Missions in Venezuela?

This is probably one of the most asked questions as we seek to present our ministry so we thought it fitting to put our response on our website.

When we took our survey trip in the winter of 2004 there was not any of the turmoil that is going on now.  Although I felt the Holy Spirit work in our lives as we were there ministering and seeing if Venezuela was where God was calling us, we were very cautions to come directly home and tell everyone that we were going back. We wanted to make sure that we were not making a decision based upon emotion, but that we were sure it was the Holy Spirit directing us to Venezuela.

We have a very missions oriented church and so we have missionaries in often.  The first week back from our survey trip we had a missionary preach and the title of his message “The cost of following God, and the cost of not following God”.  Without a doubt the Holy Spirit hit me right between the eyes and the first thing I did was go find my wife and tell her that we had our answer from God.  Due to God’s timing through some medical issues with our children we were not able to start part-time deputation until the spring of 2006.  We began contacting pastors and setting up meetings on a part-time basis.  Since we began our deputation, the political scene has degraded, but that has not changed our resolve or God’s provision.  God continues to open doors on a regular basis and He has astounded us many times over especially as we stepped out into full-time deputation on June 1 of this year (2007). 

We certainly had to take a hard look at things and make sure that we were doing the right thing. No person in their right mind wants to take their family into a hostile place unless he is sure that God is leading. We have sought God over and over and His leading has not changed at this point in our lives and on the contrary He continues to provide meetings often times by pastors whom we have never spoken with contacting us.  We have had numerous meetings where churches that we have never contacted made contact with us in regards to presenting our ministry.

God has given us a few things from scripture that we hold onto as we step out into uncertain waters and God has used these verses many times in our life.

• (Proverbs 21:1)  The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
• (1 Thessalonians 5:24) Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
• (Romans 1:17)  For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

We believe that this call of God in our life is part of His sanctifying process. We know that He is faithful, and we know that if we surrender ourselves to Him that he “will do it”.  We know that He will complete this work of sanctification in our lives. We will simply continue to trust and obey Him and follow where He leads! Our God is a Great Daddy!  We know His plan is right!

Currently we stay in regular contact with missionary families who are now ministering in Venezuela and we are always in prayer about the current situation. Please pray with us that hearts would be reached with the gospel and that God would use this situation to tender hearts toward Him.