Deliverance – by Brett Klingenberg

This past Monday as I slept soundly in my bed above the church sanctuary, Pastor Ceferino was casting out demons below.

Here is the scoop. Pastor Ceferino received a knock on his door around midnight Monday morning. It was urgent. There was a man in town who was possessed by an evil spirit and was going crazy; he had a machete and was threatening to kill his family.

Ceferino said he would meet the man at the church. On the way to the church he passed by the hospital where the friends of the crazy man had brought him to try to calm him with some medication. When the demon inside the man saw Ceferino, it recognized the power of God in him, and caused the man to begin barking like a dog and trying to get away from him. Ceferino told the group to bring the man to the Church.
Once at the church, Ceferino began to preach; first to the friends and family that had accompanied the possessed man, especially the four men who were trying to restrain the one. He told them that he was afraid that once he cast the demon out that it would go into one of them and encouraged them to become Christians in that moment. Apparently everyone accepted Christ at that point. Then Ceferino began to pray that the man would be delivered from the evil spirit. I’m not sure how long it took, but it came out and the man fell to the ground like he was dead. By the way, he commanded it to come out silently so as not to wake us up upstairs. Ceferino told the family not to worry, that he was just sleeping (of course he has done this type of thing many times). After an hour and a half, the man finally came to. He sat up and asked where he was, and after it was explained to him what happened, he accepted Christ.

This is a very short account of the events, but we wanted to share about it because it is just another window into our lives here in Venezuela. The spiritual world is the focus here: from being ‘slain in the spirit’ during worship, to deliverance ministry, to the witch doctor living across the street from us. It has taken a bit to get used to, but now it all seems much more normal and those passages in the Bible where Jesus casts out demons are starting to become more relevant.
On Monday night a handful of people became Christians because they saw first-hand the power of God delivering their friend from evil. And for me, I didn’t even have to see it to believe it.

Prayer requests: Smooth transition as we move to the boys home near Caracas today.
That we would remain connected with the Shalom Church while we are away.
Once again that we can renew our visas within Venezuela.

The Venezuelan Culture

Newsletter #15
Kirsten Miller

Observations of the Venezuelan Culture, as perceived by Kirsten Miller

1. As typical of Latin-American culture as a whole, Venezuelan culture is centered around relationships, rather than time and the accomplishment of tasks. Scheduled times are relative, activities are quickly set aside to spend time with a friend who stops by at your house, and plans seem to be changing continually.
2. Typical greetings: a cheek-to-cheek “air kiss” is used in greetings between girls or a guy and a girl. Guys normally shake hands to greet each other.
3. People are generally very openly affectionate
4. Everybody teases each other…“gorda” and “feo” (fat and ugly) are commonly used terms, in love of course!
5. Many people “point” with their lips
6. Someone wrinkling their nose can be the equivalent of shrugging their shoulders
7. Most Venezuelans have a scar on one arm from a vaccine
8. Red is the color for Chavez and Chavistas, this is important mainly during times of voting or political events
9. People are very generous, giving lots of gifts. The general rule: if someone invites you out to eat, they pay for your food.
10. When someone enters a room where someone is eating a meal, or when two people are eating together, they say “buen provecho” (enjoy your meal).
11. “Dios te bendiga” (God bless you) is a very commonly used phrase—the response from the recipient of the blessing is “Amen.” People can “ask” for a blessing from older, close family members (parents, aunts and uncles) by saying “bendición” (blessing). The response from the elder person is, “Dios te bendiga.”

In other notes…
Starting on March 24, my team and I are planning on relocating for one month, possibly two, to work with a Christian organization that provides homes and families for boys who come from living on the streets in Caracas. The organization is called “Niños de la Luz” and is located in a ranch area in the mountains, on the outskirts of Caracas (http://www.ninosdelaluz.org/). It’s in a pretty secluded area, about a mile away from the closest town. We will be about an hour away from Charallave and, although we’re hoping to, we’re not sure that we’ll get a chance to come back to Charallave during our time with “Niños de la Luz.” There is no internet or phone connection “on the grounds,” so we don’t know yet how much communication with home we’ll have during this time.
The program is set up with fifteen boys ages 5-19, divided into three houses, with three sets of house parents. My team’s biggest role will be to support and provide help for the long-term staff. We will take part in different activities and duties, such as cooking, playing with the kids, work projects on the grounds, and participating in a short Bible study/worship time every night.

Thank you all for your support and prayers!

Oriente

Newsletter -Oriente

Alyse Haldeman

About a week ago, Jeremy, Dani and I returned from a trip to Eastern Venezuela, also known as Oriente. The trip was muy chevere (Venezuelan slang for cool). Early friday morning, (the 29th), the three of us and about thirty others from the church got on a bus to Caracas, and another one then to Oriente. We
took up most of the bus with people and several gigantic trash bags that held supplies for the children's bible school.

