Panama for Jesus- “More of YOU, Jesus, less of us.”

Hola from Neuva Gorgona/Coronado area! We are still situated about 84 kms west of Panama City, right on the Pacific Ocean. We were back in the home of Kevin and Deanna last week, and felt SO blessed to be there! We are so thankful for kingdom people that understand the concept that the more you pour out and bless others, the more God gives you to bless others with! May God’s favor continue to be upon you and your family Kevin and Deanna!

Because of the blessing of your home, we were able to put money towards a little girl, Lia, who has cystic fibrosis. We have also forwarded the money that was given to us in Canada by Nadia and Ken Smith, Kim Klassen and Zak Peters towards this cause. There is some medical equipment that is not available in the hospital she is in, and finances were needed to help them. We have also been praying as a family and as a church for her, and God is doing miraculous things! Thank you, Jesus for this tiny girl who is such a mighty warrior. Keep your hand on her and we pray that finances would continue to come in to help her, and that people would be moved to pray for healing for her. We thank you in advance, God, for what you are doing, and the small miracles we have seen already in her life. Please pray with us that she would stay healthy and virus-free, and that her mom, Lisa, and Lia would be able to come home soon. They are exhausted from their stay there, and coming home would be such a blessing for their whole family!

We are thankful for the many people God has put in our lives, including Lia. We have made many connections with people all over the Coronado area. Attending youth nights has allowed us to minister to many people, including a young man, formerly from Ontario, Canada, that gave his life to Jesus last week. Both Sam and I have been pouring into him, and with God working on his heart, the pastor led him in a prayer to accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior. We have had the opportunity to pray with strangers, and are seeing young people’s lives changed by the power of Jesus Christ, and it is such a privilege to be a part of it!

Sam has always had the heart of an evangelist, and has been inviting people to church whenever he gets the chance! We just secured a place to live in January, and he invited our landlord, Kenneth, and his wife to church as well! Sam will have the church busting at the seams if he keeps it up!! Anyways, our new home is about 6 minutes from Coronado, where we feel surrounded by a wonderful community, and is a cute little 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 baths in a subdivision, with a pool literally 20 steps from our front door. It will be nice to settle down and stay in one place for a few months until we leave to go back to Canada this spring.

So, as you have probably gathered, we are staying in the Coronado area for the remainder of our time here, and have decided not to go to Costa Rica, as we didn’t have peace about it when praying into it. The kids are starting at a local international school in the new year, while Sam and I have hired a Spanish teacher that will instruct us while the kids are in school. God showed us that we can be a blessing to her family by providing another income to a single mother of two from our church. So we will both benefit from the time we spend together- we will learn Spanish and she will be financially blessed! I love how God works!

Another event that is happening in the new year is the “Word of Life Camp” that I spoke about in my last update. It will begin in mid-January, and Sam and I are looking forward to seeing what God does in the lives of up to 1500 young people that will be attending. I’m sure we will have more to come on how God is moving through this amazing camp! The discipleship school that is beginning in the spring at the camp is also something that we are excited to be a part of. God is so cool how he orchestrates everything and brings people together…..all I can say is WOW!!!

**Update on little Lia**

Last Sunday at church, I had the privilege of playing drums and glorifying God. It was so awesome to use the gifts he has placed in me to worship our King! After worship, Lia’s Dad, Rudi, came up and gave a short update on how Lia is doing. It is nothing short of a miracle….he shared how her oxygen levels were at 12 percent when she went into the hospital, and the doctors said her lungs were so damaged at that point, they could not be repaired. Well, fast forward about 3 weeks, and she is back home and her lungs are at 100 percent. The doctors can’t explain this miracle, but we know the power of prayer, and we know our God is a mighty healer. I remember Sam telling me about when he had the opportunity to pray for Lia with Rudi, and he specifically prayed for healing and used the words, “we EXPECT a miracle for this little girl.” Praise you Jesus for touching this little girl’s body! The family is now raising funds for two machines, (cost is around $11,000 US), that will increase her quality of life at home and help to clear her lungs. If you pray about this and feel led to give towards this cause, just talk to us, and we can forward any funds directly to the family. I’m sure they would appreciate donations of any kind. As a family, we are committing a large chunk of our own finances to help this cause. They still have a long way to go in purchasing these machines, but we believe God is going to make a way. Thank you in advance to each of you who have given, and have yet to give! We have included a picture of Lia so you can see this bundle of joy….she is so amazing!!!

Finally, as Christmas approaches, we feel so blessed to be on this adventure we call life together! We recently took a little hiatus to a small surfer town, and enjoyed our time riding waves and reflecting on God’s goodness. As we all gather together in this season, our prayer is that we would truly stop and recognize how God has blessed each and every one of us. In the midst of this time, there are also many people who are grieving, lonely, sick, or feel heavy and lost. May we take the time to listen to the Holy Spirit and spread kindness to all who are hurting. We pray God’s blessings on all of you, and we are so very thankful for your presence in our lives. We are also thankful for the birth of our Lord and Savior and we humbly acknowledge how he has blessed us so abundantly.

Thank you for taking time out of your day to see how God is moving! Please continue to share your journeys with us, as it encourages us to keep living our lives ON purpose and FOR a purpose! Not having much for “material things” this Christmas, our focus will be on Jesus more than it ever has been. John 3:30 is on our hearts, “HE MUST become GREATER; I must become LESS.” We feel that the love of Christ must become greater in our lives, so in order for that to happen, we are feeling led to dial back on what this world values, and focus more on God’s people and what he is calling us to do in the lives of those around us.

Merry Christmas and much love to all from the Gallaghers.