Mission Vive Venezuela!!

Two of our Venezuelan graduates led a team of 29 students and graduates to minister to their home town in Venezuela.  The team had an incredible journey.  They went through about 15 detention stations that are kind of like TSA except the officers are corrupt and ask for bribes or steal money or products.  The biggest miracle the team witnessed was that none of their supplies were stolen and they did not have to pay any bribes.  Praise God!!!  They must have had angels around them.

The team had two aspects to the trip.  One was “Outside” where they ministered to the people who were outside the church.  The other was “inside” where they ministered alongside the ministries and churches that were already doing the work in Venezuela. Juan Miguel and Sanel said that they did not want to arrive in their hometown and try and be heroes.  They wanted to bring encouragement and hope to the workers who had stayed in the country to continue to minister to this hurting nation.  

The team shared Christ in  a juvenile jail where there had been so much violence that the walls were stained with blood.  The young juveniles had blown up the upper two floors of the jail and were living crowded in the lower level.  The team visited the Zona Sabila, known as the most violent barrio in Latin America.   The young gang members were more armed than the few police assigned to the sector. In 2016, the newspaper reported that there were 91 murders in just one month.  The missionaries were welcomed to share their message of love in this dark, heavy neighborhood. 

The students worked alongside a ministry called PAIS – Proyecto para Alimentar (feed) Infantes (infants)Shekina.  The PAIS ministry is made up of Venezuelan volunteers who have a vision to feed the children under five years old.  They believe that the children are the future of the country but if they are not fed and given medical attention, they will not have proper neurological development.  Volunteer nutritionists, doctors, and social workers work with the families.  The Vive Venezuela team brought medical and food provisions for the needy children and helped with training moms on how to provide for their children.   They encouraged the Venezuelan Volunteers in the work they have carried on for several years.





One of the unplanned blessings occurred when the team was eating in a cafeteria near a school and began to sing worship songs.  Young girls came from the school to see who they were.  The presence of God fell and many of the girls fell to their knees in the presence of God.  The team prayed with the girls.  A 10-year old girl said she never wanted to leave the presence of God.

The trip was finalized with a church/ministry leadership conference.  Pastors confessed that they felt chains broken off during the deep worship.  The words that the student shared were not meant to comfort the broken Venezuelans.  They did not offer empty promises of a better future, but instead they called the Venezuelans to arise and take action.  They spoke of the power of the Holy Spirit who would go before them in their ministries.  They gave books and Bibles and other resources to help the ministers do the work they are called to do.  It was a time of empowerment. 





When we asked the students what they would have done different, they said that they would have planned to stay more time.  Everywhere they went, they received more invitations.  They were blessed to be a blessing.