Baptism in the jungle

Kasabi bread

Walking through the open plains toward the baptism site.

Entering the Venezuelan jungle.

One of the homes of an indigenous family

Swimming in a nearby river. The canoe is made from a hallowed out tree.

Roberto, Pastor Carlos, and Brett conducting the baptism ritual.

This hand-woven basket is used to collect yuca plants. As you can see, majority of the weight rests on the head.


Piling into the cattletrucks to return to the city.

Baptism in the Venezuelan jungle

Cassandra Klingenberg
Baptism - Saturday, July 14
posted Friday, June 26

Leaving two hours after our scheduled time of departure, 50 people from the church piled into cattle trucks for the baptism of eight new believers. We traveled for an hour and a half to a nearby indigenous community, consisting of three families, living in the middle of nowhere. They invited us into their school/home built of grass, mud, sticks, and homemade wood planks. Brett, Jeremy, and I wandered around the village, amazed by their simple yet ingenious way of life…drying racks made of sticks, canoes made from hallowed out trees, and outhouse walls made from palm branches. I felt like I had stepped back in time, a time where the land produced not only your own food, but also clothing, shelter, and tools.

As we made our way down to the baptism site, we walked through the remains of a forest that was being cleared for farming, continued on through a wide grassy plain, and then entered into a thick jungle where we could almost smell the anacondas. We came upon a crystal clear stream where the baptisms would be performed. As the congregation gathered on the bank, Pastor Carlos proceeded to take off his prosthetic leg and hobbled into the water assisted by Roberto and Brett, who had been asked moments before to help with the ritual.

One by one, the baptism candidates entered the water and gave a short testimony. Brett and Carlos took turns praying for them and immersing them in the water, baptising them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As each of the new believers left the water, they were welcomed by their brothers and sisters in Christ with singing and thanksgiving.

For me, it was my first time to see anyone baptised by immersion in a river, let alone a river in the Venezuelan jungle. The presence of the Lord was there, as it was on the day of my own baptism, but it is a unique image and experience I will always treasure.

Alyse Haldeman

Friday, June 27
Cassie Klingenberg

For the last couple weeks, Alyse has been experiencing headaches and double vision. A week ago Thursday, upon recommendation, we took her to the nuerologist in Puerto Ayachuco. The doctor said she had high pressure in the brain which was causing inflamation in her pupil. He said she needed to return to the U.S. or go to Caracas for a MRI.

Alyse and I took the first flight to Caracas Friday afternoon. Since no hospitals did scheduled exams on the weekend, we took her to the Emergency Room Saturday night. On Monday, it was determined that the headaches and double vision were a medical side effect probably due to pills (malaria and other medications she´d been taking for an infection). The doctor said she needed to refrain from all physical activities and rest for the next few weeks. He said she wouldn´t get the rest she needed in Venezuela and highly recommended she return to the U.S. Alyse was released from the hospital Tuesday afternoon and left for the U.S. early Wednesday morning. The doctor requested she do further testing there and take it easy.

The rest of the team left Puerto Ayachuco by bus last Saturday night and arrived in Charallave Sunday morning. We were all able to accompany her to the airport and say good-bye. As you can imagine, there have been alot of sudden changes for our team, and especially for Alyse. Please pray for her as she is adjusting to an early return home and for quick recovery so she can join us for re-entry training in Harrisburg.

In the plains of Amazonas with some people from the church.

the hut

The Hut

Jeremy Spangler
June 12, 2008
Wood, palm branches, and cement form the gathering place, more formally known as the hut by us a as a team, here at the pastoral house in Puerto Ayacucho. There are two houses here in which sixteen people live and most all of the activity comes down to the hut out back.
Along with the sixteen people who live in the two houses, it is where a lot of church activity and fellowship happens outside of Saturday and Sunday. At almost anytime of day the hut is a place where fellowship between believers and non-believers alike come together. The gate out front is constantly opening and closing with the flow of people coming and going. No one ever needs any specific reason to stop by and for sure no reason to call ahead. No one is ever turned away or told that they have to leave. Instead, if anyone is ever there over a meal, whenever that might happen, it will be extended to them as well.
There is no specific event to share with you about the hut that I have in mind, just some generalities. There are often times where prayer will break out for a sick person or someone who needs prayer for any given thing. We have played numerous card games with the youth and lots of joking around. We get to share with each other and learn about each other.
The hut is the gathering place, but it’s what happens in it with the believers and non-believers, the stories and the laughter, the sharing and the prayer, that really makes a difference to anyone- not the hut.
I would post pictures from here in Puerto Ayacucho but am not able to at the time.
Prayer Requests
- Pastor Carlos and his family to have time to spend alone among all the visitors
- unity...in "Centro Apostolico," our team and the body of Christ in Puerto Ayacucho
- focus for my teammates and I for our remaining weeks in Venezuela, but esp. for our time here in Puerto Ayacucho
Praises
- The team unity we have been experiencing
- A once again completely healthy team
- Relationships we have been building over the past two weeks

