Pastor Who Ministers in Indigenous Guna Village Receives a New Home for His Family
Summer 2022 Update: On Jon's previous trip to Panama, he met Pastor Roberto, his wife Marina, and their eight kids. Shortly after he was there, a hurricane wiped out their home, which was makeshift at best anyway. Your Kingdom Purpose Ministries sent funds to help them build a new home on a permanent foundation in a location not far from their previous one. It brought Jon immense joy to see the family relocated, happy, and healthy.
Original Post:
Pastor Roberto Vazquez, his wife, Marina, and their eight children minister in an impoverished indigenous Guna village in a community called El Progreso La Chorrera, 30 miles outside of Panama City.
YKPM discovered that Pastor Roberto and his family were the least fortunate out of all the families to whom he ministers.
YKPM raised money to improve this family’s living conditions, believing these children of God deserved better living conditions.
Facts about the Guna People
Population: Estimated to be 300,000
An estimated 33,000 live on the larger of the many islands around Panama, most particularly the San Blas Islands
They are the indigenous people of Panama and Columbia
The Guna people are fiercely protective of their culture, many of the women still wearing their colorful traditional outfits called molas
Many live in one of the three autonomous reservations in Panama known together as Guna Yala, formerly San Blas
Their culture is matriarchal with husbands taking the last name of their wives
Their culture emphasizes gender equality
Economy of Guna Yala is based on agriculture, fishing and the manufacture of clothing and other hand crafts
SOURCES:
“Who Are The Guna People? Meet The Traditional Owners of the San Blas Islands” by Cacique Cruiser
Facts about Panama
Population: Four million, half of whom live in country’s capital, Panama City
Casco Viejo, which means “old town” in Spanish, is a neighborhood within Panama City that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with several old ruins; it is also the first European city built in the Pacific Coast of the Americas in 1519
El Chorrillo, the impoverished neighborhood within Panama City, is next door to Casco Viejo
While Panama is regarded as a high-income economy, it is still home to significant income and resource inequalities
Panama does not have a national law for an overarching child protective system
Jungles cover 40% of Panama’s land area and are home to many tropical plants and animals, some not found anywhere else in the world
FUN FACT: Panama’s highest point in the country, Volcan Baru, is the only place in the world you can see the sun rise on the Atlantic and set on the Pacific
SOURCES:
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