Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday
Colossians 3:17..."And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father."
Day 3 started and ended with two very passionate worship services. It is truly unbelievable how spiritually sound and just excited the Venezuelan people are about God. Here we are as Americans living our day to day life with every necessity at our fingertips creating a barrier which is making it hard to hear God. We need to take time each and everyday to thank God for all that HE has provided for us, because without him life would be non-existent.
The first service we joined was at the church of Padre Carlos. With 14 Gringos (Americans) sitting in front of 200 Venezuelans you would think that we would be the center of attention, but we weren't...God was! Padre Carlos has a spirit about him that just grabs the attention of his church and leaves them wanting more. With that and the amazing praise music, it led us to one of the most powerful church services that any of us had ever attended. Thinking it couldn't get any better, Matt (our fearless leader) was called to the altar to accept the welcome (bienvenidos) of the Venezuelan people.
After church we headed to a wonderful restaurant to partake in some more of the local cuisine. The meal started with delicious fruit smoothies and plantains. Moving deeper and deeper into our meal the food became increasingly interesting. I don't know what was more disturbing, the mound of mystery meat the Matt, Scott, and Dillon shared or the feather I (Parker) found still attached to my chicken finger. All in all, it was a filling meal and it did help us to step out of our comfort zone just a little bit more.
An hour or so of our day was spent in the market purchasing gifts for our family and friends back home. With the exchange rate, it was easy to get a little carried away. With bags everywhere, I believe Kathy Reeves and Scott single handidly assisted in the massive upbringing of the Venezuelan Economy.
After a brief stay at the market we visited Yolanda, who is the first female seminary graduate and the pastor who started the orphanage we have beed working with the past years . She was thrilled to see us arrive which made it easy to quickly become relaxed and comfortable. Some of the local children, along with Yolanda's son came to see why strangers had just pulled into their area. Before long we were playing soccer and baseball with them. The smiles on there faces were enough of a blessing for me to conclude the trip right there, but I know I was called to do more. A short storm passed through the area giving us the opportunity to sing familiar worship songs with Yolanda's oldest son. All 20 of us huddled in a room no larger than a small truck and sang in both spanish and english. What a moment this was!
Once the rain stopped we walked from Yolanda's home to the sanctuary. Again, we joined in worship. This was a much smaller service, giving those who wanted to dance the opportunity to. We stepped far outside of our comfort zone on the this...some a little more than others. Kim, Scott, and Kathy R. led the charge with what looked like a bug squashing ritual or an overzealous twist.
Upon the end of the service, we gave our thanks and said our good-byes. It was already past many of our bedtimes. We concluded the evening with a meal at Pollo Sabroso, which is similar to a Zaxby's. Even though it was late, Scott still brought smiles and laughs with magic tricks and balloon animals at the restaurant.
John Green concluded our evening with our nightly devotional. The main theme I got from this was to be a servant to all without question. Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers.
Day 3 started and ended with two very passionate worship services. It is truly unbelievable how spiritually sound and just excited the Venezuelan people are about God. Here we are as Americans living our day to day life with every necessity at our fingertips creating a barrier which is making it hard to hear God. We need to take time each and everyday to thank God for all that HE has provided for us, because without him life would be non-existent.
The first service we joined was at the church of Padre Carlos. With 14 Gringos (Americans) sitting in front of 200 Venezuelans you would think that we would be the center of attention, but we weren't...God was! Padre Carlos has a spirit about him that just grabs the attention of his church and leaves them wanting more. With that and the amazing praise music, it led us to one of the most powerful church services that any of us had ever attended. Thinking it couldn't get any better, Matt (our fearless leader) was called to the altar to accept the welcome (bienvenidos) of the Venezuelan people.
After church we headed to a wonderful restaurant to partake in some more of the local cuisine. The meal started with delicious fruit smoothies and plantains. Moving deeper and deeper into our meal the food became increasingly interesting. I don't know what was more disturbing, the mound of mystery meat the Matt, Scott, and Dillon shared or the feather I (Parker) found still attached to my chicken finger. All in all, it was a filling meal and it did help us to step out of our comfort zone just a little bit more.
An hour or so of our day was spent in the market purchasing gifts for our family and friends back home. With the exchange rate, it was easy to get a little carried away. With bags everywhere, I believe Kathy Reeves and Scott single handidly assisted in the massive upbringing of the Venezuelan Economy.
