No Coincidence: A Story of God’s Relentless Pursuit

Last year in Panama, our team spent some time in Cinta Costera, a large recreational park area on the Panama… Read more No Coincidence: A Story of God’s Relentless Pursuit

Last year in Panama, our team spent some time in Cinta Costera, a large recreational park area on the Panama City coastline.  We had the opportunity to meet some guys out there on the basketball court.  After playing for a while, we began talking, and they were very open to spiritual conversation.  I told them we’d be back later in the week and asked if they would be interested in discovering God in the Bible together when we returned.  Enthusiastically, they said YES!  Two nights later, we were back, but only one of them showed up.  His name was Ivan.  Ivan doesn’t speak much English, but he loves basketball and is very interested in discussing faith matters.  So we got a pickup game going with Ivan and some other Panamanians.  Afterwards I asked Ivan if he still wanted to read Scripture together.  He said yes, and we were able to invite the other guys we played ball with to join us.  We all sat down on the basketball court and did a Discovery Bible Study together — a simple way to read Scripture and facilitate a discovery process where people learn to hear God for themselves.

After that night, Ivan wanted to stay in touch so we used WhatsApp.  Unfortunately, after a few weeks he stopped responding to my messages.  As it turns out, he had lost his phone and had to get a new number.  This year as we prepared to go back to Cinta Costera, I prayed that God would reconnect me and Ivan — even though I had no way to communicate with him and let him know we were coming.  We arrived at Cinta Costera around 7pm, and some team members headed straight for the public restrooms.  My focus was on the basketball courts, but we had to wait for the whole team to come back together.  Just then, I saw a couple guys from our team talking with two Panamanians sitting on a bench just outside the public restrooms.  Then I saw him — it was Ivan!

I knew at that moment that this was not a coincidence!  We had prayed for God to lead us to People of Peace, and more specifically I prayed that Ivan would be there so we could continue our relationship — and God answered.  Excitedly, we began talking — mostly through a translator — and then we started playing basketball.  After playing a while, I asked Ivan to tell me his story.  He went on to share about how his dad was murdered when he was 8 years old and his grandmother had to raise him.  Then she also died a few years later.  Now he lives with his other grandmother in a dangerous neighborhood where he never feels safe.  Then I shared a story from my life about my family and how God gave me peace and purpose in the midst of some difficult times.  After that I shared God’s story of redeeming a broken world and His desire to restore us to His perfect design.  As I shared the Gospel, Ivan was finishing my sentences!  He knew and believed the Gospel too and was helping me tell the story (his friend and our translator were listening as well).

I realized then that Ivan is already following Christ, but he doesn’t have a lot of support.  Nonetheless, God has positioned him to be a light in a dark neighborhood.  I encouraged him that God wants to use him to lead others out of brokenness into God’s perfect design too.  Then I invited him to join us for the disciple-making training that we had planned later in the week at Cesar’s house.  I knew it would be a challenge for him to get all the way across town to be there, but I wanted to see how interested he really was.

Sure enough he made the 1-hour journey via public transportation to get to Cesar’s house and join us for the training.  Not only did he get equipped to make disciples in his neighborhood, but he also got connected to many other followers of Jesus in Panama City that can help support and encourage him.  I’m so thankful that I could play a small part in what God is doing in Ivan’s life!  I know God has big plans to use Ivan to have a Kingdom impact in his sphere of influence.  Not only that, but it was amazing to be reminded that when God plans to work in and through someone’s life, there are no coincidences!