There were no incidents to report until we arrived at the Maturin Airport where we were patiently waiting for our luggage to be brought from the plane to the baggage claim area. Apparently our luggage was a bit on the heavy side, as the truck pulling the luggage wagon could not make it up the slight incline to the unloading area. When the "most likely a first day employee" decided to back up the luggage truck, with intentions of getting a running start up the incline, he jackknifed the luggage wagon, and 2 suitcases fell off the wagon, crashing to the earth with a thunderous thud. Dino was intently watching all the action, and he identified one of the falling suitcases as his very own. Bad News...Good News. The Bad News was that Dino's suitcase suffered a couple of bruises. The Good News was that Dino intentionally took an old, second-hand suitcase to Venezuela, knowing full well that it could be a rough journey.

Along the highway to The Farm, we were introduced to "Speed Bump World." We did not see many police patrolling the highways. However, Venezuela has another method to discourage speeding on its highways. The technique is called "Speed Bumps every half mile or so." We'd be buzzing along at 50 or 60 miles per hour, and then we would come to almost a complete stop as our bus negotiated each and every Speed Bump. And guess what takes place at many of the Speed Bumps? If you guessed "Venezuelan Commerce," you would be correct. Vendors take advantage of vehicles coming to a halt. The vendors make it easy to purchase frozen juice bars, sodas, beer, sugar cane juice, flat bread, coffee, and a multitude of other items.

We noticed a lot of activity around the house near the entrance to The Farm. Lots of ladies working on meal preparations. And there were 10-15 kids running about. Here we were, the Gringos from the United States, and it was time to start building relationships. Over the next couple of hours, there were several more arrivals. We were thinking that maybe the "Team of Ten" was quite a drawing card, but missionary Dale was quick to point out that there was a big meal planned, and like Lutherans in the USA, the best way to get a large crowd is to serve a good dinner. By the way, the meal consisted of a beef stew with a variety of Venezuelan vegetables.

Carol had brought an Eternal Soccer Ball to Venezuela. Each of the various colored panels was symbolic. The Gold panel represented God. The Black panel represented sin. Red was for Jesus' blood. Green was growth in your relationship with God, and White represented each of us after our sins were washed away. The kids gathered around Luis as he explained the symbolism. And then, since kids are kids around the world, the boys took off with the soccer ball and left the girls behind with nothing to play with.

After everyone had eaten the Beef Stew meal, it was time for the Sunday service, held right there on the farm, under the shade trees. Can you believe there were nearly 150 in attendance? And there was even a Contemporary Band playing and singing, in Spanish, of course. At the end of the service, Luis read, in Spanish, a letter that Ascension's very own Rebeca Clero had written and asked the "Team of Ten" to deliver to the Venezuelan farm folks. From her own childhood, Rebeca could relate to the farm lifestyle, and she expressed how she, too, would like to have been part of this mission team. She hoped to someday have the privilege of visiting The Farm. Our Venezuelan brothers and sisters responded to her letter with a rousing ovation.

Now, finally, it was time for some competitive juices to start flowing. Yep, a piece of bubble gum was distributed to each child. A couple of rules were read to ensure that the Venezuelan Bubble Gum Blowing Championship would adhere to the same guidelines used in North America. And Vern and Dino had the task of operating the 2 Bazook-A-Meters, devices used to measure the diameter of each contestant's bubble. Poor Vern was completely surrounded by bubble gum blowing Venezuelan children. What a sight! Each competitor nudged closer and closer to Vern, hoping to blow a bubble large enough to win the grand prize. When the smoke cleared, the winner was Daniel with a bubble measuring 75 bazookameters. Second place went to Roberto with a diameter of 57. The top five finishers each received a cap, and champion Daniel was so proud to put on his University of Florida cap.