Ecclesiastes 3:1
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.”
I apologize for my lack of punctuality. We have had some very long days and I don't believe I could have given my all and properly informed you of our day. So that being said:
Thursdays:
It was incredible how much we completed today. Thankfully, we woke to French Toast prepared by Scott. We arrived at the work site around 9am to complete the foundations we poured yesterday and continue to build the block walls. We have been blessed with some amazing weather to work in this week, but today was HOT! Today’s plan was to work at the church until 3:00 and then do outreach with Nigel, who is a missionary from Ireland. Finally, someone who speaks normal English…well almost normal. Nigel has been a missionary for 9 years now and he plans to speak the word of God on every street in Barquisimeto. His goal: 10,000 souls and he has already saved 2500! It is unbelievable the work he is doing down here. We drove to a remote area where Nigel had established a church to minister with the children and feed them the heartiest meal they would receive this week. While there, we: delivered groceries to families in great need (sort of a “meals on wheels”; however, we were on foot), played kicking ball, played Wii, and sorted cloths to give to the church. After about an hour, we all gathered in the church to feed the children. Every week Nigel gives them a Bible verse to memorize and they have to repeat it the next week; if they do it correctly, they receive presents. This week’s presents were the balls and barbies that we brought from home. It’s a good thing customs didn’t take them from us upon our arrival. After this we handed out the food to the children and watched as they inhaled their food. After a quick group picture we hoped in the van for the ride back. I have come to the realization that the only sad thing about this trip is the look on the faces of the children as we leave. They, however, are excited to know that we will be returning in a year.
Tomorrow is our last work day in Barquisimeto, and then we fly back to the missionary house in Caracas. Please continue to pray for us.
Friday:
Today was filled with joy and sadness. We started the morning partly packing for our quick departure from the seminary later today. We wanted to be able to spend as much time with our new brother's and sisters in Christ as we could before leaving the country. After filling our final foundation and completeing the last level of cement blocks for a wall, we all joined together for our last meal at the church. We were joined by everyone we had touched this week: Pastor Carlos, Samuel, Laura (Samuel's Wife), Pastor Alexander, Medardo, Gladys, Pastor Smit, and many more. At the end of the meal we were offered gifts for all of our help. Its amazing that with so little, these people still have the heart to offer us much of what they have to thank us. A true gift from the heart. We said our final goodbyes and with only knowing our new friends for such a short time, we were still very sad to part ways. I yearn for the opportunity to come back in a year and see my new family again.
We decided that it was best to fly back to Caracas, instead of driving like we did before, and oh what a blessing this was. Instead of 9 hours in a car, it took us less than 35 minutes to fly. We are staying in Caracas tonight at the missions house and our flight leaves tomorrow morning at 9:05am. We are patiently waiting for the opportunity to see you again tomorrow.
Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts for being the biggest blessing. Without you this mission would not be possible. We thank you for your prayers, your financial commitment, your support, your love, your care, and your blessing. This mission was an amazing success because of YOU! We pray that with sharing our stories, we also share the Word of God. This mission doesn't end just because we are coming home....this mission continues in our hearts and gives us the strength and audacity to promote Jesus Christ.
This is the mission team signing out! SEE YOU TOMORROW!
God Bless!
Friday, March 4, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Wednesday: Under Construction
Colossians 3:9-10
"Don't lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him."
We started the day very early in order to leave the seminary by 7:30am. Of course, in Venezuelan time, 7:30 means 8:30ish so we left a little later than we expected. On the ride to the church, Parker (probie) was interrogated on his intentions with the lovely Jessica by the entire van, however, mostly Scott and Matt. Parker squirmed a little, but did well under the pressure. Once we made it to the site and Parker could breathe a sigh of relief, we once again got right to work. Today we repeated everything we did yesterday, except the next row of holes over. The sun was still beaming down on us today, but thankfully our prayers were answered and we had times of overcast weather. At one point or another most of the group worked on filling holes around the foundations that were poured yesterday. Stacy had a unique leveling technique, using her body as a shovel after Agnes loosened the dirt for her. Parker and Medardo (Venezuelan Site Leader) worked together, with the help of Jessica's translating skills, to create the wooden boxes that the concrete foundations would be poured into. Scott, Smith (Pastor Smit), Kathy R., Dillon, Rick and Pam worked to mix and pour the concrete into the boxes for the columns that will support the second floor. John, Matt, Kathy G., and Steve constructed a new wall for the inside of the chuch which will seperate a bathroom and the clinic. The day concluded with a game of kicking ball with the children and balloon animals that Scott and Kathy R. created with the help of Kim and Matt pumping ability.
We finished up the amazing day with a devotion led by Kathy R. entitled "Under Construction." While your life is not always perfect, God is always working on your road.
We are over halfway done! Please continue to pray for us. We miss you!
"Don't lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him."
