![\"Inter-tribal](\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/timandbetty-wyma\/files\/2011\/06\/183705_10150165967860196_510910195_8786327_4389724_n.jpg\")
To Each of You Who Are One with Us,<\/p>\nTo Each of You Who Are One with Us,<\/p>\n
First there\u2019s the soft mummer of comments made one to another in various languages in the early predawn moments as people begin to stir punctuated by the crowing of some roosters.\u00a0 Then the pungent smell of\u00a0 smoke from the wood burning fire drifts through the big open area where everyone is sleeping; fire that is heating up the water for the strong brew they call coffee, boiling water to drop in cooking bananas to boil and fire heating up cooking oil to deep fry the dough for thick bread like pancakes.\u00a0 A baby cries here or there calling for its mother or older sister\u2019s attention.\u00a0 As light increases so does the volume of the conversations and the one line jokes which bring out gales of laughter from all within hearing distance.\u00a0 The term, \u2018one big happy family\u2019 applies here.<\/p>\n
This is how each of the days began there in the hills of Panama where Betty and I enjoyed a week of precious fellowship with about 92 others from three of the tribal groups where God had raised up growing Churches.\u00a0 We were there with a precious Panamanian missionary couple and another foreign missionary couple.\u00a0 Consider the richness of all these various nationalities and languages and backgrounds and worldviews living, eating, fellowshipping, hanging out, laughing and worshipping together and you get a bit of an idea of what the phrase \u201cunity within diversity\u201d looks like.\u00a0 The lengths to which the \u2018unity\u2019 part went stood out to us when we noticed that some of the girls and young women were interchanging their typical colorful skirts and blouses, (strong symbols of their ethnic identity) with the girls and women from the other tribal groups.\u00a0 We\u2019d never seen that happen before.<\/p>\n
This oneness stood out as everyone banded together to help carry out a woman who had suddenly become very ill and needed medical attention.\u00a0 A makeshift hammock was formed and a team of men joined forces to carry her out, up the steep hill to the closest road to transport her to medical attention.\u00a0 In the later afternoons after the daytime meetings were over, groups of the ladies gathered around in small groups as they learned from one another new styles of handcrafts and embroidery.\u00a0 I had the joy of sharing on the theme of \u201cThe Model of a Mature Family\u201d and I believe we were all challenged with how vital and basic healthy marriages and families are to healthy Churches.\u00a0 Again the truth, \u2018unity within diversity\u2019 had profound applications.\u00a0 We asked you in our last letter to be praying with us for this time together and God did wonderfully answer our united prayer.<\/p>\n
The ongoing spiritual struggle was evident as those from one of the Kuna villages were unable to come due to insurmountable opposition.\u00a0 We have just received word that the beloved wife of one of the key Church leaders from that village has just died, which is a tremendous blow to her husband,\u00a0 as well as the whole body of believers as they continue to buck ongoing opposition from those who seek to keep everyone in line with the traditional ways.\u00a0 Would you please unite with us in prayer for this dear brother and the Kuna Church along the rivers of Panama as they again have to draw deeply on those resources we have in Christ as they work through their grief.<\/p>\n
Please pray for ongoing courage and boldness for these diverse ethnic Churches to press ahead in reaching their own people with the glorious message of God\u2019s love and forgiveness and grace.\u00a0\u00a0 Those days together gave them, I believe, encouragement realizing that they are not alone in this struggle for truth.\u00a0 We all realized in new ways the power of unity within our diversity.<\/p>\n
In Christ\u2019s uniting love,<\/p>\n
\u00a0Tim and Betty Wyma<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This is how each of the days began there in the hills of Panama… Those days together gave them, I believe, encouragement realizing that they are not alone in this struggle for truth. We all realized in new ways the power of unity within our diversity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-ministry","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/timandbetty-wyma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/timandbetty-wyma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/timandbetty-wyma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/timandbetty-wyma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/timandbetty-wyma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/timandbetty-wyma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/timandbetty-wyma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/timandbetty-wyma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/timandbetty-wyma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}