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
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Monday, June 2, 2008
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
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
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Spirituality in the Lost World
by Brett Klingenberg
Carefully we walked barefoot through the shallows, one eye on our guide, Sergio, and another on the slippery rock below. As we neared the top of the falls, our senses were filled with the beauty of the Great Savanna - an immense sea of rolling green hills, valleys of scattered palm trees, and the ocasional glimpse of the mystical tepuy´s – gigantic flat topped mountains found nowhere else on earth.
We were only on the first leg of our two day tour of the Great Savanna, located in southern Venezuela, and already I was beginning to understand why the local town of 17,000 had a Hindu congregation, Buddist and Mormon temple, and several UFO sightings...this place brings out the spiritual side of life.
The next day as Sergio and I sat visiting underneath another perfect waterfall, I in my swimsuit and he in his underwear, he began to speak about how his entire family is Christian, but he is not. When I asked why, he explained that he likes to take the best of all religions, combine them, and seek to live a good life. He said he likes Buddism and Christianity, and reads the Bible a lot. He said he believes in forgiveness, and that being able to forgive the people who hurt you is the path to a fulfilling life. I couldn´t disagree. Then he said that it´s not just what you know about faith, it´s also about feeling it. "And living it," I added. I told him about my desire not only to know Jesus, but live out his commands and teachings. I mentioned how some of the men of the Mennonite Church had refused to go into the military because they desired to live out Jesus words to love without exception, and how some of them were persecuted and even killed in prison; how my own father had refused to fight in Vietnam and instead chose to serve in a hospital. I also mentioned my calling to be a pastor and how this was leading my wife and I to attend seminary and follow the Lord´s call wherever it may be. Then we changed the subject.
Did I evangelize? Did I do enough to point him to God? I think so. But I think more than these words, it was how our team interacted together...how we had fun, marveled at the land, and treated each other with kindness...that was what stuck out the most to Sergio, something he voiced more than once. I am finding that being a good listener is the key to witnessing - something Jesus taught, and that if our team had not been an example of Christian community, nothing I said would have had any weight. You´ve got to live the call.
Prayer Requests: That the Lord will empower us and lead us without fear into the Amazonas on Saturday, where we will live for a month.
That we will not be afraid when we encounter spiritual warfare, and that we will be bold in claiming the victory of Christ.
Praises - We were meant for an 8 month term, and already our team is beginning to bear even greater fruit in terms of unity, the desire to serve, and becoming completely immersed and present in Venezuela.
by Brett Klingenberg
Carefully we walked barefoot through the shallows, one eye on our guide, Sergio, and another on the slippery rock below. As we neared the top of the falls, our senses were filled with the beauty of the Great Savanna - an immense sea of rolling green hills, valleys of scattered palm trees, and the ocasional glimpse of the mystical tepuy´s – gigantic flat topped mountains found nowhere else on earth.
We were only on the first leg of our two day tour of the Great Savanna, located in southern Venezuela, and already I was beginning to understand why the local town of 17,000 had a Hindu congregation, Buddist and Mormon temple, and several UFO sightings...this place brings out the spiritual side of life.
The next day as Sergio and I sat visiting underneath another perfect waterfall, I in my swimsuit and he in his underwear, he began to speak about how his entire family is Christian, but he is not. When I asked why, he explained that he likes to take the best of all religions, combine them, and seek to live a good life. He said he likes Buddism and Christianity, and reads the Bible a lot. He said he believes in forgiveness, and that being able to forgive the people who hurt you is the path to a fulfilling life. I couldn´t disagree. Then he said that it´s not just what you know about faith, it´s also about feeling it. "And living it," I added. I told him about my desire not only to know Jesus, but live out his commands and teachings. I mentioned how some of the men of the Mennonite Church had refused to go into the military because they desired to live out Jesus words to love without exception, and how some of them were persecuted and even killed in prison; how my own father had refused to fight in Vietnam and instead chose to serve in a hospital. I also mentioned my calling to be a pastor and how this was leading my wife and I to attend seminary and follow the Lord´s call wherever it may be. Then we changed the subject.
Did I evangelize? Did I do enough to point him to God? I think so. But I think more than these words, it was how our team interacted together...how we had fun, marveled at the land, and treated each other with kindness...that was what stuck out the most to Sergio, something he voiced more than once. I am finding that being a good listener is the key to witnessing - something Jesus taught, and that if our team had not been an example of Christian community, nothing I said would have had any weight. You´ve got to live the call.
Prayer Requests: That the Lord will empower us and lead us without fear into the Amazonas on Saturday, where we will live for a month.
