Venezuela

The last day was successful. We spent time at Nigel’s Guest House and made a trip to the supermarket for the students to buy things to take home. We then had an amazing Irish meal that Nigel provided for us. Afterward we made an overnight trip to Caracas and finally arrived in Dallas around 4. The trip was a success.

Last night the students began forging their stories to take back home. The leadership were all impressed at how God had moved in the hearts of these students and how He wrote so many inspiring and awesome stories. These students are returning changed and we will be praying for them as they do that.

Thank you all for your support in prayer and love. We know that those of you who kept up with these updates have a lot of love for these students and are all excited to see what God has done in them. I promise, you won’t be dissapointed!

The last of our pictures will be up shortly and we can’t wait to see everyone after Friday.

May God be Praised for what He has done!

~Venezuela Leadership~

Yesterday was our last Sunday to enjoy here in Venezuela.  It was blessed by the LORD though, as our students really engaged with the families that we were with.  We attended services in the evening as well as in the morning.  And when we returned a spontaneous worship-filled singing session broke out amongst our team, the missionary hosting us, and a few of his staff! It was Christ’s work all the way and a big refresher to our team

Today was a bittersweet day.  Today was the last day of ministry for our students.  The LORD blessed us with great opportunities to share.  The last drama site was in a mountain town that we enjoyed very much.  Our stage was up high and the mountains surrounded us with bright blue skies and puffy clouds.  What an amazing site to end on!

We were talking with Pastor Jorge and today he figured that our team has lead over 1400 people to the LORD.  The greatest news was that the church associations that have received the responses of the people are already working on plans to follow up with those that have committed.  That is a huge encouragement to us as we have been praying for the LORD to raise up laborers to do this exact task. Praise God for His work in this.

We will be enjoying a free day tomorrow as well as a dinner with Nigel, our host missionary. Then, in the evening, driving to Caracas to be at the airport.  It seems weird that ministry is finished but it incredible to think what God is going to do with the stories He has forged here.

He is Glorious!

Devon M. and Lilly T., CC’s

Hola Todos!

Forgive us for the delay on this post.  We hope this one is an extra blessing.

So we are in Barquisimeto, our final city for the summer.  This is the most beautiful of the cities we’ve been in as well as the busiest.  We have seen God do great things while we’ve been here.  For instance, our first day the LORD brought many to Himself and let our paths cross with other missionaries and a couple who had randomly seen the end of our drama twice in two different cities!  What are the odds? (…100%)  The couple exchanged numbers with Pastor Jorge in hopes of catching the whole thing.

We are blessed to be staying in a guest house for missionaries called Eden.  The owner’s name is Nigel and he’s originally from Ireland.  He has other missionaries staying here including a man from Holland and another from Haiti.  It’s been a blessing staying with them as they are very passionate for this nation.  Nigel and his family feed a large group of young children every Friday night at a sort of weeklyVBS session.  He invited us along to share the presentation with the kids and enjoy a meal with them.  He told us that someone had donated 500 kilos of cheese (that’s over 1100 pounds!) and they had the privilege of distributing it around a poorer community nearby.

Today was one of the most incredible days of ministry we’ve had yet.  We started out with an empowering word from one of our leaders who shared out of Ephesians about our war against spiritual forces.  Our first two dramas were in a marketplace where a large crowd of people gathered at our presentation.  The students got to spend extra time trying to ministering to them all and many came back with stories! The owners were blessed by us so much that they treated us to a snack and delicious juice!  We’ve seen a great reception and harvest in this city which is what we’ve been praying for.  We then presented at a park and afterward the LORD broke many of their hearts for some of the people they ministered to there.  The people they encountered included a man who had been to rehab, a man who was an atheist, and a student who believed that Jesus wasn’t the only way to heaven, all of which didn’t have a favorable reaction to our drama. However, this didn’t deter our students, who continued to pray for them to see the love and freedom found in Christ.  Our next drama site may be an Awe Star first.  One of the brothers of the church works at a Zoo and we got to go to the epicenter of the park and present the drama to a large crowd of people.  The best part was this: even though it started to rain, the crowd still remained large.  We’ve found that Venezuelans do not like rain one bit, so this was extra encouraging because we knew that it was an answer to prayer. Again the LORD provided many more who were hungry for Him.  That site ended with us praying over one of our leaders who shared the gospel with a veterinarian of the Zoo and a short walk-through to see the lions and tigers and bears (minus the bears…..OH MY!).

