Panamanian believers are learning how to reach out to their Hindu neighbours through a cultural training led by OM.
Shibu (India) first moved to Panama in 2010 with his wife Lily (Panama), and two of their children were born there. Then, feeling a call from God to work with Indians, the family moved back to India for two years.
However, things did not go as they had hoped. Shibu recalled, “We had to leave India due to some problems there. My wife was a foreigner. It was not safe for her to be there.
“Then in 2014 we decide to come back to Panama. But we started to ask God: ‘Why did You bring us back? What is the purpose? You bring us back to Panama but we want to live in India.' Because that was our heart — serving among Indian people.
“We saw that lots of Indians are in Panama, but none of them are in the church. And then God clearly spoke to us: ‘You know, the Indians here, there is no ministry to them.’ We started to pray and ask God for guidance.” Both Shibu and Lily had been with OM previously, and in 2015, they decided to join OM in Panama as a family.
A foreigner among compatriots
Although Shibu and Lily had now found where they were supposed to be, it wasn’t without challenges. Shibu explained, “It was so difficult for us because they are Gujaratis but I am from South India. Southern and northern Indians have wide differences — it's like being foreigners. When I would go to their restaurants or their shops, that’s how they would see me, so they never wanted to talk to me. We even speak different languages, but we can all speak Hindi.
“It took a while for me to connect with the community. I thought: I am from India. It's going to be easy for me, you know, people will accept me. But it was so tough for me and for my wife to connect with the people.”
Gradually, the couple were accepted by the community and started to form friendships. Lily began tutoring Indian children in Spanish, strengthening connections with Hindu families.
History and tradition
Panama has an Indian population of 33,000* — a large number considering the country’s population is just four million. Of these, the majority are Hindu, with some Muslims but no Christian presence. Many Indians first came to the country to help build the Panama Canal more than 100 years ago, then stayed and started families in Panama.
Shibu explained, “Most people are from the Punjab and Gujarat. The Gujaratis are 80 per cent of the Indian population in Panama; then we have people from a Sindhi background who are from different parts of the country, some from south, some from north.
“The Sindhi are very open, like they marry locals, Latinos. But the Gujaratis, they are very rigid, very orthodox. They will go to India to find a spouse for their daughter or son and bring them to Panama. We know one Indian family where the girl married a local and they sent her out of the family. It was so difficult for her to come back to her family because she married a Latino.”
A growing ministry
To help churches understand more about the Hindu community, Shibu and Lily run regular training sessions. They try to visit at least one church every month in Panama City and often travel three or four hours to visit churches further afield. The training explains what Hindus believe, and includes a visit to a Hindu temple.
“We have got more opportunities to visit churches, to share this vision, to release the Hindus,” Shibu said. “I had a meeting with a pastor and he was almost blown away when I was sharing what's happening with the Indian people in Panama.”
Hindus believe in many gods and goddesses, so when they are told about Jesus, they consider Him just another deity, teacher or a good man. “They don't have any objection to hearing about Jesus,” Shibu agreed. “But when it comes to understanding that Jesus is the only way, then it takes a long time for them to understand.
Pray that more Jesus followers in Panama will have a heart to reach their Indian neighbours with the gospel. Pray for the growing OM team in Panama, and that more people will join them in the coming months.
*Figure from Indian embassy in Panama, 2024