Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Venezuela STM Sharing Night at T4C (8/1: 8 - 9:30 PM)
What did we learn from our short term mission trip? What did we see in our trip? To answer your questions, our short term mission team is going to share our experience at T4C from 8 to 9:30 PM on 8/1 (Friday). Mark it on your calendar and hear more of our exciting stories and God's mighty power!
Day 11 (6/30): Coming back to Minnesota
Salida
10 days have gone by really fast and our mission trip came to an end before we noticed. We had to say goodbye to our new friends made in Venezuela. Thank God for the safe flight and we were welcomed by our family and friends at the MSP airport :D
Adiós, our dear friends in Venezuela!
Thank all of you who greeted us at the airport :D
We couldn't thank God enough for His provision, guidance, protection, grace, and much more. He's watched us over in the 12-day trip and protected us through ailments, a potentially bad car accident, and most importantly He's let us experience His greatness, love, grace, and gave us the opportunity to participate in His ministry. God, you're wonderful and amazing!
Day 10 (6/29): Worshipping God on Last Day in Venezuela
It was funny that a friend asked me if we got stuck in Caracas since the blog stopped at day 9. To make people not to worry about us, we decided to wrap up our blog and tell our dear friends that we did fine and came home safely. Here's the retrospect of our last couple days in Venezuela.
Busy Sunday
You might think we could relax after we were back to Caracas. We actually had a very busy Sunday since we attended Sunday service at both Baptist Church in Caracas and Iglesia Evangelica China "Gracia de Dios".
We attended the Baptist Church in the morning.
Grace and Norman shared their testimonies. Grace told us how God led her through the hard days of raising her three kids alone and God has saved her familiy from fire which burnt part of her house. You might think one would be mad at God for all the bad things that have happened but Grace acknowledged God was her protector and Lord. She couldn't praise Him enough.
Grace shared with us how God led her through the hard days.
Is getting rich your only goal in life? Do you think there's something more important than money? What's your purpose of life? Before Norman knew Christ, he was no different than many people who pursued their American dream and put in numerous hours on building wealth until he got to know Christ through his wife many years later. He repented for his sin and found his true meaning of life and joy on earth. He vowed not to leave God, re-prioritized his life and now enjoys family time with his lovely wife and kids. May God be glorified, amen!
Norman has been living a new life since he knew Christ.
Pastor Har gave a sermon on the gospel and invited non-believers to accept Christ as their personal Savior. Praise the Lord one gal decided to re-commit her life to Christ and another young man felt led to accept Christ as his Savior!!! It was very encouraging to us the mission team.
Pastor Har told us the key to have an eternal life.
Some of our mission team members also performed a couple songs with Pastor Har's flute music during the service.
Along with Pastor Har's flute music, we sang "Yahweh is Love" and "Jesus is My Best Friend".
Busy Sunday
You might think we could relax after we were back to Caracas. We actually had a very busy Sunday since we attended Sunday service at both Baptist Church in Caracas and Iglesia Evangelica China "Gracia de Dios".
We attended the Baptist Church in the morning.
Grace and Norman shared their testimonies. Grace told us how God led her through the hard days of raising her three kids alone and God has saved her familiy from fire which burnt part of her house. You might think one would be mad at God for all the bad things that have happened but Grace acknowledged God was her protector and Lord. She couldn't praise Him enough.
Grace shared with us how God led her through the hard days.
Is getting rich your only goal in life? Do you think there's something more important than money? What's your purpose of life? Before Norman knew Christ, he was no different than many people who pursued their American dream and put in numerous hours on building wealth until he got to know Christ through his wife many years later. He repented for his sin and found his true meaning of life and joy on earth. He vowed not to leave God, re-prioritized his life and now enjoys family time with his lovely wife and kids. May God be glorified, amen!
Norman has been living a new life since he knew Christ.
Pastor Har gave a sermon on the gospel and invited non-believers to accept Christ as their personal Savior. Praise the Lord one gal decided to re-commit her life to Christ and another young man felt led to accept Christ as his Savior!!! It was very encouraging to us the mission team.
