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.