Dear family and friends,
We hope this newsletter finds
you all well and enjoying 2015! We are so excited for a new year here at LHI
and look forward to sharing with you what is happening here with the ministry
in Panama. We had a good recruiting/support raising time in the States this
winter, and were able to raise a good bit of support for the farm, as well as,
speak with a number of people interested in doing a training program with us in
Panama. We are however still in need of
funds to develop the farm.
After a month in the US
support raising this past winter, we returned to Panama and began the process
of moving to the demonstration farm. We are presently living in a small house
on the farm and will be acting as care-takers. This saves us from having to
rent in David, and helps LHI have people to look after the farm. The new
demonstration farm is an hour from where we lived in David, so it was quiet a
process moving everything back and forth.
Thankfully, we have
successfully moved out of our place in David and now reside on the farm. We are
still in process of unpacking and doing maintenance both on our home and the
little shed that will be Corey’s office. Our move has been a ton of work, but
we are excited and blessed to have a place on the farm to live since this was
something we hadn’t expected to be able to accomplish for a few years. God is
good!
Along with our move to the new demonstration
farm, we are planning for three groups that will be coming this summer (US summer)
to help us with building the farm’s dorms and kitchen as well as various other
fish, plant, and animal projects. At times it is overwhelming to think about
the amount of work to be done to develop this property. But it is so exciting to already have three
groups coming to help this summer, and it is only January.
In February, Corey and I will
be volunteering in the week long VBS our church in David has every Panamanian
summer. This is a wonderful chance to reach out to local children and their
families. We will also be traveling to Atlanta, Georgia because we have been
asked to take part in my (Bethany) home church’s missions’ festival at the end
of February. It is a great opportunity for us as they will be highlighting
Lasting Harvest’s work along with several other missions. We are excited to be a part of this week of
connecting with people at this supporting church and with other missionaries. After this very short time in the States, we
will be returning to Panama and continuing the farm’s development before
receiving teams this summer.
We are so excited and blessed
to be in this new phase of developing the demonstration farm and preparing for
training programs with Bible college students in 2016. We have a lot to do this
year in development of farm projects, construction, curriculum, recruiting, and
support raising, but we know that God is faithful and will meet our needs and
plan our steps according to His will. For frequent updates and information on
the recent happenings in Panama, visit our website or follow us on Facebook.
Your partners in reaching the
world,
Corey and Bethany Courtwright
