HISTORY OF CURUNDU PROTESTANT CHURCH / CROSSROADS BIBLE CHURCH

July 14^th 1998 marked the 50^th anniversary of the Sunday morning in 1946 when six people met at the home of John and Leila Mason, in the Army civilian community of Curundu, Canal Zone, for a Bible study session. During this time the little circle knelt and prayed for a ministry to be raised up in Curundu. God wondrously answered that prayer, and more. Just two days later, on July 16^th, the Curundu Civic Council voted to give permission to organize a Bible school. The rest is history, as the little congregation grew and grew, eventually reaching literally around the world.

John Mason had gone to the Panama area as a Pan American Airlines communications engineer and later worked with the Canal Company. He was a man of many talents, committed to making known the saving grace of our Lord Jesus. Wherever the Masons lived they soon organized Bible classes and out-reach ministries. In addition to their efforts to begin the Bible class which eventually became the Curundu Protestant Church, the Masons also worked among the San Blas Islanders and military personnel.

By October 20 the congregation had grown to an average of fifty people in attendance. They met in the Curundu theater.

Being on an Army reservation, the church was served by chaplains. On February 23, 1947, a congregational meeting was called for the purpose of organizing a church. Forty persons responded to roll call, and this group was considered the charter membership of Curundu Protestant Church. They lost no time in getting organized and reaching out to the community and world. A Hospital Welfare Fund was opened at Ft. Clayton, funds were sent monthly to the Bella Vista Children’s Home, and four students were supported at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles for a year.

Two quonset huts were donated by the Army for the congregation to turn into a church, all funds and labor being the responsibility of the people. Work began at once by volunteers, and by November 1947 the columns, beams and back wall were completed.

The first service was held by candlelight in the almost completed sanctuary on New Year’s Eve, 1947. Just at midnight the full moon broke through the clouds and shone brightly through the unfinished portion of the front of the church, as if God were blessing the whole idea. The moonlight, flickering candles, and hushed stillness of many heads bowed in prayer gave an atmosphere that "surely God was in the very midst."

Curundu became a part of the Air Force in 1948. The church grew rapidly. The Sunday school building was constructed and upon completion served as a meeting place for the various church activities. The Ladies’ Auxiliary was organized; a Hammond organ was obtained; a beautiful communion table was built by several members of the church (and was the only piece of original furniture, except for the organ, to be transferred later to the Crossroads church); mahogany pews were installed.

The last military chaplain served until May 1954. In that year, the church authorized to employ a civilian pastor, and the first of whom was the Rev. Paul Holloway, a Methodist minister who had become available due to the closing of a church in Pedro Miguel, CZ. He and his family stayed until May 1956.

The Rev. Milton K. Leidig was next to serve the church, arriving with his family in June 1956. Under his leadership the church expanded more, Leidig instigated annual missionary conferences to which missionaries from all over Panama were invited to participate in week-long programs. House-to house visitation was begun; the missionary outreach and Sunday school (from infants to adults), grew; Superintendent Phil Steers introduced the Cross and Crown system in the Sunday school. Attendance increased to an average on 200-250 each week.

In 1969, after some 13+ years of ministry in the church, the Rev. Leidig and his family departed to serve a church in Terre Haute, IN.

The next great change took place during the ministry of the next pastor, Dr. Robert L. Hubbard, Sr., who arrived in October 1969. During this period, the church was notified that it must relocate off the military reservation or cease its operations. It was an important decision to make for an entirely independent church with no funds to start a building program and no affiliations with larger organization to finance such a project. But what it lacked in material resources it made up in spiritual resources and a great deal of faith. At a special congregational meeting, members voted unanimously to build a new church building. A committee was formed to seek permission to build on Pan Canal property, and God provided a choice site at the corner of Rybicki and Gaillard Highway, Corozal. The new site was dedicated to the Lord in a ceremony held in May 1971 in which the Lt. Governor and other Canal Zone dignitaries, local clergy and the congregation were present. The name of the church was change to Crossroads Bible Church, major revisions were made to the Constitution and By-Laws, and the church became incorporated as the Crossroads Gospel Association, under the laws of the State of Delaware.

