Christmas time

We hosted a Christmas party yesterday in our and the girls' apartments. We started off at the girls'- setting up and decorating the Christmas tree and the apartment and introducing some of the students to 'popcorn strings' decorations. Later we headed over to our apartment and decorated as well as baking sugar cookies and watching "The Polar Express." It was a lot of fun and a great time to hang out with students. I think we have really under-utilized our apartment space- we could use it for all kinds of stuff! God bless during finals week/the Christmas season!

Back from the tropics!

We're back from Maracaibo and Aruba! All the Venezuela staff came together the first week and we shared what God has been doing in our respective cities/campuses- it was very encouraging to hear about the growth that is happening in other places in Venezuela! We also planned for this year's national congreso, "Solo Uno," and my team is planning a catalytic retreat as well- where students from non-staffed campuses can come be equipped for starting a movement for Christ in their university.

Aruba was excellent as well- snorkeling, beach volleyball, and ocean sunsets were included in our VISA renewal trip. We managed to suffer through it, but I don't know how well I'll be able to take our next VISA renewal trip :-) (location TBD).

We have only a week and a half left on campus this year before classes are out- and we can use prayer to not be thinking ahead to the break but to finish strong and trust God to see many more come to Christ. At this time of year, many are thinking of family and friends, and the birth of our Savior, but many also are not feeling very joyful, loved, or fullfilled. Pray that we would be able to show Christ's love to them and bring them new hope this Christmas season.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I pray you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We had an awesome time here in Maracaibo- we had 37 people at the Onishi's (national director's) apartment and had a time of sharing what we're thankful for, enjoying turkey, stuffing, etc. and singing a couple patriotic US songs for the Venezuelans! May you have a lot to thank God for during this time!

Chavistas!

Our team is practically Chavista now- Bryon and Emily both got t-shirts and Bryon's got a hat. Amber actually saw Chavez when he came to Mérida the other day. I'm still on the lookout for a free Chavez t-shirt myself (who doesn't like free t-shirts? Plus it would be a pretty sweet souvenir). I've never been to a presidential visit in the states, but it seems to be a pretty big deal here. The main avenue between the ULA and our apartments was blocked off so we had to walk about halfway back before we could catch a bus!

Tonight we're heading to Maracaibo for national staff meetings. We'll be planning this year's congreso- the national student retreat that will happen in the spring- as well as some vision planning for next year. I met the Maracaibo and San Cristobal staff a few weeks back when they came to Mérida, and I'm looking forward to seeing them again. Have to get packing now, will hopefully have a chance to do some updates in Maracaibo. Dios le bendiga!

Un Chiste

Since I'm in Venezuela I figure it's all right to do at least one post in Spanish. This is a wordplay joke that doesn't really translate anyway:

Llegó un circo de Maracabio a Mérida, y en cartelera coloca "el pan que habla." Toda la gente decidió ir a ver al pan que habla, así que en la noche el circo estaba repleto, y sale el presentador y dice, esta noche no pudo llegar el pan que habla por problemas de panadería, pero mañana se lo tendremos. Al otro día lo mismo, y así varios días. A los días después el presentador sale y la gente gritando:¡Queremos al pan que habla! ¡queremos al pan que habla!Entonces el presentador dice:Hoy lo tenemos, pero necesitamos a un miembro del público.Y sale un maracucho, y traen un vaso de agua, y lo derramaron sobre el pan. Entonces, el presentador le dijo al maracucho 'toca el pan. ¿cómo está?
¡'tá blando...!

Our team is complete! and other news

Angye and Claudia, two ladies from Maracaibo, Venezuela, have joined us here in Mérida. It is a blessing to have them on the team and to be able to get lessons in 'maracucho' spanish, which differs somewhat from the local dielect. Claudia loves Mad Gab, a game where you say words in a sequence that sound like some well-known phrase or name, 'My coal chore done' is 'Michael Jordan,' for instance.

This was my last week of class at the Iowa Institute, and it consisted solely of reading and discussion practice. I have been blessed with a Christian teacher who is excited about our work. She even offered to do some role-playing. She was a student on campus who knows that Jesus is supposed to be the son of God and that he died for sins, and I started from there sharing the gospel from my bilingual Bible.

We also went sharing on campus once this week- there weren’t a lot of students there yet but we still shared the gospel with several and a couple teammates saw 3 people (2 guys and a gal) accept Christ! I’m looking forward to meeting these new brothers and sister as we start full-time campus ministry this week.

We met with a group of student leaders this week with whom we will be working closely this semester and hopefully throughout the year. They are an awesome group and are dedicated to reaching their fellow students for Christ.

I’ve been driving my moto around a bit (I realized today that it costs about half the price of a bus ticket to fill up my gas tank- aka about 250 bolivares, aka 10 cents) and I’m getting used to the weaving around cars and honking my horn constantly to let people know I’m there. Anyway, it will be very convenient as it is faster than taking the bus and I can get to just about anywhere around the city on it.

