- Missions
Nate and Jendi Korpi see sloths and toucans in their neighborhood, just a short drive from the skyscrapers of Panama City. Huge ships pass through the Panama Canal while palm trees stir on the small hills.
Their hearts, though, focus on the parade of their Panama neighbors marching into the city and back out again a few years later.
A few hundred thousand English speakers are in Panama City, Panama. They come for work, mostly, although some study abroad or move from other places in Latin America.
Filipinos are working in Jewish households. The Korpis know a Peruvian man who lived in Canada, then moved to Panama City to start a business. The city has Thai, Indian, Korean, Italian and Chinese restaurants.
Red Bull, Johnson and Johnson, Procter and Gamble and Estee Lauder opened offices in the city described as the place where the world meets.
Ships pass through the Panama Canal day and night. In addition, most of the world’s nations have an embassy in Panama City.
Now, Converge has a couple there serving through LifeBridge Church.
“We’re pastoring a parade,” said Nate Korpi, whose parents were missionaries in Ecuador for 25 years. So, he’s not unfamiliar with the nuances of global work for a family.
“We want to create a home for people who are living here temporarily,” he added.
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Whatever the reason people come to Panama City, Panama, they usually don’t stay very long. Work contracts end. Students graduate. Promotions in other countries become available.
The Korpis embrace the opportunity to minister to people who have landed in Panama City. The challenge for them is those they minister to don’t put down roots in Panama. Many leave after their brief time in the area.
“Part of this ministry is hard,” Nate said. “You don’t see the end. You don’t see them thriving in ministry.”
But what they see is an opportunity to meet essential needs in Panama.
Being a bridge builder
For starters, poverty increased a great deal during the last few years. So, the Korpis and their church have found ways to connect needy people to resources that build relationships for the gospel.
“I like being a bridge-builder, whether it means plugging a person in who desires to do something or a Bible study and guiding them through it,” said Jendi.
During the Christmas holidays, LifeBridge Church emphasized outreach. For example, they provided meals for the homeless, and the church bought gifts for inner-city children studying English.
Related: How to become a missionary
Speaking English, the language of business, is a genuine need for Panamanians. The country of four million has very few people in the middle class.
For the many poor people, a lack of educational opportunities hinders their future. COVID, which forced many kids to stay home, compounded this bleak outlook.
“You can get a good education here,” Jendi said. “But if you can’t afford it, you can’t get it. That creates a cycle that’s very hard to get out of.”
So, on Sundays and in small groups for growing people’s faith, the Korpis try to stimulate service through LifeBridge. For example, they’ll point out how children in poverty live right behind someone’s apartment. Or they’ll share about needs that exist close to someone’s workplace.
“We really want to be involved in the community serving underprivileged people,” she said. “We bridge the gap for people.”
An emphasis on relationships and Bible reading
The wealth gap is a natural dynamic of this transient city. Even so, God is using the Korpis with a fitting ministry pointed toward two essential yet straightforward priorities.
“The emphasis that we really put into everything is relationship,” Nate explained. “We want to drive people to a relationship with Jesus and a relationship with each other.”
Such leadership is vital in a city where divisions along economic or cultural lines would be all too easy to maintain. The gospel, though, gives everyone in Panama a reason to come together and love one another.
For example, Cristoph and Ruth Bleiker moved to Panama City for work as single people and got engaged. LifeBridge became their church and community, in large part, as they were far from their friends and family in Switzerland.
Before they returned home, the Bleikers participated in premarital counseling sessions with the Korpis. LifeBridge also helped the Bleikers serve alongside other believers.
“The church’s social and charity activities, which are driven by Jendi and Nate, are a great way to bring people together, build authentic relationships, share the love of God and get people interested in joining the church community,” Cristoph said.
Related: Setting the table for friendship evangelism
The Korpis lead a monthly gathering for married couples and Discovery Bible Study group meetings to encourage discipleship.
“Nate and Jendi are very engaged and passionate about church and relationship building,” Bleiker said. “They have a great way to engage with people and get them involved in the church community.”
A second chance
The presence of people, the kind of relationship that transforms, redirected Nate’s entire life.
Growing up with missionary parents, he knew Bible stories and Christian basics. Then, as a teenager, what he thought was a long trip to the United States for the family turned out to be something far more disruptive.
First, his mom flew out of Ecuador alone. Then Nate and his brother went to the U.S. But his dad didn’t come. When Nate got to the States, he learned his parent’s marriage was over. The Korpis weren’t going back to Ecuador. There was no more family ministry.
Even while in Ecuador, Nate worked as a DJ and sold drugs. But when his parents’ marriage ended, he said he flew off the handle.
He started taking stronger drugs and embraced rebellion. He fostered a life of disrespect for his parents and disobeyed them in many ways. Finally, life became so tense Nate moved in with his cousin, who was married to a youth pastor.
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“The way they treated me, the way they loved me, it was Christlike,” he said. “They loved me and treated me like Jesus would even though all my actions were so against everything.”
His cousin and her husband loved him “the same way that Jesus loved the tax collectors and the prostitutes and the sinners. Their love and how they chose to love me changed my life.”
Because a couple got their hands dirty in Nate’s life, because they loved him, he ultimately returned to Christ and even ministry. Before coming to LifeBridge, he was a youth pastor at a Pennsylvania church.
He often begins LifeBridge worship services by saying people are welcome at the church no matter how far from God or how broken they are.
“We have to get our hands dirty in people’s lives,” Nate explained. “Live streaming what we do on a Sunday morning is not going to be the change that the world needs.”
From there, LifeBridge’s ministry is equipping them for wherever the parade route takes God’s people. Christ-followers may go their separate ways with a story God hasn’t yet finished.
“Later on in the parade, they’re going to experience and meet other people,” Nate said. “What can we do to impact them and send them wherever they’re going next?”
What can happen through LifeBridge offers the people coming to and leaving Panama City more than international business and scenic beauty ever could.
“Many people came to church not because of the location and not only because of the great service, but because they felt seen and appreciated and perceived it as spiritual home and surrogate for family and friends that were often far away,” Cristoph said. “It is God’s love through his people and their attitudes and behaviors that touches many other people’s lives.”
Converge International Ministries is praying for a gospel movement among every least-reached people group – in our generation. Learn how Converge can help your church reach the nations with the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ.