We ended with a great time of team unity where we shared how God had changed us over this trip, a time where every student shared! That time was concluded by us praying over the souls that had come to Christ over the summer. We prayed that the LORD would raise up laborers to disciple them in the faith and take them under their wing and to continue the work He started in their hearts at whichever site they experienced the drama. Will you pray for this as well?  Matthew 28 calls for disciples, not converts, so we are praying our brothers and sisters here will be faithful in following up with all of the responses we’ve received.

We have one more day of ministry and God is not yet done working and we praise Him for being that good and that big!  Thank you all for your continual support!

Buenos Noches!

Devon M. and Lilly T.

We are now in our 4^th and next to final city of Venezuela.  We are in a city called San Carlos which is a smaller city, but that’s fine because well only be here until Thursday.

Our first day of ministry here was incredible.  We started out in a residential area after taking our stuff to the hotel.  There we met a group that the church had invited from around the area and they had been waiting for us for an hour and a half!  Talk about committed!  By the time the drama was finished an even larger crowd had gathered around us.  During the drama I was talking with Juan, one of our translators, and he pointed out to African men in the crowd.  He said they were from Gambia and most likely Muslim and the both spoke English.  I (devon) told that information to one of our men as he was about to go and do ministry.  He decided to go talk to them and one of them turned out to be Catholic and the other possibly Muslim.  They didn’t accept Christ from our student, but we continued to pray for them.  We had lunch at a nearby church—the one who invited all  of those people—and guess who was there.  Those two men!  They were apparently invited to get involved with the church as a sort of cultural exchange because they are a part of an international student program at the local university.  At our next few drama sites, they were even helping some of our  students by translating for them.  It was evident that the LORD was at work in their hearts through these amazing Venezuelans.  Later that day we even found out that they had prayed a prayer to receive Christ after one of the pastors from around here shared the gospel with them.  How amazing! That night we celebrated the great things God had done with a dinner of barbecue chicken and a few games of ninja with both of the Gambian men and another church in the area.

The team has been truly letting the LORD work through them.  Twice in two nights we’ve had a time where other can share what the LORD’s been taking them through, what they’re hurting about, what they’re struggling with, what they’re learning, etc.  At each of these times, several students have found the courage and trust in their team to share and after they did, our team prayed for them.  It’s amazing to see such a community happen!

The days are counting down fast, but we are truly convinced that the LORD has our best days ahead of us.  Praise Him!

For His Glory and Honor and Praise

Devon and Lilly, CC’s

P.S. new pics up!

Buenos Tardes (good afternoon)!

Yesterday was another good day of ministry, with many new brothers and sisters coming into the kingdom.   We traveled for 2 hours to San Felipe, a beautiful town surrounded by mountains.  There we were able to present the drama 3 times.  The first drama was at a plaza.  While we were waiting to begin it started to sprinkle, but that did not deter us or the people from watching.  God held off the rain and lives were changed.  At the second site we were introduced as guest of Chavez from Broadway with a special presentation for them! The final one, after lunch was done in the street in front of a home.  The team divided up with the church members and invited people to come watch this special presentation. 

We are so proud of the team for persevering in spite of the distractions and the heat.  Our team continues to be amazed at the awesome things that God is doing.  We have had the priveledge of working with so many different churches and are blessed to see their heart for their own people and they love towards us.  Continue to pray for the last stretch of ministry that lays before us. 

We look forward to telling you more bout the great things God is doing in Venezuela!!!!

Lilly T. & Devon M., CCs

So after one day of fairly dissapointing ministry (a day of only 2 dramas) the LORD has answered our prayers concerning such things.  We have had a great day of ministry today with pastors who are committed to the vision of church revival and planting.  We got to perform the gospel presentation 6 times today and at each the students learned something new.  The LORD blessed each one with great crowds and people who responded in a positive way.

The churches are continuing to be so hospitable to us.  The church we had lunch with today allowed us to buy (for a cheap price) some delicious home made bread that the students can´t get enough of.  At our 4th site one church had empanadas for us and for those of you who have never had one in South America, they are exceptional!  This was a treat for the students and gave them energy to complete their later drama.

Our students are truly growing deeper in the LORD and we can see evidence of each one pressing in to Him further.  Continue to pray for our health, morale, and unity, all of which the Father has blessed us with.  Also pray that these students will be guided with the Spirit as they go to share the gospel with the people of Venezuela.

