San Cristobal Forerunners

Hello - One of my favorite aspects of Jesus' ministry is that he prioritized proclaiming the good news of God (Mark 1:14-15)... Yes, even though he cast out demons and performed many miracles - one of the things that truly amazed people about Jesus was that "he taught them as one who had authority" (v.22, 27)... On one occasion, after working late into the night (v.29-34), the Son of God snuck away early in the morning to pray (v. 35); only to be interrupted by Simon and his companions who informed him of his celebrity status (v.37)... Jesus' response is awesome - what he says is: "let us go somewhere else - to the nearby villages - so I can preach there also. That is why I have come" (v.38). ...I know that a lot of people think that Alejandra and I are pretty ridiculous for going around to a bunch of cities establishing churches that are often barely able to fly; only to then leave them and do the same thing somewhere else; but however irresponsible people think we are, I still think it's valid and important that we keep moving around to share the good news of Jesus with others, as we establish more churches that keep proclaiming Christ even in our absence. ...So what's the next city where we want to start another church? Yep, you guessed it: San Cristobal, Venezuela.

But perhaps more important than where we want to start another church - maybe with whom we want to do it is even more exciting.

Yalinxon and Angela have been a couple for about 10 years, and Alejandra and I had the privilege of meeting them in Duitama and sharing the gospel with them and discipling them; and then just recently I got to marry Yalinxon and Angela while Alejandra arranged everything for their wedding...

As is the case for many Venezuelans - getting all their papers in order is often pretty tricky, but once Yalinxon and Angela got legally married and expressed their desire to have a ceremony at our church, Alejandra got right after it in helping them set everything up, and about 2 weeks ago we celebrated their union as husband and wife before God.

Ever since the capture of Nicolas Maduro, the Torres family started planning their return to Venezuela, and so a few days after their wedding I offered to take Yalinxon and 2 of his boys to the Venezuelan border in my tuck-tuck.

Once we made it and Angela arrived with her and her husband's youngest son by bus - we crossed the border and traveled to San Cristobal where I showed them around...

Originally the Torres family were thinking about traveling all the way back to Caracas, but once we were in Venezuela, I told them about Alejandra's and my intention to come back to San Cristobal to start a church, and that if they were up for it - maybe they could help us do just that, as we could maybe help them find an apartment...

Well, we found a furnished apartment, and they signed the contract for at least three months, and so we're good to go now... Yalinxon is hoping to get a job as a soccer coach, and it seems like there is already a good chance that he will get hired...

He's had a lot of experience as a coach, and I feel like both Alejandra and Angela make for pretty good soccer moms...

...About a month ago we had the honor of hosting some awesome Christian Scottish football blokes who really encouraged both Yalinxon and myself

Sometimes it's through things as simple as playing soccer or going to eat pizza that real friendships are formed; which leads to really important conversations about who Jesus is; which leads to more thorough scrutiny of the Scriptures; which can then lead to people being saved; and then even... I don't know... maybe even starting a church?

The pizza restaurant in the above pics ⬆️ is owned by an Italian man named Gino who moved to Venezuela when he was about 3 years old, and has become a good friend of mine... When Alejandra and I were living in San Cristobal over a year ago, Gino let us use his restaurant to have meetings in, and hopefully we'll get to do that again before too long...

-Sam Missionary Profile:

P.S. While I went to Venezuela, Alejandra travelled to the coffee region of Colombia with our son, as they went to celebrate Jackson's great grandpa's 97th birthday...

I remember the only time that my dad met Alejandra's grandpa he shared the gospel with him... please pray that Alejandro Mondragon will cling to Jesus in faith before he leaves this earth...