There's No Place Like Home........

There's no place like home and hopefully by now all team members have made it home! I say this because our dear teammates Susan and Dave got stuck in Charlotte last night. After an unexpected visit to Memphis this morning - they were headed to Louisville and then a 2 hour drive home.

Yesterday was a long day - as we awoke at 3:00am and departed the seminary at 4:00am. Arriving at the Barquisimeto airport to begin the long wait for our flight to depart. We stood in several lines - all of us trying to understand the reasoning behind each one. Our flight was due to depart at 6:30 and finally left around 8:00. Thankfully we had a built in layover cushion which we used most of. At some point while waiting in line Kathy and Stacy tried clicking their heels Dorothy style to go home - it didn't work! A quick connect in Curacao and we were off to Charlotte. Arriving back in the states made us all feel a little closer to home. One more flight - with a little deicing and we were there.

We want to thank you all for following us on our journey. We laughed and loved a lot. We were able to be bold and spread the Word of God. We shared the gospel message with many. And we hope that by our actions Christ's love was able to shine through.

Thanks to those who supported us with their prayers as well as those who contributed monetarily. We couldn't have done it without you.

Please pray over the next year for our friends new and old in Venezuela. Please pray for Pastor Smith, his congregation and his community. Please pray for the seminary as they educate these pastors in VZ.

We were blessed to be a part of this mission and can't wait to return next year! Venezuela 2014 - Here We Come!

Signing Off for the Team -

Kathy Reeves (AKA - Juanita!)

Today was the last full day. We left the seminary a little late today because the Venezuelan students who were staying here were saying goodbye to us. They were so sad to leave, and they wrote us a letter, in English, telling us how they have loved coming to know us and enjoy working with us. They were crying as we left to go to Valle Dorado.

At Valle Dorado, we were sent right to work pouring MORE concrete. Phil, with his excellent math skills, said we poured about 6 ½ tons of concrete. Susan, Kim, and Elizabeth got to carry back the empty buckets. Some of the kids wrote us adorable goodbye letters and drew pictures of us. At lunch we received beautiful gifts from Smith and the other people at Valle Dorado. Pastor Smith gave us an inspirational thank you and Kathy said one back, through Yoe, of course. It took a while for everyone to exchange names for Facebook and email addresses but we were shuffled to the van quickly. It was a hard goodbye for everyone, and I’m sure I can speak for the entire team when I say we will be excited to see them next year.

From Valle Dorado, we went to Nigel Burrow’s house. Nigel does Drop-Inn ministries and preaches on the streets of Barquisimeto and brings food to families in their houses and to the church we went to tonight. Nigel briefed us on what he’s done in the past and what he is still doing and what we were going to be doing later. After that, we got back into Willie’s van and went to the church to feed the children. When we got there, we were greeted and shown a presentation done by Nigel and his wife, Monica. When the children got there, they loved the Noah’s ark necklaces we had made for them earlier in the week. They prayed and ate sandwiches with big smiles on their faces. They were loving and happy to see all of us. We left with heavy hearts, knowing we had to leave the next morning. Some of us were happy to see our families, and others wanted to stay much longer. We will all be up at 4 in the morning to go to the airport. See you tomorrow!

Helping at the Seminary

Sorry about our internet problems! Thursday we did some work at the seminary. We got to bond with the Venezuelan workers and students staying at the seminary with us. Pam and Elizabeth painted the yellow house yellow (it was previously white) and almost everyone else unloaded cement blocks off of trucks. It was a tough day for the people who didn’t feel 100%. Abuela’s home remedy of tea helped.

The Faulk family, Stacy, and Yoe joined Nigel for his Drop-In ministry. They had the opportunity to minister to four young ladies that accepted Christ this past Saturday. They also served meals to about 90 children and adults.

We ended our day with a devotion from Elizabeth in which she shared what true happiness really means. This week has been an exciting new experience for the newbies and another fabulous year for the people returning. Everyone has put in their part to make this past week special and meaningful to them and to everyone. The best part about each day at Valle Dorado, was telling everyone, Hasta manana! (Until tomorrow) Soon, we are going to have to tell them, see you next year!

Bucket List

We've missed posting for two days. We apologize about our spotty internet. Once again our day found us at Valle Dorado.  It was a very hot day but a special day for us all (except Dillon – He didn’t feel well today).  Today we spent our time making concrete to pour for the foundation beams.  Phil determined for us that we carried over 500 buckets of concrete, that amounted to about 25lbs per bucket.  Our biggest challenge was when the power went out and Kathy decided the work must go on…..we believe that we may have set a new Venezuelan record for the largest hand mixed concrete volcano.   Pastor Warren was even seen on site with a bucket in hand.

The children came by to help us make necklaces for a street ministry that is led by Nigel Burrow’s, a missionary for over 10 years.  They enjoyed contributing and supporting us as we prepare for our outreach to Las  Clavellinas on Friday.

 We joined Pastor Smith for his church service tonight in Valle Dorado.  We prepared a skit for the children.  Rich did a great job of reading the story of Noah’s Ark as the rest of the team imitated a variety of animals.  The Aardvark and the turtle sound was a bit challenging for Peggy and Dave, but they nailed it when the curtains went up.  Taylor was the best sly red fox ever.  The children loved the story and we loved sharing with them.

Our favorite God moment today was when 2 boys accepted Christ.  We were told that the two boys decided last year that if we returned this year that they would then consider following Jesus and that it would be a sign from God of our faithfulness.  Praise God!

Another long day but once again we learned from Peggy’s devotion that good works don’t earn us salvation – that it is a result of salvation!