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2006 News Archive
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12/29/2006
It's fun to be in Panama during the tourist season. Frank Lee's sister and brother-in-law flew down from the States and we toured the old colonial part of Panama today. On the way down there they told us that President Carter was on their plane and greeted all the passengers. He is vacationing with all their kids and grandkids here this week. While touring today, Jolie/Pitt came through the area to visit the interesting sites. This was after they were on the causeway where Christine was riding bikes with friends!  Oh,  we live such a glamorous life, HA!

John Mark and Cheryl Hansen

12/24/06

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." - Isaiah 9:6 (KJV)

May God bless you as you celebrate the birth of His beloved Son and seek to follow in His steps throughout the coming year!

Mom & Dad,

Merry Christmas to you!  We received a copy on the cantata. We sent it with some missionaries who were heading to Colorado for Christmas with their families there. After hearing about the terrible weather problems in that part of the country, we weren't sure whether they would get it mailed before Christmas or not!   

Christine & Cheryl finished the last two batches of Christmas cookies yesterday & gave away two plates in the afternoon to Chinese friends. We plan to put together about six more & deliver them today. We will be attending a Christmas Eve service at 8pm at Christine's church tonight. Our friends, the Lee's ( including Frank Lee's parents, who speak different combinations of Hakka, Cantonese, limited Spanish & a few words of English!) are coming over for a mid-afternoon lunch on Christmas day. We'll be having roast chicken/carrots/onion, mashed potatoes, green beans (stir fried with water chestnuts, fresh mushrooms & garlic), braided bread ( a staple here), fruit salad, cranberry sauce ( just like in the States), and pecan pie & ginger cookies. The Lee's have a son, Brendan, who is a fourth grader this year. I imagine we'll play some board games or card games or maybe watch a Christmas movie. We'll try to call again so we can say "hi" to everyone. We'll miss Nathan, maybe Christine the most, since this will be her first Christmas as an only child! 

I'm glad that our families will have some time with Nathan & Amanda over their Christmas break. We love you much & will be thinking of you.

Have a very Merry Christmas!

John Mark and Cheryl Hansen

12/16/06
Hi friends! It's soooo good to hear from you all!  I apologize because I kind of avoid the computer like the plague & only check in once in awhile. Many of you are making cookies for the holidays - I was feeling personally puffed up because I was planning to make 4 types!  I guess I have a lot fewer friends than some of you!   Christine & I had a really nice time making cookies together & listening to our favorite Christmas music. Christine just finished this semester the day before yesterday so she is free for a month. Her school activities & general excitement about Christmas are really what are making the season for us this year. It's always a little hard to be away from our American culture for Christmas & I think this year is especially hard because Nathan is staying in the States to work over Christmas break. So. . .after all that whining, we are going to have a great Christmas anyway!

Christine has had two very nice Christmas programs in the last week. One was a church cantata & the other was her school Christmas program. The cantata is a huge affair with a large choir, dance numbers, sets/actors, etc. that they work on for several months and perform at a large community playhouse &  televise. Christine got to be part of several dance numbers that didn't require professional training & sang a solo for one part. She really enjoys that kind of thing. For the school program, she did another solo & then did a monologue in the character of Mary. Between all of the preparation & rehearsing for the programs and studying for semester finals, she was pretty exhausted.

John Mark & I are slowly working on Hakka, as well as trying to review our Mandarin & keep up our Spanish so our brains are full to overflowing. I'm most excited at the relationships that are slowly developing with a number of young Chinese ladies that we visit in their places of work. We make a special point to stop & chat or leave DVD's or other Christian materials when we visit them & have had some of them to the house for a meal or just for talk time. I'm practicing the Christmas story in Mandarin so that I can tell it as I visit with them these next couple of weeks.

John Mark is still going to Santiago once a week to follow up on several people who have expressed an interest in hosting a bible study in their home or business. While they were there yesterday, he & our coworker, Francisco, attended a 10 year anniversary party to celebrate a Chinese Community Center in Santiago. There were lots of speeches by every dignitary imaginable, a traditional lion dance & lots of firecrackers.

Christine attended a White Elephant party for the members of the youth praise band at the home of the youth pastor last night. They also did a little carolling around that neighborhood. Christine said it felt a bit odd!  This morning, we enjoyed a bit of snow in the church parking lot - a church member had paid a company to come out & grind a truck load of ice into snow shavings & spray it at the gathered crowd of kids & kid-like adults!  John Mark & Christine had a great time throwing snowballs & getting thoroughly soaked. I guarded the camera & kept it dry!  The "snow storm" lasted about 1 & 1/2 hours.

Have a Merry, Merry Christmas & my prayers are that you all will be in great health, all together & all blessed by God's incredible grace to us. Lots of love,

John Mark and Cheryl Hansen

12/13/06 
We've learned a lot about the Chinese in Panama as we've visited in storefronts, homes, restaurants & malls.  God blessed us with a Chinese coworker who has introduced us to many young adults & we've enjoyed getting to know them through special events & day tours.  God also led us to another friend who has helped us develop DVD's, tracts and other evangelistic materials for distribution. Volunteers from the U.S. have come & helped us both in surveying our people group and in handing out evangelistic materials store to store.  Latino coworkers have helped us in language study, in meeting Chinese children through Sunday school & soccer activities and by allowing us to speak about our ministry in Spanish language churches.  We owe a great debt to our Chinese Panamanian friend who is teaching us Hakka. We thank God for the wonderful assortment of people that He has placed in our lives this year to help us get started.  What a loving & faithful God we serve!

John Mark & Cheryl celebrated their 25^th anniversary with a 10 day cruise to seven capitals of Europe. Without boring you with the details, we had a wonderful time!   Nathan surprised & delighted us with his engagement to Amanda Morse.  They came for a two week visit in August so we could "get to know" Amanda. They are both juniors in college this year & have set August 4 ^th, 2007 as their wedding date.

Christine has had a busy year with youth group activities, singing with the youth band, student council, volleyball, dance and a formal spring banquet.  She helped with backyard bible clubs in January during Christmas break (yes, December through March are the equivalent of summer break here in Panama) and again in July.   We all attended our first Area Group Meeting (AGM) of missionaries in Guatemala this summer and shortly after, Christine spent two weeks in the States with family & friends.

John Mark & Cheryl had three weeks of training in Virginia in September & then flew back to Nebraska for a quick visit with family & friends.

May you be filled with joy as you contemplate God's tremendous grace in sending Christ, our perfect example, faithful friend & loving Savior.

