NTM

After driving over 10,000 miles during the past two and a half months, we will soon by saying our final good-byes to once again return to Panama on August 17th. So many times this summer we have lamented all the good-byes, but as we were thinking about it a few days ago, we were reminded of the fact that the reason good-byes always seem difficult is that God has given us so many special friends and family who have been such a blessing and encouragement to us.

When we return to Panama we will spend a few weeks at the mission guesthouse supply shopping for 2 months, leadership meetings, packing, and visa renewal. We would like to be back in the village by the end of August so that the kids can start school, and we can return to our ministry among the Naso.

Please continue to pray for ongoing discipleship of the believers and the evangelism of those desiring to study God’s Word. Pray for our children as they return to their home schooling schedule and readjust to village life. Michael will be a freshman in high school this year.

We have been reminded so often over the past two months how precious it is to be part of God’s family. We have been encouraged by so many people as they have told us that they have been praying for us. We have felt the love of God expressed through His children as we have been shown so much kindness and hospitality wherever we have traveled.

Because of Christ,

Simon and Lavonne

Dear Family and Friends,
Greetings from I-35 just south of the Minnesota border as we head to Arizona to visit Simon’s brother and family. I am trying to type as Simon drives and the kids watch a movie in the back of the minivan (our home away from home for the summer). It is hard to believe that our very much anticipated three month home assignment is halfway over already. We are so thankful for safety this far as well as many special times with family and friends in Ontario, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin.
Last week was one of those very special times that our family will cherish for many years to come. My parents, along with all their daughters, sons-in-law, and grandchildren enjoyed a wonderful time at a lodge in northern Wisconsin. From Paraguay, Guinea, Panama, and Wisconsin, God brought us all together for a week to spend time together. We enjoyed kayaking and canoeing on the nearby river, swimming, football, soccer, a ladies’ shopping day, slide shows, and daily family devotions where we heard from each family. The good-byes came all too soon, but we parted knowing that even though we all needed to move on, we can look forward to Heaven where there won’t be anymore sad good-byes.
The interstate is getting a bit busier as we near Des Moines, Iowa. I see all the cars and trucks and wonder about everybody’s destination. I wonder if their lives are what they hope for and if any of the travelers have the joy of being in a relationship with God through Jesus. My mind has now wondered to Panama where the Naso are traveling the trails to their gardens or to gather firewood. For the Naso that know the Lord, please pray for their spiritual growth. For those who are in spiritual darkness, please pray for a desire to study the truth of the Bible and that they would come to understand the only trail (or interstate) that God has provided for salvation through his Son, Jesus Christ.

Enjoying God’s Blessings,
Simon and Lavonne Challinor

I am not really sure where to begin this news update. Should I begin chronologically since our last update in September when we went back upriver for another three months of life and ministry, or should I proceed directly to the big earthqake and even bigger rain we experienced just a few weeks ago? For the Naso, time has divided itself into two frames, before and after the big rain. Any conversations concerning time don’t mention actual calendar days, but rather where they were when the river grew to record levels leaving desruction and debris in its path towards the Atlantic Ocean.

I think I will begin with the earthquake although at the time it did not really seem that big of a deal. In the very early hours of the morning (1:13 am) on November 19, Simon and I were alseep when our tin house started rattling. At first I just thought it was a horse rubbing against one of the posts causing the house to shake (this has happened before). We soon realized it was an earthquake, and once the house stopped shaking we went back to sleep. In the morning we heard that it measured 6.2 on the rector scale. There wasn’t any visible damage in the area. That same day it began to rain, another very normal occurrence where we live, but on the heels of an earthquake it would soon prove to be disastrous. It kept raining and raining for several days and soon the knee deep stream not far from our house became a rushing raging torrent with huge trees being uprooted and pulled away. The river flooded its banks as well and just kept rising. Gardens along the river and streams were swept away in the current. Next we began hearing from the peole about landslides in the area. After that we heard about the flooding and major landslides in the whole province. When we heard that the the main (and only) access road into the province (unless coming from Costa Rica) was shut down because of the landslides, we realized that certain commodities such as fuel and food would soon become scarce.

