June Prayer Letter

The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17

The summer months are upon us, everything is green again here with the coming of summers rain. Even with the rain though, we still have water rationing so that the reservoirs can fill up once again. We have learned to appreciate water and not take it for granted in these last months.

Lynn and I enjoy our ministry and are thankful for God´s blessings.

Praise Items
1. Legal Matters. Most of the property transfers are now done: La Urbina and Macaracuay churches now have their property in their own names. Pastor Jorge Barradas apartment is in the final stages of being placed in his name. We have encountered a recent glitch in transferring the bookstore property from the mission to the local church so we are attempting to do it in a different way. How boring! True. But it is big stuff here with rampant government expropriations of foreign property.

2. Lynn Discipleship Classes. Lynn recently had a lady approach her indicating that she wants to do what she is doing…one-on-one discipleship, going through a 10 lesson manual. Lynn is really excited that she´s be able to pass this off to another lady. In addition, she completed teaching a seminar called “Women of Worth” in two different locations.

3. Center of Ministry Development.(CDM). Harry has four more classes and he will finish the seminar on “Last Things” or Eschatology. This has been fun. The class members (2 MD´s, 1 university post-graduate professor, 1 Ph.D. biologist, 1 salesman, 1 secretary) are a pretty close knit group. Confession time: it´s not that the CDM material is that sterling (but generally pretty good really) but rather there is a hunger among some for basic, no nonsense Bible instruction.

4. Rental of New Meeting Location in Guatire. The meeting room in Pastor Armando´s house has gotten too small for the Sunday morning worship service. We praise God for opening up a nice size meeting room in a private medical clinic where one of the church members works.


5. Lynn praises the Lord for a great women's retreat the end of April. Our theme was "Cords of Love". We were much encouraged over the different ways God draws us to himself with love, strengthing our faith, helping us in the midst of difficulties and using discipline to draw us back to Himself. This is part of the group of women who enjoyed the retreat.

Prayer Items
1. Venezuela Economics. Pray for the economic situation of the country, It’s very bad and sad. For example, inflation is pegged at around 40% this year. Anyhow, this impacts a broad range of areas: giving to the churches, repayment of loans, income of church people, unemployment, etc.

2. Jaime and Maglery Torrealba. They are the pastoral family at the La Urbina Church. Jaime needs major back and neck surgery. Also, his wife Maglery has a severe case of hepatitis A. She´s on total bed rest, has not regained her strength, and now she´s into the third month of being severely ill. Furthermore, their health insurance policy doesn´t cover any of this.

3. Armando and Carolina Díaz. They are the pastoral family in Guatire and are undergoing major stresses with work, teen age children, finances, etc.

4. Men´s Retreat. Harry has a Men´s Retreat June 25-27. Pray for spiritual renewal and commitment for the men, many of whom are on stress overload.

5. Vacation. We´ll be in the Fort Wayne, Indiana area June 28-July 23. Harry has a major goal of spoiling as much as possible the 10 grandchildren so their parents have something to do in August! Seriously, we can´t wait to see the family.

We greatly appreciate your friendship, prayers and support.

A closer look at Treyton.

Introducing New Grandson, Treyton Joel Hyde

We are so excited about the arrival of Treyton Joel Hyde to Joel and Angela. He was born April 16, 2010. He weighed in at 6 pounds 12 ounces and is 19 1/2 inches long.

Some recent happenings

We are excited and have really enjoyed some recent events in our churches here in Caracas and Guatire. Harry continues to enjoy his students and is teaching a class on Spiritual Disciplines now. Lynn is involved in teaching a class called "Women of Worth" in 2 churches and is really enjoying that. Our churches are full and really working in reaching out to their communities, sharing what Jesus is doing in their lives in many ways.



We are not much for all night meetings but Venezuelans seem to enjoy having an all night prayer meeting. We have also come to enjoy being a part of this experience and blessing.



In March the Macaracuay church baptized 6 people. Four of these were young men!!
How we praise God for these men, this is an answer to prayer! The pastor is the 7th person in this picture.