John Mark and Cheryl Hansen

11/25/06
Your Gifts to Lottie Moon Christmas Offering

Here is one of those questions that people are afraid to ask. Maybe you have wondering about this also: 

How do the Hansens pay for their expenses to do missions work in Panama?     

As we have just celebrated Thanksgiving weekend (17 for dinner at the Hansens in Panama City!),  Cheryl and I would like to again thank our supporters for providing for us. We are career workers with the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant group in the United States. Since its organization in 1845 in Augusta, Georgia, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has grown to over 16 million members who worship in more than 42,000 churches in the United States. Southern Baptists sponsor about 5,000 home missionaries serving the United States, Canada, Guam and the Caribbean, as well as sponsoring more than 5,000 foreign missionaries in 153 nations of the world. Each Christmas time Southern Baptists take up a special offering for international missions work. It is called the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering (LMCO) in honor of a wonderful missionary to China from the last century.

LMCO gifts support your Christian workers in Panama and other parts of the world all year round. Southern Baptists gave a record $137.9 million to LMCO last year and are challenged to give $150 million this year. Read a few reports from our front line workers to see how much your gifts to Lottie Moon mattered this past year.

"Because of your selfless giving, thousands of copies of gospel films and tracts were distributed in Panama."

"Because of you, we had Bibles to share with seekers and new believers in the cities, towns and countryside of Panama"

"LM provided for our ministry needs on the field, including Bibles, tracts, VCDs/DVDs and travel expenses."

"Through your giving to Lottie Moon, I was able to be a full-time trainer and not have to have another job to support me."

"Selfless giving provided a house for us, school tuition for our daughter, money to travel about the area and make relationships with local people, money for language study with local teachers, materials to give to Chinese people who showed interest in the Good News, and materials to disciple new believers."

Thanks to all those who have sent money directly to the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention or gave through their local church to the Lottie Moon Christmas Missions Offering  and the Cooperative Program. 

We appreciate you soooooooooo much!

John Mark and Cheryl Hansen

10/30/06
Thanks so much for your letters!  Leonardo Quinton, the head of the Baptist association in Panama City, said he would like to have us speak at other churches in the area about sponsoring new Chinese churches, so it couldn't have been too bad!  It is very difficult for me (John Mark) to read out loud, so I must depend on my ability to do a presentation without a lot of notes.

This last Thursday, Francisco Yau and I went to Santiago again and had an excellent day!  We made 25 visits and had 8 say that they would be interested in starting a Chinese Christian outreach,  how if only I can get them excited about starting a self-sustained CHURCH!

William Ortega (missionary in Mexico City) was here this weekend and I had him talk to Francisco about Church Planting Movement efforts in D. F. Yesterday afternoon we joined the Chinese young men in an soccer outreach,  this supported by Iglesia Bautista de El Dorado.

How may we pray for you?

John Mark and Cheryl Hansen

10/24/06
Planting "frog" rather than "lizard" churches.............
Yes, this is a metaphor. Frog churches perceive themselves as ends in themselves, sitting fat and complacent on a hill or lily pad (or main street), expecting the lost to come to them in search of salvation. Frog churches hold meetings in places where they feel comfortable and require the lost to adapt to their froggy world. Lizard churches are always pursuing the lost. Adaptable and ready for action, they move quickly into the world through cracks and crevices seeking the lost. Lizard churches penetrate the homes of the lost with evangelistic Bible studies rather than requiring the lost to come to their churches. They are willing to change their colors, expend enormous energy, even lose their tails if necessary in order to bring the lost into the family of God.

I saw that on the other list and thought I better tell you what I am talking about.................Any other questions, please ask!

John Mark and Cheryl Hansen

10/20/06
Subject: a "blown" day in Santiago

After 4 and a half hours of travel we finally got to Santiago. To be fair we made a side trip to Francisco's sister store in a small town out in the country before getting to the "big city". After about an hour of visiting in businesses around town,  the 4 x 4 started making a horrid noise. The fan decided to eat the fan shroud, so ground up plastic was everywhere and we weren't going anywhere.

As the sweat dripped off my face and evaporated as it hit the hot radiator,  I began to question what was going on. We finally got the SUV "fixed" enough to drive it home (It is going to the shop later this morning),  we tried to start prayerwalking just in time for it to start pouring rain....... What a blown day!  Or was it...........Satan was trying his best to divert us from our task, but God was blessing us with 15 visits we made. By the end of the day Francisco was so pumped that there was two of us doing this that he started talking about starting work in the city of  Penonome also. There isn't any Chinese churches there either.         

In the end (and in the beginning...) GOD IS GOOD. It will happen when he wants it to and we should enjoy the ride. Pray for the evangelistic birthday party for Jenny on Sunday night. Pray for us as we are going blind working lessons in Spanish, Mandarin and English 

Love,

John Mark and Cheryl Hansen

10/15/06
Brother Yau came in and slumped down in the chair,  "It's just too hard to find dependable help," he stated flatly in Mandarin.

"What do you mean?", I asked.

"I have tried to use the Chinese newspaper route here in metro Panama City as a witnessing method for Christ,  but I can't get anyone to help do a good job delivering  the papers. I am going to have to find another way to have an income. Besides, my mother has turned her back on Jesus and has bought new idols for her god shelf. This is all because she had a dream that told her to start worshipping the old ancestral spirits again."

"Are your parents still in Santiago?",  I asked.

"Yes", said Brother Yau, "That is part of the problem. There is no Christianity fellowship in Santiago even though there is at least 70 Chinese families in the community."

After my dear friend left,  Cheryl and I asked the obvious question:  "Where is God in all this?"  Why have we spent all this time preparing master plans and preparing vision statements, when our best co-worker seemed to be cursed and not blessed as of late? We didn't sleep too well that night.

The next evening Brother Yau was back. "What if WE went to Santiago and started an evangelistic outreach?" he ventured,  "Are you available to go with me?" 

"Sure!" I said,  "I can drive. What day do you want to start?"

Brother Yau stated mentally reviewing his calendar. "Can we do it each Thursday?  If we leave at 7 AM and get home at 10PM that gives us the whole day to make contacts. It's about 3 hours each way."

Thank you for a God that makes lemonade out of lemons. Pray for us as we sow the seeds of faith and ask God to move the rock out of the way. Pray specifically that the Lord will use Mrs. Yau's recent illness as way to glorify His kingdom.