Pastor Har told us the key to have an eternal life.
Some of our mission team members also performed a couple songs with Pastor Har's flute music during the service.
Along with Pastor Har's flute music, we sang "Yahweh is Love" and "Jesus is My Best Friend".
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Day 9 (6/28): We're safely back to Caracas
Safely Back to Caracas
Thank you all of you for your prayers. We've arrived at Caracas safely this morning. Pastor Har is going to give sermon in two churches tomorrow. Please keep him in your prayers that he can sleep well tonight, Sunday service will run smoothly, and people will accept Christ as their Savior tomorrow.
Have a blessed Sunday tomorrow!
Thank you all of you for your prayers. We've arrived at Caracas safely this morning. Pastor Har is going to give sermon in two churches tomorrow. Please keep him in your prayers that he can sleep well tonight, Sunday service will run smoothly, and people will accept Christ as their Savior tomorrow.
Have a blessed Sunday tomorrow!
Day 8 (6/27): Last visitation and Goodbye to Punto Fijo
Last Visitation
Pastor Har and Norman visited the two guys in the picture a couple times. In the first visit, the man on the right hand side accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior but the man on the left hand side wasn't ready and he was distracted in the middle of the visit. Pastor Har and Norman decided to go back for a second visit and the man who rejected the gospel the first time was very interested in the gospel and made the decision to be Christ's follower!!! (Pastor Har could share with you the details of this exciting story!) Praise the Lord two more people have entered the Kingdom of God.
These two men accepted Christ as their Savior and Lord in this trip, praise the Lord!
Grace, Alicia, and other people visited a couple and the accessory shop owner during the same visit period.
Pastor Har and Norman visited the two guys in the picture a couple times. In the first visit, the man on the right hand side accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior but the man on the left hand side wasn't ready and he was distracted in the middle of the visit. Pastor Har and Norman decided to go back for a second visit and the man who rejected the gospel the first time was very interested in the gospel and made the decision to be Christ's follower!!! (Pastor Har could share with you the details of this exciting story!) Praise the Lord two more people have entered the Kingdom of God.
These two men accepted Christ as their Savior and Lord in this trip, praise the Lord!
Grace, Alicia, and other people visited a couple and the accessory shop owner during the same visit period.
We took the bus back to Caracas at 9 PM. It was a very meaningful trip to Punto Fijo and all of us have learned a lot, may it be sharing our faith, seeing God's work in Punto Fijo, or learning about teamwork. We can't thank God enough for the opportunity to participate in His ministry through this short term mission trip.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Day 7 (6/26): Visitation Again and Workshop "From Sichuan to Venezuela"
Visiting More People
We continued visiting more people and sharing with them what we believed and how they could have an eternal life. Some of them were very receptive but some showed less interest. In either way, we did our best to share with them our faith and let God do the rest no matter what their responses were. Our team leader reminded us several times not to focus only on the result though it was important but also focus on the process. God asks us to be faithful servants but not high achievers. This is another important lesson we´ve learned in this trip.
These believers have missed church for a while. We encouraged them to attend church again.
Story time by our guest. We little girls are listening to his sharing on history and views on life. We also tried to share our faith with him but he wasn't ready for accepting Christ yet.Please keep him in your prayers.
Brother Keung and Pastor Har shared with this man about our faith and loving God.
Grace and Lisa offered prayers for this young lady during the visit.
We continued visiting more people and sharing with them what we believed and how they could have an eternal life. Some of them were very receptive but some showed less interest. In either way, we did our best to share with them our faith and let God do the rest no matter what their responses were. Our team leader reminded us several times not to focus only on the result though it was important but also focus on the process. God asks us to be faithful servants but not high achievers. This is another important lesson we´ve learned in this trip.
These believers have missed church for a while. We encouraged them to attend church again.
Story time by our guest. We little girls are listening to his sharing on history and views on life. We also tried to share our faith with him but he wasn't ready for accepting Christ yet.Please keep him in your prayers.
