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"Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life" - Panama UBF Winter Conference (Nov 3-5, 2018), PANAMA

by WMD
Nov 15, 2018
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JESUS IS THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE

Reported by M. Josue Gutierrez

John 11:25-26: “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?””

From Nov 3rd to 5th we held our Winter Conference 2018 titled “Jesus Is the Resurrection and the Life” in Cerro Azul (Blue Mountain). This is a breath-taking mountain in Panama City (less than 2 hours away from the Bible Center). Below is our view from the balcony. We were nine attendants in total, most of us regular attendants to Sunday Worship Service. (From left to right: Sharon, Karen (Accounting), Dario (Port Logistics), Aramis, Sandra, M. Maria, Maria Celeste (sleeping), Victoria, M. Josue (Joshua) Gutierrez.

We were supposed to start at 4:00 pm, but due to several inconveniences, we arrived at 3:30 pm. Since we rented a house, we needed to set up the space to host the conference and it was finished at about 6:00 pm, so we were behind schedule. Because of this, the whole program of the conference was changed, but this was much better.

An opening message was delivered by Dario titled: “You Must Be Born Again” based on John 3:1-15. This was his very first message. We learned that we must be born again by repenting from our sins and accepting Jesus as our Savior in order to go to the Kingdom of God.

After the dinner, we watched the movie: “The Pilgrim’s Progress” based on John Bunyan’s book. The movie was presented by Karen. She talked about John Bunyan’s life and how he wrote the book. She also introduced the story of the movie. Our hearts were moved as we were watching the movie relating our lives with Christian’s. We learned that the life of a Christian is not easy at all, but the Lord is always helping us to reach the Celestial City. We prayed to overcome all the challenges of the Christian life and reach the Kingdom of God.

On the second day, Sharon delivered her very first message titled “Jesus, The Living Water” based on John 4:1-30. We learned that nothing in this World can satisfy us, only Jesus satisfies our souls completely by filling us with His love. Her testimony was heart-moving. She showed how Jesus’ love and grace satisfied her love-thirsty soul.

In the afternoon M. Josue delivered the Message of the Cross titled “It Is Finished” based on John 19:1-42. We learned that Jesus finished the Salvation Work of God nailing our sins on that cross together to His body. He suffered that much because of the seriousness of our sins. The message was very heart-moving. Almost everyone was crying because of their sins and the love of God. M. Josue shared his heart-wrenching testimony about how he found the root-cause of his sins and brought it to the cross. He shares how Jesus changed his life completely by giving his salvation grace. When he found himself before the Jesus’ cross his life was changed from a sinful life to a campus mission life.

After the message we wrote and shared our reflections. Everyone confessed that Jesus is the only way to be saved. Aramis and Sandra confessed Jesus as their Savior and repented of their sins. It was a graceful time. In the night we watched another movie: “Courageous”. This was not part of the program, but all of the attendants requested. We spent a very good time together watching this meaningful story and learning Christian values of family and how to share the gospel with others.

On Monday morning, M. Josue delivered the last message of the Conference titled: “Jesus Is the Resurrection and the Life”. We learned that Jesus is the source of life. Confessing Jesus as our Savior help us to conquer the power of death, so we are not going to die forever, but we will be raised again by Jesus to eternal life. Only Jesus can give us an abundant and eternal life. We finished our Conference full of grace and joy because Jesus fills us with the power of an abundant life and the hope of the resurrection.

After the Conference, we went around to explore the mountain and we went to a river and a waterfall taking a lot of pictures and sharing together Jesus’ love.

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