Are you looking for a REAL spiritually treat?  Check this link:  http://www.wordsofvictory.net/Sermons/9_17_06_Notes.htm   This is guaranteed to make you laugh and/or cry!  

Sincerely,

John Mark and Cheryl Hansen

9/18/06
Rockville, VA

Things are going well here. We are enjoying & being challenged by most of the sessions, although spending that many hours every day sitting is a little challenging to our posteriors!  There are no TV's here so we spend most of our free hours reading or walking. It is so wonderfully refreshing seeing the green pastures & trees here. I'm trying to soak in the views while I'm able. Panama is not nearly as neat, clean, quiet, pastoral or nice-smelling as rural Virginia!  Some people watch movies on their computers for entertainment but our laptop is being "cleaned" and having some new software loaded while we have access to the computer technicians here. We aren't computer whizzes so it's a real blessing to have people who can help us do some of that stuff.

Christine called us on Thursday night just to say "hi". We were happy to hear from her. Things seem to be going well, although she gets a little exasperated with the Panamanian mother in the household at times!  She is being pampered by their full time, live-in maid who washes, folds & puts away her clothes, makes her bed, prepares her lunch & breakfast, and happily provides any other service that Christine might require. She may have to go through an adjustment phase when she gets back home again!  The experience is forcing her to use a lot more Spanish than she has ever had to use before. I'm sure it's a little stressfull at times but it's a wonderful opportunity for her.

We received an email from Amanda's mom (Nathan's bride to be) & it sounds like Amanda will choose the colors that she wants for the wedding & then send paint samples of those colors to us so we can buy our dresses. The reception will be at First Methodist as the fellowship hall at their own church will be in the process of being remodeled at that time. I think they are going to use my girlfriend, Jane Johnson, as their wedding photographer and Amanda has an aunt who is making the wedding cake. I appreciate that Amanda's mom, Kim, is trying to keep me up-to-date on the plans they're making. Nathan tells me that Kim is a very nice, amiable person so we're looking forward to meeting them on the Tuesday night that we'll be there in Omaha.  We will be in Norfolk, Nebraska at Northern Heights Baptist Church at about 9 on October 1st.

Nathan is working as a monitor in the computer lab in the communications department several hours a week. He says he's able to do much of his own work because they have many of the same programs that he uses in his graphic design classes. He is also writing a cartoon strip for the university's newspaper.

That's about all I know at the moment. Take care & much love. . .

John Mark and Cheryl Hansen

9/16/06
Rockville, VA
Hi,We hope everything is going well for you. Cheryl  & I have signed up for a van here at the International Learning Center so that we can go to Liberty University next Saturday for a campus tour for Christine. We'll let you know what we thought of it!  Our first day here in the States we went to Wal-mart. We found almost everything that we were looking for. We also went to a nice mall and  Cheryl found some jean capris there. She is still looking for some khaki pants. I of course am just looking for cheap stuff, HA!

Our schedule is from 8am to 12 noon with an hour & a half for lunch. Then we come back at 1:30pm for more sessions until 5:00pm. Some nights we have some homework but not always. We usually manage to get in a couple of miles walking each day and are trying not to eat too much!  Most of the other people at the conference are from Mexico, but a couple of them are from a variety of places such as the Dominican Republic, St. Lucia and Honduras. Our speakers does some fun things like show funny commercials on their computer or jokes or trivia. It keeps us from getting bored sitting for so long every day!  Thursday evening we had supper with the missionary friends from Hong Kong. They have many years of experience in Chinese ministry so it was great fun to talk with them & "pick their brains" for helpful ideas & other information. Friday evening we got to go "off campus" for supper. Whooppie!!   Today we had lunch with another couple from an eastern area. It is great to meet so many people working and serving in different parts of the world.    

Francisco Yau, our Chinese co-worker,  sent us an email and told us that he & some friends had had a birthday supper for one of them at our house. He also asked if he could have a BBQ at the house on Oct. 1. Please pray for these outreach events.

The weather here has been cooler than it was two years ago. Actually, it feels pretty good - I'm not complaining. That's about all of our excitement!  We check our email every day so don't be afraid to send an email - (hint, hint) :)  Oh, the laptop is having everything taken off the hard drive so an English version of Windows XP can be reinstalled. We asked the computer tech (an MK friend from Taiwan) here why our other computer doesn't always come on. He's thinking it might be the humidity in Panama. His suggestion is that we leave it on all of the time.

All for now,

John Mark and Cheryl Hansen

8/29/06
Well, John Mark is glad to tell you that he is through with the court interview for the theft last spring. We have enjoyed getting together with two different groups of Chinese youth people- one mostly Hakka speaking and on mostly Spanish speaking. "Mostly" is a good word to use as they move back and forth between the two plus Cantonese, English and Mandarin as it feels comfortable. I think we are going to be in language study the rest of our lives......  

Nathan and Amanda have set a date of August 4,2007 for their wedding. Amanda wants to be married in Omaha at her parents' church, St. Paul's Lutheran in Millard. They are hoping that their campus pastor, from the E. Free Church in Kearney, can at least do part of the service. They are hoping to either get into married student housing next school year or find an apartment near campus. The biggest negative is that Nathan will lose the "room" part of his scholarship if he moves off campus, even if they live in married student housing, because it is located off campus & his scholarship says that it pays only for on-campus housing. I'll be generous & say that the school is unwittingly encouraging students to sleep together while living in separate dorm rooms rather than lose the scholarship money by getting married.  

I've been really struggling with sinus headaches the last couple of weeks. I've been seeing an allergist here and he is supposed to be really good. He is trying different combinations of antihistamines, anti-inflamatory sprays and anti-asthmatics but I can't say that I've gotten much relief yet. I've spent the last few days on both extra strength Tylenol and Ibuprofen around the clock, just trying to stay ahead of the pain in my sinuses. I'll see him again on Wednesday so hopefully he'll have some great insight!  I'm hoping that this is just a seasonal allergy to something that's in bloom here. Pray that it gets its blooming over PRONTO!

John Mark & I will head to the Richmond, Virginia area on September 9 for three weeks of training. The training is about how to go about making strategic plans for our people group in a number of different areas. We've already done a lot of the initial research & interviewing but are looking forward to getting more information on training national coworkers and developing materials for discipleship in the different languages. Christine has chosen a couple of girlfriends that she will be staying with during those weeks. We have tacked a week on the end this training time to fly back to Nebraska to visit our parents.

That's about all of the news from here. Love to hear from you. . .

John Mark and Cheryl Hansen

8/12/06
Thanks so much for prayers! Alex and his friend Oh Young have made decisions to become Christians! Please be in prayer for their spiritual growth. Continue to remember Gabriel and Oscar. Cheryl shared with Monica again at dry cleaners in Albrook.

I have enclosed a picture of Alex from our outing this last week. He is the young man on Cheryl's right. The other gentlemen is our dear friend and co-worker Francisco. He is a graduate of the Chinese Bible College here in Panama City and is currently attending the Panama Baptist Seminary.



Please pray for the Hakka language VCD that we are developing with John Gray as an outreach tool.

We appreciate you,

Cheryl and John Mark Hansen

8/07/06
Please pray for the group of twenty young people (plus a couple of old Hansens, HA!) that will going on a day trip to El Valle. Our co-worker Francisco Yau is hoping to have another opportunity for us to share our faith. Amanda, Nathan and Christine are planning to join the group outing.

Also pray for the different activities that the El Dorado Baptist Church is planning to reach to Chinese in our area. They include some language classes, ping pong, and computer classes.

I have attached a photo of Amanda and Nathan here in Panama. He officially proposed to her on Thursday evening and they have set a date of August 4, 2007.



Cheryl and John Mark Hansen

8/02/06
Thanks so much for your kind prayer support of our ministry in Panama! We just got back from vacation as I shared with you about a couple of weeks ago. We had a great time in seven different northern European countries. The weather was for the most part beautiful, but unfortunately we brought the hot Panama weather with us! During our cruise we experienced a record heat wave, but clear skies made for great pictures. It was a great way to celebrate our twenty-five anniversary with our friends Cindy and Gene Morrow.

We are so thankful for Francisco Yau's willingness to watch our house during our time in Europe. We are working closely with Francisco in our Chinese ministry and appreciate his heart for the Chinese in Panama. He has done a great job of building on the relationship that we have with the wonderful leadership at El Dorado Baptist Church. Amilcar, Aurora, Tomas, Melissa and Pastor Fernando. In the same vein, Francisco and Kelly Lee have been great consultants in the ministry and also have been willing to help with any projects that we have needed them for. We also appreciate Kelly Lee's thoughtfulness in helping us clean all the nocks and craneys of the house as we have a short turn around before Christine returns AND our son Nathan and his finance Miss Amanda Morse comes to visit.

As you know right before we left for Europe, we received a long wonderful e-mail from Nathan announcing his engagement to Amanda. They had been planning a trip to visit us in Panama for several months and we have had several discussions with Nathan on this subject, so this was not a surprise. We have only had two ten minutes conversations over the phone with Amanda since they have been dating, so you can imagine that we are a little nervous about meeting her for first time.

When I say that we are nervous, let me hasten to say that I worried about her first impression of us rather than the other way around. Cheryl and I have great respect for Nathan's decision-making process and have no doubt that he has made a prayerful decision in asking for Amanda's hand in marriage. As you can imagine this is a precious time for Cheryl and I as we see our work starting to come into focus and watching both of our children making excellent, Godly choices as they move into adulthood.

Speaking of great kids, Christine will start her junior year of high school next week at Crossroads Christian Academy. She has earned great grades and has built a wonderful circle of friends in her new environment in Panama. She will be continuing with the praise band at church and playing on the school volleyball team. We are going to work hard at savoring our last two years with her in home. They do grow up fast, but what a joy when they turn out so well!

All for now,

Cheryl and John Mark Hansen

7-18-06
Well, today is the big day. Cheryl and I are flying to London today to start a European cruise! We are visiting 7 European countries to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. We have saved our pennies for many years for this event. We are meeting our good friends Gene and Cindy Morrow in London. They did ALOT of mission trips to Nebraska with Second Baptist Church of Springfield, MO. Cindy headed up that ministry for Second for several years.

We will be returning on July 31th to Panama City ready for action!

Our other news is that our son Nathan has announced that he is getting married to Miss Amanda Morse. They met at the Univerisity of Nebraska - Kearney. She is a TCK (Third Cultural Kid) like Nathan and spent some time growing up in Germany. We thank God for her and are looking forward to getting to know her better.

Happy Trails,

John Mark and Cheryl Hansen

7-16-06
Despite the fact that we did examinations in the lobby and hallways of a hotel in Guatemala, Cheryl and I both showed some improvement in our Spanish. We had a great week in Guatemala- meeting people, hearing about great church planting movements right here in Middle America and the Caribbean, and enjoying the great cool mountain weather of the ancient city of Antigua.

Thanks for your continued prayers! I have attached a photo of Cheryl with our friend Wilma, who is the "Spanish tester" in our area. Please pray for there family is they prepare for retirement with international missions children and grandchildren in different areas of the world.



We appreciate you!

Cheryl and John Mark Hansen

7-9-06
Oh No...... Did I hear what I thought I heard? He wants me, a first time visitor to the men's Sunday school class, to read Second Corinthians 5:17-20 out loud in front of group in SPANISH!?!?! Didn't I just tell him that I was a language student and that I was sorry that my Spanish wasn't all that good? Talking is fine, but reading?

Reconciliando and embajadores just don't roll off the tongue of an old guy with dyslexia (by the way I had to use the spell check just to spell that word!). Praise the Lord that Brother Tomas Koo was sitting next to me to help me get through it! Maybe all the rest of the guys will feel better about their reading skills in their native tongue after listening to me, HA!

Welcome the world of the missionary! Please pray for our language study as we TRY to communicate the good news of Christ with those around us!

John Mark

7-7-06
Hi! The first photo is of decorations for the 4th of July at our house. The second photo is of Christine helping with the vacation Bible school at Iglesia Bautista de Fe in Panama.





On Independence day, we invited friends to our home. We had about 25 people for the get together. After our Spanish class in the afternoon, we came home to prepare for our guests. My job (John Mark) was to start the barbecue for hamburgers and chicken. If I had known that would have so much trouble lighting the fire, I would have used briquette charcoal from the U. S. At 6 I finally asked my wife to help me cook the meat with an electric skillet. Cheryl made squash and peppers in the oven. Kelly made two fruit pies. One was a cherry pie and the other was an apple pie. Every family brought meat to grill. Cheryl also made baked beans. Mary provided a delicious potato salad. Gail brought cole slaw. Ilka made a traditional tossed salad with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots and peppers. Anna brought condiments and bread for the hamburgers. Yvonne brought yukka and onions for the grill. She also prepared a patriotic salad. It had three layers of gelatin that included red. white and blue. The children enjoyed water games and fireworks. Julie brought various flavors of soda and many bags of potato chips. She and her husband Terry did not cook, because they had just returned from the Costa Rica border. They spent three days there to renew their tourist visa for Panama. Brother Francisco brought his grill for us to use at the party. Cheryl prepared a game for the adults and youth. It included quotes of famous Presidents of the United States.