The weekend before Easter, the Macaracuay church also performed a drama called "He Lives", the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus.
This took place in a public plaza across the street from the church. The presentation was well done and about 200 people attended the event...many non-church people from the community. Around 30 people responded to seek further information on the person and work of Jesus




On the lighter side we enjoyed watching some our friends do a Venezuelan dance called the Jaropo to Christian music.








We also spent a fun day with one of the youth groups going to a german village up in the mountains called Colonia Tovar and enjoyed a meal of German frankfurters and potato salad and a fun time of being tourists.




Prayer Requests:
1. Continue to pray for Venezuela. Primary elections are coming soon for candidates for congress. The regular election will be this fall. The devaluation of the bolivar and inflation are hitting the people hard. It also is opening hearts to the gospel and for that we praise the Lord.
2. Guatire Church. We are actively looking for a new meeting location for the Sunday morning service. A new location will facilitate new growth.
3. Bookstore Ministry. Pray for the continued ministry of the bookstore. It has a great outreach in the community and is an excellent contact point for people looking for spiritual counsel and a church.
4. Harry´s ministry. Pray for young people to enroll in the training program. The current program is going well but is attended by mostly middle age adults.
5. Lynn´s ministry. Pray for the two “Women of Worth” classes I’m teaching (one in Guatire and the other in Macaracuay) that the Lord will use this study to help the women discover their true identity and purpose based on the Word of God.

Happy Valentine's Day

As we approach Valentine's Day this Sunday, we rejoice in the love that God has allowed us to share together these 36 years. It has truely been a life of adventure together first in loving the Lord our God with all our heart and being obedient to His leading and then loving each other. The Lord's presence through the pleasures, joys, difficulties and disappointments, that we have passed through so far in this life give us strength and encouragement to keep going. His selfless love for us keeps us wanting to share with others so they too can know that love.

We praise the Lord for the way He continues to work in his church here in Caracas, Venezuela. The changing political scene, high inflation, shortages of food and medicine at times, insecurity on the streets and for the future make it difficult for our brothers and sisters in the Lord. But they are finding strength and peace in their faith in the Lord our God. Our churches are growing. As people see the very life they thought secure and good, shake under them they are looking for something secure. What an opportunity to share what Jesus can do for them.

The house church in Guatire is out growing the pastor's home and they are looking for a larger meeting space to rent. Pray with us that the Lord will lead in this and provide the needed space so the church can continue to grow and God's kingdom be extended.

We continue to make disciples. This is our passion, to see people become strong and persevering in their faith so that come what may the Lord's church will continue to carry out the Great Commission that Jesus left with us. "To go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that Jesus commands of us." Matthew 28:19-20.

St. Valentine died because he loved God more than life. God's selfless love sent us Jesus, in that while we were yet sinners, he died for us that we might have life, eternal and abundant life. Our desire is to share that love with others.

October 13, 2009

Yesterday was the Jesus March here in Caracas. What an encouraging event to be with God's family. This city is so big and hearts so hard that it is easy to get discouraged. But being together in the Jesus March helps one to realize we are not alone and what joy it will one day be to worship and praise God together in heaven.

It seems like yesterday that I wrote on this blog.
There is always plenty to do. Harry started his fall session in the Center for Ministry Development, teaching a class on "The Sermon on the Mount". He has 5 students who seems to be enjoying the class. He has also been mentoring Pastor Armando and has a class with him weekly. We are also involved in Pastor Armando's house church, helping where we can by teaching or preaching in the Sunday Morning worship service or Friday evening discipleship class. This past month the administrator of our Christian Bookstore, "Hidden Treasures" has been on vacation in Brazil visiting her sister, so Harry is filling in for her till she gets back in another week.

Lynn continues to be involved in the Macaracuay ladies ministry at Fabian Rubio, a prison half-way house. We've been going through Celebrate Recovery material and have seen the Lord work in these women's lives in a very encouraging way. A couple of the women have recently attended a retreat on "Forgiveness" as a result of their desire to have the Lord heal their lives. We praise the Lord for his transforming power in our lives and the lives of these women.

