May 2020 Update

Posted on by cliffordsuddeth

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As we find ourselves at the beginning of another month, we hope each of you are doing well and enjoying the Lord. We hope it doesn’t get old for you to read that we are praying for you. We really are. We know many of you have a variety of needs. During this time, one prayer we keep returning to as we think of you is, “May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 3:5)

Let’s go ahead and state the obvious. There are only so many photos of a group of people on a Zoom call a missionary can share. 🙂 Those photos are just not that exciting. However, what happens during those Zoom meetings can be wonderful. We praise the Lord that during the month of April we have had about 35-40 people join us each Monday for our weekly Bible studies. 

Generally, we take the first Monday of each month and use it as a prayer meeting. On April 6, we spent about an hour and a half praying through many different Psalms. It was a great time! We are currently studying the book of Malachi, and it has been a very beneficial study. 

Honestly, it was convicting when God said in 1:10, “Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors [of the temple], that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain!” What does that teach us? Both the way we worship and the attitude of our worship matter to God.  

COVID 19 Panamá Updates

    • We remain in a complete national quarantine. For us, this means that Clip can go to the grocery store and pharmacy on Tuesday and/or Thursday, from 4:30 – 6:30. We’re very thankful that the grocery store is less than a half mile from our house. (Mary is allowed to go out on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday from 3:30 – 5:30, but she is thankful there has not been a need to do that so far.)
    • Due to the quarantine, we continue to provide the preaching services through YouTube. Of course, we continue to have our weekly Bible studies using Zoom, and we communicate with the people of our church through phone calls, texting, and emails. 
    • On April 23, the government extended the ban on all flights until at least May 23. 
    • The government has not said when restrictions may begin to lighten. 
    • We are anticipating and planning that it will be July before we are able to gather together again for church services.

Prayer Requests / Praises

    • For those who had been attending Iglesia Bautista de Costa Verde before the quarantine began. Many of them are not saved, and we continue to pray for their salvation and continue to look for ways to show them the love of Christ and share the gospel with them. 
    • For a great spiritual revival in the community of Costa Verde. Of course, please pray for the same throughout the world. 
    • We praise the Lord that the people of our church have been able to work from home, have an “essential job” that allows them to continue to work, or they are retired. We are constantly asking the people of our church if they have any material needs, and they have assured us they are doing well.
    • However, there are many people who are not able to work, so they do not have an income right now. Thankfully, we, as a family and as a church, have been able to financially help families with food and basic necessities. Please pray we will continue to have wisdom to know who to help and how to best help them. 
    • Through all of this we continue to pray that God will provide a permanent place for our church to meet. It seems financially impossible, but we know that nothing is impossible with God. 
    • We may have found someone who can lead the worship music for our church when we are able to gather together again. We hope to have conversations with this man throughout this month. Please continue to pray, and we will keep you updated.