Hi -
One of the saddest things about Venezuela's 10 year socio-economic crisis is the toll it's taken on families. Marriages have been ripped apart as husbands emigrate to other countries in search of greater opportunities, leaving behind their wives and children as they're left to fend for themselves until the struggling husband can create enough income to send home some help.
In some cases the husband will eventually make enough money to pay the transportation costs for his family to join him in his improvised living situation, but even then - culture shock, discomfort, and humiliation can create such a strain on the relationship that the family eventually disintegrates... Add a global pandemic to the equation, and no longer family unity, but just sheer survival becomes the issue.
...A few weeks back I got civilly married to Alejandra, and a little bit after signing the papers, we drove down to Colombia's border with Ecuador to pick up a Venezuelan family of 6 with a baby on its way... I met the husband of this family (Frank) 2 years ago when I was starting a church in Cucuta, but he eventually left this city and found his way to Peru where he made enough money to send for his wife and kids. They did well initially, but after a while they started to struggle again, so they started their trek back to Venezuela. They got stuck in Ecuador and had to live on the street for a few days, but then got some help from a foundation, and later found a way to cross the border into Colombia.
A little bit later Alejandra and I picked up the Perez family in my father-in-law's van, and we made it a little North of Bogota to a town called Duitama where Alejandra and I had already rented an apartment to start living in after our wedding... We let our Venezuelan friends live there in the mean time, and 6 days ago their new son Freider David was born... As wonderful as it is to celebrate the birth of this child, the process was difficult, as there were complications during labor, and the child was born small and with low levels of sugar...
I remember when I first saw Freider - I laid my hands on him to pray for him, but half way through I started crying, as I thought about all the challenges that this boy has already gone through and doesn't even know about, as well as all the challenges that lie ahead...
Helping Frank and Anabel and their children has given Alejandra and I a crash course on what it means to be a family, and despite the enormous challenge it is even for us, to assist them in the middle of everything, we love seeing that Frank, Anabel, Frank, Frangelis, Francis, Freneci, and now Freider are all together.
Sacrifice, love, and humility is the stuff marriage is made of, and in just serving this family, Alejandra and I are starting to understand a little about what that means... I'm amazed at how sensitive Alejandra is, and how willing she is to adapt in the midst of such a complex situation. Her tenderness, patience, and her attention to detail are amazing, and I could never do this without her.
Alejandra and I are going to have our wedding ceremony on the 10th of October on the outskirts of Bogota, Colombia, and it's quite promising that my family from the US will be able to join us... I know that travel of any kind is pretty complicated these days (especially international travel), but if anyone of you would love to come and celebrate this day with us, please let us know, and we'll give you more info.
-Sam
Missionary Profile: https://www.cmml.us/node/817