We wanted to communicate with our mission office to let them know that we were fine, and that we planned to just stay put until things settled down a bit. In the process of trying to get to a hill where our cell phone would work, Simon lost his footing crossing the creek because of the thick mud and swift current. In the process of swimming in order not to be swept under some debris the cell phone was lost. Thankfully, a friend loaned us his cell phone that we were able to use after we charged it and put some money on it for him. We were able to let our office know that we were fine and that when we heard that we could either fly commercially or travel out by road they would hear from us again.

I can think of so many things for which to be thankful for over the past two weeks. So many of our friends brought us oranges, plantains, yucca, or some other root vegetables. It really touched my heart to experience their generostity. None of our kids or the the people became seriously sick or injured during the worst part of the flooding when there would not have been a way to get them medical help. I am thankful that God protected the people in many ways. Nobody in our community lost his home and He proctected them from landslides all over the area. I am thankful for the opportunities that God gave us to serve and minister to our neighbors during this dramatic time. A helicopter landed four times in front of our house to deliver relief supplies. Simon spent many hours helping organize and divide the food that was sent. Some verses that often have come to mind over the past few weeks are found in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. “Be joyful always (not just when the sun shines), pray continually (an attitude of dependence on the Lord); give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” It is such a comfort to know that each and every situation in which we find ourselves is part of God’s unique plan for our lives.

We are now at our mission guesthouse. We had an interesting trip out by river and road. The river had returned to its rightful bed by Wednesday and so we locked up the house and headed downriver. We had heard that the the road was open to small vehicles and flights were flying in and out of Changuinola. When we arrived in town, a taxi offered to take us aross the mountains in his vehicle. Flights were all booked until the weekend. As we traveled over the mountains we were amazed at the devastation and landslides. The kids started counting landslides and quit when they reached 200. Not all of the slides covered the road but a good many of them did. The Department of Public Works was working very hard in very precarious situations to clear and keep the road open. After the taxi dropped us off we were able to catch another bus to bring us the rest of the way. We are so thankful for the safety God gave us and for bringing us safely to the guesthouse.

Now to the days before the “big rain.” As we have mentioned in previous letters, we have been teaching the children and young people chronologically through the Bible since this past spring. We finished at the beginning of November. We are so thankful for all the children who came and heard the truth. One of our little neighbor boys has been an enthusiastic attendee the whole time. His mom told me that after the story of the crucification he went home and recounted to her the entire account. Just a couple days ago Simon asked him what one needs to do to “be with God” and with a big smile on his face he replied that it is only through trusting in Christ and nothing else.

We continue to meet with the believers. Each of them face unique challenges at home, and we continually encourage them to walk in the truth that they know from the Bible. Seledonia (we’ve mentioned her before) has been dealing with a sick 14 year old daughter and just does not seem to be getting any kind of reasonable answers from the doctors in Changuinola. We are praying about a way to try and help her get some answers while we are near Panama City. Tito and Luisa (Tito worked on the Bible translation) have certainly faced some trials over the past few weeks. Their home near Changuinola was flooded and so they relocated only to have to move again when flood waters reached there as well. Simon talked to him yesterday by phone to check and see how they were doing. Needless to say, we would appreciate your prayers for the believers. We trust and pray that each of them would grow in their love for the Lord and their dependence on Him in all situations.

I can’t really close without mentioning our boys. They are all doing well and have successfully completed their first semester of school. Michael did a big science project and research paper on batteries and gave a good presentation to the family. Daniel was thrilled when the Phillies won the World Series and since then, the kids have played many baseball games in the yard with their friends. Robbie continues to be thrilled with his horse, Star. He rides her whenever he can, as well as spending his free time on Saturday washing and grooming her. He is also in the chicken business and has been selling me eggs from his hen, Speckles. Andrew is the only one of the boys that I can still lift and hug without causing permanent damage to my back. He keeps trying to keep up with his older brothers and usually does a pretty good job holding his own. We are thankful for the blessing of four healthy boys.

Once again, thank-you for your part in our lives through prayer. We appreciate those of you who have prayed for us during the months of silence on our part by virtue of no internet access. We always are amazed (we shouldn’t be) by God’s faithfulness in untold ways.

God bless,
Lavonne for the family

Over the past 12 years in Panama I have done many things that I had never dreamed of doing. Some of these things, such as learning to eat and enjoy different foods, learning and appreciating another language and culture, and writing and teaching Bible lessons, come with the job of living overseas as a missionary. Then there are some on-the-job, on-the-spot things that I have learned to do because they needed to be done.

Before moving into the village, I built a house (with some help) for our family and in the process became a plumber and electrician. We purchased a generator. Of course, generators never break down at convenient times, so I became a small engine repair person – with the help of God and the manual, of course.

Computers have their own story to tell and much to Lavonne’s chagrin, she has come into the house to find a laptop completely dismantled and in pieces while I repair it. The Naso enjoy listening to their radios when they can afford a cheap one from town. However, when these radios fall off the houses they bring them to me as they think I am the miracle worker of electronics!

Lavonne does not like to see cuts or anything that pertains to the medical field so I have cleaned and taped many machete cuts over the past several years. Since the boys have been in school, I’ve been a schoolteacher on the odd occasion that Lavonne is sick or gone. But recently I helped our neighbors with a situation that I never would have imagined.

It started out like a normal day. Our neighbor lady, Edi, came and borrowed two shovels quite early in the morning. Borrowing shovels from us is quite normal so Lavonne didn’t think anything about it. I came home at 10:00 am for a short break from writing Bible lessons. Shortly after I went back to work, Edi came back to our house and asked Lavonne where I was. She asked if Lavonne and I could go and help her pull their horse out of a hole.

I couldn’t believe it when I saw it. Their pregnant mare was wedged, back legs down, in a deep hole with only the front legs and head above ground. Apparently, it was a fire ant nest she had fallen in to and become trapped. On the surface the ground looked solid, but in reality it wasn’t. We began digging around the mare to try and loosen her but we kept being bitten by the fire ants.

Eventually (a few hours later) we were able to pull the horse out of the hole where she just collapsed on the ground, unable to stand. I washed her off and forced her to drink some water. The many Naso watching were amazed at our concern for a neighbor’s animal because they don’t care for each other much, let alone an animal.

Because of the trauma to the mare I realized that the unborn foal was probably dead. The mare did start going into labor but because of her weakened state the contractions stopped, so with the help of Edi’s husband, Donildo, I delivered the dead foal in an effort to try and save the mother. Although I was skeptical that the mare was going to make it, by the end of the day it started to look possible.

Before dark, I checked on her one more time and made sure she was drinking and could eat. She still could not stand up, but she could sit up and would neigh whenever she saw me coming. The following morning, Edi came early to our house and told us that some dogs had eaten part of the horse during the night. Most village dogs are half starved so a helpless horse made a logical meal. The poor mare was still alive when I went to see her, but I knew she needed to be put down.

Before I could arrange for a friend to come and shoot her, she died. I spent the rest of the day digging a hole to bury the horse. Donildo was gone and there wasn’t anybody else to do it. Donildo and Edi later came and thanked us personally for the kindness extended to them. Our prayer is that they wouldn’t see it as something we did because we are foreigners, but because we love the Lord, and because of Christ, we love and care for them as well.

We continue to meet with the believers weekly. Our desire is for them to grow in truth and grace. We will begin teaching the life of Christ to the children after we arrive home next week. Continue to pray for understanding of God’s Truth versus what they have been taught through other religions and culture.

We recently enjoyed a visit from our home church in KY. It was a blessing to us. The team of eight people did a couple activities for the children and built a house for a blind lady. I know they left with a better understanding of our ministry and a knowledge of how to pray better.

Our boys are doing well and enjoying a short break from school. Lavonne is enjoying the break from grading papers each night and planning for the next day. She is planning on teaching Seledonia, one of the believers, to read when we get back to the village sometime next week.

She will also be starting a Bible study with Victorino’s two daughters. She wants to be more involved in their lives, especially since they do not have a mother to teach and train in Biblical values within the culture.

As always we appreciate your part in our lives through your interest and prayers.