Discipling a couple of women who were baptized this past summer has been a real joy for Lynn also. What a blessing from the Lord to help these women grow in their understanding of God's Word and what it means to follow Jesus.

Continue to pray for us, that God will use us to bring glory to His name and extend His Kingdom here in Caracas.

End of the summer

Summer activities of retreats, Vacation Bible School, vacations, etc. are winding down for us as well as for Venezuelans. We had an absolutely wonderful time at FEC convention and the Missionary Retreat as well as a week with our family the first part of August. Our 9 grandchildren couldn´t be more perfect and charming in our eyes. We will have to admit though we need to be around them more to get used to the high noise level in the house!!

We are looking forward to the next several months before Christmas. Harry´s classes in the Ministry Development Center will be starting again soon. He´ll be teaching the Sermon on the Mount. Pray that the Lord will bring new students, especially men and young people to begin this training program. Our desire is that when we ultimately leave Venezuela, the church here will have a firm foundation of God´s Word. Also that they will have a way to train future leaders and pastors, so that no matter what happens in this country the Lord´s church will prevail.
Some other major events this month of September will be a Marriage Retreat sponsored by the Association of Venezuelan Bible Churches (AVIB) and the Macaracuay annual church anniversary celebration. Then the end of October will bring the annual assembly of AVIB. (We look forward to IM Director Earl Cecil being with us for that time.) In the midst of these special occasions we have our regular discipleship classes, teaching Sunday school, mentoring of our pastors, the women’s prison half way house ministry, hospital visitation and all the other things that go on in everyday life here that keep us plenty active. Pray that we will use our time wisely, that we will have open eyes and hearts to where God is working so that we might be his vessels, useful in extending His Kingdom and bringing glory to Him.

July 25, 2009

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade- kept in heaven for you. I Peter 1: 3, 4
This is a time of praise to our God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For a long time we have been asking many you to pray that God would raise up men in our churches here in Caracas. We are beginning to see this happen. Two men whose wives have been faithful believers have recently made public professions of their new birth in Christ. Another through a Father’s day gift from the church, a devotional book of “Our Daily Bread”, is reading his Bible and this book daily. Several other men through invitations of friends, ministries of our Christian Bookstore and the Conference men’s retreat are now attending church and beginning their journey with the Lord.

Last Saturday, our 3 churches had a combined baptismal service. Fifteen new believers were baptized! It was thrilling to hear their testimonies of what God is doing in their lives. One of those baptized was a man, who is the school bus driver for Pastor Armando’s children. Pastor Armando, a year ago invited Genaro to the Men’s Retreat. Genaro’s life was a mess, his marriage on the rocks and his health in bad shape with very high blood pressure and an irregular heart rate. He went to the retreat to just get away from everything but also a bit afraid of what he was getting himself into. That weekend he gave his heart to the Lord, his blood pressure has dropped to normal and he hasn’t had another irregular heart beat. God is strengthening his marriage and his wife has also accepted Christ as her Savior. They both were baptized this last week. The above picture on the left is Genaro about to be baptized by Pastor Armando.

Keep praying for God to raise up men who are willing to count the cost and that their faith which is worth more than gold may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus is revealed.

Lynn has been teaching the discipleship, baptismal class for the new believers who were baptized from the Macaracuay church. It has been so exciting to see their joy and eagerness to learn the things of the Lord. The above picture on the right is the group from Macaracuay who were baptized.