I am excited to hear that Dave Clines, our country coordinator, is planning a training event It will called "Change and Transition" and will probably be at a hotel where we can have plenty of space and divide into small groups, etc. The event is on Saturday, August 19th and is tentatively scheduled for 9 am-3 pm Lunch will also be served. We will probably charge $2 for each person which will include the meal. The purpose of this particular theme is to begin the process of helping our Baptist brothers and sisters in Panama to see that self-evaluation does not offend God. If churches can begin to evaluate themselves, they will be able to begin making any changes in their structures or practices that will allow them to be more indigenous. One part of the event will focus on biblical change and transition. Any ideas would be welcome. David is planning to use as much multimedia as possible, so he is looking for any movies or such that have scenes that lend something to the theme, let him know.

On Wednesday, we were invited to a birthday party for our friend and co- worker Peter LAN. Pastor LAN celebrated his fiftieth birthday. We had nine different courses in addition to the soup. The soup was made from the stomach of a shark. It was very good. We had chicken of various varieties, pork, beef, squid, fresh green vegetables, a whole fish in orange sauce, and hot, spicy shrimp. There was plenty of food. The Lan family took some of the food home to eat later. They invited about twenty-five people to the party. There were members of his family present as well as many friends. Some were Panamanian and some were Chinese. I was the only North American present.

If I spoke Hakka or Cantonese, I would speak those languages with Pastor and Mrs. Lan. But I do not speak these languages at the present time. Therefore, I speak Mandarin with Pastor Lan and I speak Spanish with his wife. I sat beside Brother Yau. We had a nice time talking at the party.

Francisco Yau told me that he and the young people at El Dorado Baptist Church are planning a ping pong tournament at the church building this weekend as an evangelistic event. We are so excited to see that they are starting to coordinate cross-cultural events.

Next week our family will be going to Guatemala for our regional meeting. We will be tested for your Spanish speaking ability. Please pray for us.

Your Friends in Christ,

Cheryl and John Mark Hansen

Late breaking news flash! Cheryl had the opportunity to share the good news of Jesus Christ with one of the young ladies that has joined for our outings in the last couple of months. She called and talked to Cheryl for quite a while this evening. Pray that she and others in that group will come to know the Lord as their personal Savior.

7-1-06
Hi (this is in both Spanish and English),l ast night, we had a meeting at El Dorado Baptist Church about future ethnic Chinese ministries at the church. Tommy Koo, Melissa Koo, Francisco Yau, Aurora Moreno, Amilcar Fernandez, Francisco Lee, Cheryl Hansen, and Juan Marcos Hansen attended the meeting. We discussed many aspects of the Chinese experience in Panama and suggested some possible plan de action.

There was discussion about what languages should be used in the ministries. It was agreed that using different languages depending on the preferences of the Chinese groups that we worked with would be a good strategy.

Melissa has been attending El Dorado Baptist Church for about 5 months. She was previously a member of the Chinese Christian Church in Colon. She feels very comfortable using Cantonese for worship services, even though many in the congregation us other Chinese language. She has the opinion that many members of the Colon church are Hakka. Our research in the area would show that this may be true of the congregation, but the many Chinese people in the city of Colon speak the Si Yi dialect of Cantonese.

Francisco Lee said that using Hakka in the Colon church during his childhood would have been better as he understood very little spiritual language in Cantonese.

Francisco Yau suggested several activities to use with the Chinese people in the area. They include: Basketball games outside the church building, Ping Pong games in the building, Language classes in Mandarin, Spanish or English, Trips to see special areas of Panama, Karaoke singing, Community service events.

Amilcar will help Brother Yau to organize some basquetbol games in the near future on Wednesday nights. It is our opinion that we should have a karaoke night as soon as possible.

Ayer en la noche, tuvimos una reunión en La Iglesia Bautista El Dorado sobre los ministerios chinos étnicos en la asociación con la iglesia en el futuro.

Tommy Koo, Melissa Koo, Franciso Yau, Aurora Moreno, Amilcar Fernandez, Francisco Lee , Cheryl Hansen, y Juan Marcos Hansen assistieron a la reunión.

Discutimos muchos aspectos de la experiencia china en Panamá y sugerimos algunos planes para las acciónes posibles.

Había discusión sobre qué idiomas se deben utilizar en los ministerios.

Fue convenido que usar diversas idiomas dependiendo de las preferencias de los grupos chinos con quienes trabajamos sería una buena estrategia.

Melissa ha estado atendiendo a La Iglesia Bautista El Dorado por cerca de 5 meses.

Ella fue previamente un miembro de La Iglesia Cristiana China en Cerro Batea.

Ella este muy cómodo usando cantonés para los servicios de la adoración, aunque muchos hermanos en la congregación usan las otras lenguas chinas.

Ella tiene la opinión que muchos miembros de la iglesia de Cerro Batea son los Hakka.

Nuestra investigación en el área demostraría que ésta puede estar correcta de la congregación, pero que mucha gente china en la ciudad de Colon habla el dialecto de siyi de cantonés.

Francisco Lee dijo que eso usar hakka en la iglesia china de Colon durante su niñez habría sido mejor pues él entendía muy pequeña la lengua espiritual en cantonés.

Francisco Yau sugirió varias actividades para desarrollar con la gente china en el área.

Se incluye: Los juegos de basquetbol fuera del edificio de la iglesia, juegos del tenis de mesa en el edificio, clases de lenguas en mandarín, español o inglés, los viajes para visitar los áreas especiales de Panamá, Cherokee que conciertos, los eventos del servicios social, comidas especiales para el grupo.

Amilcar va a ayudar el Hermano Yau a organizar algunos juegos del basquetbol en futuro cercano a las miércoles en la noche.

Es la opinión de Cheryl y yo que debamos tener una noche de karaoke cuanto antes.

John Mark and Cheryl

6-26-06
The first picture is of John Mark and Cheryl on the old "mule" used to guide ships through the locks. The second photo is of Felicia, Kendy and Jenny with Cheryl at the observation platform at Gatun Locks. We had a good day with the group of nine Chinese singles, though not pointly evangelistic. We are planning a meeting at 8:00 PM on Wednesday night to discuss ministry plans with the leadership at Iglesia Bautista El Dorado.





