Lost in the San Blas Islands

In 1984, I had finished up a crusade in Panama City with T.L. Osborns when I was asked if I would come and minister to the Cuna Indians in the San Blas Islands off the shore of Panama.

Early in the morning, two young men and myself were taken to the airport where we boarded a small six-passenger plane that made daily trips to the San Blas Islands. We were told when the plane landed, to get off and the missionary would be waiting for us. The planes first stop was on small dirt strip on the eastern shore of the mainland. We got off expecting to be met by the missionary and the plane took off.

A Host of Gnats

We were alone except for a dark cloud of little, black, tormenting, biting gnats. We were surrounded by jungle and there was no missionary in sight. We, and the gnats, followed a path to the shore where we found a Cuna Indian who had a hand-made dugout equipped with a small outboard motor. He didn’t understand English or Spanish, but he motioned for us to get into his boat and we assumed the missionary had sent him.

A Fierce Rainstorm

A driving rainstorm with high winds and high waves overtook us. And as the boat tossed about, we covered ourselves as best we could with a piece of plastic and prayed we would reach land. Finally, we reached an island. We climbed out of the dugout and started to follow the man, but he stopped and motioned us to go into a small bamboo structure that was built on piers out over the water.

Was this a home? A business? We didn’t know. But we found several men, who spoke only Cuna, sitting around a table. They motioned for us to sit down and we did. The wind and rain became even more violent. The hut was shaking. The rain was soaking us as it blew through the cracks between the bamboo slats. The waves were washing over the floor and flooding the building. The rain had stopped the biting gnats, but now it seemed there was a real possibility we could drown. We had never been in a storm like this!

Where was the missionary? More important, where was God? Had we totally missed Him?

A Universal Word

After several hours the storm subsided and we thought the missionary could come get us now. But after waiting for more hours, we decided that the plane must have made an unexpected stop and we had gotten off in the wrong place.

A man arrived that spoke a little Spanish and we led him to the Lord and promised him we would get him a Bible.

Three men, a crew from Natural Geographic Magazine, came into the hut. One of them spoke German, and we were able to ask if there was another island that had an airplane landing strip on it. He pointed in a westerly direction.

We found another boy with a dugout and he agreed to take us to look for the right island. About an hour later, we saw a windsock on one of the islands and thought this must be the place where we were supposed to meet the missionary. We got out and the boy took off to return to his island.

Seeing three men working close by I tried to communicate with them saying “Amer­i­can missionary?” “church?” “Iglesia?” Finally I exclaimed as I raised my hands, “Hallelujah, Hallelujah!” They smiled, nodded yes, and through gestures indicated we should go three islands over.

We ran back to the shore shouting for the boy in the boat to return, and he took us to the island where they had heard the word “Hallelujah.”

When we arrived some children were playing by the dock who spoke only Cuna. But now we knew the universal word, and we exclaimed “Hallelujah!” One of the boys grinned and motioned for us to follow him through a narrow path that led between the huts that crowded the island. Soon we arrived at a small compound. And we shouted “Halle­lujah!” Several ladies with big smiles met us. Upon hearing the missionary’s name they indicated that he was not there but we should wait for him. They prepared some much-appreciated food over a small wood fire and soon the missionary arrived. Never have we been so glad to see a man!

While we were coming through the host of gnats and hours of horrible rainstorm, while he was waiting for us at the airstrip that morning, he had led the Governor of the San Blas Islands to the Lord!

Big Orange Island

The missionary had made arrangements to take us to an island called Big Orange where no one had ever preached the gospel before. We loaded a generator, a projector, a big sheet and a miracle crusade film into yet another dugout and again traveled two more hours across the Caribbean Sea. As we arrived at the island it was getting dark.

Where God Set the Stage

It was strange. There were no men in sight – only women and children. They motioned for us to follow them to a big tribal counsel hut in the middle of the island. All the men were in a tribal counsel meeting. The chief and his assistant were lying in hammocks in the center of the structure facing the other way and didn’t know we were there. They were chanting a song back and forth almost like tongues and interpretation. The translator said they were chanting about a god who had a son who had made the world. They were giving the story of how the world was created from their folklore

When it was finally over and the men began to leave, the chief and his assistant sat up to greet us and we gave them neckties that we had brought as gifts. We asked, through the interpreter, if we could show a film about people getting healed of sickness and disease. Then we set up the generator, sound system, and projector. They had never seen a light bulb before, but now they were seeing on a stretched out sheet, a man (T.L. Osborn) preaching and people being healed. On the screen, many were coming off crutches. The Indians were filled with wonder.

The True God and His Son

When the short film was over I stood up with the interpreter and told the people I was there to tell them about the true God and his Son, the one who had created this world. I told them that this Son’s name was Jesus and He was still alive today and that He was the one that was healing the people they saw on the screen. I gave them the gospel and then called out to the chief through a word of knowledge that Jesus wanted to heal his back. He instantly came forward and as I laid hands on him he was totally healed. God had confirmed his Word! I gave an invitation for them to invite Jesus to come into their hearts. All of their hands were raised and I was able to lead them into salvation.

Many Were Healed

Following this, we began to minister healing to all of them. The excitement was over­whelming. They began runing through the village and bringing people on stretchers. All were instantly healed!

It was past midnight when we made our way back to the boat with the generator still running and one bulb still burning we pulled away from the shore. Hundreds of newborn believers were waving and begging us to come back. As our boat pulled away, we prayed that God would send someone to start a church for these precious new believers.

Back at an island near the airstrip we got a couple of hours sleep on a soggy wet pad before boarding the plane at daybreak.

The Miracles Continued

The next week the missionary went to take a Bible to the man we had led to the Lord. He got off the plane on the strip where we had gotten off by mistake. On the way across to the island, it again began to rain. He huddled under the piece of plastic with a young Cuna man who he soon led to the Lord. This young man was fluent in Spanish and Cuna and was a very influential coordinator between the Cuna Indians and the Panama leaders on the mainland. He later began working with the missionary in evangelizing the Cuna people. In the coming weeks the missionary had set up his base on the island where we had “missed God.”

Six Months Later

Six months later, I flew with the missionary back to the same landing strip on the edge of the mainland. As we were getting off the plane, the missionary introduced me to another missionary from America. God had spoken to him, and in obedience, he had gone to Big Orange Island and had started a church in answer to our prayers!

Establishing a Church and Bible School

Again we took a dugout to the island and the missionary took me to see a sheet-metal building built over the water. It was the only building large enough to start a church and Bible school. The building was no longer in use, and we learned the owners were caretakers of a coconut grove on a distant island. Hiring a dugout, we set out to find them.

When we arrived at the island the people were on the beach waiting for us. They motioned for us to come to their hut and to sit down. We begin to tell them, through the interpreter, of our desire to purchase or rent their building. As we told them of our plans for a church and Bible school, they were nodding yes. Then they began excitedly to tell us that we would need to build a second floor for a dormitory for the students. They had seen in a dream that we were coming to ask them about the building and how the building was going to be used.

We asked if they would sell us the building, and they said, “No, we are going to give it to you!” We led them into a personal relation­ship with Jesus and a church and Bible school were established on the very island where we were convinced that we had “missed God” and were asking only that God would get us out alive!

The Steps of the Good Man or Woman of God

We have found that when everything seems lost – in the darkest hours of our lives, that God is working. He is using us, our lives, our testimonies, even our tears to work His good works. It may not seem that way to us, but our part is to keep our hearts and thoughts centered on Him.