Dear Friends,

Greetings in Jesus! If you'd like to read this e-Mailer with photos, or see past issues, click on "Ministry" at www.jonesjournal.org. This monthly e-Mailer includes updates on ministry, family, praise and prayer.

Youth Pastor Kevin Lewis and Music Pastor Jason Moore brought an enthusiastic AIM choir from Georgia with 43 team members. They toured almost the entire country, from the east in Panamá City to David in the west, near the Costa Rican border. They ministered in concerts at seven different churches, plus a couple times in street ministry, chapels at LACC schools, and wrapped up a long week with a taped TV interview for Hosanna church's Christian channel.

You can see more pictures linked from their page in Teams section.

Panamá's Annual Minister's retreat began the day after the AIM team left. Our team of Manuel Miranda, Fanny de Quinzada and Carolina Canto did a great job with the 30-40 PKs and MKs (larger group than last year). Here are Ana Saraí and César Abdías, children of the Riveras, our missionaries at the LACC school and church in Duíma. In addition to VBS-style morning classes we even had Christian movies and popcorn at night, so the kids were thrilled!

We are often asked during deputation, and sometimes by e-mail while on the field, "so, what do you do every day?" One out-of-the-ordinary activity is the (ongoing) headache, I mean, *joy* (a la James 1:2) of processing our missionary visa. We have to provide dozens of documents, some authenticated in the US, and pay hundreds of dollars both to the goverment and to lawyers to process the paperwork. And once you think you're done, there's always something else you need to do or pay or get.

Special thanks are due here to our dear friends the Strausburgs in Arroyo Grande who helped us out enormously moving documents around in our place! Mil gracias!

Friends from another mission agency, with over ten years experience in Panamá, had their visa request denied. We trust it will be resolved for them with additional paperwork. Incidents like this reflect an increasingly harsher policy toward evangelical missionaries. We are grateful it's not bad here like in some sensitive countries where "missionaries" are illegal. Still we ask you to please pray for continued open doors for missionaries here, especially after the change of government on 9/1/04 when Martin Torrijos is inaugurated as president.

In early July Chloe had a terrific time serving as a translator for one of the Brio teams. Brio magazine is a Focus on the Family publication for teen girls. They do a missions trip once a year organized by Big World Ventures. Almost 900 young people and adult leaders came to Panamá. We had made contact earlier and arranged for ministry in our LACC schools close to Panamá City, and helped get translators, many were from our secretary Dallis' English class at the LACC high school.

Chloe and Celina got to talk with Rebecca St. James after her mini concert. She sang the song "I'll be waiting for you, Darling" which she wrote for her future husband. She has yet to meet him, though she mentioned at previous concerts "well-intentioned" brothers have said God revealed that it was written for them. :-D Yvonne and I especially appreciated her encouragement to these young girls in the concert to dress modestly, guard their hearts, and save themselves only for their husbands. Chloe is thrilled that Brio is coming back next year. She made friends from all over the US. (BTW, that is a washable tattoo she received on their visit to the Emberá tribal village).

Anthony "plays" with our fat cat Kiwi making her do the "belly wiggle dance" & also his personalized weight-lifting routine, using her as the dumbbell. At least he's not bugging his sisters.

Celina had a birthday. Big two digits! Her present to herself was to get her ears re-pierced. She had gotten one ear pierced as a little girl, about 5, but since it hurt refused to get the other one done, and let the hole close up. So jewelry, crafts to make jewelry and a jewelry organizer were a big part of her gifts.

Gracie can't wait for first grade to start. Each day she asks us "how many more sleeps?" Mom & Dad, on the other hand, are asking ourselves -- where did summer go? School starts this Thursday for our kids. Panamanian schools are on a two week mid-term break right now.

We've been blessed with a missionary truck! It's been put to good use this past month:
* hauled away huge pile of donations from the Brio kids: clothes, shoes, drama props, sleeping bags, PB & J (I think they lived on it!).
* helped move Master's Commission members.
* carried luggage and instruments and gear for Georgia AIM choir on tour across the country.

One wall of the truck folds out for a stage and can be used for open-air presentations. It will be ideal for evangelistic outreach where there's no church or suitable building nearby.

Please pray for this Saturday's Children's Ministries Seminar. The first half will be a workshop on creating puppets, led by Manuel Miranda. There's been great interest in this topic. The second half is a seminar on ministering to abused and mistreated children. Unfortunately, there is always a need to address this issue.

We also invite your prayers for our next KidsQuest Crusade the last weekend of this month of August. It will be held in Santiago, Veraguas under the coordination of Rigoberto Mitchell. He brought a bus-load of kids the 4-hour trip from Santiago for the original crusade and participated on our training team. Several leaders from Panamá City will travel to train the 30+ local church team members.

The KidsQuest Crusade kit was used by a US team led by Pastor Larry Cox, working with Missionary Terry Bell, in the Darién while we were with the AIM team. So the valuable seed of the kit that was planted here in Panamá, is producing additional fruit even if we aren't the ones using it!

Today I sent an e-mail to a church who had asked how they could help us out. In closing I mentioned that monthly financial support is very practical and needed. We've seen the expected "decay" of pledges begin earlier than expected. Plus we are trusting the Lord to be able to extend an extra year until 2008 so that Chloe can graduate High School here with her friends. For those and other reasons, we have to be more aggressive in soliciting new and increased pledge support. If you are interested in joining our support team, please let us know.

For those who are faithful in prayer and financial support of our ministry, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your partnership.

This new plan I'm making with Israel isn't going to be written on paper, isn't going to be chiseled in stone; This time I'm writing out the plan in them, carving it on the lining of their hearts. I'll be their God, they'll be my people. They won't go to school to learn about me, or buy a book called God in Five Easy Lessons. They'll all get to know me firsthand, the little and the big, the small and the great.

Online Update from "A/G News":

August 4, 2004

Yesterday, "A/G News" reported that A/G World Missions missionary Mike Hines was reported missing since Saturday, July 31, 2004, when his Helio Courier airplane failed to arrive in Honduras from El Salvador.

Last night, the ground crew reached the crash site in remote western Honduras, discovering the plane in pieces. Darkness halted the search for Hines. This morning, at 11:45 a.m., the crew found Hines' body. He had been flying alone in the aircraft.

Hines' wife Karen, who was in California receiving treatment for cancer, arrived in Honduras earlier today.

"It has been a difficult number of days for us all," says a somber AGWM Administrator Cary Tidwell. "Mike as a husband, father, friend and incredible voice for Christ in Latin America will be greatly missed. We ask for people to take time to lift Karen and the family up in prayer, for the Holy Spirit to comfort them and help them through this tragic loss."