"Chapita" Church Planting

Hi -

This last Sunday a bunch of Venezuelan friends and I played chapita after our open-air church meeting in a park.

"Chapita" is a basic, easy set-up way of playing baseball with just a stick and a bottle cap, and especially in Venezuela, just about every kid grows up playing this game. It's kind of fun actually, and miraculously enough, I was able to hit a few caps without the pitcher intercepting them, and thus score a few points.

Playing chapita got me thinking about how churches everywhere have had to adjust to the harsh reality of Covid-19. Church formats which would have been considered obscure and almost illegitimate a few months ago, have nearly become standard practice all over the world... One of the things that I most appreciate about this pandemic, is that the church has finally woken up to the fact that we are not a building. 

...So while the main church I've been involved with here in Bogota has done a great job of adapting to doing things on-line, I was noticing that especially among my poorer Venezuelan friends, asking them to connect to two-hour by-weekly Zoom meetings was not working... Most of my Venezuelan friends' cell phones aren't very state of the art, and plus, their internet connectivity is fairly limited... 

Just because of that, I'm not going to stop sharing the gospel, or giving up meeting with my friends in person... Basically, I believe that Jesus's command of making disciples of all nations takes precedence over government's requirement of social distancing, even though we all agree that this pandemic is no joke, and that we should still take as many precautionary measures as possible.

I feel like it's kind of like chapita. Does this strange game with no stadiums or gloves or bases or outfielders really even have the right to be considered a sport? ...I guess I don't know, but it gets pretty close, and it's definitely better than playing nothing at all.

...Are the Sunday morning gatherings where we take part in the Lord's Supper and study the Scriptures and pray and have fellowship and worship together on a roof or in a park with about 15 other Venezuelans really a church? Yes, I think we are - even though there are a lot of things that we can improve on, and we're still not immune to Coronavirus. 

...Not having a building to meet in where we could get sanctioned by the government is a lot cheaper as well, and it's a lot more reproducible (or contagious even), just like this pandemic...          

-Sam

P.S. This Wednesday, August 26th I'll be getting civilly married to Alejandra! (stay tuned for when we we'll have our wedding), and then we'll be heading to the border with Ecuador in my recently purchased SUV (see picture #1). There, we'll be picking up a Venezuelan family that Alejandra and I both got to know a couple years ago when we were starting a church that continues to function in Cucuta (Colombia's main border city with Venezuela) under the leadership of another great Christian family from Venezuela that I've been sponsoring ever since February (see picture #2). Frank and his pregnant wife Anabel, along with their 3 children have been struggling a lot since the beginning of the pandemic, and were stranded for over 3 months in Ecuador during which they even had to live on the street for a few days (see picture #3)... In the initial part of this situation, Alejandra and I were able to send them some money so they could stay in a hotel, and eventually they received some help from a foundation that took up their case. Recently they were cleared to cross the border into Colombia, and their desire is to make it back to Venezuela. Hopefully Alejandra and I will be able to help in this process... We both feel that fighting for their family at this time is a good way to start our own.  

Love in Times of Coronavirus

Hi -

Alejandra said yes to marrying me about a month ago in San Vicente del Caguán.

It was an awesome engagement in one of the most dangerous towns of Colombia, and I chose that location because I wanted to redeem the negative image of San Vicente as being a place of war, to becoming a place of love. 

For some reason I've always been inspired to go to the ends of the earth with a mindset of love, and I felt like proposing to Alejandra in this southern region of Colombia was my quintessential way of doing that.

Things have changed quite a bit since then, and instead of fearing the left wing insurgent groups of San Vicente, the world is mostly terrified about an invisible virus that has ravaged some of the most developed nations on every continent. 

Places that seemed indestructible have become so fragile, and places where no one previously wanted to go, may become the next safe-havens for those fleeing Coronavirus... Either that, or those remote places that have corrupt governments and poor economies may become the next places to get hit the hardest. In any case, Jesus's command of going into all the world to make disciples of every ethnic group still stands.

