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Panamaniacs On a Mission

We join the Newsboys and 50 students on a Central American adventure.

by Chris Lutes

My clothes were soaking up the Panamanian humidity like a cracker in a bowl of simmering soup. It was very hot. Puffy, white clouds floated in a too-blue-to-be-true sky. Not far from where I was standing, the Newsboys were waiting for several American high-school students to put on a pantomime drama for some rural villagers.

Without their guitars, drums, keyboards, stage smoke and shiny suits, the 'boys of "alternative pop" looked strangely out of place. In a real sense, they were out of place.

They hadn't flown to this Central American country to put on one of their glitzy concerts. Their main purpose for the trip was to show support for teen missions-Teen Mania missions, in particular.

Yet along with offering encouraging words and pats on the back to some 50 student missionaries, they were also being challenged by their own words. After all, these are the award-winning artists whose song titles proclaim loud and clear: "Take Me to Your Leader" and "God Is Not a Secret."

No doubt about it. These 'boys were learning even more about what it meant to reach out to the world around them.

John James stood open-mouthed, gazing at the student actors as they performed their dramatic skit for the villagers. Chief songwriter Peter Furler was close by, looking just as intently at the performers. In the skit, called "The Journeyman," the students acted out different ways people attempt to find personal fulfillment. In its concluding scene, the drama showed that only Christ can fill a person's emptiness.

Leaning against a pole in a tin-covered bus shelter, John hardly moved, his eyes fixed on the performers. In fact, both John and Peter seemed totally drawn into the skit. And into the crowd.

"I gotta be honest," John tells me later. "I've never really thought much of using skits to spread the gospel. They seemed kind of, well … " John pauses, apparently searching for the right word.

"Cheesy?" adds bassist Phil Urry with a slight smile.

"I just didn't have a great attitude about them," continues John. "But after that skit was over, so many people in the crowd raised their hands to find out more about Jesus. They were hungry for the message the drama team offered. …

"I guess I needed to realize there are so many ways to spread the gospel. I know it sounds weird, because I use music to spread the gospel. But we all have our 'blind spots.' I'm just glad God allowed me to see him use these students. Really, I must not limit God by my own limited thinking."

I was walking with the Newsboys along a red-dirt path, through an impoverished village. Lush, tropical foliage peppered the thick grass that grew along the road. To the far left of us were several small concrete buildings with cone-shaped, grass roofs-homes of the Kuna Indians. We stopped at a sheltered area where the local villagers were gathering. The mission team began to set up its sound equipment for another performance-and for another opportunity to share the message of Christian hope.

While I waited for the skit to begin, three small children approached me and pointed at the camera hanging around my neck. They chattered excitedly in their native language. While I had no idea what they were saying, I could read their broad smiles and sparkling dark eyes: "Take our picture! Take our picture!"

I couldn't resist. I knew they'd never see the shots. But if it makes them happy, I thought, why not?

After snapping three or four pictures,

I turned to see keyboardist Jeff Frankenstein surrounded by another group of children. Although he wasn't carrying a camera around his neck, these kids seemed attracted to him. I was positive they had no idea he was a "Newsboy." No idea that he played in a band. What mattered to them, it seemed, was that he had a friendly face. So they hung around him. Tried to talk to him. Smiled at him. He smiled back.

"So, what do you remember most about the visit to the Kuna village?"

Jeff didn't pause long to think about my question. His answer spilled out quickly and easily:

"I remember watching those people come down from their shacks to hear the gospel. I remember those people, dressed in ragged clothing. Then those kids came up to me. I felt for them. I really thought I would cry. … I hadn't thought a whole lot about how much I have, until I was face-to-face with poverty."

"I felt so very selfish," added percussionist Duncan Phillips. "I wondered why I should have so much and these people should have so little."

It was 9 at night and the lobby of Hotel Aramo was packed with students. The hotel was "mission central" for the student "maniacs"-as they were called. During their month-long mission experience, these teenagers ate there, slept there, worshiped there, and had a lot of fun there.