May 23, 2009

This past month has been one of those regular, nothing exciting or nothing new is happening months. We continue to be involved in teaching and discipling new believers, mentoring pastors, supporting and attending the three AVIB churches here in Venezuela.
The church in La Urbina, Center for the Christian Family, has made this month a time of stressing the importance of the Christian family. They had a family outing at a local park with games and a lunch and seminars on the family the last 2 Saturdays. These have been excellent for us in spending extra time with this church since we don't normally attend their services. The seminars were also very good and helped us understand many cultural aspects of the Venezuelan family that we knew were different than our background but hadn't understood the thinking behind them. We have so much to learn and then to think how that applies or affects the Christian life and family is mind boggling to us sometimes.
The Macaracuay Church has a leadership retreat the first weekend of June to do some vision casting and praying. Lynn has recently been asked to develop a discipleship program for new believers for the church and Harry to help them develop some kind of a Sunday School program. They have had Sunday School but it has been a very weak program with very few attendees. Don't know if he can resurrect it or not. We'll see how the Lord directs us in these 2 different ministries.
In Guatire we continue to enjoy and be encouraged with the fellowship of these young Christian brothers and sisters. Their enthusiasm for their new faith is contagious even in the midst of struggles and sometimes failures. The teenage son of one of these families is really struggling with the new faith of his parents and all the changes that have happened in their home. He is not so sure where he fits in all of it and whether he wants to give his life to the Lord or not, because of the changes it would mean to him. On Mother's day we enjoyed a great lunch of grilled hamburgers Venezuelan style with all the works on them. The sandwich was almost the size of our plate, huge but delicious!

Prayer Requests
1. That the Lord would continue to strengthen his church here in Venezuela amid the insecurity and changing government system.
2. That the Lord would raise up men and young people committed to Him and willing to serve Him with their lives, especially as pastors and church leaders. (Just as in the States, material things speak louder than sacrificial living for the Lord.)
3. Pray that the Lord will give us wisdom and direction as Harry leads the Sunday School and Lynn the discipleship program in the Macarcuay church. That we will be able to involve our Venezuelan brothers and sisters and that they will take ownership and make the programs work.
4. Pray for the outreach retreats this summer that friends, co-workers, neighbors, and family members will attend and that they will come to know the Lord as their Savior.
5. We are in the midst of transferring Church and the Christian Bookstore property titles to our Venezuelan churches. It is a tremendously complicated process. Pray that the Lord will hasten this process, that it will happen without complications and with little cost.

Easter Week 2009

Praises:The Lord has been working in the youth group we taught last winter in wonderful ways. Several have asked to meet with their leader for discipleship classes, others who had dropped out of the group have come back and asked for forgiveness for leaving and others are seeking and asking for godly counsel regarding situations in their lives. Keep praying for these youth that they will become firm and strong in their faith.

Prayer requests:
1. The Lord will bring forward a couple who feel called by God to start a new house church or church.
2. For Pastor Armando and his wife Carolina, as they get passports and attempt to get visas so they might attend FEC convention in August.
3. For Auris, the young woman who lives with us, as she travels to Argentina this week to attend a training seminar led by Desert Streams from the USA. She has never flown in an airplane before so this will a big adventure for her.

How is Easter celebrated in Venezuela? Holy week as it is called is a big vacation time. Since we don't have seasonal changes here we do not have spring time and all the new life it brings. As a result one of the things that is noticeably different is the lack of commercialism during Easter week connected with spring. New spring clothes, Easter baskets, Easter candy, chocolate bunnies and colored eggs are definitely not apart of Easter here. The church here has it's Good Friday services, honoring the crucifixion of Jesus. The Catholic church through the centuries has large processions protraying the crucified Christ. But to most people Holy Week means, "Lets go to the beach!"

The city of Caracas empties; businesses and stores shut down, some for all week and others from Wednesday until the following Monday. There are long traffic lines as people leave the city for the ocean, river or lake. By Friday streets were nearly empty and you could go anywhere in the city in record time. It is a great time for those who stay in the city. Resorts and beaches are shoulder to shoulder people.

Whereever we are it is easy to forget the real reason for Easter when you look at how the world lives. How we rejoice and thank God for loving us so much to provide a way for us to have a relationship with Him through the shed blood of Jesus and the hope we have through his resurrection for eternal life.

We went to Guatire like usual on Friday but we had a birthday party instead of Bible Study. Our group had a big backyard party, grilling Venezuelan style steak and garlic and blood sausages accompanied with boiled yuca, and cabbage salad. The blood sausages are a little more than we can handle but the rest of the food was super delicious. Birthday cake, a lemon tart, strawberry jello and chocolate oatmeal cookies were the dessert. What a fun time with our friends.