The building of the church was accomplished by professional construction assistance and volunteer labor. John Finlason, a member of the church board acted as Chairman of the Construction Committee and was a prime mover in getting the work done by coordination the volunteer help and the employed labor and in supervising materials schedules. The men, ladies, and young people of the church worked hard day and night, Saturdays and holidays to see the construction to its completion.

Finally, in March 1973, Crossroads Bible Church opened its doors and arms, and the church was dedicated in weeklong services. The total cost, including furnishings, came to some $150,000, all provided by members and friends of the church and completely paid for by the end of 1975.

Pastor Hubbard returned to the States in November 1973. During the time of church construction, the pastor’s family lived in a mobile home in Curundu and the youth pastor’s family lived in a mobile home in Cocoli owned by the church. When the Army also required the church to move its parsonage off the military reservation, it became necessary to find new living accommodations for the ministers. It was voted to build a duplex parsonage, and land was obtained up the road, in Cardenas. In 1974, Gordon Gustafson was called as the next pastor of the church, and the Gustafsons became the first occupants of the new parsonage, in June of 1976.

During this period, contributions in memory of one of the pioneers of the church, the late Bob McCoy, made it possible to purchase a new Baldwin organ.

The Gustafsons left the Isthmus in mid-1977 to return to field service with the Overseas Christian Servicemen’s Center in Spain, and the church embarked upon a period of searching and looking for the pastor God had for this church. In the meanwhile, the ministry and message of the Cross continued to be carried on through the presence of gifted people within the congregation and through visiting guests who shared in this interim period. Eventually, Spencer Bower took on this responsibility for an interim period which lasted three years. Many innovations took place during this time, including the installation of a translation system which enabled simultaneous translation from English into Spanish, thus serving more of the Spanish speaking population.

In the summer of 1980, the Reverend Cliff Daffron was chosen to lead the still-growing flock. His ministry extended through mid-1984, and then Wycliffe missionary Bob Gunn was asked to become the pastor in addition to his Wycliffe responsibilities. When the Gunns returned to the U.S. in 1988, God, in His faithfulness, brought the pastor Rev. Bill Johnson from the Union Christian Church in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, to serve the church. Pastor Johnson’s ministry extended from 1984 until July of 1998. Throughout this period the church continued to grow and many changes took place. During the period of 1996 through 1998 the church experienced many changes to the church body. Due to the Panama Canal Treaty mandates and the Lord’s calling members of its body to other assignments the church body under went major changes to the church membership. With the signing of the Panama Canal Treaties and final turnover of the Canal at the end of 1999, there will be almost no U.S. military personnel left, and almost no Americans left working at the Canal. However, God faithful to his flock continued to provide His people with His Gifts into the body of the church.

What to man was a unforeseen calling of Pastor Johnson to return to the United States was a display of God’s faithfulness to his flock who had brought Bob Gunn and his family back to Panama. Crossroads Bible Church invited Bob Gunn and his son, Steve to become the pastors of the church beginning July 15, 1998 and the invitation was accepted. To meet the changing times the Gunns have been leading Crossroads Bible Church into becoming a truly international church. At present, the church’s focused outreach is to the English speaking international business community in Panama City, specifically, expatriate business professionals and their Panamanian counterparts. To meet the needs of the growing Spanish speaking members a modern wireless translation system has been installed.

There are some unanswered questions to be resolved, but for now we are continuing to trust in God to provide and continue to do wonderful things for his flock. God is awesome!!!

Throughout its history, from its birth as the only civilian church on a U.S. military reservation, to the implementation of the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977 (in which the church came under the jurisdiction of Panama, its labor laws, etc.) and beyond, the church has continued to grow. God has been faithful in raising up His shepherd to lead the flock. Today there are many people scattered throughout the world whose lives have been forever changed because six people, in 1946, prayed for a church in Curundu.