Greetings in Jesus!

I wish I could expand my vocabulary beyond saying a simple “thank you!” over and over again. We are overjoyed and gratefully in awe of God’s provision through His people and His Church—our cash and monthly budget are completely raised so now we can return to Panama!

As we shared in the previous e-Mailer issue, our return to Panamá is rescheduled for 19 February (give or take a couple days). We appreciate your prayers as we pack and prepare. An immediate request once we arrive back in country is to find a suitable house / ministry center to rent for the next term.

In the meantime we both continue attempting to improve our language proficiency with online refresher Spanish courses at CINCEL.

In the Holiday 2020 print newsletter we included the following house-keeping updates. Please note changes for our contact info (now effective mid-February):

* VoIP phone remains ACTIVE: +1 (417) 595-4697.

* Both US cell #s will be DEACTIVATED: Kirk +1 (417) 773-3838, Yvonne +1 (417) 773-1237. (New Panamá cell phone #s added later.)

* Official US address:

     c/o AGWM, Acct #2254795

     1445 Boonville Ave.

     Springfield, MO 65802-1894

* US mailing address for courier delivery to us in Panamá (note: it costs us to receive):

     Kirk Antonio Jones

     Suite PTY 144, 7801 NW 37th Street

     Doral, FL 33195-6503

Our AGWM executive director, Rev. Greg Mundis, has been motivating we global cross-cultural workers via a series of messages focusing on seven strategic objectives for the future. Concluding the second one, “Emphasizing Our Call,” he encourages us all by saying,

Without missionaries on the ground, AGWM is a skeleton without muscles. We pray God will give you strategic opportunities to emphasize your call and empower others to answer theirs. Only then can we send more laborers to the harvest fields of the world and accomplish our mission to establish the Church among all peoples everywhere by reaching, planting, training, and serving. [Mundis, Greg. “Executive Director Newsletter February 2021.” Message to all AGWM. 1 Feb 2021]

Here before our sixth trip back to Panamá, it leads me to ask, “why are we going back?” Allow me to reflect on the truths that have motivated us to follow hard after the Lord, first as young people, and now not-so-young people, resulting in our missionary journey:

The love of Christ motivates us (2Cor. 5:14). While it is true that the needs of a lost world are great, the Master’s call and love for every lost person—man, woman, boy, and girl—is even greater. Responding merely to need is insufficient. Responding in obedience to Christ’s call carries us beyond hardships to see fruit that endures.

God can use anyone, and wants to use everyone (Matt. 9:37–38). Like many people, I had put missionaries up on a pedestal, thinking, “I could never do that.” That is, until I got close to some missionaries, got to know them better, and learned from them an important truth: Missionaries are ordinary people who serve an extraordinary God!

This is what we were made for (Rom. 12:3-8). Discovering what I was not gifted to do (youth ministry), allowed God to reveal what I was destined to do (kids ministry). Failure is never final. God’s call on our life is eternal. Allow Him to reveal it to you!

For the Bible verse this month, the section title in Spanish fits well with our hearts’ desire in returning to Panamá: “We are God’s ambassadors.”

That keeps us vigilant, you can be sure. It's no light thing to know that we'll all one day stand in that place of Judgment. That's why we work urgently with everyone we meet to get them ready to face God. God alone knows how well we do this, but I hope you realize how much and deeply we care.

2 Corinthians 5:11 (MSG)

Before I close, let me ask those who donated to our missionary ministry last year, have you received our year-end thank you letter yet? If not, please let me know, so we can thank you too!

Finally-on-our-way Blessings!