After a brief stay at the market we visited Yolanda, who is the first female seminary graduate and the pastor who started the orphanage we have beed working with the past years . She was thrilled to see us arrive which made it easy to quickly become relaxed and comfortable. Some of the local children, along with Yolanda's son came to see why strangers had just pulled into their area. Before long we were playing soccer and baseball with them. The smiles on there faces were enough of a blessing for me to conclude the trip right there, but I know I was called to do more. A short storm passed through the area giving us the opportunity to sing familiar worship songs with Yolanda's oldest son. All 20 of us huddled in a room no larger than a small truck and sang in both spanish and english. What a moment this was!
Once the rain stopped we walked from Yolanda's home to the sanctuary. Again, we joined in worship. This was a much smaller service, giving those who wanted to dance the opportunity to. We stepped far outside of our comfort zone on the this...some a little more than others. Kim, Scott, and Kathy R. led the charge with what looked like a bug squashing ritual or an overzealous twist.
Upon the end of the service, we gave our thanks and said our good-byes. It was already past many of our bedtimes. We concluded the evening with a meal at Pollo Sabroso, which is similar to a Zaxby's. Even though it was late, Scott still brought smiles and laughs with magic tricks and balloon animals at the restaurant.
John Green concluded our evening with our nightly devotional. The main theme I got from this was to be a servant to all without question. Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Saturday
"You never know as far as you can go until you run"
Day two is now complete and what a day it was. The plan was to travel to Barquisimeto, VZ and eating lunch along the way. One thing I have learned so far on this trip is that surprises are part of everyday life. Overall our drive was suppose to take 4 hours. Little did we know that with the perfect formula of traffic and poor weather, this trip would take a total of 9 hours. This ultimately was a blessing in disguise because this long drive gave our team the opportunity to gain new relationships and connect as if we have been friends our entire life. However, you know that when Dillon starts getting grumpy it was time to get there. It also did not help that every 10 minutes Steve was reassuring us that we would get there in 15 minutes...this began 3 hours before our arrival!
The lunch buffet was a wonderful mix of familiar foods and new exotic delights. It seemed the desserts were the favorite among all, but when comparing it to pickled baby potatoes, there was no competition. On a serious note the newbies could breathe a sigh of relief to know the food was good, much less edible.
We arrived at Seminario Weslinario around 7pm and once Stacy released her death grip on the seat in front of her we were able to get out and view what will be our home for the next week.
The evening concluded with a very powerful devotion led by Scott. The main purpose I took from this time together was to allow God into your life by freeing all negativity from your mind, free time for you to be with God daily, to stop harboring sin, and to welcome God's messengers.
Jeremiah 7 was used to get this message across.
We are excited that tomorrow begins with worshiping at Father Carlos' church. Also, yesterday's comment about Kathy having to be bailed out of jail was a complete misunderstanding, and used to grab the attention of the reader.
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. And please continue to follow us with God.
Day two is now complete and what a day it was. The plan was to travel to Barquisimeto, VZ and eating lunch along the way. One thing I have learned so far on this trip is that surprises are part of everyday life. Overall our drive was suppose to take 4 hours. Little did we know that with the perfect formula of traffic and poor weather, this trip would take a total of 9 hours. This ultimately was a blessing in disguise because this long drive gave our team the opportunity to gain new relationships and connect as if we have been friends our entire life. However, you know that when Dillon starts getting grumpy it was time to get there. It also did not help that every 10 minutes Steve was reassuring us that we would get there in 15 minutes...this began 3 hours before our arrival!
The lunch buffet was a wonderful mix of familiar foods and new exotic delights. It seemed the desserts were the favorite among all, but when comparing it to pickled baby potatoes, there was no competition. On a serious note the newbies could breathe a sigh of relief to know the food was good, much less edible.
We arrived at Seminario Weslinario around 7pm and once Stacy released her death grip on the seat in front of her we were able to get out and view what will be our home for the next week.
The evening concluded with a very powerful devotion led by Scott. The main purpose I took from this time together was to allow God into your life by freeing all negativity from your mind, free time for you to be with God daily, to stop harboring sin, and to welcome God's messengers.
