Leadership...

Leadership Retreat

October and November have been dedicated to training new leadership to help continue the ministry after the missionaries are no longer in Valencia. We had a retreat at our beach house in Cata where Morgan, Debbie and I took turns leading talks on Devotional Living, Bible Study Preparation and Leading, Evangelism and How to Start and Maintain a Small Group. Here are some photos from the weekend.


Fall Festival Activity

In lieu of Halloween, we decided to visit a local orphanage and play with the children. We did not know that this orphanage housed mostly special needs children, so we had to change some of our activities, but the day was a success.

Left: Karen, one of our leaders, paints faces for the children. Middle: me. Right: Jose Gregorio is great with special needs kids.


Left: Beatriz, a new believer, is telling the Bible story. Middle: Fedor, one of the students from this summer's English clubs, surrounded by children. Right: Miguel, one of our more faithful leaders, plays ball with a little boy who can't walk.

BAPTISMS!!
November 1, two of the students from our ministry take the step of baptism. Miguel and Jose Gregorio have been coming faithfully to MUF and leading Bible study in their homes. Unlike in the States, baptism services are only every few months, because as you can see, they have to bring in a baptistry. Something was wrong with the tank they usually use, so they had to use a kiddie pool. It worked.



Each baptismal candidate was asked to share his testimony and a verse that God used to help him understand his need for Christ.

Sunday Afternoon Bible Study

Bible study at Jose Gregorio's House. One of the great things about having the study in the students' homes is that their family usually joins us. On this day, Jose Gregorio's brother, Andres and best friend Willy were present. Neither has made a decision for Christ, but ironically, they were the ones who first brought Jose Gregorio to Bible study. Now he's leading them!

Sunday in the park

We went to play soccer (futbol), but the guy who was supposed to bring the ball didn't show up. So, we made friends with a father and son who were also at the park to play futbol and they agreed to let us play with them!

BIRTHDAYS!!

Luz Carolina wanted to go sing karaoke for her birthday. here's the cake the folks at the karaoke place made for her! nice. Pray for Luz as she meets regularly with Morgan to talk about spiritual things. She has lots of questions and wants to really be sure she knows what it means to be a Christian. She has not made a decision of faith.

Thais had her birthday party at a local cafe called Primos. It was hosted by her boyfriend Gerardo. Both Thais and Gerardo are new believers. They plan to be baptized in February at MUF. I am currently meeting with Thais and her mom for discipleship.

• Prayer Requests:
  Please be praying for new believers as they discover their spiritual gifts and how God wants to use them in the church to further His kingdom.


• Please pray for the following students/friends who still have questions and have not taken a step of faith to receive Christ:

Elizabeth (pictured here) and her partner StefanieWilneidith (middle) and Juan (right)

Andres, brother of Jose Gregorio. Andres and his sister Massiel have joined a group of Taoists and are faithfully following the teachings of Taoism.

Massiel, sister of Jose Gregorio and Andres. She is a single mom of three boys, the youngest of which, Guillermo, has Down's Syndrome.

Willy and Pedro, friends of Jose Gregorio and Andres
Jose Felix, friend of Abelardo and Efrain whose dads are both pastors

Luz Carolina and her daughter Abril. Morgan has been meeting regularly with Luz and she is really seeking truth. Pray that the Holy Spirit will speak to her.

Y, ¿Qué más?

When you run out of things to say in a conversation or aren't sure how to start one, you say, "Y, ¿Qué más?" (And, what else?). The answer doesn't have to be anything specific, what you did that day, what you think of the weather, something interesting that happened recently...anything goes...but it usually helps start (or restart) the conversation.

I could give you a whole list of new things I've learned lately, but I'm sure you'd much rather hear about what God is doing here among the students of Venezuela. Here are some photos and recaps of the last 8 weeks or so.



My roommate, Morgan turned 25 on August 17. Her party was a lot of fun and gave us a chance to hang out with students in an informal setting.

• Left: David and Fedor, two students at U of Carabobo. Strong believers and leaders.
• Middle: Morgan and her parents who were here visiting.
• Right: Abril, daughter of Luz Carolina. Pray for this mother and daughter to come to know Christ.
  

Morgan and a few friends were lucky enough to get to go see Angel Falls-the tallest free-falling waterfall in the world...here known as Salto Angel. Debbie and I hosted a chili dinner for those who didn't get to go on the Angel Falls adventure. We had a pretty good group of mixed believers and non-believers. I made chili and tons of chocolate chip cookies!!