That we will not be afraid when we encounter spiritual warfare, and that we will be bold in claiming the victory of Christ.
Praises - We were meant for an 8 month term, and already our team is beginning to bear even greater fruit in terms of unity, the desire to serve, and becoming completely immersed and present in Venezuela.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Good morning America!
Its almost nine in the morning in Charallave and already I'm sweating and frankly, smell bad. The days and nights are pretty much always incredibly hot but we are now entering the rainy season so now things are wet and hot. Somehow the rain does not cool the temperature and the heat doesn't dry anything. I did laundry yesterday and now have clean clothes, unfortunately none of them are dry and my host mother said I'm going to have to wait until tomorrow. Might as well wear dirty ones, I'm going to sweat through them anyway.
My team returned to Charallave last saturday from niños de la luz. It was incredibly hard to leave these boys with whom we had built relationships and will always have a foothold in our hearts. The boys come from various situations: most have parents, only their parents cannot support them, they do not know where their parents are, the parents have drug or alcohol addictions or missing mental facilities. The boys have been in and out of group homes and the streets of Caracas. As a result, a few do not know how to read or even know their alphabet. The farm on which niños is located has a small school for the boys who are too far behind to go to real school, but there is no teacher. In our six weeks at the farm, we taught school. Praise God! One boy, who struggles with retaining information and is 11, now knows his alaphabet and simple math and substraction! Another boy, can read simple sentences! We saw incredible growth in these boys while we were there, but it took a lot of time, perseverance and pouring into these boys. Pray for a teacher for these boys. Unfortunately, the host parents are either exhausted from the time they have dedicated to these kids or are fairly new and untrained. So a lot of things fall between the cracks of complete exhaustion and inexperience. All I want for those boys, is that they would be able to just be boys but circumstances have not allowed that. Niños de la Luz is an awesome ministry but they need help. There are three houses: El Camino, Manatial and Esperanza. Pray for them. There are three sets of host parents (called uncles and aunts by the kids): Omar and Josephina, Jose and Mirtha, and Soltela. Pray for rejuvenation of their bodies and minds. Also please pray for more staff. At one time there used to be six sets of aunts and uncles, that would rotate when one set needed time off. Please pray for them, your brothers and sisters in christ.
Only through the love of God above,
Alyse Haldeman
Praises:
- For the time we spent with the boys at the farm. For what we learned and what we taught them.
Prayer requests:
- For the needs of Niños de la Luz
-We are leaving for Brazil this coming monday to renew our visas. Then at the end of May until the beginning of July, we are going to be in the Amazonas. Please pray that God will prepare the way for us and go before us. Especially with all the fish (including eyes and heads), yuca (otherwise known as yucka), monkey brain and snake (don't worry, I think these were jokes) that we are going to eat.
Its almost nine in the morning in Charallave and already I'm sweating and frankly, smell bad. The days and nights are pretty much always incredibly hot but we are now entering the rainy season so now things are wet and hot. Somehow the rain does not cool the temperature and the heat doesn't dry anything. I did laundry yesterday and now have clean clothes, unfortunately none of them are dry and my host mother said I'm going to have to wait until tomorrow. Might as well wear dirty ones, I'm going to sweat through them anyway.
My team returned to Charallave last saturday from niños de la luz. It was incredibly hard to leave these boys with whom we had built relationships and will always have a foothold in our hearts. The boys come from various situations: most have parents, only their parents cannot support them, they do not know where their parents are, the parents have drug or alcohol addictions or missing mental facilities. The boys have been in and out of group homes and the streets of Caracas. As a result, a few do not know how to read or even know their alphabet. The farm on which niños is located has a small school for the boys who are too far behind to go to real school, but there is no teacher. In our six weeks at the farm, we taught school. Praise God! One boy, who struggles with retaining information and is 11, now knows his alaphabet and simple math and substraction! Another boy, can read simple sentences! We saw incredible growth in these boys while we were there, but it took a lot of time, perseverance and pouring into these boys. Pray for a teacher for these boys. Unfortunately, the host parents are either exhausted from the time they have dedicated to these kids or are fairly new and untrained. So a lot of things fall between the cracks of complete exhaustion and inexperience. All I want for those boys, is that they would be able to just be boys but circumstances have not allowed that. Niños de la Luz is an awesome ministry but they need help. There are three houses: El Camino, Manatial and Esperanza. Pray for them. There are three sets of host parents (called uncles and aunts by the kids): Omar and Josephina, Jose and Mirtha, and Soltela. Pray for rejuvenation of their bodies and minds. Also please pray for more staff. At one time there used to be six sets of aunts and uncles, that would rotate when one set needed time off. Please pray for them, your brothers and sisters in christ.
