DAY 2

Wow! We got through day two and boy was it an adventurous day!  It all started bright and early (okay not too early) but the sun was shining. We had lots of activities on the agenda for today: construction, more construction, demolition and building, clean up, more clean up, outreach training, worship service, a crusade/open air meeting, and of course, eating was in there somewhere!

The enemy has been trying to gain ground here, and we know it is because he notices that his time is limited and that God’s people are taking the mandate to go and send and to do the work of our Father seriously. Please pray for us. (A big thank you to all who are already in prayer, please continue and to those who haven’t been praying but are starting too- thank you!)

We started out early with breakfast and getting into our work clothes. Trees were cut and moved, walls were destroyed and a room cleaning took place. There was also breaking of a cement wall! Many of our very own used a sledge hammer to do it, too! It was really cool! Henry and Chad kicked the wall down. It was epic! We also had the pleasure of finding some “critters!" No worries, no one got hurt!

Felicia was working hard to get the base of the wall to come down.
She did well!

Seth was working hard to get the wall down.

After someone bent the beam of metal, Brittany was busy trying to make the cement break!

This was epic.  I tried to get the picture as they were kicking the wall down, but it didn't work.
This was right after they kicked it down!

We saw this tarantula after demolishing the wall.  Don't worry, no one was hurt!

Aaron, Isabel and Brittany all worked with one Venezuelan to build up the wall around the church we are working with called “House of Prayer” in Spanish (MCO for short).  Isabel had experience laying bricks in another country, so he allowed her to help and since she could also speak Spanish pretty well (except the occasional different way of saying some things) she got to hear his testimony!

Isabel knows something about laying bricks, and she got to use it for God's glory!  They worked well together!

During the time of the outreach,  some of us stayed back at MCO to continue the work we had to do. Chad almost cut off his toe, literally! Notice I said almost. He still has his toe.  The part of the sock where the toe should be is completely cut off, but only a small part of his toe is actually black—probably just a bruising from the pressure! Our God is so good!

Chad almost cut off his toe!

God is good!  What the enemy meant for harm, God turned to good!

A word from Brittany W. ~ "Today has been such a blessing.  When it was all said and done we thought back over the day and discussed it.  We all came to the conclusion that we did have some down points where evil was definitely lurking trying to stop us from reaching out to the people of Venezuela.  However, the Lord is so strong in all of us that we each have something to offer to the team and the people in Venezuela.  All of us are constantly there for each other, encouraging each other, and making this mission trip more than memorable. Rather than feeling disappointed when things don’t always go the way we want them to, we feel encouraged and even more excited about the next day.  Today we accomplished so much and continued to bond with the people.  I think when you’re put in circumstances where you have less than you did before, you are less stressed and more focused on one goal (in this case, glorifying God and making Him known).  You can tell when a team is all in one accord, and we really are.  Today we cleaned up a lot of the church grounds, tore walls down, built some walls up, practiced Spanish Bible songs, and so much more.  A handful of us went out to a children’s outreach today, too, where we sang songs and played games with the children.  They absolutely loved it and kept saying “mas, mas” which means “more, more.”  I really wish you could see the expression on these children’s faces when you give them just a little bit of encouragement.  They light up with excitement.  We didn’t want to leave as the outreach ended but gave out stuffed animals and candy as we left.  Of course, they are children so they couldn’t get enough of it.  All of these experiences (and many more unspoken ones) leave the team with this unexplainable glow that you can see on all of our faces.”

A word from Brittany M. ~ "Today I had quiet time and was reading about giving water to the “least of these” and God really impressed on my heart that I am not to shut my eyes or ears to these people… to ultimately let them into my life, my heart and just learn from them. Just a little while later, there was this little boy and his little sister (I think). They were both precious. The little boy was playing soccer, so I stood there and watched for a little bit. We then were able to get past the language barrier as we played. Just noises became our language. It was easy and hard at the same time. As I played with him, God was opening my eyes. It’s love, just love that can overcome poverty and pain and life’s toughest situations. I was really tired and asked him if I could take a break because I needed water (aqua)! So, I went, filled up my water bottle, and then a little while later here they came. The young boy told me (in some way) that his sister wanted or needed water. So, I said, “yes, come, come” and motioned toward me. I went and filled up a cup of water and handed it to them. We sat there for a little while as he helped me a bit with my Spanish. Or at least I was trying to learn it! Yes, that’s right I’m actually trying to learn Spanish. God changes everything and when I say everything, I mean literally everything."




THE VENEZUELA TEAM