Venezuelan immigrant disciples of Jesus that I've been helping in Cúcuta

I hope that this devastating time will give us a little more empathy towards other countries as we start to understand what it's like to suffer in the midst of a situation that we can't control; and perhaps instead of hording what little we have, we can learn to share... Maybe God will bring others back to himself in the midst of all this fear; and hopefully people will start experiencing his love and peace and faithfulness even more in this darkest hour... Wouldn't it be cool if when all of this is over, we had a renewed passion to go into the whole world to share the gospel, and be a stronger, more organic and versatile church than ever?... I honestly feel like smaller churches with low overhead and shared leadership in remote parts of the world are currently the most viable (see example below of me sharing the gospel in a cashew plant in Puerto Carreño). 

   

...A little bit after Alejandra's and my engagement, we traveled up to the States to visit some friends and family and churches, and it was so great to have her there with me as she got to be a part of my ministry in the US.

...On our flight back to Colombia we were thinking about inviting most of you reading this post to our upcoming wedding, but now we don't know if that will be possible. 

The only thing we know right now is that we both love each other, and we love God, and one day Alejandra and I are going to get married... In the mean time, we want to keep serving the Lord in any way that we can. 

And maybe before you know it, we'll be doing it with the same last name.   

-Sam (and Alejandra too)

Missionary Profile: https://www.cmml.us/node/817

YouTube Video with Alejandra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmDyV4WGbgQ&t=42s

How I'm Trying To Help

Hi -

Every Saturday I get together with a dozen or so Venezuelan immigrant street vendors/musicians to eat lunch and study the Bible. In the midst of their day to day struggle to survive, it's nice for them to get out of the sun and eat a nice meal in an air-conditioned room where they can find support and camaraderie. Teaching them Biblical principles about work, and occasionally investing in small entrepreneurial projects is a good way to help my friends out, without creating a long-term dependency. We also pray and ask God to guide us and open doors, recognizing that ultimately, every good gift comes from above (James 1:17).

Saturday support lunch

It's tough sometimes to know how to help, and I've made a lot of mistakes, but with each mistake I want to learn how to do better. I really like 1 Thessalonians 5:14 which says, "And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all."

Devotional before lunch

There isn't any one formula to help all people who are struggling economically, and it takes a lot of wisdom to discern what is the right way and what isn't... Some people need to get kicked in the butt, others need to be encouraged, and still others need immediate solutions to very precarious situations. Sometimes I'm haunted by the thought of not having helped someone or a whole family enough, and it can be tempting to just throw in the towel altogether and try to ignore people's tragic reality, or detach myself from it. 

Friends Hugo and Lili praying with a struggling Venezuelan family

On the flip side, it's scary to think that I could have some kind of savior complex where I can start to believe that I'm the solution to everyone's problems. In fact, in a lot of cases, what I really need to do is just learn from my Venezuelan friends, and tell them about my own struggles. Sometimes, people don't even want me to give them money or things like that, rather, what they really want is to be heard and dignified and honored with my friendship.      

Friends

Even though my priority is to preach the gospel and establish a Bible believing church, there is an element to that that must be tangible (Isaiah 61:1-2a), and I certainly can't come up with some kind of quid pro quo where I'm only going to help others if they are Christian or they come to our Sunday morning gatherings... Nevertheless, I especially need to be sensitive to those of the household of faith, and never grow weary of doing good (Galatians 6:9-11). 

The Refuge Church in Cucuta, Colombia consisting primarily of Venezuelan immigrants

One of my friends that I'm helping out came once to our Saturday lunch and then came to our Sunday gathering a couple weeks later. I asked him why he didn't come back to the Saturday lunch, and he told me that he didn't think it was right if he didn't put God first. Wow! ...He gets around in a wheel chair and sells candy on the streets, and his wife has a little store in the entrance to their house. I told them that all the money they save up to invest in the products they sell in the store, I'll match. They are grateful, and I'm grateful to them, because they wanted to host a Bible Study in their shop, and so every Monday I meet with them there, along with their neighbors, who have also started coming to our church.      

