2009 August «

Last Friday we returned from a 10 day trip to Venezuela. I myself hail from there and had not been there in 3 years, which was inexcusable! But our main reason for going was not tourism. We had the honor of sharing at one camp and two churches (Iglesia Cristiana El Bosque and Iglesia Cristiana del Este) about what we’ve been learning from God recently about joining His mission by being missional. I got to teach 2 workshops and preach 4 times, all in one week, although the best part of the whole camp was an unexpected baptism! Johanna, who had no church or spiritual background other than nominally, was invited to camp by her friend Ricardo and gave her life to Jesus Christ on the last day! That next Sunday she brought her sister to church with her. The movement keeps on going!

We also got to encourage and spend time with friends who serve Jesus in that country, people like my youth minister John Dye and his family, my friend Jorge Lugo and his family, my uncle Fernando Torres who’s a youth minister at a Christian Missionary Alliance church (Iglesia Encuentro con Dios), and many others. My body was exhausted, but my heart was filled by the encouragement from all the people we spent time with and by what they are doing to expand the Kingdom. I was humbled that they wanted to hear what little we had to say, and by the many great things we learned from them!

The down side of going on a trip like this was the little time we got to visit with friends and family, but I am thankful for all the love we received and I know next time we return won’t be in 3 years but hopefully sooner.

At my home church my friend Lucio had a bunch of guys lift me up making me feel like a rock star! Actually, he did that to show that sometimes things may feel upside down, but God will never let go. It was a lesson he taught me in the same way 5 years a go when I left Venezuela, and it was very meaningful to hear it again and to look back at how God has been holding me in the last 5 years.