John Mark

6-24-06
Wow! What a busy week for us. Thanks for praying for our meeting last weekend. We came away from it with a sense that we should continue to research which media vehicles will work best at reaching and connecting with the Chinese in Panama. Audio, video, print, internet....which means should we use? We had conversations this week with, and are working with John Grey of Zebra Publishing on a Hakka language audio/video presentation. We also talked about print and internet options. Please pray that the rest of our Hakka study materials arrive from Taiwan soon.

Last Sunday it was good to be back working with the Chinese youth Sunday school class at the Panama Chinese Baptist Church here in El Dorado. As part of the World Cup fever we played a soccer tournament with a soft ball of tape/paper inside the class room. Poor Luis was on a team with Cheryl and I. I managed to score at least one goal for the other side......

We had a couple of first time visitors and Amilcar Fernandez shared a full gospel presentation in Spanish with the group. We are praying for fruit from this opportunity and are thankful for teenagers like Anyi who have been such a help to us in our ministry and are interested in sharing their faith with others. Pray for us as we search for the best direction to go with this ministry in the future.

We also met with Mark Andrews, Terry Marks and Allison Holman in separate meetings to discuss and encourage the new English church that is starting in Arraijan.

We are continuing to prepare for our oral Spanish exams two weeks from now. John Mark & Cheryl are working on verbs, articles, pronouns, prepositional phases....etc. etc. We are currently doing 15 hours a week of private tutor and yes, John Mark is writing out his homework. We met with Mary Mangrum this week to talk about working through a language and cultural orientation process with our next Chinese language study. We hope to be able to move forward with the blessing of regional leadership into other language study whether it be Hakka or Cantonese.. pray that is goes well.

We got an e-mail from our research partner Dr. Jim Slack this week. Jim wrote, "Over the past six weeks I have been going through the survival and healing process from emergency retinal surgery to repair a hole and a tear in my left eye's retina. It is healing for which I praise the Lord." This could explain why we have not heard from him for a while! He continues to be so encouraging to us and the ministry in spite of his busy research and writing schedule and his recent health concerns. Please pray for him and the Slack family during this team of healing.

We are planning a meeting next week with Pastor Ricardo Fernandez, Francisco Yau, Amilcar Fernandez and Aurora Moreno about starting a Chinese outreach with the prayer and support of Iglesia Bautista de El Dorado in the near future. We are so grateful for the prayers and support of this great group of people. Please pray we keep Christ at the forefront of our thoughts and plans.

Francisco Yau now has about 250 people on his Chinese paper route and is thankful for the work and the opportunity to share Christ with these many Chinese families in and around Panama City.

Christine had a good week at Vacation Bible School with Iglesia Bautista de Fe in La Boca. She helped with the crafts and food. I think she was kidded-out by the end of the week though. The kids like her because she's funny & a straight shooter, but she doesn't coddle them at all or let them get away with much. Last night she helped a friend of ours, Kelly Lee, sand down & repaint a bed frame. Kelly is a good example for Christine in seeing how you can redecorate by renovating what you already have. She is very creative & always has lots of ideas of things she wants to try.

Tomorrow JM & Cheryl will spend the day with a group of young Chinese people on a day trip to Isla Grande & maybe Portobello. You can pray both for mental stamina for us, because it will be exhausting for us to stay in Mandarin all day (they will use Mandarin with us and Hakka with each other) and for opportunities to share about our faith in Christ. Francisco Yau is organizing this outreach adventure.

Finally, please remember us in your prayers as we make travel plans for the rest of this summer and fall to other parts of Latin America, Europe and different parts of the United States.

Again, have a super day. . .we appreciate you!

Cheryl and John Mark

6/17/06
Hi,I have seven 3'x3' ground level concrete flower boxes going up the slope of our backyard along the fence line. I planted a few old favorites that were available here, like marigolds, moss rose and vinca. In the others, I'm experimenting with some very common stuff from Panama, most of whose names I don't know! I do know that one of them is jasmine, which is more of a shrub, with a white flower. Another has a willowy drape to it with a red flower, one has purple flowers and the last box has several houseplant types of greenery growing in it. Outside our bedroom windows, in the shade of the palm tree, we planted a row of impatiens of different colors. They seem to be doing well there. I don't have to water since it rains buckets most days during this season. Every couple of weeks I pull weeds out of the flower beds. That's about the extent of my gardening these days. Christine went out with me to weed the flowers a couple days ago & was grossed out by geckos& insects. Remember though, that she has a VERY low tolerance for bugs and reptiles of any kind. She has not yet gotten used to the geckoes that scamper around the house at night. My only fear is accidentally stepping on one when walking through a dark room!

We are spending three hours a day right now in Spanish study. We're hoping to be able to put that behind us after our area group meeting (AGM) in Guatemala in July (10-15th). During the AGM we will be tested again orally to see if we have continued to make progress. If they are happy with our progress, we can begin to study a Chinese language (probably Hakka).

Our coworker, Francisco Yow, is planning a recreational outing for a group of young adults that we have been cultivating friendships with. The outing will be a trip to Isla Grande on the Colon side of Panama on June 25th. You can pray that many of these young people will be free to go on the outing and that it will be a great opportunity to get to know them better and share more of our lives and faith with them.

Christine is relaxing so far & enjoying sleeping in. She took a girlfriend to the beach overnight this week, saw a movie one night and had a sleepover with another group of girls another night. She may complain of being bored but she's really not doing too badly! We went shopping with some friends this afternoon for a Father's Day gift for John Mark. So far, he's picked out some pajamas and a shirt. He also has been wanting a blender to make juices & shakes. We're still looking for just the right one! Next week Christine is supposed to help with a vacation bible school (in English) in the mornings. She says she will begin studying the Nebraska Driver's Manual sometime before she heads for the states.

The cruise to Europe is becoming more imminent in our minds as the dates approach. We will be leaving on July 18, one day after Christine heads for the states. We'll actually arrive in London on the 19th and do a little touring there with our friends, the Morrows, until the cruise begins on the 21st. The cruise itself will take us to each of the ports and then we decide if we want to tour on our own or join tours organized by the cruise ship. We have chosen to join four of the ship's tours in Bruges/Ghent, Belgium; Rotterdam/Gouda, The Netherlands; Hamburg/Schwenn, Germany; and Paris/Rouen, France. We're going to try to do Oslo and Copenhagen on our own. I'm going to try to eat smart on the cruise but they are legendary for stuffing you with food 24/7. We will fly back to Panama on the 31st, with a brief layover in Newark, NJ. Christine, Nathan & Amanda are due to arrive on August 2nd.