Bible Study in George's house

Other friends I've helped out by buying portable speakers that they use to sing on the street with, and I've bought perfume if they sell that, or guitars, or a bike, or rat poison in one case - for a guy who wanted to start a rat and pest eradication business. I've bought other people food and medications, especially if they're heading back to Venezuela to provide for their families; and I've also replenished water supplies or bread if that's what they sell. I've given my friends hats and shirts and tennis shoes, and suitcases as well as just straight up cash. I'll often invite them out for a bite to eat, or let them rest in my apartment, or take them to the mall to eat ice cream. 

The most important thing I can give my friends though is my love, because without it I have nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). 

That, as well as tell them about how God demonstrated His own love towards us: in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).   

-Sam
Missionary Profile: https://www.cmml.us/node/817

Tuk-tuk Motorized Tricycle

Jesus needed a donkey. A brand new one. And instead of buying one, he just borrowed one (Luke 19:30-34).

Recently I bought a vehicle that reminds me of a donkey, and I bought it not because I needed it, but because I think the Lord needs it, and because I think it can be fairly useful for the work that a friend and I are doing for Him in Colombia's border town with Venezuela known as Puerto Carreño.

My brand new vehicle

...Essentially it's like a motorized tricycle, and its main function is to pick up passengers as if it were a taxi, and take those passengers wherever they need to go.

And so why does the Lord need a motorized tricycle? ...Well, mainly because it provides a steady income for my friend Harry who's the one driving it (and who is the number one guy helping me start a church in Puerto Carreño); but also because it helps in taking us wherever we need to go and share the gospel, and likewise, it helps us in getting to know passengers.

Chauffeur Harry

...I basically used all my savings to buy the contraption, and, as I'll be traveling to Scotland here in a few days, I told Harry to use the 'mototaxi' and make some money in the process, and share the gospel to everyone he can until the end of December. Then, in January I'll be back so that we can both either keep planting a church in Puerto Carreño, or another solid Christian friend can join him in that effort, as I keep consolidating the church that God has entrusted me with in Cucuta (Colombia's largest border city with Venezuela).

...In both places there are lots of immigrants, Colombian locals, and indigenous people who all need to hear the gospel, and Harry and I are definitely getting after it - no pussyfooting allowed.

And by the way - one of the main places where I've gotten to share the gospel on various occasions is in a cashew plant, where I have a good relationship with the owners who let me share from the Scriptures while the cashew employees plug away at their work, taking the cashews out of their shell, and then scraping away the coating of the kernel as they meditate on God's Word... It's a pretty sweet set-up actually, and I've even become a frequent consumer of the delicious product they sell ...I mean who doesn't like cashews?

Sharing the gospel at the Cashew plant

...Anyway, if you could pray for my friends from this cashew business - that they would believe the gospel - as well as for my friend Harry and his 'mototaxi' business and his own spiritual walk with God, I would really appreciate it.

The last day that Harry and I were hanging out after I had shared a gospel message at the cashew plant and I was driving my tuk-tuk to the airport - I told Harry that the vehicle sort of reminded me of a modern day donkey. I told Harry that as he would be using the thing to transport people around for the next month or so - to always do it with the same excellence and care that he would as if he was transporting Jesus himself.

And so far, it seems like his customers have been very well pleased.

-Sam

Plant, Lead, Repeat

Hi -

A couple weeks ago I was discouraged when the leaders of the church I helped plant and lead for the past 4 years in Bogota decided to veto my proposition to commend Alejandra as a missionary to a small border town in Colombia.

Iglesia Parkway Leadership Team

The decision surprised me, because we had previously sent Alejandra to Puerto Carreño on an exploratory trip, and she loved it ...She made a lot of valuable contacts, and the town seemed safe (even though I don't think safety should be a main factor in determining where someone should serve), and yeah, I don't know... I guess I just thought that a lot of things about the location made it a great set-up in which she could thrive, and the gospel could keep going forth among many displaced Venezuelans... We even had the financial backing of a women's Bible study group, but... "no deal" was Iglesia Parkway's leadership team's final response.