We started the day very early in order to leave the seminary by 7:30am. Of course, in Venezuelan time, 7:30 means 8:30ish so we left a little later than we expected. On the ride to the church, Parker (probie) was interrogated on his intentions with the lovely Jessica by the entire van, however, mostly Scott and Matt. Parker squirmed a little, but did well under the pressure. Once we made it to the site and Parker could breathe a sigh of relief, we once again got right to work. Today we repeated everything we did yesterday, except the next row of holes over. The sun was still beaming down on us today, but thankfully our prayers were answered and we had times of overcast weather. At one point or another most of the group worked on filling holes around the foundations that were poured yesterday. Stacy had a unique leveling technique, using her body as a shovel after Agnes loosened the dirt for her. Parker and Medardo (Venezuelan Site Leader) worked together, with the help of Jessica's translating skills, to create the wooden boxes that the concrete foundations would be poured into. Scott, Smith (Pastor Smit), Kathy R., Dillon, Rick and Pam worked to mix and pour the concrete into the boxes for the columns that will support the second floor. John, Matt, Kathy G., and Steve constructed a new wall for the inside of the chuch which will seperate a bathroom and the clinic. The day concluded with a game of kicking ball with the children and balloon animals that Scott and Kathy R. created with the help of Kim and Matt pumping ability.
We finished up the amazing day with a devotion led by Kathy R. entitled "Under Construction." While your life is not always perfect, God is always working on your road.
We are over halfway done! Please continue to pray for us. We miss you!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Tuesday: How salty are you?
"I will not give you a gift that costs me nothing" (2nd Chronicles 21:24)
Estamos muy cansados! (We are very tired) What a day, What a day, What a day! Where do we begin? The beautiful day began early this morning with the delightful smell of Scott's breakfast: eggs, bacon, and grits. We traveled to the site of the church and began work right away. Before long, children from the community came by to see what was going on. The work of the Venezuelan people is incredible and they kicked us right into shape. We worked on filling in holes where the rebar foundations has been poured, made concrete, poured new foundations, and most importantly built relationships...oh, and it was extremely hot outside! The highlight of everyone's day was playing kicking ball with the children and just spending time with the Venezuelans. We left the chuch for a quick dinner and returned just in time for the children's bible study. They were so excited and involved in the songs and story of Jesus feeding the five thousand. As a special treat, Scott preformed magic tricks for the children, which they watched intently. Just as we were leaving, all the children were so excited to hear that we were coming back tomorrow. A few of us had a good amount of Spanish terms down, but we jokingly thought the two Kathy's speaking ability sounded like the teacher from Charlie Brown to the Venezuelans. (Whannn, Whan, Whannnnn, Whann...)
After the drive back to the seminary, we concluded the LONG day with a devotional by Dillon. He spoke on the costs of following Christ and concluded with the question: How salty are you?
All is so well down here, and we pray that you are doing well also. Continue to pray for us!
Estamos muy cansados! (We are very tired) What a day, What a day, What a day! Where do we begin? The beautiful day began early this morning with the delightful smell of Scott's breakfast: eggs, bacon, and grits. We traveled to the site of the church and began work right away. Before long, children from the community came by to see what was going on. The work of the Venezuelan people is incredible and they kicked us right into shape. We worked on filling in holes where the rebar foundations has been poured, made concrete, poured new foundations, and most importantly built relationships...oh, and it was extremely hot outside! The highlight of everyone's day was playing kicking ball with the children and just spending time with the Venezuelans. We left the chuch for a quick dinner and returned just in time for the children's bible study. They were so excited and involved in the songs and story of Jesus feeding the five thousand. As a special treat, Scott preformed magic tricks for the children, which they watched intently. Just as we were leaving, all the children were so excited to hear that we were coming back tomorrow. A few of us had a good amount of Spanish terms down, but we jokingly thought the two Kathy's speaking ability sounded like the teacher from Charlie Brown to the Venezuelans. (Whannn, Whan, Whannnnn, Whann...)
After the drive back to the seminary, we concluded the LONG day with a devotional by Dillon. He spoke on the costs of following Christ and concluded with the question: How salty are you?
All is so well down here, and we pray that you are doing well also. Continue to pray for us!
Monday
Psalm 19: 14
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer”
Our mission team woke to beautiful morning here in Barquisimeto, VZ. Our day was spent at the seminary improving the grounds here and there. Before we started, Stacy began our day with prayer and an emotional devotional. Pastor Alexander arrived on his day off to assist us in construction. We also noticed that throughout the day we were visited by important people in the community (the Bishop and a local Pastor). The Venezuelan people are very appreciative of us giving our time to help them in any way possible. We were also visited by Yoe who in the past was a translator for our mission team. We were blessed to have all of the people come visit today and share in fellowship.