Easter Sunday or Resurrection Sunday as it is called here was celebrated by our three churches having a united service in a park with about 90 people in attendance. Before the service Bible tracts were passed out to people in the park inviting them to attend. After a great time of worship together we enjoyed picnic lunches brought by each family and a relaxing afternoon in the park.

March 10, 2009

March 10, 2009 Harry's mom, Helen Hyde at 96 years of age went from her sleep to eternity with Jesus. No matter how much we might know with our minds that death could come at any time it is still a shock and sorrow to our hearts. We as a family will miss Mom Hyde but know she was ready to meet her Savior and we look forward to one day meeting again in eternity. Harry flew back home for her funeral. We are thankful for his brother Jerry and our sons and their families who were there to celebrate her homegoing with him. Also to so many other family and friends who came to share and support them in their sorrow, thank you!

March, 2009

Praise and Thanksgiving:
1. Lynn was able to spend 20 days of February in Indiana. We had 2 new grandchildren born in January, Daniel Grayson to Jeremy and Gwen Hyde on January 4 and Melody Joy to Jonathan and Abby Hyde on January 30. These were really special days for Lynn as she spent a week with each of these families and then the weekends with our other 2 sons and their families. Harry continued teaching his classes and work here in Venezuela and endured a quiet house till Lynn returned.
2. Praise for the classes on finances that Harry recently finished. He hopes to be able to teach this class this fall in the Dominican Republic.


Prayer Requests:
1.Wisdom for Pastor Armando on the next steps and vision for the future of the house church in Guatire. Will the house church continue as such or begin to develop into a regular church? They are outgrowing the space of the pastors home.
2. That we might be able to encourage more young people and male leadership to participate in the classes that the Center for Ministry Development is offering.
3. March 24 Harry will start teaching a class on using Inductive Bible Study with Romans as the base.
4. Easter Sunday outreach in Miranda Park with our 3 churches participating in a united service and doing some evangelizing in the park afterward.

Mountains around Merida

What's been happening?! It's been more than a month.
* Christmas and New Years celebrations. There were lots of loud fireworks, good times with friends and lots of hallacas to eat! We missed our family but thank the Lord for Skype and video. We were able to talk and share a bit with each one. It sure helped the lonliness one can feel not being able to be present.

*Our youth Bible studies are almost finished. We feel the Lord has used these and we were prepared and shared in the best way we could. The Holy Spirit is the one who changes lives and we know He is working. The outward results are perhaps not what we hoped for but we are so glad for the opportunity we had to share what it means to be obedient and committed to the Lord.

* An all night prayer vigil for Venezuela, AVIB, our churches and personal requests. This was a new experience for Lynn. She wasn't sure she could stay awake all night but she made it. It really was a neat experience as we shared, listened and prayed together in small groups mixed with music, devotionals and other interactive dynamics to keep us all awake.

* Harry has started teaching a class on personal finances in the Center of Ministry Development. The teaching of the prosperity gospel here in Venezuela is quite strong and a good balanced Biblical approach to finances and stewardship is needed.

* We took a few days off and enjoyed the Andes Mountains in the southwest part of Venezuela. It was a 12 hour, all night bus ride to get to Merida. This is a very beautiful area and a great opportunity to learn more of Venezuela history and culture

Prayer requests:

1. Our pastors: That they would continue to remain pure and steadfast to the Word of God and give good leadship and vision to their churches.
Jorge Barrada and his wife Ludi
Jaime Torrealba and his wife Ruth
Armando Diaz and his wife Carolina

2. The house church in Guatire (Pastor Armando): That the church will continue to grow. We are just excited how God is changing lives there and the committment of these new believers.

3. We just heard yesterday of a Family from our Macaracuay Church that is interested in starting a church in Guarenas. This is a city between Caracas and Guatire. Pray that the Lord will guide in this possiblity. We have been praying for another couple interested in starting a new church. It will be neat to see how the Lord brings all of this together.

4. Harry's class on personal finances that it will be Bibical and practical for all taking it. The class is Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings for 6 weeks.

