The Soto Family Ministry Update

Greetings from Panama City, Panama!   We hope this newsletter finds you and yours well!   In the midst of almost 1 1/2 years into the pandemic, things have been slowly opening up little by little here in Panama.  Masks are still mandated in public throughout the entire country and there are still certain restrictions, depending on location.  Vaccinations are rolling out fairly  quickly now, thank the Lord! This past February, what was supposed to take place in South Korea in 2020, took place at our dining room table via Zoom!  We had the honor and privilege to be commissioned as Global Missionaries for the Church of the Nazarene.  It is only by the grace of God that we were blessed by this opportunity!  Elianny, Esteban, and Esther all began the new school year this past March.  Their school began virtual only, but a couple of weeks ago our kids were able to return semi face-to-face.  They are over halfway into the school year, but are thankful for their return to learn and see classma

Hola!  We hope this update finds you and yours well!  We are good here, although it sure has been a different and challenging year, as we know it has been for everyone around the world.  We returned back to Panama mid February from our Deputation Tour in the U.S.  We had a wonderful and blessed time.  God was faithful to protect us in every way,  and it was great to see family and friends. After returning to Panama, we received our Fairview Village Church W&W team at the end of February and later received our Flint Medical team in early March.  Elianny & Esteban also began their new school year during that time.  But then everything changed….. After our first Covid-19 case was confirmed here in Panama, everything began to shut down, including schools, just one week after they had begun the new school year.  Soon after, Panama went into a 24 hour quarantine and adults were only allotted 2 hour time slots a few times a week for grocery shopping/medical/pharmacy/etc, certain

Hola from the warm and rainy Panama!     So here’s our most recent Soto Family update!  Our Ministry Some of you out there may wonder, “What is it exactly that the Soto’s do there in Panama?”  Well, let us explain a little about our ministry!  We are missionaries for the Church of the Nazarene.  Years back, our family was called to serve the churches and people of Panama through missions via a ministry called “Work & Witness.”  W&W is a ministry opportunity for teams of around 20 members (more or less) from around the world to go and serve in whichever country God leads them to.  We are the coordinators for W&W Panama.  We coordinate with the teams and local churches to meet needs  around the communities in Panama.  Much of our work involves getting to know the local people and learning about their true needs.  There are many details and much work to take care of from way before the teams arrive, until way after they leave.   Once here, we host the teams