In 1977 the Lord instructed Dennis & Jeanne Cook to attend Rhema Bible Training Center in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, to receive training for the mission field. After completing the two year course, they were ordained as ministers and returned to Kokomo in 1980 to prepare for life on the mission field. Dennis served as an associate pastor for a short time and in November of 1981, he & Jeanne boarded a plane in Indianapolis with their four kids (and a niece) taking little more than summer clothing and a vision. They were headed for the Republic of Panama.
Dennis & Jeanne began their ministry in Panama concentrating on four basic goals. The first was training up pastors from every Choco Indian village in a two year Bible School. Then they would encourage them, be a covering for them and lastly support them with a monthly salary to help them provide for their families. They established churches by physically constructing a church in every village, establishing the believers in the firm foundations of faith, building strong doctrines of their faith in practical ways, providing opportunities for teachers to reach the people in a “hands on” type of training, and donating Sunday School curriculum for all the pastors. Evangelism to the lost is evident as they preach the Gospel and manifest God’s love to every Choco Indian in the Darien jungle, penetrating areas that have not yet received the knowledge of the good news of salvation. They also bring in evangelistic groups to hold crusades in order to win the lost.
Practical outreaches include supplying the children with school needs in all villages where they have established a church, assisting the local clinic with medical outreaches to the Indians, providing food, clothing and jobs (they have a 60-acre farm to provide employment for the Indians) and helping in any community program that will provide better living facilities and conditions for the Indians. Located in Panama’s Darien Jungle (the densest in the world), this has not been an easy task, yet a rewarding one.
They constructed a radio tower to help evangelize the jungle, edify the Saints daily, equip the Body of Christ and unify the churches. It is the first and only Christian Radio Station located in the the Darien Jungle. Radio Vida reaches approximately 400 Chocho India villages along with numerous Panamanian towns.
Dennis and Jeanne reside on the mission complex in the jungle with their youngest child who helps them in the ministry there.
La Vida Ministries
(state side)
P. O. Box 2243, Kokomo, IN 46904-2243
Phone: (765) 628-0177
In Panama
08433-03529, Balboa Ancon
Panama, Rep. Panama
Phone: (507) 226-2317