God Bless, 
Simon for the family

Dear Friends,

As I sit at the desk to update each of you, nothing outstanding comes to mind to write/tell you. I guess it is also known as "writer’s block." I do not claim to be a writer, but writing and communicating do seem to be the second full-time job of a missionary. And the fact remains that our desire is to let you know what is happening in our lives as we minister to the Naso people of Panama.

Sometimes our thoughts are difficult to consolidate into tidy, communicative paragraphs with all the loose ends neatly tied up. Sometimes, life just seems to be moving forward so quickly that it becomes hard to keep track of where all the time went until it is gone, never to be retrieved.

The past few months our ministry has had some really low points as well as some encouraging times. Since coming back to Panama, it has been difficult for us to get the young believers to meet on a consistent basis. It seems as if they are playing tag team with each other much of the time. This has been frustrating because the Bible lessons build on each other.

At the end of October we attended the baptism of Tito, a relatively new believer in Christ. It was such a blessing to hear him express his testimony as well as his desire for his own people to understand the message of God’s grace.

Recently while visiting with Tito, he mentioned that his mother, the former queen, had also trusted in Christ for salvation. He expressed that his mother used to be a very angry person, but now, because of the positive changes in her life, his brothers are asking what is going on with "mother."

Regardless of our own emotions or feelings about our situation, God is faithful always to encourage us in Himself and who He is. The boys are all doing well, growing like weeds, and seem to be hungry all the time. I feel like a mother bird trying to keep my babies fed while they chirp with their mouths wide open. It seems like I spend a good portion of the day cooking, and then after I put a meal on the table it is devoured in 10 minutes.

This is just to say that we are so thankful for the health they have enjoyed over the past 4 months upriver. It is a gift from the Lord. Since we are in town for a few weeks, the boys are logging lots of miles on their bicycles as they pretend the bikes are horses, race cars, or whatever suits their fancy at the moment. We will be in town for a couple more weeks, heading back upriver at the end of December.

Our visas are up for renewal, but it looks like we will have to get a 3 month temporary one again while we continue to wait for our year visa. We also are doing our supply buying, going to dental and doctor appointments, working on correspondence, and hopefully having a few days to relax.

We are planning to share Christmas day with some of our missionary co-workers that live in town. As we look into the new year we are believing God to continue to work in our own lives so that we will bring glory to Him. It is so easy to base our personal encouragement on "visible" results rather than on God and who He is.

The church that God is building among the Naso is His work, and we are the privileged ones whom He has sent. Pray for the Naso. Pray that the believers will grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. Pray that the many unsaved will be spiritually awakened and desire to hear the Truth.

We are planning to start an evangelistic outreach in January, focusing on the children, but with Bible teaching for the adults as well. Pray that this outreach would be received well and the Truth heard, understood, and believed.

I guess a few thoughts did come to mind, but without much of cohesive train of thought. Thank-you for your part in our lives in ways that only eternity will tell. We value your friendship, encouragement, and prayer.

God Bless, 
Lavonne for the Challinor family

Dear Friends,
After spending almost 100 hours in our van over the past three weeks, it is nice to be in Wisconsin until the end of June without plans for any long road trips during this time. We left Durham, Ontario, on May 29th to travel to California to attend Simon’s sister Sarah’s wedding. We were blessed with beautiful weather along the way as well as breathtaking scenery in many places. Besides the family wedding, we enjoyed the added bonuses of attending a friend’s wedding the week before Sarah’s and of spending three days with some other friends in the southern part of California. A real highlight for the boys was going to Legoland. Before we began our year of home assignment, one of the boys mentioned that he would like to go to Legoland. I told him that California was a long way from Durham, so it probably would not work out. When our friends worked out the details for us to go to the park it was such a good reminder to our family that God not only provides our needs, but He often gives our “wants” as well.
Sarah and Nathan’s wedding on June 10th was beautiful. Michael, Daniel, Robbie, and Andrew looked very handsome in black tuxedos. They each had a part in the wedding along with their two cousins, Rilyn and Ciara. Besides the wedding, it was wonderful for all the Challinors to be together for a few days enjoying the motel pool, cook-out, and a lot of laughing.
Our plans for the next month include traveling to Illinois and Kentucky before we head back to Durham to do our final sort and pack. We fly out of Pearson International Airport in Toronto on July 30th.
We return to Panama with mixed emotions. Our year in North America holds many special memories of times spent with family and friends. Good-byes to family never seem to get any easier. Our house in the jungle has been closed up for over a year so it will take a lot of work to clean it and make it livable again. On the other hand, we anticipate seeing our Naso friends again. We recently heard that one of new believers, Seledonia, is looking forward to being taught the Bible again. Once we settle back into a routine we will both be involved in discipleship, Simon will continue writing and teaching Bible lessons, Lavonne will be home-schooling, and we will all continue building relationships through our involvement in daily life with the people.
We appreciate each of you for your part in our lives through your prayers, support, and encouragement in many ways. It is a blessing to know you and we praise God for you.
Love in Christ,
Simon & Lavonne Challinor