Our organization has scheduled us to be in training sessions at the Missionary Learning Center in Rockville, VA from September 9 - September 30. We have asked if we can extend that period by one week so we can fly back to Nebraska to see family & friends. That means that we'll be in Nebraska from October 1 - 7. Sunday the 8th we'll fly back to Panama. Christine was adamant that she didn't want to miss that much school so she will be staying with different friends here in Panama during that time.

That's about all of the excitement from this end. Later. . .

Cheryl

6/16/06
Please pray for a party we are planning for this evening at our home in Panama City. We are inviting several Chinese youth people that Francisco Yau knows in the area. Most are not Christians and we are looking for opportunities to share the good news of Christ with them.

I have attached a photo of Win White, a recent volunteer from Summit Church and Francisco Yau. I have also attached a picture of a Chinese young lady we met and her monkey friend.

Francisco has just added 120 more customers to his paper route, so now he has nearly 250 customers from Colon to Panama City. Please pray for his opportunity to witness to these many Chinese families. Christine is hoping to work with a VBS next week here in Panama City.

The dreaded OPI's (Oral Proficiency Interview) are sometime during our AGM (Area Group Meeting) in Guatemala July 10-15. No specific time has been set yet. John Mark says his main problem is conjugating the verbs correctly. He's also trying to use at least some sentences that require the subjunctive conjugation so that he can advance at least one level in his evaluation. We really want to meet these requirements so that we can move on to (probably) Hakka study, which will require that we learn both a romanticized script for it and simplified Chinese characters as well. Pray that we'll have clarity of mind and fluency of tongue. Cheryl & I usually have the opposite problems. I talk fast but don't take the time to analyze what I'm saying, which includes the verb conjugations & the all of the agreement that should be happening between articles & adjectives & nouns. Cheryl, on the other hand, is so aware of everything that should be happening grammatically in the sentence that she talks in slow motion or is correcting herself every few words.

Nathan is learning a lot about working an 8 hour day & how far $7.00 an hour goes toward filling up the gas tank on his grandparents' 1997 Lumina. However, as Nathan would say,"It's all good!" These are experiences he needs to have!

Francisco Yow & Win White (a recent volunteer from Summit Church)

Girl with monkey on her shoulder

Talk to you again soon,

John Mark and family

4/2/06
John Mark & I have begun dabbling in Hakka, John Mark more seriously than I. I have a psychological need to do things in an systematic way, therefore, I am going to wait until we receive some of the materials that we have requested before I really start working seriously. Random words & phrases, heard orally, appeal more to John Mark's learning style. I listen in on their discussions but I'm not writing anything down yet or trying to memorize anything. I am still working on Spanish every day with reading, writing, listening to radio & TV and having conversation practice every morning. Progress is slow & steady.

Christine is very pleased that her school has put together a girls' volleyball team & they will begin practicing this week. They may skirmish a bit before the end of the school year but will not have any "real" games until next fall. Right now she is enjoying practicing several times a week for the upcoming Easter program. A formal spring banquet is in the "maybe" stage at school so Christine and I, along with a friend of ours, had fun shopping for formals.

This week the Richmond Associates for Middle America & the Carribean are visiting Panama & we will be eating supper with them on Tuesday evening. They are based out of the International Mission Board for Southern Baptists in Richmond, VA and their job is to represent our region to prospective candidates & those already in the appointment process. Because they are new in their job, this visit to Panama will help acquaint them with Panama & the types of ministries that we do here as well as the needs.

That's about all of the news from here. Take care.

Cheryl & all

3/25/06
Hi! We think that rainy season has begun. We've had two days of big rains after several months of dry. The nice thing about rain is that it cools things down considerably. I had just recently told John Mark how nice it is that the rain in Panama isn't acompanied by wind & the next morning I woke up with a wet sofa & rug where it had rained in the windows. They may dry out by November! It's raining again now...

Christine had a day off of school yesterday so a friend of ours, Kelly Lee, went clothes shopping with us. She has lived in Panama for 8 or 9 years and loves to shop for bargains. It was fun to let her shop with Christine while I shopped for myself. Christine found some great deals so she was quite happy. The same friend is also a caterer, especially of desserts, so Christine had asked her to show her how to make something called "fondant", which is a type of decorating frosting. After spending several hours messing with the stuff, Christine decided that once was enough.

John Mark has been poking around looking for someone to teach us Hakka, as well as looking for materials with which to study it. Thanks to IMB friends in Taiwan and Alabama, we should be getting some Hakka language study guides with special vocabulary to tell Bible stories in Hakka. Hey, 30+ million people can't be wrong! Kelly's husband, Frank is already helping us with some simple Hakka phases like: I am studying Hakka. That is all I can say in Hakka today! (Nye choy hoe-keen Hakka va. Nye kee-ong hay heow gong nye-a kee va.) It could be fun, although tiring. I still feel less than brainy in Spanish & don't know if I have the energy to start another language! (Editorial comment: we will both try to continue taking Spanish classes also to try and keep all the languages between our ears, HA!... JMH)

That's all of the excitement here for now. Take care. . .

Cheryl & all

3/25/06
Kelly and Frank Lee came over last night. Kelly took Cheryl and Christine shopping yesterday and found some great deals. Kelly is a great shopper! She is also a professional dessert maker and made a fancy cake last night with Christine.

Frank and the "boys" Justin and Brandon came over too! Frank is the keyboarding and artist teacher at Christine's school. He also works with the yearbook staff.

John Mark and Frank worked on Hakka together. John Mark and Cheryl hope to start working with Franicso Chio next week on Hakka also. Please pray as we try to finish up the remainder of surveys we need for the research project.