...I didn't like the decision, but the underlying thing which I did like, was that the decision was official ...I like what that represents, because it shows that my opinion isn't the only one that matters, and that our church has correctly evolved into a plural leadership structure in which I am just a voice. I'm a valid voice, yes, but not the only voice... Christ Himself is the Head, and the rest of us work together in love.

In fact, I'm not even living in Bogota anymore, and instead, I'm based out of Cucuta (Colombia's largest border city with Venezuela), leading a church that is finally in motion, after having gone through 3 different stages of 3 different groups that each came together fast, and then dissolved just as quickly, as my sojourner friends went off to other cities looking for more opportunities.     

...This church has been a long time coming, but God has brought together a good group of us to worship Him and know Him more, and we're off to a good start.

Cucuta Church Bible Study

And by the way - besides this new church plant, there are two other groups that have emerged from Iglesia Parkway: one in the Center of Bogota, and the other up in the mountains. Would you please pray for each of these?

Some members from Iglesia Parkway, Family Church, and Iglesia Central Park

...Even though my main priority right now is to consolidate the church God has entrusted me with in Cucuta - Puerto Carreño remains on my heart as well, and in the beginning of November I'm going to take a friend down there with me, both to keep discipling him, and be able to work together with him, as we try to lay the ground work for a new church that may ensue (click here to see a recap video from my first visit to this town, and be sure to click the English subtitle option if you don't know Spanish!)...    

Big man Harry and I

My friend's name is Harry, and I first met him in the mall where he sold smoothies. We then went to play basketball a couple times, and since then we've become good friends... He believes in Jesus, and he's absorbing just about everything I teach him, and you can see him progressing a lot in his faith, in both our mid-week Bible studies and our Sunday services... He's a solid guy and consistent, and wants to get more involved in ministry... I honestly think he'll do very well, and I'm also just looking forward to hanging out with him some more, and playing a bit of basketball every once in a while.

...Right now the plan is for Harry and I to leave at the beginning of November and give it our best shot there in Puerto Carreño, while the other believers from our church in Cucuta will keep studying the Scriptures together and praising God in our weekly meetings... Then, in December Lord willing, Harry will make it back here to Cucuta, as I'll fly out to the States and then Scotland, where I'm looking forward to spending some time with a church there, that is looking into commending me as a missionary...

Pastor Jim Crooks and I outside Tanside Christian Fellowship

It would be so awesome if that actually came through, because I'll take all the prayer and help I can get.

...Knowing how meaningful it would be for me to receive a commendation like this, I'm just sad that for now, Alejandra won't get the same experience... I think she has tons of potential, and for the past 4 years I've seen God use her in so many ways - especially in my own life. The world needs more people like her, and particularly in places like the border cities of Colombia with Venezuela - Alejandra would be invaluable. 

It's risky business though, because once you get that church planting bug inside of you - you never want to stop.

Alejandra planting plants, which is the same as planting churches, but different, and yet I think she is capable of both.

-Sam

Missionary Profile: https://www.cmml.us/node/817
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sam.killins
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sam.killins/
Blogger: https://samkillins.blogspot.com/

Overview of Church Planting Effort Among Venezuelan Immigrants in Cucuta

Street preaching in Cucuta

Hi from Cucuta - Colombia's border city with the fragile country of Venezuela.

After travelling back and forth from Bogota to this frontier city for about a year now, and trying anything I can think of to plant a church, I finally feel like I’m pretty close.

...While there were previously always glimmers of hope, for various reasons, the multiple initial church groups that would sporadically spring to life, in just a matter of months, would always end up dissolving... The gospel is being preached, and people are responding favorably, but the main challenge has always been that many of my immigrant friends are super transitory, and very unstable both economically and emotionally. That, and how my time in Cucuta is so limited, has made it tough to get a real church off the ground...