Brother Keung and Pastor Har shared with this man about our faith and loving God.
Grace and Lisa offered prayers for this young lady during the visit.
We told the lady in white and the man in orange about our amazing God.
Workshop: From Sichuan to Venezuela - Where Can You Find True Peace?
A severe earthquake just happened in Sichuan, China, less than two months ago. Robbery happens in Venezuela every day, many people live in distress. Where is peace? Where can we find true and long-lasting security? Can we find a place without any crimes? Where are we going after this life? Pastor Nip and Mr. Leung shared with us we could find true peace and they could overcome the fear of being robbed again. The key is knowing God who is the way, truth, and life. Do you know God already?
Mr. Leung shared with us his experience of being robbed and how he overcame the fear.
Pastor Nip told us where we could find true peace.
Whisky :D (it's equivalent to "Cheers" in the US) The three people sitting on the left in the first row are new believers!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Day 6 (6/25): Congrats to New Believers and Workshop on Faith Strengthening
Another Day of Visitation.... With Great News!
Alicia's eyes were slightly infected and she sort of had pink eyes. She got some eye drops and rested for a day. Thank God she felt better in the evening.
The rest of us were divided into different teams and visited different people in town. One group visited a new believer who is a young mother who has been busy taking care of her 2-year-old daughter and taking in charge of an expanding convenient store with her husband. Since she's busy with work and family, she hasn't been able to attend church in a while even though she has a desire to know God better. We showed our care for her and gave her a book on Christianity basics. We hope the local fellowship will follow up with her and may she grow in Christ continuously.
Alicia's eyes were slightly infected and she sort of had pink eyes. She got some eye drops and rested for a day. Thank God she felt better in the evening.
The rest of us were divided into different teams and visited different people in town. One group visited a new believer who is a young mother who has been busy taking care of her 2-year-old daughter and taking in charge of an expanding convenient store with her husband. Since she's busy with work and family, she hasn't been able to attend church in a while even though she has a desire to know God better. We showed our care for her and gave her a book on Christianity basics. We hope the local fellowship will follow up with her and may she grow in Christ continuously.
Pastor Har, Muling, and Norman visited a few people and a couple. Praise the Lord a young couple accepted Christ as their personal Savior and Lord after listening to the gospel!!!! We were all very excited and happy for them now that they've become our brother and sister in Christ.
God bless this new believing couple!
Pastor Har's team also visited four other guys. The guy in dark orange top accepted Christ that day!
God so loves us that He sent His one and only beloved son to die for us so our relationship with God was restored. Thank you, Jesus!
Workshop on Faith Strengthening through Mutual Support at Church
Why do some spiritual giants have such strong faith? How did they attain that? Can we achieve that just like them? If you want to, yes, you can certainly grow strong in faith. Thanks to Pastor Har for teaching us how to strengthen our faith. Thank God we don't have to do this alone.
Pastor Har shared with us how to strengthen our faith.
A few of us sang a couple songs accompanied by Pastor Har's flute music. The audience liked it a lot and requested Pastor Har to play more music after the talk. (Pastor Har could consider being a flutist in the future ;) We then played a team game to better understand what is needed in an effective team. Pastor Har told us our faith could be strengthened not only through God's Word but also through other people.
Our fluist Pastor. Everyone enjoyed his music.
This pregnant young lady and her husband just accepted Jesus Christ that morning, praise the Lord!
Pastor Har shared with us how to strengthen our faith.
A few of us sang a couple songs accompanied by Pastor Har's flute music. The audience liked it a lot and requested Pastor Har to play more music after the talk. (Pastor Har could consider being a flutist in the future ;) We then played a team game to better understand what is needed in an effective team. Pastor Har told us our faith could be strengthened not only through God's Word but also through other people.
Our fluist Pastor. Everyone enjoyed his music.
This pregnant young lady and her husband just accepted Jesus Christ that morning, praise the Lord!
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