Venezuelans are a beautiful people, healthy, quick to smile, poor in material ways, but rich in spirit. They were living proof that one can be quite content despite lack of material
possessions.
On our way in and out of Venezuela, we stayed overnight in Caracas, at the home of Pastor Ted Krey, the lone-remaining ordained Lutheran missionary in Venezuela. In his mid 30's, Pastor Ted
impressed us with the seminary program he has set up in Caracas. We were blessed to meet his 6 seminary students upon our arrival, and there's a special departing story at the end of this article. The future
Lutheran pastors of Venezuela are in good hands under the tutelage of Pastor Ted and his assistant, Olga Cortes. By the way, it was Olga who greeted us at the Caracas Airport. Somehow, in the translation from
English to Spanish, Olga was led to believe that we were a group of 10 really old, retarded (mis-translated from "retired") people. She and the 10 of us were all relieved once she found us in the airport.
On
our first Sunday, we flew from Caracas to Maturin, met up with Dale and Sandy Saville, who are the farm missionaries, and we took an hour plus bus ride from Maturin to The Farm. Luis jumped off the bus and
kissed the farm ground for each one of you. We felt like we were at home. Families with lots of kids kept arriving at The Farm. Before you knew it, there were about 150, all gathered under the canopy of huge
shade trees. Don't forget, Venezuela is just north of the equator, and hot, hot, hot are three accurate adjectives. Early afternoon we all shared in an outdoor church service, complete with a Spanish
Contemporary Band. At the conclusion of the service, the kids were yearning for a competitive activity, and wouldn't you know it, the "Team of Ten" had come prepared to conduct the 2008 Venezuelan Bubble Gum
Blowing Championship. Ask Vern sometime how he felt, being surrounded by a multitude of bubble gum blowing Venezuelan children, as they crowded in to have him measure the diameters of their bubbles.
Our farm
activities for the week included painting one of the two farm houses a nice, bright blue. We also planted a small crop of bamboo in concrete-hard Venezuelan soil. One day we took to the orange grove,
weed-whacked overgrowth near the orange trees, used machetes to cut off sucker branches, and trimmed dead branches from the trees. We were supervised by 21-year-old Jesus, who had the misfortune of being kissed
by an angry wasp, right on his lower lip. Joanne could see the sting coming, but she didn't know the Spanish phrase for "run for your life!"
We brought $2,000 cash as a love gift from Ascension. It was to be
used to purchase the remaining 2,300 concrete blocks needed to complete construction of the walls for the huge church on the farm's 350 acres. During the week, we were able to transport 200 of those concrete
blocks to the construction site. Then the farm's pickup truck suffered some faulty brakes, and the block party had to be delayed.
For 4 straight days the "Team of Ten" worked alongside the 5 farm workers. We
were served native meals each day at noon by 3 wonderful cooks. By the end of our work week, we had accomplished several tasks, but better than that was the warm feeling of working alongside our Christian
brothers and sisters. We did not share the same language or the same culture, but a Christian is a Christian is a Christian, and the Holy Spirit easily works through language barriers. On Thursday, our final day
on The Farm, we exchanged letters with each of the farm workers, expressing what the week had meant to all of us. Talk about hugs and watery eyes!
The final story: we returned to Caracas on Friday and were
invited to a Saturday church service put on by Pastor Ted and the seminarians. There were about 20 total in attendance. Pastor Ted's sermon topic that morning was "God Loves A Cheerful Giver." The offering plate
was passed and we were eager to contribute, knowing that Pastor Ted's church could well use the monies. At the conclusion of the collection, Rafael, a talkative seminarian, announced, in Spanish, that the
seminarians were giving the offering to Ascension to be used in the Hispanic ministry back home in Casselberry, Florida. We were in awe. There wasn't a dry eye in the sanctuary. What a great lesson to observe.
Remember, God loves a cheerful giver. We thought we were the givers, but as it turned out, we were the recipients.
Who is ready to step forward for the next mission trip? Ascension now has 10 individuals who
can share their experiences and are eager to do so. Ten lives have been changed in just 8 short days. Who is next? Could it possibly be YOU?
