The mission to Panama, sponsored by Central UMC in Asheville, is a construction trip designed to help a newly created orphanage in the northwestern part of the country. Participants will stay at the orphanage for a total of eight days. Cost of the trip is $1500 which includes flight, lodging, and meals.
While at the orphanage, the mission team will participate in construction needs around the orphanage and the nearby church. The team will also participate in various community outreach efforts that include: Taking food to local families, visiting the local church, performing constructions projects at the local church, working in the orphanage garden, and helping out with the children living at the orphanage (if the children are there).
The ministry that started the orphanage and that will be hosting our team is Faithful Servant Missions, Inc. (FSM). FSM is a Christ-centered 501c3 nonprofit organization organized as a Florida corporation in 2006. Their driving mission is to serve those whom society has forgotten. They seek to improve the physical, educational and spiritual health of those they serve. Their overall vision is to help people develop a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.
In western Panama (Plaza de Caizan, Chiriqui), a food distribution/community outreach program is in place and construction continues for an orphanage. The focus population in Panama is the Ngobe-Bugle indigenous population. Ngobe families receive nutrition and other assistance and abandoned indigenous children are the focus for the orphanage. The Panama mission operates under an association, Manos de Fe (Hands of Faith), which was created by the Board of FSM. There are 5 Panamanian Directors and 6 FSM Founders.
The Ngobe-Bugle people are an extremely poor indigenous people living primarily in the remote areas of western Panama (Comarca Ngobe-Bugle, Chiriqui and Bocas del Toro). They live in the most primitive of conditions (thatched roof, hammocks) and many times migrate to find work. One of these areas is Caizan near Volcan, which is primarily an agricultural area. There are approximately 200-300 thousand Ngobe in Panama. Childhood malnutrition, death and child abandonment are common.
For more information, or to sign up, please contact Joe Farris at farrisjoey@gmail.com.
Mission Website: www.faithfulservantmissions.org