Jeremiah 7 was used to get this message across.
We are excited that tomorrow begins with worshiping at Father Carlos' church. Also, yesterday's comment about Kathy having to be bailed out of jail was a complete misunderstanding, and used to grab the attention of the reader.
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. And please continue to follow us with God.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Friday
Good Morning Family and Friends! If you have been left worrying as to whether or not we are here: WE HAVE MADE IT TO VENEZUELA!
Our mission began on Friday afternoon at Due West UMC joining in prayer and saying our final farwells to family and friends. After a slow treck to the ATL Airport, we swiftly made it through baggage check and security without a problem. Unless you consider John Green's patdown and Scott's faulty passport a problem. The flight took off at 5:30 sharp and featured, what Dillion classified, a tearful motion picture...Secretariate. The flight arrived at 10:30 to a RAINY VZ, but the smiling faces of Samuel, Father Carlos, and Willie. Before 14 willing missionaries officially entered the country, a suitcase full of Barbies stopped us in our tracks at Customs. Without the persuasive bargining of John Green and Jessica, over 100 young Venezuelan girls would be left without the joys of Barbie and Ken.
We were welcomed with open arms by our friends made in past mission trips. The rainy weather and broken down Tahoe were jacketed by the joy on everyone's face to finally be here. We finally made it to the New Tribe's Mission House and went to bed...well most of us did! TO BE CONTINUED!!
Saturday morning will be jam packed with devotions and traveling to Barquisimeto. Tune back in to see how we conjuered up enough money to bail Kathy Reeves out of jail. Stay safe and we'll do our best to do the same. Thank you for your prayers and blessing as we continue to do God's work!
Our mission began on Friday afternoon at Due West UMC joining in prayer and saying our final farwells to family and friends. After a slow treck to the ATL Airport, we swiftly made it through baggage check and security without a problem. Unless you consider John Green's patdown and Scott's faulty passport a problem. The flight took off at 5:30 sharp and featured, what Dillion classified, a tearful motion picture...Secretariate. The flight arrived at 10:30 to a RAINY VZ, but the smiling faces of Samuel, Father Carlos, and Willie. Before 14 willing missionaries officially entered the country, a suitcase full of Barbies stopped us in our tracks at Customs. Without the persuasive bargining of John Green and Jessica, over 100 young Venezuelan girls would be left without the joys of Barbie and Ken.
We were welcomed with open arms by our friends made in past mission trips. The rainy weather and broken down Tahoe were jacketed by the joy on everyone's face to finally be here. We finally made it to the New Tribe's Mission House and went to bed...well most of us did! TO BE CONTINUED!!
Saturday morning will be jam packed with devotions and traveling to Barquisimeto. Tune back in to see how we conjuered up enough money to bail Kathy Reeves out of jail. Stay safe and we'll do our best to do the same. Thank you for your prayers and blessing as we continue to do God's work!
Friday, February 25, 2011
Today is the Day!!!
To all those who have made this possible...
Thank you so much for your... love, prayers, support, food, ball gloves, bats, soccer balls, barbies, chocolate, letters, rides to the airport, facebook posts, hugs, kisses, and all. We wish you were going with us- we really fell like the ones who are BLESSED to go.
WE ARE READY!!! (well most of us- I am sure some of us are sorta frantic with last minute stuff) We leave today and head to Caracas. We fly out at 5:35 and arrive in Caracas around 10:00pm. Tonight we'll stay at the New Tribes Mission house which is about 3 blocks from the airport. Tomorrow is our drive to Barquisimeto.
We plan to post daily so follow along to see what YOU helped to do:)
Thank you so much for your... love, prayers, support, food, ball gloves, bats, soccer balls, barbies, chocolate, letters, rides to the airport, facebook posts, hugs, kisses, and all. We wish you were going with us- we really fell like the ones who are BLESSED to go.
WE ARE READY!!! (well most of us- I am sure some of us are sorta frantic with last minute stuff) We leave today and head to Caracas. We fly out at 5:35 and arrive in Caracas around 10:00pm. Tonight we'll stay at the New Tribes Mission house which is about 3 blocks from the airport. Tomorrow is our drive to Barquisimeto.
We plan to post daily so follow along to see what YOU helped to do:)
Monday, February 21, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
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