Ministry Snapshots

Hi - Traveling back and forth from Venezuela to Colombia every Sunday is exhausting, but the good side is that Alejandra and I can pick up passengers along the way. It's a one and a half hour drive, and on one occasion our SUV broke down... We didn't have enough time to deal with it right then, so we took a cab, and the next day I found a chamo* that could fix the transmission that had literally fallen out from underneath (*the word chamo is a friendly way of saying guy in Venezuela).

The mechanic and his brother eventually became my friends, and one Sunday Alejandra and I picked up the grease monkey and his girlfriend in our restored 4X4 to take them to church. They're struggling quite a bit, especially since Carlos tends to overdrink, so on one ocassion a pastoral couple from our church met with them to give them some counsel.

That pastoral couple are excellent Christians from the Eastern side of Venezuela, and they were visiting Cucuta for their grandson's first birthday... After a month of enjoying their visit in Colombia, we got to host them in our apartment in San Cristobal, as they were heading back home.

Just this last Sunday we picked up a couple Venezuelan walkers* that are sisters and one of them was pregnant. They too joined us for church, and afterwards we were able to take them out to eat and then drop them off at a Samaritan's Purse shelter where they were cared for and assisted, in making it to their final destination 30 hours away (*walkers are referred to as Venezuelan immigrants with virtually no money who often walk for days or weeks to get to their destinations in other countries, in hopes of a better life).

Some young immigrant window washers are also our friends who occasionally join us for church in Cucuta

And every weekend we put on a lunch and Bible study/fellowship time for some older Venezuelan street vendors and musicians.

This next Sunday we're going to have our first gathering at an Italian restaurant in San Cristobal, and so we won't have to drive so far to get there. The owner Gino is from the upper echelon of Venezuelan society, and he's been super friendly towards Alejandra and I. He even gave us a couple hats from his restaurant, so I might wear mine this Sunday to show him that I support the cause (as I hope that someday Geno puts on the helmet of salvation).

Definitely Darwin and Elizabeth with their cool sons are our closest Christian friends in Venezuela, who will also be very much a part of the meeting on the 30th.

Alejandra is doing great in her pregnancy by the grace of God, but we really need to figure out in what country and city we want our child to be born. It seems like the due date is November 28th, which is a pretty good day to celebrate and give thanks.

Thanks for celebrating and giving thanks with us, Alejandra and Sam Killins Missionary Profile: