Mon, 28 May 2012 13:55:09 -0700WeeblyWed, 24 Aug 2011 17:58:56 -0700http://www.roswellgrace.com/6/post/2011/08/venezuela-day-7-wednesday.htmlBuenos noches mi hermanos y mi hermanas en Cristo Jesus.  Translated, that means "Good evening my brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus."  I have learned a whole lot more Spanish than I came with and that has been good for my brain and has helped me at least start a conversation with the people I've been blessed to meet.  I have found that there is a lot of similarity between french (which I still speak reasonably well) and spanish.  The longer the word in Spanish the greater chance that there is a cognate in French.  So, while my speaking still lags behind, I can understand a great deal if people speak a little slower.

I actually met a guy from Haiti the other night and he is obviously fluent in French.  He also speaks fluent Spanish.  My translator, Carlos, was able to converse with him in Spanish and I could talk to him in French.  It was a neat experience translating for my translator:)

Today was our last day of evangelism.  If I said that yesterday was (in my Day 6 note) I was mistaken.  We went out early this morning and worked with Pastor Felix church in a largely working community of San Felipe.  This was a very different experience from being in the rural area near Moron, yesterday.  Yesterday most people were very receptive and open to the Gospel.  All of the people I met yesterday were kind and hospitable and many of them prayed to receive Christ.

Today we were in a neighborhood with a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses - and they had worked the area hard.  We actually saw a man from the KHJW "church" out in the neighborhood, going door-to-door.  Their building was brand new, the nicest building in the town, and surrounded by a barbed wire fence.  Ironically, the wire sloped inward as if to keep them in.  I wish it worked that way because these people are spreading absolute heresy!  I would have liked to talk to the man, but it was clear that he didn't want anything to do with me...he didn't reciprocate my greeting and walked past without speaking.  I will be praying that God removes the scales from his eyes.

Don't get the idea that today was a loss though.  Our groups spoke with many people and were pleased to find other believers living in this area.  We met a man and his wife who attend the Pentecostal church - which was quite a ways from their home.  When they found out we were from Pastor Felix church nearby, they said they would visit because it was so much closer for them.  They were very nice people and appreciated that we were telling people about Christ.

Kim's group visited an elementary school and shared with the Principal.  Just a few sentences into sharing her testimony, the principal asked Kim to wait and summoned the rest of her teaching staff.  It turns out that this lady was a new believer and wanted her teachers to hear about Jesus from the Americans as well.  Pastor Felix told me that it was a very powerful time of sharing and that roughly half of the 12 teachers confessed their need for Jesus forgiveness.  The church will be following up with them to try and connect them with a body of believers with whom they can grow.  Pastor Felix was deeply moved by this experience and I think he has taken a liking to Kim's heart for these people...I can't blame him:)

Jerry's mom fixed lunch for us today.  I think she worked extra hard because it was Christopher's birthday today.  We had penne pasta with a meat sauce, toasted garlic bread, a delicious bean and plantain soup, and fresh avocado.  For dessert she served frozen fruit juice - kind of like a popsicle.  I was pretty tuckered out and perhaps a little heat stricken, so I collapsed for about 45 minutes after lunch to recoup.  Then it was off to our homes for some rest - nobody heard me complain about more sleep:)

At 5pm we headed over to Pastor Thomas home for dinner.  His wife is a doctor and also a wonderful cook.  She made us hotdogs with all kinds of things that I would never think to put on a hotdog.  Actually, I don't even know what was on my hotdog aside from shredded cheese (a Venezuelan cheese that I have grown to enjoy).  It was very good but I held myself to one...because she made a cocoa rice pudding with cinnamon and sweetened condensed milk for dessert.  I LOVE HOMEMADE RICE PUDDING!!  Always have and still do - even Venezuelan style!

After dinner we were headed in multiple directions.  Gabe Alvarez has wanted to go to the skate park all week.  He wanted to share with the guys skating there and he got to do just that.  His story is an inspiring one and I would encourage you to seek him out in Roswell so he can relate it to you.  I won't steal his opportunity to tell you about it.  Suffice it to say that he was moved by the experience.

Most of the others went to the sports complex where the mini-Olympic games were being held.  They painted flags on the faces of spectators, as well as handed out tracts and cold bottled water.  Apparently many of the guys handed out water and tracts for the entire two hours while most of the ladies helped with face painting.  Mark said everyone was to be commended for their efforts.

I caught up with Gabe at Pastor Thomas' church where I was preaching tonight.  They have a midweek service on Wednesday evenings that was very well attended.  I would say that there were about 50 people in attendance and many of them had worked with us all week and so we recognized lots of friendly faces.  Gabe shared his testimony and also his reason for coming to Venezuela.  It was a moving story of God working in his life - Jan, you would have sobbed...Steve, you'd probably have smiled your signature smile:)  I am very proud of him and know you two are as well.  I can see God using him powerfully!

It was an honor to share God's Word with this church family again.  I spoke at their youth service earlier in our trip and saw many of the youth again tonight.  They have very gifted student leaders who conduct the prayer portion of the service, provide the music worship, and run basically everything else.  This is a church on the go and God is blessing their obedience, their fellowship, and their commitment to reaching people for Christ.  I expect good things will continue to develop for them in the years ahead.  Getting out of there was a challenge because so many people wanted to say goodnight to both Gabe and I, though he had more girls saying goodbye to him than I did...and that's cool with me:)

Our group left the sports complex and met us outside the church.  We said our goodnights and headed for our respective homes.  Kim, Mark, and I reflected on our trip some tonight and all agree it's been a wonderful experience and a huge blessing.  A special thanks here to all of you who supported us prayerfully and financially.  We could not have done it without your help and I know God will bless you for your faithfulness, your sacrifice, and your commitment to pray for us!

Tomorrow we will sleep in until 7:30 and then have breakfast in our respective homes.  After that we are headed to Carlos' (Charlie's) home to swim, play baseball, and enjoy our hosts.  We will eat lunch with them in the avocado orchards and then head to our homes to pack.  After that, we are headed back to the Baptist Mission House near Caracas where our "on the ground" Venezuela experience began.  It will be a bittersweet day to be sure.  I will miss Jerry, Keila, and little Jerry a great deal!  I will miss my new friend and translator, Carlos.  I will miss the strong, manly, and Godly men like Nelson and Alfredo who chauffeured us around all week.  These guys are great!  I will miss Jerry's mother and grandmother.  Such sweet ladies who genuinely love us and show us this with their affection and their cooking.  I will miss Pastor Thomas a great deal.  If we lived in the same town, we'd be very close friends.  He reminds me of my friend John Miller - a wise man, filled with God's wisdom, love, and compassion.  I will miss all the beautiful children that have filled a hole in my heart as I have missed our precious sons these past 8 days!

God is so good to us to allow us to love these people and connect with them so profoundly deeply in the name of His Son!  I am eternally grateful that God would use a vessel, even one so imperfect as I, to share His love with His children!

This will be my last note from Venezuela.  I have enjoyed writing them at the end of each day and I pray that they have been a blessing to you as well.  The next time I write will be from the US - when I have internet service and a few minutes to reflect on the trip as a whole.  I am very excited to be heading home to two little boys that I adore with all of my heart.  I can't wait to celebrate Nate's 5th birthday with him on Monday!  Thanks for sharing in the experience with us!

Christ's love,

-kirk for the gang ]]>Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:58:33 -0700http://www.roswellgrace.com/6/post/2011/08/venezuela-day-6-tuesday.htmlHola muchachos, Dios les bendiga!  Our day started with Dallas Means and Christopher Blewett leading off with morning devotions - prayer, and Scripture reading.  We sang Felis Cupleannos (Happy Birthday...not sure on the spelling) to Sean Lewis, who turned 17 today.  We will repeat this tomorrow when Christopher Blewett will turn 18:)

Today we were in Canoabito (pronounced Can-wa-bito) which is a rural area, about an hour to the East of San Felipe.  Much to my chagrin, I had to drive again today as we were short a driver.  Jerry has a nice Ford car with air conditioning - it's a stick which is always fun (I learned on one), but I don't enjoy driving here with all the potholes, crazy motorists, and livestock near the roadways.  After my talk with Mark this afternoon I am certain I won't have to drive anymore:)

I spent most of today with Mark as we made our way around to at least one home with 4 of our 5 teams.  We wanted to see how things were going with the various translators that were working with our people.  It gave us a chance to talk about how things have gone and to talk about team dynamics and future ministry opportunities as well.  I have really enjoyed spending some time with Mark and learning from his experience.  I was also privileged to watch him lead three people to Christ.  Mark is a gifted and confident evangelist - a side of him I was aware of from our conversations about his experiences in Panama, from attending 401 and hearing how he shares Christ, and from our visits at work.  It was a blessing to see him in action.

When we stopped for lunch we were introduced to a 42 year old man named Carlos.  He has been unemployed for 2 months and normally works as a contractor.  One of our groups had already visited with him and I was told he prayed to receive Jesus with them.  When Mark and I began to speak with him though, it was apparent that he believed in God but that he was not a Christian.  He talked of his struggle to surrender his life to Christ and related that he was afraid to follow Jesus because he didn't want to do a bad job of it.  We visited for 10 minutes, answered and asked many questions and then gave him some space to think about what we'd discussed.  We told him we would follow up at lunch.

Sadly, we were told our lunch would be over an hour late in arriving and this was difficult to take as I was very tired, hot, and hungry by noon.  It gave me pause to consider how the people in this rural community must feel when they don't have the option to eat a decent meal.  Not all of these folks were destitute, but they were exceedingly poor for sure.  We decided that rather than wait for the food to arrive we would go out for another hour of evangelism.  This paid off hugely!  Mark and I joined the team of Amy and Chandler Daniels, and Gabe Alvarez and we visited Rosalena, the owner of a popular bar in the community.  Actually, the bar is in her home and located directly across the street from the mission church.

Gabe shared his testimony with Rosalena.  It was a blessing to hear his story of growing up in the American church and how he went through his own period of "coming into his own."  He did a great job sharing and it set up the dialogue over sin and the need for a Savior very well.  Rosalena is a friend of one of the Venezuelan missionaries to this area who was also with us and served as our translator.  Her name is Lucy (pronounced Luce-eye) and she holds a special affection for Rosalena.  I know that Lucy has shared with her for months, perhaps several years, and sincerely desires for her to know Christ.  Mark began to ask spiritual questions of Rosalena and that is when I saw God begin to really work on her heart.  Rosalena broke down momentarily when she spoke of the spiritual condition of her 11 year old granddaughter.  Mark pressed on and within 7 minutes Rosalena was ready to commit to a change in her life.  She prayed to receive Jesus as her Savior and Lord and then went and brought her granddaughter back for us to share with her.  How cool to see her new faith put to immediate action over her concern for this little girl!  Long story short, 11 year old granddaughter prayed to receive Christ as well:)

Off to lunch!  An impromptu game of Pato, Pato, Ganzo (Duck, Duck, Goose) broke out with our students and the neighborhood children having a blast.  They played in the mission house which was devoid of chairs - essentially a large open room with a concrete floor, roughly 30'x50'.  Then our food arrived:)  Carlos sought Mark out and we knew he had seriously been considering the information in the two tracts we had given him.  He sat alone on the floor in the corner for the longest time, visibly considering what this new life in Christ would mean for him.  Then he asked for a pen.  He filled out his personal information on the back and handed them to Mark as an indication that he was ready to ask Jesus to be his Savior.  SO COOL!!  Mark led him in the prayer to receive Christ and I could see a difference in his countenance afterward.  We welcomed him to the body of Christ and fed him lunch.  It was great.

Back to town...which meant more driving for me...ugh!  Safely home, I took a shower and the opportunity for a nap.  45 minutes later we were up, dressed in our church attire and headed to hear the San Felipe Children's Orchestra at the cultural arts center.  The center is a beautiful building with two open walls at the rear of the performance hall.  The ceiling is covered in white fabric, beautifully hung from the walls and ceiling to give the impression that you are in a very large tent.  There are at least 60 chairs for the members of the orchestra.  The conductor is a believer in Jesus and it's clear he cares about his young musicians.  When his baton drops to start the first piece, the music is awe inspiring!  These children are VERY talented!  They played 5 or 6 selections for us, one of which was the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah.  He introduced this piece by introducing us.  Seriously!  He said that there was a 15 person missionary team from the USA attending tonight's performance and told everyone in attendance (some 300 people) that we were sharing the Gospel.  He asked us to stand and the audience greeted us warmly with applause.

After the performance we headed to Jerry's aunts home for dinner.  His entire extended family have treated us very well this entire stay.  They have fed us at least one meal each day (by us I mean the entire group at one home), they are housing some of us, and they are very gracious.  This kind of hospitality is so rare in my world and I think it has our students attention as well.

After a nice evening of culture and fellowship we headed for home.  Tomorrow we will share the Gospel in the area around Pastor Felix's church.  His church is one of the ones I preached at last Sunday morning.  [You might remember that I spoke of how beautiful the music worship was there - I have yet to hear any bad or off key singing.  I don't think Venezuelan's are allowed to be tone deaf :p]  Then, in the afternoon, we will head to the ALBA games (mini-Olympics) and I will be preaching tomorrow night at Pastor Thomas' church.  I am very much looking forward to being with his congregation again tomorrow!

We are Blessed to be here with these people!  Thanks for helping to send us here:D

Love to everyone at home,

-kirk for the gang ]]>Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:58:13 -0700http://www.roswellgrace.com/6/post/2011/08/venezuela-day-5-monday.htmlThis morning our entire group was off to Guarabao, which is a rural farming community about 15 minutes outside of San Felipe.  The area is rich with Yuca plants (not like the ones in NM at all), with corn, avocado, and some sugar cane.  Most of the farms are worked by entire families spanning several generations.