Jose Gregorio has been coming to Bible studies and events for about a year and a half. When Morgan's dad gave his testimony at church, Jose was finally ready and made a decision for Christ. This was a huge day for our ministry, since Jose is a natural-born leader and has already committed to hosting and helping lead Bible studies.

Abelardo is a good friend of ours whose dad is a pastor. Pray for him to find his own place in God's work and purpose for his life.

Five people responded to the invitation at MUF (Mision Ultima Frontera-Mission Ultimate Frontier) a few weeks ago. I don't have all their names, but pray for them to grow in their new faith and get plugged into the ministry of the church.

I had to put this picture in because this fat little baby is so adorable!

Me making Arepas (Venezuela's substitute for the tortilla...sort of a cross between an English Muffin and Corn Bread). Arepas are a daily meal for many people here because they're affordable and fairly easy to make and can be stuffed with just about anything.


A volunteer group came from Georgia Sept 13-19. While they were here, we had an informal "hang out with the gringos" night where each of the Northamericans shared a favorite verse and mini-testimony...it was a very impactful night.

• Left: Wilneidith (Wil for short), one of our English students at U of Arturo Michalena. Wil came to English Club this summer where we first got to know her.
• Middle: Wil and friends, Juan and Maria Gabriela also came, but since it was a 'school night' they did homework while they waited on the others to arrive.
• Right: Most of the group who showed up for Hang Out with the Gringos Night.

Probably the most impactful activity the Georgia team did was share their testimonies in our classes at University de Arturo Michalena. Nearly 200 students heard their stories which really demonstrated God's power and love...the students were on the edge of their seats the whole time and many stayed after to talk and share their own stories. Pray for us as we follow up. Sorry, I don't have any photos of those days, but the students in the photos above came because they had heard the Gringos in class.

The same week that the Gringos were here from Georgia, MUF hosted a national leadership conference for the other MUF churches including students and pastors who are interested in reaching the universities of Venezuela.

• Left: Derek, one of the Georgia team gave a talk on leadership and priorities at the conference.
• Middle: Me and Douglas (student from Caracas) on our way to the beach in a lancha (small boat)
• Right: Kristina and Debbie also in the lancha

Some of the projects the Georgia team participated in included visiting an indigenous neighborhood where we actually weren't able to do any activities because someone from the government came questioning our motives for being there. We did, however get to talk to some of the children and share God's love with them.

• Left: Me and Douglas after I bought one of the indigenous sombreros.
• Middle: Children from the indigenous community
• Right: Me sharing the gospel with the Rubik's cube...the kids were a really good audience and their answers to my questions showed they are getting some religious training somewhere.
  

Another activity was a morning spent at this orphanage run by a sweet Colombian family.

• Left: The family who runs the orphanage
• Middle: me jumping-rope with the kids
• Right: two of the kids at the orphange...we played them in soccer...they won.

The Georgia group also visited this new church which meets on Thursday nights for prayer and praise. Kristina shared her talk on influence...again...she had also shared it with the leadership conference participants. It made a great impact both times!

Prayer Requests:

• Praise God for the students who are showing interest and coming to Christ!
• Pray for those who still are undecided about their faith and those who are seeking, especially those who are looking into other religions and philosophies.
• Pray for Debbie, Morgan and I as we teach at the university, that our eyes will be open to every opportunity to share with our students and we will have the boldness to speak the Truth clearly.
• Pray for the upcoming leadership retreat October 2-4. We've invited the leaders and potential leaders from both campuses, MUF church and the Sunday afternoon study. Pray that it will be a productive time of training the new leaders to take over and reach their campuses as well as building unity among the various groups represented.
• Pray for me to trust God with my future as I try not to stress about the time when Debbie and Morgan leave and I'm on my own here in Valencia, Jan-March, then move to Caracas in April.
• Pray for spiritual warefare going on among students and missionaries as we are penetrating darkness.

August began with a super-hot trip to Maracaibo, the site of Venezuela's largest lake and largest supply of oil.
Maracaibo's version of the "virgin." This one was very ornate and has a whole fancy park built around it. I think this is the same statue that was struck by lightning on August 21.

Sunset over Lake Maracaibo...wish I could take credit for this shot, but Jose took the picture.

I gave a seminar on living the devotional life...basics of prayer, Bible study, Scripture memory and Christian fellowship.