Christmas in Venezuela, 2008

What a week this has been. Christmas in Venezuela is just as busy as at home in Fort Wayne. We've had Christmas parties, Christmas play practice every night, sewing costumes for the play and our regular work and activity as well.

The Macaracuay and Guatire churches both did Christmas plays of the Christmas story,the birth of Jesus. These were both outreach events into the communities of the churches, a first for this kind of event since we have been here. The Lord worked in really neat ways by bringing the church people to work together and have a great time in doing it. As well as a great way of sharing the gospel story with the community.

The Macaracuay church did the play in the mall area where the church is located. The shoppers and store owners seemed to really enjoy the play and requested that the church do it again next year.

The Guatire church preformed for a Christmas dinner for about 50 families in the urbanization where one of the church families live. This afternoon they did it again for our La Urbina Church Christmas dinner and did an excellant job.

For us it was just really exciting to see these churches reaching out to their communties with the Good News of the Lord Jesus in a different way. At the end of the plays, the pastors were able to give a devotional on the meaning of Christmas in our lives.

Check out the pictures of these events (to the side there is a link to Pictures of the Association of Bible Church ministry in Venezuela).

Something that happened this past week that we really praise the Lord for, is that we received our new visa for another year so we can continue to live here. Over 6 weeks ago we turned our passports in to the government. This has meant 3 trips downtown on the subway at 5:30AM to wait in line till the offices open at 8:00AM. Things don't move here by appointments but by who arrives first. Fortunately for us, we are Senor citizens and have a special line and are allowed to go in first otherwise we'd be outside waiting for many more hours as others have to do.

VIEWS FROM VENEZUELA

CHRISTMAS BLESSINGS

1. God became one of us. He came to earth as the baby Jesus. Today, He can come to live in people’s hearts. One day He will come again in all his holiness and power and glory to reign over the whole world. Let us celebrate with joy this Christmas season!

2. We are thankful for our ministry here in Caracas, Venezuela.
 For teaching ministry leadership classes.
 For the Youth Bible Study series we are writing and teaching.
 For the discipleship of new believers in the house church in Guatire. We were 21 for the Thanksgiving service and luncheon.
 For leading the Bible study at the women’s prison half-way house.

3.The three Venezuelan Bible Churches that we relate to are growing and effective ministry is happening! Praise God.

4.Our family is again increasing. We’re looking forward to welcoming Jeremy and Gwen’s baby boy, Daniel, in January and Jonathan and Abby’s baby in February. Granma is very much looking forward to coming home in February for a couple of weeks to do some bonding with these two new blessings as well as with our 7 other grandchildren.

NEW YEAR CHALLENGES

1. That the Lord will use the youth Bible study series to be a challenge to commitment and obedience to Him. That lives will be changed.

2. Planning for women’s, men’s, youth, children’s and marriage retreats.
 That these retreats would continue to be outreach, evangelistic tools in reaching family and friends for the Lord.
 God would lead us to a retreat center that is reasonable in price and easily accessible.

3. That God would lead a couple committed to persevere and work in starting a new house church or church plant.

Prayer Requests for November

1. Pray for the first Marriage Retreat that the Association of Bible Churches here in Venezuela is going to sponsor. The Retreat will be November 14-15, 2008. Pray that marriages and families will be strengthen in there faith. Plus, there are 6 maybe 7 couples going from our house church in Guatire for which we praise the Lord. Four of these couples are young Christians. The two other couples that are going, the husbands are not Christians but the wives are. Pray specifically that these 2 men might come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior and that these 2 homes might become united in faith.

2. Pray for the series of Bible Studies that Harry and I are leading for the youth in the La Urbina church. We are very much concerned for these youth and our desire for godly Christian leaders for the future of our churches here in Venezuela. Pray that we will speak to their needs, that we might love them and that the Lord's Word will penetrate their hearts and minds bringing godly changes to their lives and a renewed committment to the Lord.

