One of the best parts about living mission-minded is watching God “grow His garden”. He’s the one who has been cultivating the hidden, below ground work from the beginning and the best part is, He allows us to participate in the process. 

Sometimes we are the sower; planting seeds and praying for them to sprout. Other times we are providing the support, the daily watering, and the right amount of sunshine and nutrients for growth. It’s a laborious process and often, we don’t see immediate results. Occasionally though, we get to be there as seedlings burst forth into new life.

Since it doesn’t happen every day or even every week, it can feel as if what we’re doing isn’t making a difference. When God steps in to make it grow, however, it’s nothing short of a miracle.

It takes time to germinate a seedling. It’s the same with people.

I often scratch my head and think to myself, “God when are they gonna get it? When is it going to click?”  God gently reminds me, it’s His timing, not mine. 

It’s those moments when you get to bear witness to the incredible work God has been doing in someone. When their growth springs up like a tiny plant bursting up out of the ground; it’s those moments that are priceless.

It’s what makes all the hard days of sacrifice worth it.

In our Discipleship Training School, students come with lots of chaos swirling around in their heads. They have questions that have gone unanswered for a long time. They don’t know what they want to be now that they’re grown up, and some are trying to figure out how to separate themselves from their parents’ faith and make it their own.

There are those who are really struggling with deep wounds because of others’ actions, or from choices they have made on their own. We get the privilege to walk alongside them in a mentoring relationship as God does the work. When they come here, they begin a journey from head knowledge to heart knowledge.

A journey that is riveting with new discoveries about themselves and who God made them to be, as well as experiencing the healing that only God can give. They journey from understanding their identity and purpose to knowing where they fit in God’s story and standing up to finally take that place.

They walk away with a deeper understanding of who God is and what He’s called them to. Many good things have been happening amongst our students over the last few weeks. We saw two of them decide they were done being on the sidelines and chose to be baptized.

It was the first baptism we’ve had the privilege of participating in here at Outpost Panama. To see that seed burst forth, a soul changed by experiencing the freedom Christ has to offer, is a gem I will treasure in my heart for years to come. What a blessing!

Christina Pineault
Medical Coordinator
YWAM Ships Outpost Panama 

Interested in knowing more? Contact Us. We’d love to chat!


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