Cucuta ministry throughout this past year

Meal sharing, food and clothing distribution, sporting events, informal job accompaniment, as well as evangelistic gatherings and Bible studies are attractive (and more effective here than what I've seen in other places), but having that continuity of the same people coming to the same meetings day in and day out has been what’s lacking. 

Therefore, a while back I invited 3 immigrant friends from Cucuta to stay in my apartment in Bogota, hoping that one day they could go back and help lead the group we were trying to form in Cucuta... The idea was sound, and since I was going to be traveling to Scotland and the Faroes a bit later, I was happy to have my friends stay in my apartment in the meantime and get acquainted with our church in Bogota.    

My 3 friends I invited to stay in my apartment in Bogota

The idea backfired on me, and instead of growing in maturity and love, the 3 fellows didn’t want to work or relate well with our church, and much less go back to serve the group in Cucuta... 2 of them got baptized, which was great, but sadly it was the very one who had the strongest Christian background who ended up being the most divisive.  

...I got back from an incredible trip in Scotland and the Faroe Islands, and I was back to the drawing board to see what else I could do.

While in Cucuta again I saw some good qualities in another Venezuelan street musician (Gabriel), and I took the risk of inviting him and his wife and baby daughter back to Bogota with me to give it another shot, knowing that it’s indispensable to have at least one go-to guy to help in leading the potential church.

    

My girlfriend Alejandra with Gabriel, Yurbey, Gabrielita, and I

For about a month before Holy Week, Gabriel and his family got involved in our church community while absorbing everything I was teaching them. Gabriel was thankful and had a good attitude, while taking advantage of his time in Bogota to save some money and start to envision what a church back in Cucuta could look like. After a good 4 weeks of holistic discipleship, we then returned to Cucuta along with my girlfriend Alejandra and a team of about 20 students and teachers from the Christian school I attended when I was a kid. When we arrived, the missions team and I stayed in a hotel where approximately 80 Venezuelan military or police dissidents were staying, whom we got to share life and the gospel with... It was so awesome! 

El Camino Academy Cucuta Missions Team

After an intense week of ministry (click here to watch a video recap), Alejandra and my street musician friend Gabriel and his family stayed in Cucuta while I returned to Bogota again with the high school missions team... Preaching in my own stomping grounds of Parkway Church and having the privilege of speaking in a few other churches and gatherings elsewhere in Bogota was great - but I couldn't wait to get back to Cucuta to see my lovely girlfriend, as well as reunite with some of the defector Venezuelan military friends I got to meet while in Cucuta previously.

Half of the Wednesday night Bible study group

Alejandra did a great job for 3 weeks keeping the group alive, and here I am again with her and another friend from Bogota (Alex), as well as Gabriel and his family and a handful of other Venezuelan immigrants (among them about 5 military dissident families) and I feel like we're on the right track... On Sundays we have a 2-hour church service with around 30 in attendance, and on Wednesdays we have an interactive Bible study with about 15... The difference with this group as opposed to others is that it's a bit more stable, even though that word "stable" I use very loosely, because even if my present friends are somewhat more situated than other immigrants - they're still in a very delicate position when you consider everything they're going through.

I know homesickness and cabin fever aren't real sicknesses, but they're definitely super real symptoms of my Venezuelan military dissident friends who are confined to living inside a crowded hotel with the perpetual uncertainty of not knowing what Juan Guaido's de facto administration will do with them. 

At the illegal Venezuelan-Colombia crossing with awesome friends Robbie and Paul

Meanwhile, I can't think of anything better for someone in a situation like this, than to have their eyes opened to the wonderful truths of the Word where they can know that they're loved by a good God who gave them his only Son to free them of all sin... I know of no better place where frightened and frustrated people can be valued and dignified than within a vibrant Christ-centered community of loving people who care about others even above themselves... I believe that instead of living in fear and despair, God can provide anyone who dares to believe, a real hope and peace and purpose through faith in Jesus, irrespective of all the calamities taking place around... I also believe that the way that others can know this salvation is through the proclamation of the gospel, from the lips of broken but emboldened believers like you and I.  