This past weekend I ran in a half marathon (13.1 miles) along with my sister-in-law and two friends who are students here in the Missionary Training Center in Durham, Ontario. We started training back in February even though the weather was often very unfavorable. Because we ran so early in the morning, if it had snowed the previous night the sidewalks would still not be shoveled. Initially, the hardest part was just getting out of bed in the morning to meet my running partners.
After training for 12 weeks the race day finally arrived. We left home very early in order to arrive with time to pick up our registration packets, attach timing chips to our shoes, and figure out where we needed to be when the race began. As we waited for the start signal so many emotions went through me; nervousness, excitement, anticipation, fear, and a bit of amazement that the day had finally arrived.
When the horn blasted to begin the race I was pushed forward by a mob of other runners. The pace was fast, but excitement and adrenalin kept me moving. Initially, I lost track of my running partners in the hundreds of other runners. As the miles passed though, the initial excitement and adrenalin rush slowed down, and the middle miles became a matter of just putting one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward one step at a time. Eventually, I found my running partners, and we encouraged each other to keep going. Along the way spectators cheered us on. Other runners passed us, but we had to set our own pace and keep moving forward. As we neared the finish line we could see our families cheering us and that gave us our final boost to quicken our pace and cross the finish line strong.
As I thought about running the half marathon, it reminded me somewhat of our years with the Naso people. I vividly remember the excitement, nervousness, fear, and anticipation before we moved into the village to begin the Naso work. Simon and I had completed our missionary training, finished Spanish study, and then felt God leading us to work with the Naso people. We prayed, planned, and packed in order to move into the village. In the beginning everything was very exciting and fast paced. It was very demanding physically, spiritually, and emotionally as we studied culture and language, raised our family, and continually tried to build relationships with the Naso people.
As the days, months, and then years passed, we entered into what I would call the “middle miles” of our ministry with Naso which is where we still are today. We have a strategy ( finish line) we are working towards, and we need to keep “putting one foot in front of the other” to see it accomplished. Often it feels like we are not moving ahead very quickly and it is easy to get discouraged, but unless we run the “middle miles” we cannot cross the finish line. Please pray for perseverance as we go back to Panama this summer and continue living and ministering among the Naso people. We want to see the believers grounded in God’s Word as well as more people come to understand God’s plan of salvation.
As a side note, I would like to mention that our co-workers, Andy and Lori Keener (Wycliffe) are almost to the finish line in their “race” to see the Naso Bible translation completed. They have run the “middle miles” well and will soon cross the finish line strong. Please pray for them. 

Dear Friends,

Proverbs 25:25 says, “Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land.” This verse came immediately to mind a few weeks ago after receiving a phone call from Panama. One of our co-workers in Panama, called after he and his wife had been to visit the believers. They returned from their trip very encouraged by the visits they had with several people. As soon as Simon’s language helper and Bible lesson checker heard that Don and Pat were in village he went and found them. The Lord has been working in his life and continuing to encourage him despite many difficult trials in recent months, including the death of his wife. This good news about him really did refresh us like cold water to a thirsty person.

After a green and relatively mild Christmas in December, the following weeks have definitely made up for it. We continue to watch the snow piles grow and temperatures drop. We have decided that since we cannot change it or beat it, we will join it. As a result, Simon and I have learned how to cross country ski, and we really enjoy it. The boys continue to love building snow forts, ice skating, and sledding. The small town of Durham has an ice arena that has free skate times. We try and take advantage of it at least once a week and go as a family.