In the middle of the lobby, a group of "maniacs" had joined guitarist Jody Davis in kicking around a Hackey Sack. I watched as Jody kicked the foot bag with the side of his shoe, tossing it to a girl across from him. Eventually, the foot bag came flying back toward Jody. This time he missed it and the group laughed and teased the guitartist. Jody smiled sheepishly, picked up the foot bag and kicked it back into the group.

After the game ended, I noticed Jeff sitting in a large cushioned chair, talking to a Teen Mania staff member. I caught snatches of the conversation between the two:

"It's so easy to become complacent. … "

"Yeah, when it comes to your faith, you can't get lazy. … "

"If you know God's will, you need to act on what you know. … "

"I've really seen the joy of the Lord in these students' lives," Jeff says of the Teen Mania team. "They are so excited about life and about serving the Lord. … "

It was near the end of the Newsboys' time in Panama. I'd asked them to join me to talk about their experience. I was especially interested in knowing what impressed them most about these student missionaries.

Jeff continued with his answer: "Watching these students, talking with them, challenged me to watch it when I become kind of 'lazy' in my faith."

"Earlier today," adds Jody, "I was going around town with some of the students and they saw this group of kids dressed in school uniforms. They shouted, 'Hey, let's stop and do a skit for them!' Even on their day off, they wanted to spend time doing another skit. They are so excited about sharing their faith.

"I was challenged by their gutsy willingness to sacrifice the comforts of home," put in Peter. "They were willing to leave behind family, summer vacation, air conditioning, good food.

"God really does want us to be willing to go out into the world. It's that simple."

"But sometimes it's so hard," admits John. "I remember when I was 18, I was planning to go on a missions trip to India. I've never told anybody about this. I'm ashamed to say that I chickened out. I didn't go.

"I believe I really missed out on something important. I guess I'm a little envious of these kids. I admire their guts and their courage. You know, I could still go. I could still do it. It's never too late."

The monotonous sound of jet engines was having a numbing effect on me. Wiped out by the excitement of the past few days, I was more than ready to catch some sleep during the flight home. But before I slipped into dreamland, Phil came walking down the aisle, holding a cup of steaming coffee. He smiled broadly and said with his thick New Zealand accent, "How ya doin', mate?"

Phil's energy and enthusiasm took away my desire for a nap. And it was a good thing; he definitely wanted to talk. As the plane skimmed the clouds, Phil sat down beside me and began talking honestly about the struggles of keeping a good devotional life. He talked about some of the successes the band has had and how he never wants those successes to go to his head.

It was obvious that this wasn't a "formal interview." It was just one guy letting himself be a little vulnerable with another. I decided not to whip out my notepad to scribble down his comments. Doing so would've taken something away from "the moment."

As he talked, I couldn't help but notice the intensity in his bright blue eyes as he mentioned how the experience of the last few days affected his faith. He rambled a bit, and more than once he quoted Micah 6:8.

"The verse says," I remembered him quoting, "'He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.'"

He talked excitedly about the Brazilian child he and his wife support through a Christian relief organization. He talked about the importance of caring for both the physical and spiritual needs of people.

As we began our descent into Miami, Phil said he wanted the experience to stay "fresh and to last." He didn't want it to get lost in all the busyness of life. And he wanted the Panamanian experience to stay with the entire band.

"The Newsboys want to have 'common thinking' about things," Phil said. "We want to have a common mission and purpose. I think we're getting better at this. Anyway, I hope we are."

Soon, Phil returned to his seat, leaving me to mull over his heartfelt words. I stared at the Miami suburbs below. Roads, houses and cars grew larger and larger as we neared the landing strip. I wondered about all the people I couldn't see. Here, too, is a mission field, I thought to myself. Then I thought about my own hometown. The people in my neighborhood. The needs. The struggles. Like Phil, I hoped the experience I had in Panama wouldn't go away.

I hoped we would never forget that wherever we are, we have a mission God wants us to do.

Copyright © 1997 by Christianity Today International/CAMPUS LIFE magazine.
January/February 1997. Page 14

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