Stiff Necked or Set Faces

Hi - After a year of sleeping on sofa beds, Alejandra and I finally have a nice bed we're sleeping on in San Cristobal, Venezuela... We started renting a fancy smancy apartment that came half furnished in this beautiful city about an hour and a half from the Colombian border (which is comfortingly not as hot and humid as Cucuta), and finally we feel like we made it to where we were aiming at for all these years.

Because of our weird sleeping arrangements, I feel like I've had a stiff neck for like 400 days, and just when my spine started feeling better - I went and played basketball the other day and got my muscles contracted all over again, just to not break free from my neck rigidity quite yet.

(the above pic was taken a little more than a year ago, but you get the idea).

Anyway, the Bible speaks pretty strongly against people with stiff necks, who are rebelious and stubborn and who always resist the Holy Spirit (Deut. 9:13, Neh. 9:16, Acts 7:51).

In contrast, in fulfilling the prophesy of Isaiah 50:7 - Jesus set his face like a flint in his determination to go to Jerusalem and fulfill the mission the Father had given him (Luke 9:51); even in the midst of rejection (v. 53), opposition (Matt. 16:23) and agony (Luke 22:42-44).

A respected missionary once asked, "why would anyone want to go to Venezuela?" and the answer is simply out of love for Christ (2 Cor. 5:14-15), and love for my neighbor (Mark 12:31); as well as out of obedience to Jesus, of course (Matt. 28:19-20)... The real question is rather: "Why wouldn't you?" Discomfort? Awkwardness? Fear? Racism? Knowing God a little too well and understanding that He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love? (Jonah 4:2)... For a couple like Alejandra and I - we feel like not going into Venezuela would be like running away from God, and sinning against Him.

Okay, whatever - it's actually not that big of a deal in our minds. We're just doing what God put on our hearts, and what we've been shooting for... We took a detour and got to be a part of starting two churches in Duitama, but now we're back to the border - helping the Cucta Refuge church on the weekends, while exploring the Venezuelan waters throughout the week.

There's something wildly refreshing about interacting with anyone we meet in San Cristobal, and thinking that maybe some day they could become a part of a new church.

But maybe the bigger story here is that a family that Alejandra and I have been close friends with for like 5 years and whom we discipled, recently decided to leave Cucuta and return to their home town in the Eastern region of Venezuela.

When my friend Gabriel told me about it - I felt so sad that I wouldn't have him close by to work with, but confident that he would take the kingdom of God even where it's needed most.

The kingdom of God is like finding a treasure and selling everythinig you have to obtain it (Matt. 13:44-46).

And maybe Alejandra and I want to take a bit of that kingdom into Venezuela.

Even though my father-in-law wasn't super thrilled about our decision when we told him - what he did say was that he was glad that Alejandra and I made the decision together.

Barelly having even inaugurated our flat - Carolina and Guti (Alejandra's twin sister and brother-in-law) came to visit for Alejandra and Carolina's birthday (March 7)... Our good friend Harry got in on the juice action one of those days - and please pray that he can become a key partner in everything that we do for the glory of God here at the border, because Harry is awesome.

Please also pray for more close friends in Cucuta and San Cristobal that Alejandra can disciple, just like she did in Duitama.

Definitely Vivi and Hammer (with their new-born son Elias) are the other go-to leaders in Refuge Church Cucuta.

One of the bummers about Venezuela is that the light goes out literally every single day, but at the end of that prophetic chapter in Isaiah 50 where it talks about Jesus setting his face like a flint - it says in verse 10, "Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servant? Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on their God."

Amen.

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