Dios Les Bendiga (God Bless you all)

Lilly T. and Devon M., Country Coordinators

Whitney H. and Micah R., Team Directors

Here we are, in Acarigua! This is our third city to stay in while here in Venezuela and we have two more to go before our trip home. Yesterday, we looked at our calendars and saw how close the end is. But we were reminded quickly of how much work we have left.
Acarigua and Barquisimeto, the town we are in now and the last town we will be in, are both towns where the church isn´t as missionary minded than the previous towns. We have noticed this, as some of the pastors who originally told Pastor Jorge they would work with us have backed out. This frustrates our ministry because we want to make disciples not converts and with no follow-up that is exactly what we would be doing. Also rain has been an issue the past few days as well. Thankfully, though, we are reminded that we do this for an Audience of One. This is our obedience and worship to God. That is something our students are coming to realize as you have probably read the previous posts concerning hard days of ministry. This reminds the students that they are just doing the LORD´s will, not their own.

The students have really grown deeper in the past few days. They have seen the power of prayer early in the trip and one of our leaders reminded them of how much time we had left here in Venezuela. She told them not to be satisfied, to expect more from God because that´s O.K. In fact, He wants us to yearn for more of Him and what He is doing here. This spurred them on to continue doing good and to build up their brothers and sisters here on the trip as well.

But of course we see the resistance. Rain and uncommitted pastors have slowed ministry down and last night one of our leaders got sick and had to go to the doctor this morning. She is doing very well today, but we know that all of these are attacks to keep us from completing our task for the Lord here.

Please pray against these resistances and for the opportunities ahead of us, that rain nor any other factor would hinder our ministry. Pray continually for the health of our team as the Lord has blessed our students with that very much so. And please pray that we would gain permission for the places the Lord wants to work (we have opportunities at several malls in the next few days). We are blessed by you and your prayers; we know that it is the Lord´s work through it that we are doing so well!
Serving the LORD, for He is Good, And His Love Endures Forever

Lilly T. and Devon M., Country Coordinators
Whitney H. and Micah R., Team Directors

Ministry today was a bit bittersweet.  We traveled to a smaller city about a half hour away from Guanare where we spent the day ministering with two different churches.  Not only did our students encounter a  new side of Venezuelan life, but they also encountered a less than an excited reception by the people we ministered to.  In the midst of a poorer community, our students grieved over many people who rejected the Gospel.  One ministry team encountered those who simply said no, told them their message was bad, and stood there in tears but still rejected the message.  In the midst of this challenge, though, there was much rejoicing.  Not only were people coming to Christ, but because the team was seeing the brokenness of this ministry group, along with other individuals on our team, it was a sweeter time of rejoicing for the people we saw come to Christ.  This particular ministry team did not see anyone come to Christ today, but one of the students shared on the bus after the day of ministry was over and said he was thankful for today because it opened his eyes that not all are ready to receive Christ, and we need to be thankful for the ones that are ready and rejoice with their decisions.  Today we realized that we have seen a harvest, and we are continuing to bring in the harvest God has prepared, but also we continue to plant so that the seeds can be watered and grow for others to come along behind and reap the harvest.

During our final drama site, there were a couple ladies watching from behind.  They never left their yard, but several of the students noticed them, and they were praying for these women all throughout the drama.  One ministry team took off towards them as soon as they were able, and the burden on the hearts of the other students caused them to volunteer our sole translator to go with this group because the burden for these women was so heavy.  Praise the Lord, we now have two more sisters!  We are so encouraged by the faithfulness in prayer our students have shown today.

In the morning we will begin fairly early on our trek to Acarigua.  During the day, we will be making a couple stops in smaller cities to minister along the way, and we will arrive at our final destination in the evening.  Thank you so much for your prayers.  Please pray for a continued focus on Christ, His message, and His character.  Please pray that our students continue to go deeper.  We challenged them today, that while things have been great and we have not been disappointed at all, to not be simply satisfied with where we stand as a team and as individuals but to press closer into Christ, to go deeper into the depths of relationships and see what God does through that.

In Him,

Devon M. & Lilly T., CCs

Micah R. & Whitney H., TDs

Yesterday was a national holiday for Venezuela.  As a special treat our hosts took us to a beautiful nature reserve high up in the mountains.  It took 3.5 hours to get there, but the drive was worth it.  We enjoyed a few hours break from the warmer weather we have been working in.  We were able to explore the area’s woods, hills, and streams.  The beauty of God had each one of us in awe.

Reflecting on this reminded me of what St. Augustine said, “People travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the seas, at the long course of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and yet they pass by themselves without wondering.”   As we continue to go about the work that God has called us to in Venezuela, pray that He will help us to see the wonder and beauty of God in ourselves, each other, and the people of Venezuela.  Pray that we will continue to stand in awe at the way He works in every ministry site and life.

Thank you everyone for your prayers and comments.  We are working hard to get up some new pictures, but the rain is causing problems with our internet connection.  Today the team is ministering in a town next to Guanare.  Tomorrow morning we will be moving on to Acarigua.

Lilly T. & Devon M.,   CCs