Amazonas

Hello everyone!
Our team has now been in Puerto Ayacucho, Amazonas for one week. We spent our first week working on getting used to our new surroundings and seeking God's direction for our time here. We are hoping to come alongside the people of "Centro Apostolico Internacional de Amazonas (the church we're working with)," to further their vision and work with them in reaching out to people. We are planning to focus on teaching drama to the church youth group, teaching English classes, and visiting homes of the people from the church. Dani, Alyse, Jeremy & I are living at the pastor's house and Brett & Cassie are living with a host family from the church--about a 5-minute taxi ride away from us.

The pastor of "Centro Apostolico" is Carlos Arteaga. He helped to found the church five years ago. He has shared his testimony with our team. Nine years ago, he was in an airplane with seven other people flying in the jungle in Amazonas. The plane crashed and five people were killed, including the pilot. Carlos returned to consciousness nine hours after the crash, to find himself with a broken arm, a torn-up hand, part of his scalp missing, and the bottom half of his leg destroyed. He and two other passengers had survived the crash. Three days after the crash, Carlos sent the other two to search for help, and he was left alone in the jungle for eight days, helpless and in great pain. There were many times when Carlos felt completely alone and defeated during this time, but God very clearly reassured Carlos of His presence with him. Some of the hardships that Carlos faced while he was in the jungle: fever; gangrene; animals such as Anacondas, tigers and wild hogs; worms, spiders, and ants covering his wounds. Some of the ways God revealed himself in the jungle: sending two angels to deliver food for Carlos to eat, silencing all the action and noise in the jungle two different times to speak to Carlos, and filling Carlos with the Holy Spirit to guide him in responding to the Anaconda breathing in his face and the tiger in his presence (two different times). There are so many testimonies of God's grace within Carlos' story. But one point that really stuck out to me came at one of Carlos' lowest points in the jungle. Carlos had surrendered his life into the Lord's hands and even told the Lord at one point that he wanted to die. But God brought complete stillness and silence to the jungle…the animals, wind, insects—even the stream running reside him—were stopped and silent before the Lord! And God spoke to Carlos saying, “¿Hijo, si Yo te libre de un avion, como que no voy a librarte (de esta situación)?...¿Si Yo soy el Jesús, el Todopoderoso?” (“Son, if I freed you from a plane, how is it that I’m not going to free you (from this situation)?...if I’m Jesus, the Almighty?”) At this point, Carlos had already seen God’s miraculous hand at work in protecting him, but his vision of God’s great power was clouded by the hardship in front of him. He was losing faith in what God what doing, and the beautiful things God had ahead of Carlos.

I would like to pause at this point in the story to ask if this situation is not something that we can all relate to? Maybe we have never seen God work in ways so obvious and clear as seeing angels…maybe we’ve never heard an audible voice from God…but I know that God has worked and is continuing to work in the lives of each and every person on this earth—whether it’s visible to us or not. How often do we forget the work He has done, the way He has revealed Himself to us…and become overwhelmed by the situation in front of us, become scared of the path ahead of us? I’m not placing guilt on anyone for feeling fear or pain or anxiety…I feel those things all the time. I am just challenging myself, and you, to remember the power of God’s almighty hand—the power that no one and nothing can change. I am challenging us to remember the ways that God has shown Himself in our lives—He brought us into this world, He placed His gifts in each one of us, and has plans for every person. As we grow in recognizing more deeply the power God holds and the love He has for us, we will grow in the act of faith that it takes to place our lives in God’s hands, allowing Him to guide our way.

By God’s grace, Carlos endured his eleven days in the jungle after the crash. Then he was rescued by a search team. He was taken to a hospital in Caracas, where he spent nine months recuperating. The doctors repaired his arm and hand, amputated his right leg just below the knee, and put a steel plate covered by a skin graft over his head wound. Now, nine years later, Carlos is still filled with the passion of God and is sharing his testimony of what God has done for him.

Prayer Requests....
-unity...in "Centro Apostolico," our team and the body of Christ in Puerto Ayacucho
-guidance and spiritual protection for our team
-God's vision and passion for the church here, along with our team
-energy to engage with the people and the culture here
-focus for my teammates and I for our remaining six weeks in Venezuela, but esp. for our time here in Puerto Ayacucho

Praises....
-safe travels to arrive in Puerto Ayacucho one week ago
-God's provisions and people here to welcome us
-the team unity we have felt

…may God bless each and every one of you.

--Love, Kirsten Miller