Soto Family October 2020 Update.

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 days for males and certain days for females.  The leadership in Panama did an outstanding job in taking the necessary measures to slow the spread.  So today, our family is at well over 200 days of lying very low to do our part.  Recently, the quarantine has been lifted due to economical purposes.  Many things have re-opened.  This does not mean the pandemic is much better, it just means that people are needing to get back to work to provide for their families. 

Thinking back, there was a time we were not even allowed to leave the house to exercise, and children could not go out at all.  We would have the kids sit near the windows of our apartment to get sunlight and fresh air.  Even though we understood, as parents it made us sad to think our children could not even go outside to play.  But God has been so good to our family!  He has provided our every need.  He has been with Lanny and Esteban as they have been virtual schooling for over 7 months now.  They are both doing great in their studies and have adapted very well to this new normal. 

This has also been a wonderful opportunity for Rosey to learn so much academically to prepare her for kindergarten early next year.  Mommy has been making her homework, which she begs to do because she gains motivation from seeing big brother do his.  Rosey has learned to write her name, numbers, the alphabet, some math, and she is also taking online Spanish classes!  We thank the Lord for His faithfulness to us. We are grateful for a global church who supports missions through the World Evangelism Fund, which makes all of this possible.

Serving others…

We began working from home in early March.  As like many other families, this has been sort of a challenge trying to work from home full time along with having the kids with us 24/7.   All of our W&W teams since late March had to reschedule or cancel due to the pandemic.  One would think that by working from home and having no teams, that we would have more time on our hands.  In actuality, we feel we are busier than ever.  Everybody’s Zooming it!  There are many more meetings and services to speak at and join via Zoom.  We do, however, agree that Zoom has been a blessing as it has allowed us to continue our ministry and school from home.  

In July, Tammy was assigned as the NMI Coordinator for the Meso Central Field: Panama, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. This has certainly been a time of learning, stretching, and growing for her in many ways.  It is a wonderful opportunity to serve and one of her greatest challenges is that she is not completely fluent in Spanish.  She has begun official Spanish classes online and God is definitely helping her! 

One thing that weighed heavily on our hearts at the beginning of the strict quarantine was, “how could we be a light and help to others while having such great restrictions?”  We were super limited on time allowed out of the house, how far we were able to go, let alone the safety measures that needed to be taken.  But you know what?  We prayed, and God answered prayer!  Throughout the entire quarantine the Lord gave us ways to help those in need around us, while keeping safety first.  God helped us to be very involved in our local church, we help lead a men’s and women’s bible study via zoom. We have had the honor to also help dear neighbors, pastors, church families, friends, and others. God has lead us during this time to use creative ways to share His light. We are also thankful that we have grown closer to God as a family during this quarantine.  

The Work & Witness Ministry has also been a channel to provide financial help consistently  throughout the pandemic.  God has used wonderful and generous people and congregations to provide funds to help with the needs of families who were not receiving any income in the midst of this pandemic. 

One of these families includes a dear friend. If you heard us speak during our deputation services, you may remember us sharing about him, a new believer that  became a christian by working alongside the W&W teams and has been completely transformed by God.  We have seen how God has used a special family to provide much needed help for him during this difficult time. Through that, God opened the door for discipleship. He has grown so much in his walk with God and he is now sharing the Good News with others in his community. Glory to God.

The Bible says in Acts 20:35 that it is better to give than to receive.  It really is a blessing to one’s heart when we are able to help another in need without expecting anything in return.  It doesn’t matter how much or how little we are able to give, what is important is that we give from the heart.  And that my friends, is when the true blessing comes.  

We thank God for you!  We are so grateful for your support to missions both prayerfully and financially.  Because of your giving through the WEF and our deputation fund, we are able to be here today serving God and the people of Panama. We are especially thankful that throughout the difficult time this year, God has shown His faithfulness to us through you.  Gracias!

Prayer Requests for our family: 

• Our children have been schooling from home. We are thankful that they have endured the changes and adapted very well. They have been our heroes!  Please pray that this last month of school we are able to finish strong. 

• Elianny’s 15th Birthday will be in a few days. May The Lord continue to guard and lead her heart. 

• For Tammy and her new NMI assignment. She has to learn many new things and find time for meetings, trainings, spanish classes, etc. 

• For guidance as we move forward with the W&W ministry in Panama and our new NMI ministry for the field in this “new normal”. May God open and close the doors according to His mighty will. 

• As this new normal sets in, and much of our work will continue to be from home and online we realize that we need tech updates in our house. We made it to the end of the year, but most of us here are using older and outdated equipment. We will soon need to update computers, phones, iPads for the school, and that is quite an expensive process.

• We would like to start a big W&W project this coming year: Our Ministry Center. Please help us pray for God to provide the finances and volunteers we need to make this dream a reality for the country of Panama. 

• Tammy is organizing a virtual NMI Prayer & Fasting service for the Field to be held on December 6th.  Prayers appreciated so that hearts will be touched for Christ!

With Much Love & Appreciation!

Eli & Tammy

Elianny, Esteban, & Esther Rose

If you feel led to donate to our ministry, please follow this link:  

https://nazarene.org/missionary/mesoamerica/soto-casado?id=119