DTS July 2015

We now have the dates for our next DTS! The school will be starting on July 10th of 2015 (next year). The school will be 6 months long, ending on January 9, 2016.

If you, or someone you know, would enjoy doing a DTS in an indigenous context, we will be happy to talk with you about it. The DTS is open to Panamanians and foreigners.

Please contact us at jucumnuevasculturas@gmail.com for more information.

Outreach Letter!

Reaching Across Cultures

Imagine you had a next door neighbor that you desperately wanted to share God’s love with.  However, despite many attempts to talk to him over the years, somehow you had never been able to get through to him.  You didn’t want to give up, but you didn’t know what else to try.

Then suppose I told you that I want to bring a friend over to visit your neighbor. This friend was a distant relative of your neighbor, and a believer in Jesus.  My friend grew up in a culture similar to your neighbor’s, and I knew they would get along well.  Also, I was pretty sure that my friend would find a way to communicate God’s love to your neighbor in a way he could understand.

Would you want me to bring that friend over?  Would it be worth it?  I think it would.

But what if I told you this wasn’t just an example, but a reality.  In the United States and Canada, there are hundreds of native people groups, but after 500 years of Missionary influence, only 3% of the native population have believed in Christ.  Is this an impossible situation, or an amazing opportunity? 

We believe that for our Wounaan outreach team might be that friend that could successfully reach out to your neighbors.  Although they live in a different part of the world, as indigenous people they share a common worldview, and face many of the same issues as North American native peoples. 

One example is the Clatsop/Nehalem tribe.  They lived in the northwest corner of Oregon when Lewis and Clark arrived on the shores of the Pacific Ocean.  Since that time, there has never been a concerted effort to reach them, or a vibrant community of believers among them.  In fact, at this time they are unrecognized by the government, and without any tribal lands.  However, this group has expressed an openness in getting together with a Wounaan team, if they were to visit their area.  Who knows, the Wounaan may be the key to locking this unreached and forgotten people group in North America, and others like them.

As we have been training our DTS team over the past three months, we have also been praying about where God would have us go for our outreach phase, which begins at the end of this year.  We believe God is clearly guiding us to target the Indigenous people of North America, specifically in the Northwest of the US, and BC, Canada.  After Alex and I took time last year to visit some of these communities, and the missionaries working there, we came back convinced that our Wounaan students may be the perfect group to reach out to Native American communities.

Our objective is to visit Native communities in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and British Columbia, Canada.  We envision our Wounaan students using their cultural expressions and gifts as an avenue to connect with North American people groups.  Through culturally relevant means they will share their own stories, how they came to know the Creator and how he has changed their lives.

We will be traveling to the US and Canada from December 22^nd, 2014, through February 14^th, 2015.  Our fund raising goals are the following:

·         Apply for passports for the entire team by June 1^st.  The total cost is $1,800. (DONE!)

·         Apply for American and Canadian visas by August 1^st.  The estimated cost is $4,500.

·         Purchase plane tickets by October 1^st.  Estimated cost for the entire team is $20,540.

·         Raise remaining amount for traveling costs and food for our time in the US and Canada, estimated $21,000.

·         The total amount to be raised is $47,840.

If you would like to contribute, tax deductible donations can be made in the US to:

Mercy and Peace, Inc.

42524 Elsie Deer Lane

Seaside, OR 97138

(Please indicate that the funds are for YWAM Nuevas Culturas)

For giving in Panama, please contact us at jen_alexcabezon@msn.com or 6345-9099.

Thank you for your prayer and support as we seek to follow God on this new adventure.

Alex and Jennifer Cabezon

(on behalf the whole team of YWAM Nuevas Culturas in Chepo, Panama)

P.S. Please share this letter with others who are interested in seeing Indigenous peoples reached, trained, and involved in reaching others.