Emma Panzera

Missionary to the United States

Ministry Description

I have been blessed with the incredible opportunity to serve on the Word of Life Legacy team for one year. The primary focus of this team is ministry through music. We will be traveling throughout the United States to schools and churches where we will have chances to share the gospel and worship the Lord with our brothers and sisters in Christ! During this year we will also have the opportunity to travel overseas to serve on a missions trip. In order to do this, I need your help both financially and in prayer! Thank you for whatever support you feel led to give me and thank you for partnering with me in this next step of life! If you are interested in keeping up with me in this ministry journey, subscribe to my newsletter and an update will be sent directly to you!

About Emma

I was born and raised in a home where my parents loved the Lord. When I was 5 years old I was attending a worship service with my parents at our church in South Africa where my dad was serving in the U.S. Airforce at the time. At this service where I witnessed people openly praising God and singing songs to Him I decided that I wanted what they had. I told my parents this and when we went home that night they sat me down and explained the truth of the gospel and I accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour.

Being saved at such a young age was an incredible blessing but it also came with a lack of understanding. While I knew I believed in Christ as my Saviour, I failed to desire only Him. It probably seems unsurprising that a 5-year-old always chose her own desires over everyone else's but this was an issue that continued into my teen years.

Throughout my teenage years I really struggled with my faith because I was not following Christian disciplines that would produce growth in my life. I had no desire to read God's word or pray. God really grabbed a hold of my heart around the age of 16 when I was at a low point. I was struggling to make friends and felt entirely alone when God reached out to my heart reminding me of His presence and His love for me.

It started with a prayer for me. My prayer was that God would give me the desire to read His word, to pray, and to grow closer to Him. I'll always be so thankful for how the Lord answered thos prayer. Of course this change was not immediate but I could see God pulling me back to Himself through the convictions He placed on me and the people He put into my life who pushed me out of my comfort zone so that I would grow closer to Him.

Ultimately my desire to grow closer to the Lord is what brought me to Word of Life Bible Institute. The year that I have spent studying God's word has been an incredible year of growth for me and I know ultimately that I am exactly where God wants me to be.

Throughout my hills and valleys, music was consistent in my life. There was never a time where I didn't want to pursue music whether that was through youth group bands, praise teams or even choral groups at my school. Music is my greatest form of worship and connection to the Lord and I'll always be thankful for the gifts God has given me. Jeremiah 29:13 tells me that I will find the Lord if I seek Him with all my heart and so I am always praying that I will seek after His desires and not my own and I trust that He placed me in this position to serve on this team for the next year.

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:13

Life Verse

Jeremiah 29:13