Friday night was spent praying, singing and talking (also some last minute planning) about the next day. Jose talked about preparing the way for Jesus, bringing heaven to earth. I kept thinking about the seeds of love, life, freedom and joy we could be planting in hearts of the children the next day. My prayer was that those children would not be so worried with the cares of this world that those seeds would be choked. That those seeds wouldn't be stolen or reasoned away. That their hearts wouldn't be hard but would be ready to receive them and that God could make them grow. We stayed up close to midnight praying and talking, which I normally wouldn't have thought anything about, except we were getting up at 6 the next morning.

It was about midnight when we were all ready for bed. Luckily, I remembered it was Dani's birthday the next day. The other seven girls in the room joined me in a count down to midnight. If everyone hadn't already been awake, we might have had some very grumpy Venezuelans coming to our room. As it was, we only got in trouble twice. The girls in our room were infected with the sleepy haha's and from there on out was plain silliness. The craziness in our room did not end with the admonitions, only became a softer, if possible, even more silly room.

We woke up rather unwillingly around 6 the next morning, ate, got ready and then canvassed the area to invite every child to bible school. For the few houses we went to, tons of children came. I was surprised and also a little overwhelmed. There wasn't much organization for the kids. They didn't have games for the kids to play while they were still setting up. So, along with the help from one of the youth, Rachel, we played duck, duck, goose. Only a few of them knew the game but they caught on rather quick and loved it. It was difficult at first, explaining the game and especially since one of the young boys was both deaf and mute and another had down-syndrome.

We gave all the kids, smilely face white shirts that said, "Yo soy de Jesus" (I am of Jesus). I don't think I've seen more thankful children before. There was so much joy, laughter and smiles. I bet living in such a remote place, those children don't receive much attention or entertainment, they just loved it. I want to go back sometime.

Saturday night was spent with a worship service for the adults. Freddy, Oscar and Eddison all gave their testimonies after Graciela's "sermon." Both Oscar and Eddison had experienced physical healing and Freddy accepted Christ after his wife had been praying for him for a long time. After the service, Charlys, Noemi and I sat around singing and playing the guitar. Eventually other people joined and there was an impromtu worship service. It was broken up, however, by one of Eddison's niece's accepting Christ. The joy was contagious. We prayed for her and she joined our worship service. It was broken up again by a short rain. It was fine, though, because when we moved into the house, another niece accepted Christ. At this point, any last remaining resevor broke. It was joyful mayheim. About 20 people jumping up and down, singing, "Te doy Gloria", I give you the glory.

Praises:

-Brett's family was able to visit us for a week, and blessed us with chocolate, stories, and laughter (i.e. blade of grass).

Prayers:
-La vigilia is on the 20th, which is an annual all night praise, worship, and prayer time with the theme of wakefulness in order to engage in spiritual warfare.

-Ceferino has talked many times of his dreams for the expanision of the church in different ways, i.e. a church van, a building with more classrooms and bigger area for the church. Please pray that money will come, following God's direction.

Colonia Tovar

Newsletter #13
Cassandra Klingenberg

Last Wednesday, the pastors Ceferino and Graciela Quintero, took the team to Colonia Tovar. Colonia Tovar is a little piece of old Germany lost in the Venezuelan cloud forest. This tidy and scenic town of red-tile-roof cabins lies scattered on a mountainside in the Cordillera de la Costa, about 60km west of Caracas (Lonely Planet).

People here don’t seem to travel much. If young couples in the church are able to take a honeymoon, Colonia Tovar is a popular vacation destination, even though it’s only a couple hours away. We have discovered that few people from the church have ever visited Angel Falls (the world’s highest waterfall), Margarita (one of the most well-known island destinations in the Caribbean), or Merida (a hiker’s paradise nestled in the Andean peaks).

For the Quintero’s children, Luz (12) and Brian (8), it was their first time to visit Colonia Tovar. In fact, it may have been their first vacation ever. They were so excited to leave that they woke up at 5:00am and couldn’t fall back to sleep. During our ascent up the mountain, Brain peered out the window the entire time. When we arrived, we walked around looking at souvenir shops and eating the local favorites. Brian’s eyes grew huge as his gaze fell upon a bright red, caramel apple. Although we stayed only a few hours, Brian and Luz had the time of their life.


Why hasn’t the congregation of Shalom seen much of Venezuela, a country boasting five diverse eco-systems? It may be that few people own a car of their own. Although a tank of gas costs only $1.00, a taxi to Colonia Tovar runs between $200-300. Public transportation is more economical, but also very time consuming. The 30 mile trip to Caracas costs $2.00 by bus, but could take up to two hours. With the average income ranging from $10-25 a day, it could be that traveling is a luxury and can’t often be afforded.

Ceferino has spoken about a need for a church van. While he doesn’t own a car of his own, he is more concerned about getting a van for the church than himself. The purpose of the van would be to assist missionaries, pick up visitors from the airport, and continue outreach in the barrios. But in the meantime, irregardless of cost, the Shalom congregation continues to bless us with their time and generosity.
Prayer requests:
English classes that are starting this week
Renewed focus in ministering to the people here

Praises:
Kirsten's family was able to visit and bless our team in many ways