We met Pastor Eddomar Sanchez and many of his congregation this morning.  Eddomar is a very gifted evangelist possessing a gentle approach, with a conversational and discipleship oriented style, rather than "preaching" the Gospel message at the people God leads us to.  I enjoyed working with Eddomar and two young men from his church.  I believe the one young man was being discipled by Eddomar personally as they often talked about what went well and what needed to be adjusted from one visit to the next.

Our first visit was challenging as the young girl (age 15) didn't want to invite us in - as almost all people do, because she was home alone.  So we shared in the front yard, separated by a high gate.  She seemed to be contemplating what was shared with her and was receptive.  When people receive Christ here the local congregation gathers contact information so as to be sure and follow up with the new believers in the very near future.  The goal is to get them to church and into a discipleship training course asap.

After we left our second stop (I was with Christopher Blewett and Dallas Means today) we saw a young girl inside a farm yard, with a high cinder block wall around it.  We asked if we could go talk to her and our translator (Christopher is our second translator - Felix Jr. is our bilingual Venezuelan buddy) said yes.  He warned us that this family is involved in witchcraft and idol worship.  The girl walked the 100 or so feet to meet us near the entrance to the farm yard.  Felix told her we were there to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with her and asked for a few moments of her time.  [We have limited ourselves to 5-7 minutes of sharing (in general) so as to not get bogged down in conversations that aren't going anywhere.]  She agreed and we asked her questions about her beliefs (in this case her unbelief) and understanding of God.  She told us she didn't believe.  We asked her if she believed in Heaven and she said yes.  "What about Hell?" and she replied "No."  When we asked her why not, she said that she didn't know but that she believed everyone went to Heaven.  We were able to continue talking with her as the conversation was not at all adversarial.  We asked her how she could believe in Heaven but not God.  She shrugged her shoulders.  We pressed on and ultimately this young lady conceded that there must be a Hell and a God - this amazing turn of events came as Felix steered the dialogue in Spanish, so I only got 50% of the conversation...but in the end, both she and a brother or friend prayed to receive Christ.  I am assured that serious witches and idol worshippers will not pray to receive Christ.  They'll tell you to get lost much like you and I would refuse one of them who was trying to "convert" us.  So I was encouraged that this was the beginning of their walk with Jesus.

After lunch and a nice thunderstorm and heavy downpour, we headed back to San Felipe for an hour of shopping downtown.  I drove Jerry's car as we were short a driver in the afternoon - which was an adventure given that nobody stops for anything here...and yielding is kind of like saying "Look out...here I come!"  We made it safely though and I can now say I've driven on three Continents:)

I think everyone in the whole state of Yaracuy was out in the city center today!  There must have been 10,000 people in the streets...it was crazy!!  Some in our group purchased souvenirs - I think Gabe bought some shoes though I haven't seen them.  Christopher bought a Cuatro (a Venezuelan Ukelele) for a very good price.  I know he's pumped about it.  I saw other bags but was too distracted to ask what everyone purchased.  Then it was off to Jerry's mom's home for dinner.  This woman is wonderful to all of us.  She kisses and hugs us all, dotes on us like we are her children and grandchildren, and can't stand the idea that we might have any available space left in our stomachs.  Needless to say, the food (Arepas), as usual, was wonderful:)

Our last event for the day was to attend the opening ceremonies for 4th Annual Olympic-like Games, between Nicaragua, Bolivia, Chile, Cuba, and Venezuela.  The 2012 Summer Olympics are next summer and the teams are competing in preparation for those games.  The sports facilities here are very nice and the outdoor Olympic pool was the site for the ceremony.  The National Guard, more police officers than I could count, the San Felipe Fire Department (Bomberos - sounds like an air assault team to me), sports officials from all five countries, the Minister of Sport for Venezuela, the Governor of the State of Yaracuy, hundreds of athletes, and several thousand people were all there.  Jerry has many connections with government officials as his uncle is a Senator in the Congress, and so we were introduced to the Governor, who was very gracious and thankful that we were attending the games and passing out Salvation bracelets and bottled water to the athletes and dignitaries.  Many in the Cuban delegation of athletes read the description of the 6 beads and tied the bracelets on their wrists.  That was encouraging!  Jerry and I were even interviewed by a TV news crew.  I sure hope it doesn't show up on the O'Reailly Factor!  I told Jerry that I was going to get him for this - AND I WILL:)

After the ceremonies ended we packed up in our respective vehicles and headed for home.  Mark and I shared an avocado tonight (I can't believe I have missed out on this divine vegetable, fruit, WHATEVER IT IS...for all of my life.)  I will be trying to find healthy sized avocados when we get back to NM...not the $3 for one the size of a kiwi variety I see at Wal-Mart!  Any leads on decent sized ones would be appreciated.