Our Dominican Republic Trip

How does one describe a trip that was full of God's blessings, protection, fun and work! Harry and I arrived in Santo Domingo on Thursday, Oct.16. He went out to San Juan on Friday morning to begin his training seminar with the pastors and church leaders that evening. I stayed in Santo Domingo to wait for the Brookside Medical team. We arrived in San Juan, Sunday afternoon. The team asked to see needy people that don't generally get to see a Doctor. Dr. Canario, the medical director of the clinic and the one who arranges the trips, complied. For 4 days he took us to very remote areas, some of which even he had never been to before. We drove 2-3 hours everyt day with 4 wheel drive pick-up trucks on rocky, gullied mountain roads to little churches where we set up the clinics. The rolly coaster rides with breath taking mountain views (no guard rails up there) will never be forgetton. But even more important were the people in the areas of Montecitos, Las Lagunas, Macasia and Guaroa. They were given a chance to see a doctor, receive medicine and gifts of soap, shampoo, toys, toothbrushes, Bibles, clothes and what ever else we brought along to give away. While the medical team was busy seeing people, the local pastor as well as the pastor and child evangelism lady we took along with us, were busy sharing the Good News that Jesus loves us and wants all to know him and have eternal life. The medical team treated over 400 people in 4 days.

Harry's classes got off to a rough start but finally on Monday and Tuesday he was able to teach a group of over 100 Pastors and church leaders in the San Juan area about the social responsiblity of the church. He spent considerable time preparing and anchoring the studies to biblical teachings and examples. They would like him to return next year and teach about bibical stewardship.

Thank you for your prayers and support for this trip.

Praise the Lord with us.

We've been back in Venezuela for 3 weeks now. I think the thing that has thrilled us the most has been the new attenders and believers in our 3 churches. A number of men we have been praying for have accepted Jesus as their Savior and are being discipled by their pastor or another leader in the church. What an answer to prayer!


When we left last December the house church in Guatire was really struggling and not in any sense of the word growing. We left feeling somewhat discouraged, like we were leaving a difficult situation for Pastor Armando to go through alone. But Armando was not alone. His committment to the Lord, the support of his wife, perservance in sharing his faith and wanting to have a house church was blessed by the Lord. What a neat group are worshipping and studying God's word together! The picture at the top is of this group of believers.


Harry has gotten back into teaching church leadership seminars and is currently teaching "Church History". We will be team teaching an 8 week Bible study for the youth in the La Urbina Church on various themes.


Prayer requests:

1. Trip to the Dominican Republic for Harry to lead a seminar on "The Social Responsibility of the Church". Pray that the Lord will use him to speak His Words, that Pastors would respond and learn and that the church in San Juan de La Maguana area of the Dominican would be strengthened. Lynn will be part of the Brookside Church Medical project, reaching small villages with medicine and the Gospel. This trip is October 16-24 for Harry and through the 26th for Lynn.


2. Pray for safety and an encouraging time of ministry for Earl Cecil and Al Rupp as they come to Venezuela for the National Church Assembly, AVIB, representing FEC in the USA. It will be a special time for us to have them here, October 24 to 29, 2008.


3. Pray with us for a new couple with the committment to the Lord and to starting a new house church like Armando and Carolina have done.

Arrival in Venezuela

Have you ever felt God going ahead of you, protecting and opening the way for you as you headed toward your goal? That is how we felt this past Saturday, September 13 as we headed back to Venezuela. Here is how our day went: we had a direct flight to Dallas, Texas and then to Caracas (Chicago had huge delays that day with cancelations because of stormy weather), the cost of the excess baggage we took with us was less than we anticipated(300 pounds of Christian books for the Christian bookstore), Hurricane Ike (didn't affect the Dallas airport at least till after we left), we were only charged a very minimal fee for "all" the books in customs in Caracas and wonderful friends met us with a pick-up truck to haul our 8 large suitcases home. What a day and what a God we serve that made it as easy as possible for us! Thanks for your prayers.

We are now unpacking and getting resettled in our apartment and enjoying the wonderful welcome home we have received by our brothers and sisters in the Lord here. It was hard saying good-bye to our Grandkids, children, family and friends in Indiana (loved the pizza and ice cream party we had) but we know and have the assurance of God's peace that we are to be here for now. We look forward to many wonderful times together in the future. Love you all.