Thoughts from this summer ...

Greetings family and friends,

We hope this letter finds you all well. These last few months have been very busy with searching for land, the matching challenge, a short term group, and language school. We want to thank you all for your generous contributions to the matching challenge, more than $19,000 dollars was raised and will be matched! This will be enough for us to make a healthy down payment on land for the demonstration farm. Your generosity was not only a great encouragement to us, but will be for those coming to train with us in the future. Your donations will leave a lasting impact for years to come, not only in Panama, but in other parts of the world as we train other missionaries in community development. Thank you so much for your generosity and prayers.

In my last letter to you, I was able to share news of good land possibilities. But as we worked through the process of purchasing the mangrove property that I mentioned in the last letter our lawyer discovered that the concessions to use the property could not be sold and that most of the property was actually legally un-usable. So I attempted to purchase another piece of land that was wonderfully suited for our needs but again as our lawyer investigated the title it was discovered that the seller did not own all that he claimed to own. Then a third piece of property that was wonderfully suited for your needs fell through in the negotiations. All of these pieces of land falling through have been very disappointing, but we know that God is in control and He has protected us from some very big potential problems with these properties. I now have a few other possibilities that I am investigating and hope to have exciting news about the land soon. Please pray that we see God’s will about the right piece of land in order to accomplish His purposes.

Part of the Mount Paran mission team

We were also blessed to have with us a group from Mount Paran Church of God in Atlanta, Georgia. The group of students did a wonderful job building duck and rabbit pens for the demonstration farm and hosting a VBS at two different locations in the mountains. The group was also able to be a part of breaking ground on a new project in the mountains among the Ngobe. Through a church contact who works as a teacher in this area, we were able to connect with these people. This particular town is known for its strong ties to Mama Tata, the local indigenous religion, so it was a huge opportunity to break ground in an area that is very much controlled by this religion. Through the group’s project, we are now able to build ties with the people and share the Gospel. The group worked very hard and showed God’s love to the Ngobe both in word and deed through helping to dig a pond and having a VBS with the children in the area. This team was truly an encouragement to us, and we were blessed immensely by them.

Another praise is Bethany’s completion of 400 hours of language school this month. Her language school is a huge accomplishment, and we are very happy to see the progress she has made. Now, she will be focusing on improving her Spanish through daily conversation, so that she can further progress in her language acquisition.

We want to thank all of you for your prayers and support of Lasting Harvest. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we look for land and continue the process of setting up a demonstration farm here in Panama. We have experienced a great deal of stress and uncertainty, since moving back to Panama, but God has taught us so much and has always proven faithful. Thank you all for your prayers and support, and please stay tuned to our Lasting Harvest Facebook page and our blog on our web-site, for frequent updates on our time in Panama.

Your partners in reaching the world,

Corey and Bethany Courtwright