us clean all the nocks and craneys
of the house as we have a short turn around before Christine returns AND
our son Nathan and his finance Miss Amanda Morse comes to visit.
As you know right before we left for Europe, we received a long wonderful
e-mail from Nathan announcing his engagement to Amanda. They had been
planning a trip to visit us in Panama for several months and we have had
several discussions with Nathan on this subject, so this was not a surprise.
We have only had two ten minutes conversations over the phone with Amanda
since they have been dating, so you can imagine that we are a little nervous
about meeting her for first time.
When I say that we are nervous, let me hasten to say that I worried about
her first impression of us rather than the other way around. Cheryl and
I have great respect for Nathan's decision-making process and have no
doubt that he has made a prayerful decision in asking for Amanda's hand
in marriage. As you can imagine this is a precious time for Cheryl and
I as we see our work starting to come into focus and watching both of
our children making excellent, Godly choices as they move into adulthood.
Speaking of great kids, Christine will start her junior year of high school
next week at Crossroads Christian Academy. She has earned great grades
and has built a wonderful circle of friends in her new environment in
Panama. She will be continuing with the praise band at church and playing
on the school volleyball team. We are going to work hard at savoring our
last two years with her in home. They do grow up fast, but what a joy
when they turn out so well!
All for now,
Cheryl and John Mark Hansen
8-7-06
Please pray for the group of twenty young people (plus a couple of old
Hansens, HA!) that will going on a day trip to El Valle. Our co-worker
Francisco Yau is hoping to have another opportunity for us to share our
faith. Amanda, Nathan and Christine are planning to join the group outing.
Also pray for the different activities that the El Dorado Baptist Church
is planning to reach to Chinese in our area. They include some language
classes, ping pong, and computer classes.
I have attached a photo of Amanda and Nathan here in Panama. He efficacy
proposed to her on Thursday evening and they have set a date of August
4, 2007.
Cheryl and John Mark Hansen
8-12-06
Thanks so much for prayers! Alex and his friend Oh Young have made decisions
to become Christians! Please be in prayer for their spiritual growth.
Continue to remember Gabriel and Oscar. Cheryl shared with Monica again
at dry cleaners in Albrook.
I have enclosed a picture of Alex from our outing this last week. He is
the young man on Cheryl's right. The other gentlemen is our dear friend
and coworker Francisco. He is a graduate of the Chinese Bible College
here in Panama City and is currently attending the Panama Baptist Seminary.
Please pray for the Hakka language VCD that we are developing with John
Gray as an outreach tool.
We appreciate you,
Cheryl and John Mark Hansen
8-18-06
Please
pray for our get together with Chinese young people tomorrow night. Please
pray that we are able to see more of these dear friends make decisions
for Christ and especially for Alex and Oh Young as they grow in their
relationship with our Lord and Savior.
Today I had to go to the police station to fill a report about Cheryl's
purse-snatching last spring......But the policeman told me (in Spanish)
that I was not a native Spanish speaker so they must have an official
interpreter present. Never mind that our mission's bi-lingual lawyer was
with me. Never mind that I understood what he said to me in Spanish. By
the way, I really thought he was easy to understand.
SO I must go back down to their offices again next Friday. Hopefully,
that will be end to a less than pleasure episode in our adventures in
Panama. Please be in prayer for my next trip to police headquarters.
We appreciate you,
Cheryl and John Mark Hansen
8-29-06
Well, John Mark is glad to tell you that he is through with the court
interview for the theft last spring. We have enjoyed getting together
with two different groups of Chinese youth people- one mostly Hakka speaking
and on mostly Spanish speaking. "Mostly" is a good word to use
as they move back and forth between the two plus Cantonese, English and
Mandarin as it feels comfortable. I think we are going to be in language
study the rest of our lives......
Nathan and Amanda have set a date of August 4, 2007, for their wedding.
Amanda wants to be married in Omaha at her parents' church, St. Paul's
Lutheran in Millard. They are hoping that their campus pastor, from the
E. Free Church in Kearney, can at least do part of the service. They are
hoping to either get into married student housing next school year or
find an apartment near campus. The biggest negative is that Nathan will
lose the "room" part of his scholarship if he moves off campus,
even if they live in married student housing, because it is located off
campus & his scholarship says that it pays only for on-campus housing.
I'll be generous & say that the school is unwittingly encouraging
students to sleep together while living in separate dorm rooms rather
than lose the scholarship money by getting married.
I've been really struggling with sinus headaches the last couple of weeks.
I've been seeing an allergist here and he is supposed to be really good.
He is trying different combinations of antihistamines, anti-inflammatory
sprays and anti-asthmatics but I can't say that I've gotten much relief
yet. I've spent the last few days on both extra strength Tylenol and Ibuprofen
around the clock, just trying to stay ahead of the pain in my sinuses.
I'll see him again on Wednesday so hopefully he'll have some great insight!
I'm hoping that this is just a seasonal allergy to something that's in
bloom here. Pray that it gets its blooming over PRONTO!
John Mark & I will head to the Richmond, Virginia, area on September
9 for three weeks of training. The training is about how to go about making
strategic plans for our people group in a number of different areas. We've
already done a lot of the initial research & interviewing but are
looking forward to getting more information on training national coworkers
and developing materials for discipleship in the different languages.
Christine has chosen a couple of girlfriends that she will be staying
with during those weeks. We have tacked a week on the end this training
time to fly back to Nebraska to visit our parents.
That's about all of the news from here. Love to hear from you. . .
John Mark and Cheryl Hansen
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