Anecdotes

A few very short stories:

Emily forgot her purse on the plane from Spokane to Seattle. Providentially, she was able to retrieve it from the gate because they found it in a cabin sweep.

My dad specifically prayed over me (over the phone at the Seattle airport while Emily was getting her purse) for the first time that I can remember- an awesome blessing.

Imported items are very expensive here- no more Hagen-Daz!

Mayo is the Venezuelan condiment of choice- and they choose to use it a lot!

Just when you think there is no more room on the bus, more people get on the bus.

My job is talking about Jesus. Wow.

Mérida's 'teleferico' is the longest and highest cable car ride in the world- I'll get pictures when I get a chance to go.

I'm on my way!

I'm writing this from the Dallas airport. Monday the 28th I went to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho to meet with my team at Bryon's house. We had some team devotional time, some wonderful food courtesy of Bryon's mom, and some preparation to leave. I am currently short 155/month and $336 one-time, but Amber had enough excess to at least cover my expenses for now so that I could go! God has once again shown his faithfulness and his awesome provision just over the last few days. I am both relieved and excited to finally be going!

We had an awesome send-off from last year's Mérida STINT team, and despite some itinerary and almost missing item troubles (we had to reroute from Miami to Dallas because of the storms, and one of my teammates left a purse on the plane which was thankfully picked up and left at the gate rather than flown away), we will be in Caracas at around 8 pm (5 pm pacific coast time). We'll be heading to Mérida tomorrow at about 2 pm. Further updates and my first official newsletter will be coming within the week.

Quick Support update

81.5%- 405/month and $936.91 one-time to go. Leaving on Monday, so I need to have it in by Sunday night

Colorado STINT briefing, prayer requests, support update

Wow, I just read my last post and I am amazed by God's provision! In 11 days my support has gone from 38.5% to 70.9%, which is over $10,000. I have 9 days left, but I'm praying specifically that the remaining $510/month and $3007 will come in at least before next weekend, so that I will have that time to spend with friends and family before I leave.

I am currently at STINT briefing in Copper Mountain, Colorado. It has been an excellent week- I have met my 3 US teammates- Bryon, Emily, and Amber (Angye and Claudia are Venezuelan ladies who will be joining our team when we get there). We seem to have a diverse set of skills and personalities, which I know will be of great help in our ministry as a team this year.

After a seminar on spiritual warfare this morning, I ask your prayers specifically against spiritual attacks on the ladies on our team. STINTers, especially ladies, in the past have often suffered from nightmares and other troubles sleeping, depression, or other troubles. Also pray for excellent communication in our team, that the enemy will not be able to confuse or distort it.

I will be back in Ferndale either tomorrow or Monday, and Lord willing I will be sending my first official newsletter well before I leave, with lots of thanksgiving for God's provision.

Update/Birthday

As of yesterday (Aug. 5) I have officially celebrated 22 complete orbits of the earth around the nearest star. I helped to commemorate both my birthday and my time at Lake Tahoe summer project last year by getting dinner at Applebee's, where I was working on that same day the previous year, though in California.

I am currently at 38.5% support and rising. I'm praying for myself, my teammates, and all the STINTers this week as we prepare for the final stretch before the briefing week. At this point I can do nothing but kneel before God and say "have your way in me." I can trust in Him alone to provide if I am to go to Venezuela in His name.

Support update

32.8%. I have 6 ministry partner appointments this week but I'm striving for about 20. Thanks to everyone for prayer and support.

Support percentage

This is not entirely accurate as I have some unknown ammounts of support coming in, but my best guess is:

30.2%

Still got a ways to go, but it's coming in.

Venezuela STINT

I'm going on a short-term international (STINT) mission trip to Mérida, Venezuela starting in August. That's the big news. I hope to keep this blog current throughout my time there as well as during my time here in the states.

I am incredibly excited with this opportunity God has blessed me with. I never would have thought going into college about 3 years ago that God would have me take a year off of school to go share the gospel with students in Venezuela! Starting college I don't think I even seriously considered the possibility of sharing my faith in Christ with anyone! God has worked a lot of change in my life over my time in college- especially through the great Christian mentors I've met in my time with Campus Crusade for Christ, the student ministry I have been working with.

Right now my base of operations is at my home in Ferndale, Washington- just north of Bellingham. I plan to continue making financial and prayer partners up until August 1st, which is the deadline by which I need to raise my support to go to Venezuela.

Right now I am approximately at the 10% mark for my support overall. I need to cover both monthly support and one-time gift support. That works out to an average of about 2.65% a day that I need to raise in order to meet the deadline. I'm trusting God to meet my needs, but writing of this reminds me that I also need to be faithful in my ministry partner development, so I'm getting back to work!

Do you have what it takes to join the Homestarmy? The guts? The determination? The five bucks? Join today! 

First One

So today I'm just starting this blog. Then I'm going to sleep. So..... good night.