We had four goals that we set out to complete today: Custom built cement columns, Interior painting, repairing faulty wiring/installing lights, and hospitality. Kim and Stacy were hospitality and we could not have completed the day without the help of these two. “Water anyone?”, “Orange slice?”… I heard this echoing in my head all day. Their words of encouragement were also a necessity. John, Kathy Green, and Steve were in charge of rewiring certain light fixtures and an AC unit, and they put in new light fixtures on one of the exterior buildings. This group was very diligent in their task making them scarce all day, but when our amazing lunch was prepared the Green’s came’a runnin! Dillon, Jessica, Pam, Agnes, and I (Parker) were presented with the task of painting the two rooms on the interior of the women’s dormitory. With the quality of paint, it took 4 coats to complete each room. Once completed Pam did an amazing job cleaning the floors that received more paint than the walls. And Agnes put the finishing touch on the beds, making each with love and placing a chocolate on every pillow case. Last but of course not least, there was the crew creating the cement columns from scratch. Rick, Scott, Matt, and Kathy Reeves spent all day creating columns to be mounted on the exterior wall of the complex. During the several trips I took outside to see the progress, I always enjoyed seeing the smiles on everyone’s faces and hearing the constant laughter. To reenergize everyone near the end of the day, the song “Eye of the Tiger” was played. Scott once again took out his incredible dance moves to help bring laughter to the group. Unfortunately, I do think those are his real and only dance moves.
Dinner could not have come any sooner. Stacy and her lovely assistant Pam prepared sandwiches for everyone. I had a fried egg and cheese sandwich, and let me tell you, it was DELICIOUS!
Pam (woman of many wonders today) was also in charge of leading us in our nightly devotional. The exercise we did with Psalm 46:10 was extremely powerful and everyone took so much from this. With the room completely silent, we spoke this verse… “Be still, and know that I am God.” We are down here in Venezuela not only doing, but BEING who God has called us to be. Through being still and knowing, we continue to grow closer to Him each second.
We have thankfully been able to speak to some of you today and understand that some very bad storms are going through the Southeast. Just as you are praying for us…we praying for you. We are having an absolute amazing time over here. Please continue to pray for us, so that we may continue the work God has set us out to do.
Psalm 46:10
“Be still, and know that I am God”
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer”
Our mission team woke to beautiful morning here in Barquisimeto, VZ. Our day was spent at the seminary improving the grounds here and there. Before we started, Stacy began our day with prayer and an emotional devotional. Pastor Alexander arrived on his day off to assist us in construction. We also noticed that throughout the day we were visited by important people in the community (the Bishop and a local Pastor). The Venezuelan people are very appreciative of us giving our time to help them in any way possible. We were also visited by Yoe who in the past was a translator for our mission team. We were blessed to have all of the people come visit today and share in fellowship.
We had four goals that we set out to complete today: Custom built cement columns, Interior painting, repairing faulty wiring/installing lights, and hospitality. Kim and Stacy were hospitality and we could not have completed the day without the help of these two. “Water anyone?”, “Orange slice?”… I heard this echoing in my head all day. Their words of encouragement were also a necessity. John, Kathy Green, and Steve were in charge of rewiring certain light fixtures and an AC unit, and they put in new light fixtures on one of the exterior buildings. This group was very diligent in their task making them scarce all day, but when our amazing lunch was prepared the Green’s came’a runnin! Dillon, Jessica, Pam, Agnes, and I (Parker) were presented with the task of painting the two rooms on the interior of the women’s dormitory. With the quality of paint, it took 4 coats to complete each room. Once completed Pam did an amazing job cleaning the floors that received more paint than the walls. And Agnes put the finishing touch on the beds, making each with love and placing a chocolate on every pillow case. Last but of course not least, there was the crew creating the cement columns from scratch. Rick, Scott, Matt, and Kathy Reeves spent all day creating columns to be mounted on the exterior wall of the complex. During the several trips I took outside to see the progress, I always enjoyed seeing the smiles on everyone’s faces and hearing the constant laughter. To reenergize everyone near the end of the day, the song “Eye of the Tiger” was played. Scott once again took out his incredible dance moves to help bring laughter to the group. Unfortunately, I do think those are his real and only dance moves.
Dinner could not have come any sooner. Stacy and her lovely assistant Pam prepared sandwiches for everyone. I had a fried egg and cheese sandwich, and let me tell you, it was DELICIOUS!
Pam (woman of many wonders today) was also in charge of leading us in our nightly devotional. The exercise we did with Psalm 46:10 was extremely powerful and everyone took so much from this. With the room completely silent, we spoke this verse… “Be still, and know that I am God.” We are down here in Venezuela not only doing, but BEING who God has called us to be. Through being still and knowing, we continue to grow closer to Him each second.
We have thankfully been able to speak to some of you today and understand that some very bad storms are going through the Southeast. Just as you are praying for us…we praying for you. We are having an absolute amazing time over here. Please continue to pray for us, so that we may continue the work God has set us out to do.
Psalm 46:10
“Be still, and know that I am God”
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