There is a chain of malls in Venezuela called Sambil...each one has its own theme...this is a replica of the bridge over Lake Maracaibo in the Sambil-Maracaibo.

They also have these replicas of the houses on stilts that gave the country its name. The Spanish explorers said the houses reminded them of Venice (Venezia), so they named it little Venezia.

Debbie, Morgan and I at Lake Maracaibo

A group of participants at the leadership conference

The worship band also attendend the seminars during the day. Here are several band members and other conference participants

Dario (dar-EE-o) and Luzmery (lus-mary) Ortega are both from Maracaibo...they were invited to this conference through Luzmery's mother. Dario is also the pastor of MUF Valencia (where I attend church in Valencia)

These parrots were free to fly around the conference center, which was all open air. I wasn't so sure I wanted this one on my shoulder, though.

stop. breathe. keep going...

July was the craziest, busiest, funnest month of missions so far!! Here are some highlights...I'll try to keep it short, but hopefully you'll get the idea from the pictures!
Students and fellow missionaries at English Club.

1) Nexo English Clubs (Nexo means 'link' in Spanish, because we use the camps to connect with students who we'd never meet otherwise)

• Clubs met on two campuses: 1) Universidad Arturo Michalena, where Debbie and Morgan are professors and I will be assisting in the Fall. and 2) Universidad de Carabobo (Carabobo is the name of the state we live in).
• We had class/club every Monday-Thursday, two hours at each campus.
• The topics we covered include friendships and relationships, sports, vacations and holidays and music and pop culture. Every day, we shared and discussed a couple of songs and had a Verse of the Day. We've all become experts at Power Point!!
• We had two summer missionaries (who were mentioned in the previous post) who were here specifically for Nexo.

The middle picture was taken on "Music Through the Decades" day...guess which decade I represent

2) English Camp-as a part of Nexo, we invite our students to come to events outside of club/class where we can get to know them better and they can have even more opportunity to practice their English. One of those events is a weekend retreat at the beach that we call English Camp. Most of the time, it's a very relaxed, informal couple of days to just chill on the beach and hang out and play games at night. Saturday night, we had a movie (Antwone Fisher) and discussed some of the themes. Sunday, we had a church service. I gave a short message from Luke 5 and challenged the students to be like Peter, James and John and leave everything behind to follow Jesus. The Nexo missionaries shared testimonies and Scriptures, Morgan MC'd and Debbie led worship. Also, one of the Venezuelan students who is a new believer shared his testimony and couldn't have done it better if he had been trained for months! It was a really impactful service that some of the students are still talking about!

My new puppy Lexi loves Cata (where our beach house is located) because she can roam the yard and get dirty!

Top Row: Hanging out til late chatting and playing games; all the chicas heading to the beach; a shot of Cata

Bottom Row: Lexi loving life; me giving the message on Sunday; Gerardo sharing his testimony; me cooking chili in the dark when the power went out

3) Other points of connection:

• Sunday afternoon Bible study called El Camino-we met in our home the last week, but are trying to trasition to others' houses in the future.

El Camino had a ministry event at the Chinese Club in town. We helped them with their big Children's Day (like Mother and Father's Day) event by bringing and distributing lollipops and playing games with the kids. Here are some pictures from the work party the night before and the event that day.

Top Row: Labelling lollipops with tags that say Jesus Loves You in Spanish and Chinese; the students got a little crazy and put the empty lollipop bags on their heads; for some reason a lot of people wore brown on this night, so this is the "brown club"

Bottom Row: Karen Juan coordinating a game of memory; the whole group inside the club; then outside with the funny lion/dragon statue.



• Monday Night at the Movies-Monday is half-off movie night, so we usually try to get a group together to eat dinner at the food court, then go see a movie.
• Other movie nights-we have had two movie nights so far, one at MUF (see previous post) and one at our house. The one at MUF, we watched and discussed the movie The Ultimate Gift. If you haven't seen it, it's a good one for discussion. The other was an impromptu movie night when we couldn't get tickets for a Monday night at the theater.

MUF is really proud of their air conditioner, which means we froze throughout the movie!!

• Fiestas-we had a Luau at our apartment/complex pool for the English students, plus a bunch of other folks who heard about it via word of mouth. We will also have a despedida (goodbye party) when the Nexo missionaries leave and hope to connect with the students who have been coming to club and invite them to continue hanging out with us informally or come to our Sunday and Monday events.

