Hodge Podge

Venezuela Update Week #10/#11

By- Dani Rupp

Please excuse the tardiness of this update, as I have found myself to be quite adjusted to the Venezuelan view of time. According to that, I’m still early. Team V has been busy lately with upcoming events. Here’s an overview of what is happening in the land of arepas and beans.
Carnival- Last week was Carnival, a week of parades, parties and vacation. Though we went down to watch some of the parade and had water balloons thrown at us, we did not participate in any of the stereotypical festivities. It is considered a pagan holiday by the church and therefore they discourage attending the local events.
Lent- We did have an Ash Wednesday service as a team. I have never attended an Ash Wednesday service, nor have I ever really understood lent. I always joked that I gave up lent for lent, but Brett talked to us about the history of it and challenged us to think of something to focus on during the 40 days of lent. On Ash Wednesday we all shared our focus and/or sacrifice and had a time of prayer and anointing with ashes. As a team we are striving to encourage and challenge one another with the commitments we made.
Visas- When we came to Venezuela, our team was only able to obtain traveler’s Visas, which are good for 90 days. After a hectic few weeks of trying to figure out if we could renew them in Venezuela, we found out that is not possible and we need to leave the country, renew our Visas in another country, and then reenter Venezuela. Due to timing issues we will be leaving tonight (Friday) and will be back by next Thursday. The past few days have been full of trying to find a cheap place to travel to. It has been stressful and there have been times of anxiety, but we are trusting in God and we know He has a plan. This situation is teaching us to rely completely on Him. Right now we are planning on taking a bus to an airport and then flying to Aruba. Prayers for our upcoming travel plans and our sanity would be appreciated.
Oriente- At the end of February, Alyse, Jeremy and I (Brett and Kirsten will have family here) will be going with the youth from Shalom to the Aguanape (in Southwest/Central region of Venezuela) for a weekend. We will be working with a church there and other than that I do not know many details. I do know the church has been focusing on spiritual warfare a lot in regards to this trip, so I think it is a place that is fairly dark and needs the light of Christ. Please pray for this upcoming ministry opportunity.
Teaching English- March is full with Kirsten’s family going back home after their visit, Brett’s family coming and a few weeks later Cassie’s family arriving. In between the craziness, we are hoping to provide English tutoring, as well as classes, at the church on Saturday mornings. We are still not sure what this will look like, but we are praying about how we can best use this as a ministry opportunity.
Ninos de la Luz- In April we will be living in Caracas for at least a month with an organization called Ninos de la Luz. It is a Christian-run organization located on a ranch that houses and helps kids from the streets. We are excited about this opportunity and the ability to use the gifts God has given our team. Check out their website- www.ninosdelaluz.org
Amazonas- It is looking like we are going to be in the Amazonas, southern Venezuela, for the month of June. We will be living in Puerto Ayacucho and helping a church there with outreach to other tribes in the area. This is an opportunity to join in Shalom’s vision of planting a church there. We have been told that we need to be prepared for experiences with spiritual warfare. Though this is still quite a few months away, please pray for our preparation for this trip.
Prayer Requests:
All of the upcoming events mentioned above
Continued health and safety
Continued healthy team dynamics
Praises
God working out our Visas situation, maybe not in the way we wanted, but His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8)
Upcoming ministry opportunities
Personal, team, and church growth