9-16-06

Hi,

We hope everything is going well for you. Cheryl & I have signed up for a van here at ILC so that we can go to Liberty University next Saturday for a campus tour for Christine. We'll let you know what we thought of it! Our first day here in the States we went to Wal-mart. We found almost everything that we were looking for. We also went to a nice mall and Cheryl found some jeans capris there. She is still looking for some khaki pants. I of course am just looking for cheap stuff, HA!

Our schedule is from 8 am to 12 noon with an hour & a half for lunch. Then we come back at 1:30 pm for more sessions until 5:00 PM Some nights we have some homework but not always. We usually manage to get in a couple of miles walking each day and are trying not to eat too much! Most of the other people at the conference are from Mexico, but a couple of them are from a variety of places such as the Dominican Republic, St. Lucia and Honduras. Our speakers does some fun things like show funny commercials on their computer or jokes or trivia. It keeps us from getting bored sitting for so long every day! Thursday evening we had supper with the missionary friends from Hong Kong. They have many years of experience in Chinese ministry so it was great fun to talk with them & "pick their brains" for helpful ideas & other information. Friday evening we got to go "off campus" for supper. Whoopee!! Today we had lunch with another couple from an eastern area. It is great to meet so many people working and serving in different parts of the world.

Francisco Yau, our Chinese coworker, sent us an e-mail and told us that he & some friends had had a birthday supper for one of them at our house. He also asked if he could have a BBQ at the house on Oct. 1. Please pray for these outreach events.

The weather here has been cooler than it was two years ago. Actually, it feels pretty good - I'm not complaining. That's about all of our excitement! We check our e-mail every day so don't be afraid to send an e-mail - (hint, hint) :) Oh, the laptop is having everything taken off the hard drive so an English version of Windows XP can be reinstalled. We asked the computer tech (an MK friend from Taiwan) here why our other computer doesn't always come on. He's thinking it might be the humidity in Panama. His suggestion is that we leave it on all of the time.

All for now,

Cheryl and John Mark Hansen

10-15-06

Brother Yau came in and slumped down in the chair, "It's just too hard to find dependable help," he stated flatly in Mandarin.

"What do you mean?", I asked.

"I have tried to use the Chinese newspaper route here in metro Panama City as a witnessing method for Christ, but I can't get anyone to help do a good job delivering the papers. I am going to have to find another way to have an income. Besides, my mother has turned her back on Jesus and has bought new idols for her god shelf. This is all because she had a dream that told her to start worshipping the old ancestral spirits again."

"Are your parents still in Santiago?", I asked.

"Yes", said Brother Yau, "That is part of the problem. There is no Christianity fellowship in Santiago even though there is at least 70 Chinese families in the community."

After my dear friend left, Cheryl and I asked the obvious question: "Where is God in all this?" Why have we spent all this time preparing master plans and preparing vision statements, when our best coworker seemed to be cursed and not blessed as of late?

We didn't sleep too well that night.

The next evening Brother Yau was back. "What if WE went to Santiago and started an evangelistic outreach?" he ventured, "Are you available to go with me?"

"Sure!" I said, "I can drive. What day do you want to start?"

Brother Yau stated mentally reviewing his calendar. "Can we do it each Thursday? If we leave at 7 AM and get home at 10 pm that gives us the whole day to make contacts. It's about 3 hours each way."

Thank you for a God that makes lemonade out of lemons. Pray for us as we sow the seeds of faith and ask God to move the rock out of the way. Pray specifically that the Lord will use Mrs. Yau's recent illness as way to glorify His kingdom.

Are you looking for a REAL spiritually treat? Check this link: http://www.wordsofvictory.net/Sermons/9_17_06_Notes.htm This is guaranteed to make you laugh and/or cry!

Sincerely,

Cheryl and John Mark Hansen

10-20-06

After 4 and a half hours of travel we finally got to Santiago. To be fair we made a side trip to Francisco's sister store in a small town out in the country before getting to the "big city". After about an hour of visiting in businesses around town, the 4 x 4 started making a horrid noise. The fan decided to eat the fan shroud, so ground up plastic was everywhere and we weren't going anywhere.

As the sweat dripped off my face and evaporated as it hit the hot radiator, I began to question what was going on. We finally got the SUV "fixed" enough to drive it home (It is going to the shop later this morning), we tried to start prayer walking just in time for it to start pouring rain....... What a blown day! Or was it...........Satan was trying his best to divert us from our task, but God was blessing us with 15 visits we made. By the end of the day Francisco was so pumped that there was two of us doing this that he started talking about starting work in the city of Penonome also. There isn't any Chinese churches there either.

In the end GOD IS GOOD. It will happen when he wants it to and we should enjoy the ride. Pray for the evangelistic birthday party for Jenny on Sunday night. Pray for us as we are going blind working lessons in Spanish, Mandarin and English

Love,
Cheryl and John Mark

10-25-06

This Sunday I have been asked to speak at the church in Petregal in Spanish about the Chinese work in Panama.

Please pray for Cheryl and me as we prepare and review our testimonies in Mandarin, Spanish, Hakka, and English.

As the Bible says, " But set apart the Messiah as Lord in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, However do this gentleness and respect," 1 Peter 3:15-16a HCSB

Have you prepared a two minute or less personal testimony that you can share with non-Christian friend at a moments notice?

We appreciate you,

Cheryl and John Mark Hansen

See great story on Panama Canal at: http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Business/story?id=2597813&page=1