4) Birthdays! I have now been to two Venezuelan birthday parties, though one of them was hosted by us, so it wasn't full-on Venezuelan. Here are some pictures from these parties.

Gerardo was out of town on his birthday, so we threw him a surprise party when he got back!

Karen Juan (one of two Karens in our group of friends) had a traditional Venezuelan birthday party. It was a lot of fun!!

Please be praying for me as I continue to build relationships with students and share with them the best News they've ever heard.

Valencia!

I arrived in Valencia July 2 and have gone non-stop since! Day two in the city, my roommates, Debbie and Morgan, and I decided to get a puppy. There is a local orphanage who breeds golden retrievers to sell as a fund raiser, so we drove over there and picked out the most precious four month old puppy, who we named Lexi. She is already adjusting well to her new home.

Abril, the little girl in the middle photo, is the daughter of our good friend Luz Carolina.

That night, we also had a bienvenida (welcome) party in our home for me and the two college summer missionaries. Stacy and Kayleigh will be with us for the month of June, doing English club and other activities with the two universities here in Valencia. The program is called Nexo, which means 'link' in Spanish. This is the 7th summer of Nexo and it has proven to be a very successful bridge for reaching students. Tomorrow is our first day of English Club, which we will hold Monday-Thursday, two hours at the public university (Universidad de Carabobo) and two hours at the private university (Universidad de Arturo Michalena).

Yesterday, we attended a 'Constitution Ceremony' for a new church. It's called Mision Ultima Frontera (Mission Final Frontier)...MUF is a Baptist church planting effort that focuses on reaching university students and young professionals. Their goal is to have a MUF church in each major city where there is a university. So far, there are three-MUF Caracas, MUF Merida and MUF Valencia. They hope to plant a church in Barquisimeto in the next year or so. I'm not sure how many other cities there are with major universities, but I need to find out.

Valencia is HOT! My room is on the second floor so I am able to leave my window open and with a ceiling fan and a floor fan, I've managed to sleep pretty well, until Lexi wakes me up at 4:30am ready to play. The mall closest to our home (Sambil), is shaped like a baseball diamond and hosts the National Baseball Museum, which I plan to visit in the next week or so. There's also a really cool street just around the corner called Calle del Hambre (Hunger Street) where you can find everything from fruit smoothies to grilled steak...all the restaurants are open air and interspersed between movie and music stores and small open air dance floors...it's a really popular place in the evenings.

Changes and Re-arranges

I've been in Venezuela about a month now and feel like I'm finally getting to know Caracas a little. Here are some highlights and first impressions from my time in Venezuela so far:

1) Driving here is crazy. It's never the same route to get back from a place as it was to get there. The roads are confusing and signage is sparse, so you just have to keep exploring until you find what you're looking for. This is all well and good as long as you avoid certain parts of town (just like in any large city of the world). So far I've managed to do that. I've only gotten 'lost' a couple of times, but finally found my way back home. Of course, I always say that getting lost is the best way to learn your way around, so I don't mind it too much.

2) After just a few days here in Caracas, I flew out to Barquisimeto to meet Lisa, my orientation coordinator and go through the orientation manuals...two huge binders filled with information and activities to help me get to know the language, people, country, other workers and fellow team members I will be working with. Sam and Lisa are easily some of my favorite people so far in Venezuela and I was blessed to get to meet their kids, Samuel and his wife Brianna who just graduated from Le Tourneau University and Andrea who is staying in country for college.

3) We had a prayer retreat week before last with all the families who are working here in Venezuela. One of the things that struck me was the lack of MKs on the retreat, with the exception of one college-bound kid who is leaving in about a month for the States. In Ecuador, any gathering of folks from our organization would have somewhere around 20 kids from 1 to 18 years old, so it felt really weird to be at an "all adult" retreat. This tells me two things about the work here: 1) Folks will be retiring left and right in the next decade and we need new folks to come in and take their places; and 2) We have a lot of experience and expertise among those who are here and there is much to be learned from them as I get started.

The retreat was a wonderful time of prayer for all of us and I was glad to get away and just focus on praying for what we're doing here and asking God to bless and move mightily among and through us.

As you can see, the Journeymen are a lot of fun! I'm glad I've gotten to spend some time with them!