So that's what I'm going for.

ECA teacher Paul Kwon with hodgepodge group of military dissidents, Venezuelan immigrants, and I

-Sam Killlins  

Missionary Profile: www.cmml.us/node/817 

  

The Birth of a True Leader

About 1300 years before Christ there was famine in the land of Judah, and so a man with his wife and two sons left their home town of Bethlehem, and immigrated to the land of Moab. There this family's sons each married a Moabite, thus separating themselves even more from their home country... Later on, the father and his two sons died, leaving their widowed and childless mother alone, both destitute and depressed, to fend for herself in a land not her own.

In the midst of this woman's anguish she heard news that the Lord had visited his people, and given them food... After not being able to convince one of her daughter's in law to stay in Moab, the two of them sojourned to Bethlehem where the Lord provided a kinsman redeemer.

In a major turn of events, this widowed daughter in law remarried and gave birth to a son, thus bringing tremendous joy to herself and her mother in law... It's this tragic yet redemptive story of immigrants and foreigners that serves as the backdrop for the ultimate redemptive story of Christmas.

3 generations later, a shepherd boy from that same town of Bethlehem was God's unlikely choice as the future king of Israel. He was improbable in age and stature, but dead on in integrity and courage... A true shepherd who knew how to look out for his flock, and a courageous warrior who stood up to the scariest of foes. He was a man after God's own heart, who sought God's approval and presence more than anything else.

This king united Israel, conquered Jerusalem, and brought the Ark of the Covenant to it's final resting place. God promised him that his house and his kingdom would endure, and his throne would be established forever - and so it is. To this day this unlikely shepherd boy's kingdom endures because it is through his offspring that the ultimate Shepherd and King was born. 

1000 years later, both kings and shepherds in the town of Bethlehem gathered to behold the ultimate newborn King and Shepherd there before them. He, like his great grandmother from Moab, at a very young age became an immigrant, along with his parents, to find refuge from an insecure and ruthless king. Ironically, this immigrant boy spent part of his years growing up in the "sanctuary country" of Egypt that had formerly enslaved the very people he specifically came to save. The fact that he had been born in Bethlehem was the qualification for his death threat as a baby, and the misunderstanding of thinking that he was from Nazareth, became another qualification for his death threat as an adult. And yet this man's real home was neither Bethlehem, nor Egypt, nor Nazareth but Heaven itself, from which he had immigrated to this Earth to become all that which his ancestors had foreshadowed and foretold. 

Especially one of his great grandfathers from Ur of the Chaldees, the patriarch of patriarchs, who also immigrated all over the place - this man once received a promise from God that he would bless him and his offspring so that his offspring would in turn bless the whole world... That promise was given about 1500 years before its fulfillment, but when it arrived it effectively became valid for everyone who has lived and is living 2000 years since.

And it all came about through this one man: the ultimate foreshadowed and foretold Redeemer, Shepherd, and King born in Bethlehem 2019 years ago.

His name is Jesus.    

Finally in his 30's, this wonderful Jesus called out a terrible ruler who had beheaded his cousin. This ruler was the son of the former tyrant who had tried to kill Jesus as a baby, and was everything a sick and depraved and terrible ruler should be, and therefore, the exact opposite of the true and loving sacrificial leader Jesus is. 

Immediately after making reference to this wretched oppressor as a fox, Jesus then expressed his profound longing to gather and protect everyone linked to his own lineage like the way a hen would gather her chicks, but they were not willing... The irony of the situation is that many of those who were most closely related to Jesus by blood and who lived there in the holiest city of the world where Jesus was standing at the time, failed to accept him as the true leader that he was... 

Much like a hen who sacrifices herself to save the life of her chicks, Jesus sacrificed himself to save all those who would come to him as the ultimate Redeemer, Shepherd, King, and... I suppose we could also say "Hen" of the world.