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