4) Big changes: At the retreat, we evaluated our personnel and team configurations now that our numbers have dwindled down so low. Right now, we have one family unit in each major city and one couple and one single in the jungle. In Caracas, there is only one couple (who is actually in charge of mobilization for the whole country) and myself. There was supposed to be a family arriving from language school in August, but the cost of living is so high, that they are being sent elsewhere for now because they have three children and the board can't afford to pay them enough to live on here.

Because there is no one in Caracas to mentor me through my first year in my specific area of ministry, I have been asked to move to Valencia to work with the two journeygirls and the one couple who are there working with university/professionals. The journeygirls only have 6 months left, but I will live with them and shadow their ministry until they leave. After that I may stay a few more months and work with the other family or I may come back to Caracas...that's still kindof up in the air.

5) Our fledgling church, Lighthouse, will be down to two people (Douglas, a college student and Dagmar a young mother) for a while as all the gringos leave and one of the three nationals (Ketty, a school teacher from the opposite end of the country) goes home for the summer. We have all encouraged these two to step up and take ownership and responsibility for growing this group. Pray that they will do so. Pray that God will just bring people into their path who are interested in studying the Bible and that Douglas and Dagmar will make the most of those opportunities and invite them to join the group. here are some pictures of the group at my "Welcome to Caracas party"

6) I have met some wonderful folks so far and am enjoying getting to know them, even though I'm sad now that I will be leaving them for a few months. I'm hoping I will be able to come back and visit at least a few times. Anna, my roommate, who is getting ready to leave at the first of July, has been attending an aerobic dance class at a local gym and I've been going with her and one of the teachers from her school. Pray for the contacts I've made there: Felipe, the teacher and Daniela, one of the other students. I am hoping to have the opportunity to talk with both of them more in the future and thanks to Facebook, already have talked to them some outside of class.

7) Lastly, but very, very importantly, this past month we have learned that the board will not be sending any more short term workers (Journeyman and ISC) this year due to lack of funds and will also be cutting back on the number of career personnel by making the application process even more stringent and selective. This is a sad day for the board and for all of us in the field who are hoping and praying for more workers to be sent, but knowing that without funds that just isn't going to happen. Lottie Moon Christmas Offering did not meet it's goal last year and we know that with the economy as it is, it would be a miracle if it did this year. And a miracle is exactly what we're praying for. We know that times are ripe for revival and on the wake of revival, growth happens...new believers, new missionaries, new churches and more giving than ever. Pray for revival. No great movement of God has ever come about without concerted, corporate prayer on the part of God's people. That's what we're praying for here and that's what we need to pray for the U.S.

I know this has been a long post and I hope it hasn't bored you to tears. Thanks again for your prayers and support! I love hearing from you on facebook and via email. Please let me know if there's anything I can be praying for you about.

Caracas at last!

So, I'm sitting in my new room, thankful that we have internet and that it's actually not that hot. I was a little worried when I got here yesterday and was sweating from the time I stepped off the plane til I woke up this morning. No need for blankets here...which is a good thing since I had to leave my big wool Ecuadorian blanket in Quito because it wouldn't fit in my suitcase. Anna, my new roommate, tells that there were a couple of nights in October or November when she actually needed a blanket. On the one hand, I'm super-glad to be back in the Texas-like weather where you can wear flip-flops and capris every day and it doesn't get so cold in your apartment that you have to put on socks and sweats every night. On the other hand, I will miss my jackets and scarves since I will almost never encounter wintry weather.

I have a really busy schedule coming up with meetings, meals and errands all planned out for me for the next several weeks. Fortunately, "rest and settle in" were the plans for this morning and I have enjoyed getting to know my apartment and making a list of things that I'll need to get. I have a lot of stuff waiting for me in Valencia, a town about 2 hours from here, but I'm not sure when I'll get to go get that. I'm sure it's on the schedule. .

I've been told about several of the ministry opportunities I will have with our fledgling church plant called "The Lighthouse" and possible conversational English classes at the Universidad Central. I am to meet Daniel Ojeda, the man with "his finger on the pulse of student ministry," (according to my supervisors) on Sunday. He will be a great source of ministry opportunities and I look forward to making that contact.

As promised, I am posting some pictures I took today of my new place. My room is a bit sparse right now, but I have plans to get a few pieces of furniture like a night stand and bookshelf and add some pictures to make it more homey.

The living room...notice the wall of windows

Now, here are some views from that window.

My bedroom

View out my bedroom door down the hall to my roommates' rooms.

View out my bedroom door to the front door.