That's it for today everyone.  I am headed for bed as the morning will come quickly.

Christ's love,

-kirk

PS/ We will continue to make our phones and computers available for students to call or contact home. ]]>Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:57:42 -0700http://www.roswellgrace.com/6/post/2011/08/venezuela-day-4-sunday.html 

Another wonderful day in Venezuela.  Today we experienced church, Venezuelan style and it was very moving and a real honor to worship with them - even in a different language.

The day started off with everyone arriving at our place (Mark, Kim, and I are staying with Jerry and Keila) for breakfast at 8am.  Actually, most of them were late, but it worked out.  By 9am my group (Dallas, Geoffrey, Micah, MJ, Sean, Kim, and Carlos - my translator) was off to Sunday school at Iglesia Bautista Hay Vida en Jesus.  This translates as "There is Life in Jesus Baptist Church."  This is the same church where I taught the youth last night.  We saw many of the same faces this morning and also some new ones.  Everyone greeted us warmly to the point where we didn't even sit together.  We were scattered all over the place, sitting with folks who saved us a seat.  Kim and I sat with a young man and his wife.  They are 18 years old and he is a Karate instructor and teaches self defense classes for Christians.  He asked us to pray that he would continue to use his Karate training to honor the Lord and teach responsible Christian use of Karate.  He's a strong believer and I wish I could remember his name right now...I'll try to find out and post it in tomorrow's note.

Pastor Thomas Ogollon is that Pastor at Hay Vida en Jesus and he taught this morning's Sunday school.  There were roughly 60 people in Sunday school and all of them stayed for worship afterwards.  So you understand what's going on in this part of Venezuela, I will explain La Toma de Yaracuy.  This translates as "The Invasion of Yaracuy" and the premise is to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the streets of the state of Yaracuy (one of 25 states in Venezuela of which San Felipe is the Capitol).  This is a collaborative effort between the 17 Baptist churches in Yaracuy state and I have to say that I have never seen this type of cooperation between churches!  Members of one church go out in teams with members of sister churches and share the Gospel, door-to-door.  There is no attempt to get people to "come to my church."  Rather, they simply share the Gospel, introduce the plan of Salvation, invite people to respond, and direct them to the local congregation for fellowship and discipleship.

Pastor Thomas was instructing his congregation on how to evangelize today.  He took us through a four step process in sharing Christ and the plan of Salvation.

1) God loves you and He has a wonderful plan for your life. (John 3:16, John 10:10)

2) We have all sinned and are separated from God because of our sin.  This prevents us from experiencing the abundant life that God desires for us to have. (Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23)

3) Jesus Christ is the unique provision of God for our sin.  Only through Him can we know and receive God's plan for our lives.  (Romans 5:8, 1 Corinthians 15:3-11, John 14:6)

4) We are invited to receive Christ as our personal Savior and Lord in order to receive His free gift of love, and to experience His plan for our lives.  (John 1:12, Ephesians 2:8-9)

I wish you could have seen the enthusiasm with which these people received this instruction!  I'm talking teenagers, people my age, and older folks (like Pastor Rick:)...just seeing if he's paying attention!)  These people are pumped to hit the streets from July 30-August 7 and reach their state for Christ.  They will face opposition and meet those not open to Jesus.  But they have a love and a tenacity that will be difficult to brush aside.  Other than the fact that I really miss my sons, I would love to stay here and be a part of La Toma!  I am certain that Jerry will update us via email and facebook.

Anyway, after Sunday school it was off to Iglesia Principe de Paz for Cartlos, Kim, Micah, MJ, and me.  I was scheduled to preach at 10:30am to the folks who attend Pastor Felix's church.  Felix is an older gentleman with a kind and gentle demeanor.  He is passionate in his love for Christ and in his desire to share the Gospel.  Spiritually he is a powerful man, but his delivery and approach are measured with gentleness and confidence in the message he carries.  I love watching him work the room like a grandfather attending a family reunion.  Nobody escapes his notice and everyone welcomes his doting affection.  It was an honor to stand in his place today and bring God's Word to his congregation.  I preached about making a real difference for Christ in our communities from Ephesians 1:11 and 2:10.

