"The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest."
Luke 10:2
Luke 10:2
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OUR NATIONAL PASTOR
Pastor David, Argelis Milagros (Mily) & Ezra Vega
Greetings! My name is David Vega. I was born and raised in a Catholic home and my parents and I regularly attended the Catholic church. I was a religous person and fulfilled all the church rituals. As a young person, I enjoyed reading the Old Testament; and it was through that reading, at the age of 17, that I began to question my beliefs. In July of 2002, a friend shared the Gospel with me and invited me to participate in a youth evangelistic activity. It was there that I heard the Gospel for the second time and responded to the invitation given. At 17, I repented of my sins and placed my faith in Jesus Christ as my only Lord and Savior, and my spiritual growth and transformation into Christ-likeness began.
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As I continued to grow and mature spiritually, I began to have a desire to minister and share the Word God. Therefore, I seized the opportunities presented to me to teach young people and adults during Sunday School. I was also occasionally given the opportunity to preach the Word of God. In 2014 I met my wife, Argelis Milagros (Mily) and in 2016 we were married. As we grew in the faith, both of us began to discern doctrinal errors in the church we were attending. We started feeling frustrated and discouraged and decided to stop attending church. But thankfully, through the invitation of a good friend, in 2018 my wife and I visited Iglesia de la Gracia for the first time. There we encountered our new home. Being guided by God and having a desire to serve, teach and preach the Word, I dedicated myself to studying Scripture in the Bible institute of Iglesia de la Gracia. There I completed the full course of studies together with other classes through the Christian University of Latin America (Universidad Cristiana de Latina América - UCLA). During the course my studies God confirmed in both my heart and that of my wife the call to serve Him full-time in the ministry. The founding pastor of Iglesia de la Gracia, together with the congregation, confirmed that call as well and on April 25, 2021 I was officially ordained as a minister of the Gospel and installed as the head pastor of Iglesia de la Gracia. It is a blessing to look back and see how God saved, protected and guided us to this ministry and we look forward with great joy to see how He will continue using us for His honor, glory and kingdom purposes as we serve Him together at Iglesia de la Gracia.
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OUR FOUNDING PASTOR
Looking back as a church, we marvel at how God, over time, works in and through all the events of life to orchestrate His perfect will for His glory and our spiritual good. In 1996, Mark Mavar and his wife, Carol, sensed the call of the Lord in their lives to serve Him as missionaries after traveling to Panama with a missions team. During their time in Panama they worked to help build the very same Christian camp where years later I, David Vega, would hear the Gospel and respond to the invitation to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Upon returning home to the USA after his brief time in Panama, firefighter/paramedic Mark Mavar dedicated himself to studying at his church's Bible institute in the United States to prepare to enter the ministry full-time. In April of 2000 he graduated from Great Lakes Bible Institute and was ordained as a minister of the Gospel in 2001. On January 23, 2002 the Mavar family, sent out by Grace Church of Mentor and Gospel Fellowship Association Mission, arrived in the Republic of Panama to serve the Lord as disciple-making missionary church planters.
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Pastor Mark & Carol Mavar
The primary objective would be to carry out the Great Commission mandate of evangelizing the lost; making disciples of Jesus Christ; baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; and teaching them to observe all that Jesus commanded in His Word (Matthew 28:19-20). The long-term goal would be to establish a church, train national men in the Word of God according to the pattern of 2 Timothy 2:2, establish national church leaders, ordain a national pastor, and hand the ministry over to them.
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Our Beginning |
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After studying the language and working under the direction of another missionary couple, early in 2003, Pastor Mavar began a visitation program in la Chorrera, Panama. There he encountered spiritual interest in the neighborhood of Valle Dorado and started a Bible study. The study grew and Pastor Mavar introduced the idea of planting a church with the nucleus of people attending. The enthusiastic response of the people led to the search for a place to hold weekly Sunday services. Iglesia de la Gracia was born February 29, 2004, in a rented house in Valle Dorado.
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OUR GROWTH Over the course of three years Iglesia de la Gracia experienced some growing pains and trials that led to the need for relocating three times before arriving at a permanent home.
OUR BUILDING
In May of 2006 the congregation of 15 people agreed to take a leap of faith and purchase land to build a church. The congregation bought two lots in the Industrial Area of la Chorrera and on August 28, 2006, the construction project began. Praise the Lord, on December 17, 2006, the church held its first service in the new building! It only had a roof and partial walls, but everything was ours.
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OUR DOXOLOGICAL GOAL
The final doxological goal is this: the transformation personal of each believer into the likeness of Christ so that each one would be a disciple of Jesus Christ that makes disciples of Jesus Christ everywhere. God has established Iglesia de la Gracias as a beacon of light in a dark place that points directly to Christ. May we be faithful to the Great Commission mandate in Valle Dorado, Villas del Bosque, the Industrial Area and the other communities of La Chorrera, Panama.
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OUR VISION
Today we praise God that He has opened unto us a "great door and effectual" (1 Corinthians 16:9) to carry out the Great Commission in Panama. Our vision for the future is to fulfill the purposes the Lord has established for His church: to make disciples of all nations. This is done by planting seeds of the Gospel everywhere; worshipping and exalting God in ways that please Him; edifying the saints through the teaching of the Word of God; and doing all for His honor and glory. We also praise God for His faithfulness to His promise to build His church. We are witnesses of the fact that He is doing just that one soul at a time as we diligently endeavor to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
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