A highlight this past month was Michael’s 12th birthday. We told the kids we planned to take them on an outing for the day, but we did not tell them where we were headed. We just told them we needed to take a lot of extra warm clothing in case we got stuck in the snow which actually is a reality in Canada in February. Despite all their guessing and speculating, they could not figure it out until we drove into Snow Valley Resort, and they saw the snow tubing runs. It was a first time for all of us, and we had a great day. 

As a matter of praise, Simon’s sister, Sarah, received her fiancé visa about two weeks ago. She traveled to London, England, to be interviewed at the US embassy. It all went well, and the visa is valid for 6 months from the day it was issued. The wedding date is set for June 10 in Fresno, CA. We plan to drive to CA for the wedding. After the wedding we will travel back east, visiting family and friends before flying out of Toronto, Canada, to Panama on July 30th.

God Bless,
Lavonne for the family
(Simon, Michael, Daniel, Robbie, Andrew)

After waiting 4 years in Panama to enjoy a white Christmas here in Canada, the boys were disappointed when December 25th arrived and there wasn’t any snow on the ground or even in the forecast. It was extremely mild for that time of year, or so we have been told. Despite the green Christmas, we had a wonderful time celebrating the holiday season with family here in Canada. The boys had three weeks off of school so we spent the first two weeks in Ontario with Simon’s parents, sister, brother and family. We enjoyed bowling, playing table games, indoor hockey, soccer, and, of course, the lovely Christmas dinner that Mum Challinor cooked for everybody.

December 28th (which happened to be our 15th wedding anniversary) found us traveling to Wisconsin to visit Simon’s brother and wife in the southern part of the state and then Lavonne’s relatives in the northern part of the state. We had great weather for traveling which was such a blessing for that time of year. A highlight of the trip was sharing New Year’s Day dinner with Lavonne’s 89 year old grandpa as well as other family members. Her grandpa is such an example of steadfastness in trials and faithfulness to the Lord.

The boys are back in school for the second semester. They would rather not be in school these days because we finally got some snow. They love it and play in it whenever they get a chance. They love playing tackle football with Simon in the snow. As soon as they get home from school and finish their home work, they head outdoors and play until it is dark or they are called in for supper. Lavonne’s challenge is trying to keep track of all the scarves, mittens, and toques (bob hats for Americans) that seem to get left all over Durham.

We are rejoicing with Andy and Lori Keener (our Wycliffe co-workers) for the completion of the first draft of the Naso/Teribe translation last month. It represents many years of hard work and faithfulness to see it to this point. There are still consultant checks that will take place this year before it can be printed, but a definite milestone has been passed in the road. Please continue to pray for Andy and Lori as they continue working to see the translation to final completion.

Last summer we had planned to travel to CA to attend Simon’s sister’s wedding. The wedding was unexpectedly cancelled when Sarah could not cross the US border because she did not have the required fiancé visa. Apparently this law had been recently changed, and she was unaware that she needed a fiancé visa (Simon nor any of his brothers needed this) to marry a US citizen. During the past several months, the paperwork has been being processed for her fiancé visa. She recently received an appointment date for an interview at the US embassy in the London as part of the procedure to procure the visa. Please pray that this will go well and the visa will be granted. Her interview is scheduled for January 30, 2007.

As always, we often think of and pray for the Naso people. It just takes a small incident here and our minds travel hundreds of miles to where they are in Panama, and we wonder how our friends our doing. As we drove home yesterday along slippery, icy roads we wondered what the Naso would think of all the snow. Recently, we drove by a Bass Pro Shop and instantly we thought of the Naso and what their reaction would be to all the equipment available for outdoor living. Their standard gear for jungle living is a machete. We are thankful that one of our mission leaders in Panama is traveling this week upriver to visit the people, primarily to encourage the believers. We have been able to e-mail letters to him, and he can print them and take them along to pass out .

We trust each of you had a very special Christmas as we remembered the birth of our Savior. Our prayer for you is that you will find God’s abundant grace sufficient for whatever situations you may find yourself in during 2007 and that you will enjoy all that we have in Christ.

God Bless,
Simon, Lavonne and boys