The music worship was powerful as well!  They sang several songs accompanied by keyboard (chording only).  These people are not tone deaf!  The strength of their three part harmony reminded me of an Hispanic version of the African children's choirs I've heard in the past.  I was moved to tears, though I only understood some of what they sang.  It was a sweet time with this church.

Immediately after this service we were whisked away by our chauffeur for the day (Alfredo) to Iglesia Jesus de Nazaret - which I am guessing you can translate for yourselves.  This church congregation meets at the home of Carlos (aka Charlie) and his wife...whose name escapes me - many of the men have typical sounding Latin American names (like Jorge, Carlos, Thomas, Miguel, etc) but many of the ladies names are more challenging to say and recall.  There is a massive back porch at Charlie's home and dozens of plastic chairs were set out for church members.  Music worship came from a nice set of drums, a keyboard, and electric guitar, and two vocalists.  The simplicity of the worship team's setup enhanced the worship environment as we were basically out of doors, in the middle of an Avocado orchard.  I preached the same sermon (a little more comfortably the second time around) and Carlos did a fantastic job translating.  He didn't even need notes this time:)

When church ended, the Pastor (forgot his name too!) reminded his people of La Toma de Yaracuy and urged them to participate.  By the audible buzz from the congregation it can be assumed that these folks will turn out in force.  It was great to see such excitement over the prospect of reaching unknown lost souls for Jesus.  It made me sad though that in our church we struggle to get 20 people out for a 60 minute mission project or to help Harvest Ministries for a couple hours a month.  How different would Roswell look (spiritually speaking) if we were as committed as people in San Felipe?  I don't know the answer, but I do know that it would be different indeed.  Pastor Jerry tells me that they are experiencing somewhat of a revival - not full out revival but definitely a real awakening to Jesus.  It's so cool is all I can say!

Briefly (before I pass out from fatigue), several of us went to the home of Pastor Thomas tonight.  His wife cooked us fried (not battered) chicken thighs, garlic and cilantro mashed potatoes, thinly sliced and fried plantains, and bread for dinner.  It was wonderful!  We also watched the Venezuelan national soccer team play Chile in the Americas Cup which is being held in Argentina this year.  We all found ourselves cheering passionately for Venezuela - and they won 2-1 to advance to the semi-finals for the first time in their history!  They will play either Peru, Uruguay, or Paraguay (if I remember correctly).  Go Venezuela!

Well, it is now almost 1am and I need to be up at 7am...I know I have more to share about today, but I need some rest...and the longer I am online the more chat messages I get from folks at home (which is a good thing except I need to be asleep.)

Christ's love to you all!

-kirk for the gang ]]>Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:57:24 -0700http://www.roswellgrace.com/6/post/2011/08/venezuela-day-3-saturday.htmlThe business of writing these notes is very therapeutic for me at the end of each day and it's a real privilege to share about our time here with the Venezuelan people on behalf of our group.  Let me just say that I didn't think I could love this group of students and adults more than I already do - I was wrong!  It's been so great seeing and hearing about their experiences and witnessing the excitement and even the occasional trepidation in their faces as they meet new joys and challenges everyday.

Suffice it to say that everyone is healthy and we are surviving the 98% humidity and scorching sun.  None of us are sunburned (perhaps a little pink), no dehydration issues (thanks to the Venezuelan church members who provide us with plenty of bottled water), and no injuries to report...so that's a huge blessing.

Today we worked with another church and did door-to-door evangelism in a very poor neighborhood.  I rode a firetruck for over five years and never saw this kind of poverty, although I have been in thousands of homes.  While I saw versions of most modern appliances in most of the homes today, I have to tell you that they were old, most of them were only partially functional, and none of them were stainless steel.  Yet these people possess a happiness and a contentedness that is apart from life is supposed to move slower, otherwise inexplainable.  Most of them were not Christians either, so I can't pass it off as "Christian serenity."

We witnessed a softball game today as well.  The field is not the best one I've ever seen, but they do have a covered grandstand and there are covered dugouts.  The young men (mostly teenagers and some early 20's) warmed up and then played a full game.  The umpire is a friend of theirs from the community and his decisions go unchallenged - that would be nice in America!  They played for a couple hours, stopped for lunch, and came back for an afternoon match.  Many people turned out to watch and the children played nearby, on piles of gravel and in the dirt.  We were able to share small toys with the children and engage them in playful conversation - I think most of the boys and girls (ranging in age from 2 years-13 years old) really enjoyed our being there.  These people have touched my soul and judging from the conversations I've had with our students and adults, they have been deeply affected as well!