Only through the love of God above,
Alyse Haldeman
Praises:
- For the time we spent with the boys at the farm. For what we learned and what we taught them.
Prayer requests:
- For the needs of Niños de la Luz
-We are leaving for Brazil this coming monday to renew our visas. Then at the end of May until the beginning of July, we are going to be in the Amazonas. Please pray that God will prepare the way for us and go before us. Especially with all the fish (including eyes and heads), yuca (otherwise known as yucka), monkey brain and snake (don't worry, I think these were jokes) that we are going to eat.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
When a Park Bench is Your Bed
By Dani Rupp
As dusk set in over Plaza Altimira in Caracas, the neon green vest of a policeman caught my eye.
"Give me what's in your hand, " the policeman demanded to a young teenage street boy, dressed in raggedy clothes and no shoes.
"No," the fiesty boy responded, struggling to get away from the authorites. Despite his small size he held is own.
"Give it to me!" the policeman ordered again.
Again the boy refused, a wild, glazed look in his eyes.
The policeman grabbed the boy's hand tighter and the teen finally relented, giving up two small white pills. The boy, still agressive, walked angrily way, shouting threats and obsenities.
"Wow, he's usually not like that," one volunteer for Contactos de la Calle (Contacts in the Streets) sadly obsereved. "He's usually well mannered and calm, but tonight he's high."
This was my first encounter with a boy living on the streets of Caracas. Last Friday night Brett, Cassie and I had the opportunity to go out with Contactos de la Calle, an organization that pairs up with Niños de la Luz to help kids on the street. We me up with about ten Venezuelans and split into three groups to hit different parts of the city. After buying bread and pop to hand out to the kids, my group headed out. Besides the boy mentioned above, the plaza was mostly vacant of kids, as the presence of the police scared them away. We kept moving around and over the next hour or so we met up with mostly older teenage boys, talked, ate and prayed with them. It was eye opening to see where some of the boys we work with at Niños probably came from. After seeing kids on the street first hand I have a better idea of how to pray for the boys still living on the street and for the boys living at the farm.
Prayer Requests
* Niños de la Luz- for the boys living there and the staff, especially since they are short on help
* Contactos de la Calle- continued strength in their ministry and for males to volunteer to make going out at night safer
* Kids still on the street
* Our team as we leave Niños, prepare to renew our Visas in Brazil and then head to Amazonas
Praises
* Health and safety
* Connecting with kids and staff at Niños
* All the memories made the past 6 weeks at the farm
As dusk set in over Plaza Altimira in Caracas, the neon green vest of a policeman caught my eye.
"Give me what's in your hand, " the policeman demanded to a young teenage street boy, dressed in raggedy clothes and no shoes.
"No," the fiesty boy responded, struggling to get away from the authorites. Despite his small size he held is own.
"Give it to me!" the policeman ordered again.
Again the boy refused, a wild, glazed look in his eyes.
The policeman grabbed the boy's hand tighter and the teen finally relented, giving up two small white pills. The boy, still agressive, walked angrily way, shouting threats and obsenities.
"Wow, he's usually not like that," one volunteer for Contactos de la Calle (Contacts in the Streets) sadly obsereved. "He's usually well mannered and calm, but tonight he's high."
This was my first encounter with a boy living on the streets of Caracas. Last Friday night Brett, Cassie and I had the opportunity to go out with Contactos de la Calle, an organization that pairs up with Niños de la Luz to help kids on the street. We me up with about ten Venezuelans and split into three groups to hit different parts of the city. After buying bread and pop to hand out to the kids, my group headed out. Besides the boy mentioned above, the plaza was mostly vacant of kids, as the presence of the police scared them away. We kept moving around and over the next hour or so we met up with mostly older teenage boys, talked, ate and prayed with them. It was eye opening to see where some of the boys we work with at Niños probably came from. After seeing kids on the street first hand I have a better idea of how to pray for the boys still living on the street and for the boys living at the farm.
Prayer Requests
* Niños de la Luz- for the boys living there and the staff, especially since they are short on help
* Contactos de la Calle- continued strength in their ministry and for males to volunteer to make going out at night safer
* Kids still on the street
* Our team as we leave Niños, prepare to renew our Visas in Brazil and then head to Amazonas
Praises
* Health and safety
* Connecting with kids and staff at Niños
* All the memories made the past 6 weeks at the farm
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