Thanks,

Cheryl, Christine, John Mark

3/18/06
This has been such a busy & somewhat stressful week! We began working with the youth team from Gainesville, Texas on Monday the 13th. On Monday, we joined with a team of workers from Iglesia Bautista Filadefia in La Chorrera to do door to door evangelism in a targeted neighborhood called La Pesa. We enjoyed meeting the other workers and were very impressed with their boldness, knowledge of the scriptures and their willingness to take time away from their busy daily lives to do this work. We had many decisions for Christ and were excited to know that the church was planning on following up in the area with a small group bible study. On Tuesday we returned to the same area only Cheryl & I, a couple of people from the Texas team and a Panamanian coworker targeted the Chinese shop owners who live in this area. My main goal for the week was to complete as many language/culture interviews as possible. On Wednesday the entire Texas team, our country coordinator, Dave Clines, a Chinese Panamanian friend & his wife and Cheryl & I spent the day walking the business district of La Chorrera interviewing Chinese business owners & workers and inviting them to an English event that evening. Hardly anyone showed up for the "English Language Party" (2), BUT we did 26 interviews as we handed out flyers! It didn't work the way we thought it would, but it got the interviews we were looking for! On Thursday we took the Texas team to Las Americas ( a private Christian school) where they helped interview the Chinese students. In the afternoon, we arranged interviews with Chinese Panamanian students from another of the private schools in town. On Friday the Texas team spent the day at Christine's school interviewing students and ended with a volleyball game. After a day of play at the beach & in the rain forest today, the team will be with us on Sunday morning for worship at the Chinese church and then will leave on Monday.

Christine was a little nervous meeting all these seniors from Gainesville, but it was still a good experience for her to spend some time with them. If nothing else, she has now experienced a different subculture within the USA and they have a clearer picture of her life here in Panama and the people she hangs out with.

Nathan spent spring break this week with his grandparents in Omaha. Of course he also found his way to his girlfriend's house in Omaha as well! We hope to meet her one of these times.

That's about all of the latest from here. . .keep us posted!


Chinese interviews. Cheryl is with Dave Clines, our country coordinator, and the students both from Texas and Panama.

Christine, Cheryl and John Mark Hansen

3/5/06
As you know we have been in Panama City, Panama for about 6 months. Last week we had a the top missions researcher, Dr. Jim Slack, from the International Mission Board come and spend 10 days with us to develop a interview questionnaire to find out the best ways to communicate the love of Jesus Christ to the hundreds of thousands of Chinese people that live in Panama. We have access to a group of 7 high school seniors from 1st Baptist Gainesville, Texas. They can spend March 15th through March 17th here in Panama working with us to help complete the survey instrument.

How are we hoping to use them?

Several high schools in the Panama City area offer English classes. These young people from Texas would be available to practice English with Chinese Panamanian students. The suggested format would be as follows: One of the Texas students would share about their life as a high schooler in the States and then two local students would share about their lives in Panama in the same way. This would allow them to learn about each other's worlds. It would be suggested that they exchange email addresses or MSN addresses if they like and continue the dialogue in the future. I am suggesting a 2 to 1 ratio so that the local students can help each other with any problems they have communicating their thoughts in English.

The purpose is two fold: First, I am hoping that these Christian young people from the USA can broaden their world view and perhaps share a brief personal Christian testimony. It would be nice if at least some of the local students were not from Christian homes. Secondly, as you know, Cheryl and I are doing research into the cultural of Chinese population in Panama. I would like to get a sampling of Chinese-Panamanian youths' personal experiences as we develop an action plan to reach out these young people with the good news of Christ. This last week we have done 75 interviews in different areas of Panama among ethnic Chinese adults with the help of several dear Chinese friends. Yesterday Cheryl and I did 10 interviews using both Mandarin and Spanish. We are hoping to collect at least 200 interviews, which according to Dr. Slack (our researcher) is more than enough for an accurate representation of the Chinese population in Panama. It is very important to see if the language, culture and attitudes of the younger generation are similar or different than the older generation. We will also compare the ethnic Chinese student's experiences with those of other Panamanian students that we interview.

As we bring the results in, we would like to share the information with the local Chinese Christian community.

All that to say, we don't have any firm commitments yet from schools or churches to help us do this project.

Would you pray that we can find the needed number of Chinese Panamanian students to do the interviews?

Thank you for your help in advance!

Sincerely,

John Mark Hansen

2/6/06
Hi! I thought that you would enjoy a copy of our latest family photo that was taken about 3 weeks ago. John Mark's parents flew back to Nebraska this weekend after a nice visit here in Panama. Among other things they attended the Panama National Baptist Convention in Bocas del Toro with John Mark. Today we are excited that the Panamag magazine insert will appear in the leading newspaper La Prensa. The theme will be about Valentine's Day. Cheryl is making decisions about the direction of study and ministry through different options in both churches and schools. John Mark will be preaching this weekend in Mandarin at the Chinese church in Colon.

Hope you are doing well,

John Mark and Cheryl Hansen

1/14/06
We ate at Friday's and had a small party at the house last night for my 48th birthday.

   

John Mark

1/12/06
Yesterday we received confirmation that our researcher from Richmond is coming for sure in the middle of February. This will help us develop an action plan to more effectively reach the Chinese people in Panama. We really appreciate him taking time in his busy schedule to come.

Christine has had a good week of vacation Bible schools in two different areas of the city. They will have a wrap up celebration at the church tonight.

Below are pictures from Arraijen which is a satellite community of Panama City. This week a church group from Kentucky joined First Baptist of El Dorado to do door to door evangelism in this new housing area. The name of the new church in the area is Mision Bautista Nuevo Arraijan. Its building is in the first picture. We have had many first time decisions for Jesus Christ this week. On Tuesday I was with a group of four and we saw five adults decide to become Christians in one afternoon. I even got to share my testimony in Spanish , which is a scary thought, HA! Many people in the area are from the Kuna people of Panama as are several of the members of the new church. The ladies in the second picture are Kuna. Panama has a wonderful mixture of people as some of the families in the neighborhood are of an African background and are over 6 feet tall.  

On Sunday I will be traveling to the Darien with Brother Leonardo Quinton. He is leader of the Baptist Association in Panama City. The Darien is the "Wild East" of Panama. The Wounaan and Embera peoples live in the province and we will visit the four Baptist churches in the area.

Cheryl and John Mark

1/10/06
I just wanted to share the good news with you.

The latest news is that Nathan interviewed for an internship position with a graphic designer in Omaha on Saturday for next summer. After a two hour interview he offered Nathan the internship - much rejoicing in the Hansen household over that piece of news! We heard all of this from John & Marilyn's lips, we haven't been able to get hold of Nathan yet. It sounds like the plan is for Nathan to live with John Mark's folks next summer & they will let him use one of their cars. Look at some of their work, we think it looks great (click on "graphic designer" at the beginning of the paragraph)!

Christine had a good day yesterday with the backyard Bible clubs but came home with a pink face, pink arms and pink neck from wearing no sunscreen. She says she'll be wearing a visor & sunscreen today. . . We have Spanish study and prayer meeting today, hope your day goes well.

'Til later,

Cheryl

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