At St. Mary's Church in Panama (a Vincentian community since 1912 in the former Canal Zone), we now have both the English-speaking Community and the Spanish-speaking Community. Our priests are fully bilingual and have been with the spirit of St. Vincent de Paul throughout the years.
In 2023, upon a direct request from Johnnette (and the Holy Spirit), I was asked to be a facilitator and bring the Women of Grace Foundational Study to Panama, to St. Mary's.
It was in that same spirit of prayer that I received the approval from our pastor to announce the first Foundational Study for participants in the English language. The ladies who attended that Foundational Study were hungry for more of the Lord's presence in their lives. The second Foundational Study brought even more ladies of different ages and backgrounds who were delighted to have joined and grew in the spirit of prayer and fellowship as we met and learned the many truths, sometimes sugar-coated in our secular society.
Moving in the same spirit of discernment, the First Foundational study in Spanish was announced, and many ladies signed up and attended. Their hunger for a greater sense of the Lord and also a deeper connection in "community" was palpable. This led to the second Foundational Study in Spanish, where the Faith of the ladies was uplifted from a background of superficiality and lack of knowledge in their Catholic walk.
-Berta B