We had lunch at Carlos' home.  He is a member of the church and a retired teacher.  He also farms (a kind of Green Acres type of guy) avocados, mangos, and some other Venezuelan fruit that I can't recall nor pronounce.  Evidently he has done well with his money over the years as their home is large and very nice.  The have a good sized orchard of fruit trees and fields nearby that they have mowed out a volleyball court in the tall grass.  I met a young man (20) who is a cousin of Pastor Jerry, and he plays professional baseball in the Chicago Cubs Latin American farm system, in the Dominican Republic.  He is a pitcher and he works very hard to master his skills.  Watching him throw with his other cousin was really interesting as he is very fluid - as a professional baseball player should be.  We had a long talk about life and God and he is a strong believer.  I was happy to exchange contact information with him and I expect we will see him playing baseball professionally in the US in the future.

I preached at a youth service tonight.  That was an experience!  Preaching through a translator is not my cup of tea - so I guess I'll need to learn Spanish:)  The translator (my friend Carlos) was great - but it's tough to get into a rhythm and any attempt at humor is challenging because things don't translate easily.  Also, the lesson was only 15 minutes long but due to the need to repeat in Spanish, it took 30 minutes - which is still shorter than I normally preach...LOL!  It was great to see my new friend Rafael (a 15 year old boy we witnessed to and invited to church) attend worship and make some new friends tonight.  I am praying for him, that he will stay connected at this church.  We had a great time at this church, and even managed to dodge all the falling mangos!  Yes, the church is largely outdoors although the worship center has a roof and 2.5 walls.

We had dinner at Pastor Jerry's aunt and uncle's home.  He is a Senator in the National Congress of Venezuela - though I did not meet him as I believe Congress is in session in Caracas.  Their home is lovely and we enjoyed being there as a group tonight.  We hacked open a coconut, shared the milk, and passed around pieces of the pulp.  That was fun too!  Then it was time for everyone to hit the sack.  The days end relatively early, but the weather is very hot and humid - therefore tiring, and the work wears us out (in a good way)...so we are ready for bed by 9pm.

Tomorrow, Mark and I will preach two times each, in four different churches.  Please pray for us and for our translators to honor God's Word, communicate it well, and to enjoy the privilege of teaching these incredible people.  Please pray for Keila and Carlos (our translators) as well.  I'll let you know how tomorrow pans out - the afternoon will be relaxed and I think we may go to the market place in the afternoon and let everyone look for souvenirs.

Love to you all and Blessings!

-kirk for the gang ]]>Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:56:36 -0700http://www.roswellgrace.com/6/post/2011/08/venezuela-day-2-friday.htmlBuenos noches amigos est Dios de bendiga.  I am not sure that the spelling is correct, but I know I got the gist of it right - Good evening friends and God bless you!

We had another great day working with a different congregation today.  The name of the church is Iglesia Bautista de Neuva Vida.  Again, not sure on the spelling, but it means Baptist Church of the New Life.  We were out in the community for about 3 hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon.  We had lunch at the church in between sessions.  We met so many people today and had so many great conversations and opportunities to share, I can't even begin to tell you!

The food has been absolutely incredible!  There are several Venezuelan dishes that we have tried and I have to say that I LOVE plantains!  They are a member of the banana family (just in case you're like me and didn't know that) and they are very good.  The black beans were really tasty as well.  Jerry and Keila made "hamburgers" for us last night.  This "hamburger" was like no other I've ever tasted.  The bun is pan fried (like a pancake) and made from corn flour.  They are like really thick pancakes.  You cut them in half and put sliced queso (cheese) and sliced ham on them - then you eat.  Like I said, a very interesting (and tasty) "hamburger."  Needless to say, none of us will be losing any weight on this trip:)

All of our groups (we are divided into 6 teams for evangelism during the day) had positive experiences yesterday and today.  Each team has a translator and a couple members of the local congregation, plus 2-3 of our group.  So far we have managed to overcome the language barrier (for the most part) and have enjoyed working alongside and getting to know some of the Venezuelan people.  The people we have been sharing Christ with are very hospitable and almost all have welcomed us into their homes.  There has been very little disinterest in why we are at their door.  Many have offered us fruit including fresh banana (slightly better tasting than the ones we get in the store), fresh mango (a gift from the hand of God Himself!), and mammon...a unique fruit that is in a category all it's own.  Tasty though!

We all gathered at Jerry and Keila's home for dinner and for our group time tonight.  Many of our students shared about their experiences today and all agreed it has been a positive and inspiring experience.  You really can't appreciate (unless you've been blessed to go on a foreign mission trip yourself) how poor yet happy these people are.  They have very few (if any) material possessions like the ones we are accustomed to, and yet they seem to really enjoy life.  Children play soccer on streets that we wouldn't let our dogs walk down, and they are joyfully entertained for hours.  Unemployment is high yet hospitality and sharing what they have with total strangers seems engrained in who they are as a people.  I feel so blessed by these people and pray they get 1/10th back what they have given to us.

