I had a terrible attitude about going to Venezuela the five months before we left. Our pastor had preached months earlier about discipling all nations (not just our own) and I signed right up. As the trip drew closer, I found more reasons I should not go. It was really difficult leaving - I was not afraid of the poverty we would see or of uncomfortable conditions. I feared our plane would blow up, a terrorist attack, or something crazy. I was afraid I was leaving my children, never to see them again. A month before I left, I decided to quit being a baby and just commit to the trip. Oh, it was so much better after that - I looked forward to it and quit being so critical.
We left on a Saturday morning. When we got on the plane, the staff didn't know they were supposed to serve us lunch. So we arrived in Venezuela not having had lunch - ironic that we arrived hungry to a land of people where we intended to distribute food to people who harvested their food from a dump. Smiling Venezuelans greeted us with flowers and McDonald's. We all had nametags that were color-coded. We rode one bus in the morning with the group with whom we would serve and one bus in the evenings for dinner and meetings. It was all very organized. We had a chartered flight so the Venezuelans grabbed our luggage, put it in a truck, and left for our hotel. When we got to our hotel, we got our key and then our luggage was waiting outside our rooms. Very organized! Inside, we had working toilets and showers, nice beds, air conditioning, a full refridgerator, and snacks. We surely didn't feel we were suffering for the Lord! We had pizza later that day for dinner then boarded our buses for a meeting.
I won't tell every detail but, basically, we would board buses each day. Some groups did construction, some did VBS, and we did food distribution/carnivals. We would go to one community in the morning and set up a carnival - football throw, baseball toss, soccer, face painting, balloons, etc. Afterwards, we would pack up, eat lunch on the bus (where the local Venezuelans that served with us as tranlators and liasons would feed us first and then eat) and then distribute food to another community. The next day, we would do a carnival in the community we had distributed food to the previous day and we would distribute food to people we had played with at our carnival the other part of the previous day.
We had local Venezuelans with us every day that either worked for the mission that set up our trip or they were with the local church in the area we were serving. Their job was not only to translate, serve with us, and to be the face of the church to these other Venezuelans, but to also serve us and show us what it meant to disciple the nations. Most of the locals we worked with were young. All of them served quietly and passionately shared the Gospel. It was so compelling.
We were in Maracaibo. It was beautiful and very dry. There was dust everywhere - not dirty so much as dry. The people were kind and open. We ate like kings while we were there. The church members there were so loving to us - we had more than they did but they gave generously to us.
I came away from this trip realizing I had been ministered to more than I gave. I did nothing in comparison to them. You will notice in these pictures that I am nasty looking. Every day people in my group would quickly ask if I needed help. I wondered why until I noticed that I sweat straight through my shirts right away. I lubed up with sunscreen several times a day, fearing sunburn. I didn't wear make up - what was the point and who was I trying to impress?
I could talk so much more about this trip but maybe the pictures will tell you more than I can say.
When we distributed food, the local Venezuelans would approach the home, tell the people who they were and why they were bringing food. They would ask if we could pray. Sometimes the people said we could and other times they refrained. One of us Americans would pray and the Venezuelan with us (Audia, David, Archie, Sonia) would translate. I was tentative in what I prayed - if they were healed I didn't want them to associate it with us and if they weren't I didn't want them to think God didn't exist. I finally just let go and prayed as I felt led.
I didn't come home more grateful. I had been to Africa and the Middle East in college and had seen poverty. I didn't come home thinking I should sell all my possessions. I came home realizing I need to be open to leading people to Christ and to discipling others. I fear that I will turn others off to Christ if I don't present it well. However, it is not about me. It is about me surrendering my life to Christ and letting Him use it for His glory. I have taken credit for far too long!
Jamie and his parents really sacrificed their time for me to go - I could not have gone without them!
Nanette and Elisabeth upon our arrival. 
Lauren and I when we first got there. 
Me and kids from the first community where we did our first carnival. 
The Julies and kiddos. They love cameras, especially digital ones, so they can see what they look like.
This boy, to my right, had a seizure later that day. I saw him the next day when we distributed food in his neighborhood and he had a cut on his chin. I had the opportunity
to pray over him. I said this before, but it was hard, because I hoped the people there did
not associate miracles or healing with us, but with God. In the same vein, I hoped that they
didn't lose faith if God saw fit not to heal.
We unloaded the bus each day to set up our carnival. The first day, a girl dropped
We unloaded the bus each day to set up our carnival. The first day, a girl dropped candy and the kids (and parents) went crazy. We learned not to do that again!
This is a church built by some people on one of their mission trips. We used it to hang out, bag food, and pray over the food.
Me and the kids I met after we did our carnival. I did the football throw and had a system. They got candy if they threw the football into the carved out hole - I was
not lenient - I made them work for it!:) After a few days, I had a system. I had
three lines in the dirt. From the first line, if you made it, you got one piece of
candy. From the second line, you got two and from the third line you got three. I
tried it and couldn't do it - these kids were good!
These girls were sisters and were from Brazil. 
I took this girl's picture, initially, and she got mad because she said she was not ready. This is what she did on the second take - she posed!
Me and the kids I met in another neighborhood after food distribution and our puppet show.
We did a puppet show to music out of the bus. It was hard operating those puppets! My arms hurt afterwards.:)
Ryan and I were on this trip together from Brook Hills. David (on the right) is a Venezuelan who was on staff with the group with whom we worked. He hopes to
go to the Amazon to share the Gospel, where the language is not even written.
When I asked him how he knew God wanted him to do this, he looked at me like I
was crazy and said, "God told me." Very convicting.
One group of people from our trip painted a basketball court. They put our church logo in the center. We hope this basketball court will be used to bring people
together to have fun and to learn about Christ.
Ladies from my trip: Kelly's roommate, Julie, Kelly, and Rashel.
Our bus that traveled together at night to dinner and to meetings. 
Girls from our bus. 
Sonia (I know - nice picture of me) was with a local church. She came with us each day and served with us. She served us every day. When we ate, the
Venezuelans served us first and then they ate. She was cheerful and even though
she and I could not communicate well, we developed a bond. I could not stop
crying when I left! She had such a pure heart that I will never forget.
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