Please keep praying for us.  Everyone is healthy, well fed, and well taken care of.  Please pray for opportunities to share and love on the Venezuelan's.  Please pray for Mark and I as we are preaching multiple times, through an interpreter.  This will be a unique experience!  Of course, please pray for your kids - they are doing great and really growing!!

It is 9:53pm and I am heading for bed.  Everyone else went home about an 90 minutes ago and I pray they are resting well...we will need it as tomorrow is another busy day:)

Blessings to you all!

-kirk for the gang

]]>Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:56:12 -0700http://www.roswellgrace.com/6/post/2011/08/venezuela-day-1-thursday.htmlGood morning everyone back home,

We have been very busy traveling and meeting new people.  Yesterday morning we left the Baptist Mission House at 7am and headed out for San Felipe.  The drive took us 5 hours and we saw all kinds of crops growing.  Bananas and Sugar Cane were the most common.  The country is very mountainous and green.  We saw deep river valleys and lush vegetation.  The roads are similar to American roadways but the drivers are not like American drivers.  They drive wherever there is asphalt (including the shoulder of the highway).  Several times I thought we would be witnessing a bad wreck...fortunately none happened.

We arrived in San Felipe and went to lunch at a conference center in the middle of town.  The food was incredible and the people are very kind.  We have yet to meet anyone who has not been kind to us.  After lunch, we went to one of the churches that we are working with and divided into teams of missionaries, church members, and a translator.  My translator is a 19 year old boy named Carlos.  He is exceptionally good at English and studied it for three months at Liberty in Lynchburg, VA.  He plans to attend college in TX to study Engineering Design.  I pray we will see him again in the US!

Mark, Kim, and I are staying with Jerry and Keila in their home.  They have a nice apartment and have been wonderful hosts.  The other members of our team are staying with family members of Jerry and with Pastor Thomas.  I am sure they have been well taken care of as well and will write more about their experiences when I see them today. We are waiting for the rest of othem to get here this morning to eat breakfast.  After that, we will be out sharing again today.

Yesterday went really well.  Our team met a couple families and they invited us right into their home and we spent time getting to know them and hear their stories.  The home quickly filled up with people and I am not sure if that is because it is a center of activity in that part of town or because word spread that there were Americans visiting.  My translator and I herded up the teenagers and met with five of them for a while and asked them about their faith, their understanding of Christ, and where they were at with their faith.  One of the guys, a 15 year old named Rafael followed us around for ninety minutes and was full of questions.  I am teaching the youth on Saturday, so we invited him to come.  We will pick him up Saturday...so please be praying he makes it as he needs other Christian teenagers around him!

Everyone just got here so I need to go and play host:)  Praying you are all well...will write again soon!

Blessings,

 -Kirk ]]>Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:55:45 -0700http://www.roswellgrace.com/6/post/2011/08/venezuela-posts.htmlGreetings Grace family, friends, and students.  I am going to post my daily notes from Venezuela here for you to look at, if you so choose.  I pray you find them informative, insightful, and inspiring.  The "i" alliteration is for you Pastor Rick:)

Grace and Peace,

-kirk

Matthew 12:21 ]]>Fri, 10 Jun 2011 01:45:53 -0700http://www.roswellgrace.com/6/post/2011/06/who-is-jesus.htmlThis is my first blog post.  I'm not sure how often I'll get on here and update it...I'm not a technology guy at all.  I enjoy technology but I don't prioritize the time to use it very well.

Anyway, I thought I'd start with who Jesus Christ is to me.  Scripture teaches and I believe that Jesus name carries with it the power to save us from our sin, heal us from our pain, and change the game for all who believe that He is the Messiah (Acts 3:16).  The best example I can think of in Scripture is the Apostle Paul.  Before he became Paul, he was Saul.  A destroyer of life and a purveyor of evil as he worked against the cause of Christ and the mission of the early church.  Jesus comes into Saul's life (Acts 9) and everything changed.  Paul became the instrument of Jesus to carry His name to the nations.

As a non-Jewish person, I'm eternally grateful to the Lord Jesus Christ for choosing to save me (1 John 4:19) and to Paul for being obedient to go!  May the same be said of us as we grow in our faith and live lives on mission for Christ.

Who is Jesus to you?

Christ's love,

-kirk ]]>Tue, 10 May 2011 15:42:17 -0700http://www.roswellgrace.com/6/post/2011/05/first-post.html