"November" Prayer Letter

Updates…
Dear Friends,
Last month I shared a need for prayer for several events. Here’s how God has answered:
RETREAT:
Forty-one students attended the Merida retreat two weekends ago. Students told us that God’s hand was incredibly evident in the weather for the entire weekend. First it downpoured Friday afternoon, causing riots to disperse and allow students to reach campus to leave. The next day, the sun shone and dried out the whole venue so the bonfire was able to proceed as planned. The stars shone in the clear sky during the bonfire and weren’t covered by clouds until everybody was back inside for fun and games. The students also commented on the excellent talks from the speaker and most agreed that it was the best retreat Merida has had yet.

TRAVEL:
The wedding in San Cristobal was incredible, both as a cultural experience as well as an opportunity for extended quality time with several students. As is common here in Venezuela, the reception was incredibly high energy and lasted until about 4 am. The next week I was in Maracaibo to begin planning our national conference and spend thanksgiving with the whole Venezuelan Campus Crusade Staff. It was encouraging to feel part of a larger team there and made me thankful for my even larger team of prayer and financial supporters back home. (I don’t think I say it enough, so THANK YOU!). Finally, the last week out of the country to renew our Visas also went smoothly and provided a chance to relax and recharge a little before returning to finish the semester. Overall, the two weeks of travel went smoothly and God kept us safe every step of the way.

VOTE:
The NO vote won and the controversial Constitutional Reform was denied! Talk about celebration! As the results were announced around 1 am Monday morning, a great clamor of banging on pots, voices yelling, and loud noisemaking firecrackers filled the streets. The next day, in the evening, as we left from our servant team meeting, the streets were packed with rejoicing Venezuelans in cars and on foot waving flags, honking horns, dancing, and generally making noise. We walked the 15ish blocks back home, and even stopping for dinner, still reached our apartments before cars that we had seen as we started walking. About two blocks from our home, we saw a large group of students with a HUGE Venezuelan flag. They would bring it low, then lift it high in the air and direct cars to drive underneath it. It is definitely a huge praise, especially considering that many people rejoicing now would likely be rioting if the vote had resulted differently. Instead, we have the opportunity to enjoy the celebration and our continued safety. ~In his hands, Eben

And additional prayer needs.
Pray that we would finish the semester of ministry well as students leave for Christmas vacation Dec. 14th.
Pray for safety, fun, and smooth travel as my parents visit the week before Christmas.
Please continue to pray for a new apartment with a good landlord to open up near our current location.
Pray for a Christmas outreach dinner event at which we’ll help at a local church this Saturday, Dec. 8th.

"October" Prayer Letter

Some praises…

Dear Friends,
A month has passed, and there are several reasons to thank God. Four weeks ago, I started a bible study. Seven guys showed up the first week, and we started studying Romans. The whole study was in Spanish, excepting the one moment when I slipped into English and had a student help me translate the thought I was lacking the vocabulary to communicate. Since then we’ve continued meeting for lunch and the study every Friday at noon, and I think I’m been getting better at doing it all in Spanish. I’ve enjoyed the chance to share in the guys’ lives, and it is encouraging to see them coming back.
This last Saturday, we also threw a fiesta, mostly on the premise of it being my birthday. We had a pretty good turn out, and besides the cake and piñata, I had the opportunity to share a testimony from my life. Like the bible studies, it was all in Spanish. By the time I had finished, I was relieved to find that I was not frustrated at my inability to speak, but rather felt like it had been understandable. I spoke about my repeated experience of stepping out in faith and seeing God respond, offering the question or challenge for the listeners to consider if God may be offering them a similar chance to trust him and see him come through. There were not any immediate responses, but as with all our work here, I am trusting that God is using it even if it isn’t immediately evident as to how.

And some prayer requests…

I mentioned a few prayer needs briefly at the very end of last month’s letter that warrant a little more explanation now. The first of these is our Merida Retreat, November 23rd-25th. The theme centers on families, a subject that seems to be a common area of hurt and/or need for students, whether new to the movement or not. The talks will progress through having a foundation of Christ, how that can mark an individual to their family, and then God’s ability to also restore family. Unfortunately, the venue for the retreat was only available when our STINT team is away for a staff conference, so our team of student leaders will be running the whole event. Please pray for the elimination of barriers to student attendance (such as finances or schedules) and for the servant team as they take on the challenge of running a major event without our presence.
In addition to the just mentioned staff conference (a week with all Venezuelan staff to do some country wide planning), the following week we will be out of country to renew our traveler’s visas. Add my trip this weekend to the wedding of two students, Inder and Kelly, (pictured at right before a dance competition earlier this year), and it amounts to a lot of traveling for which prayer would be appreciated.
Last month I also mentioned our need for a new apartment, as our landlord will be selling our current place. He is anxious to get us out, and our relationship with him is deteriorating. Pray for God’s provision in the face of rentals being hard to find, needing one that is near the girls’ apartment, rising prices, and a short timeframe.
Finally, there have been some riots in response to an upcoming referendum to amend the Venezuelan constitution, Dec. 2nd. Besides knowing that there’s no safer place to be than where God has me, we are also generally pretty safe because the riots almost always center around campuses. This makes it easy to keep a safe distance; however, it also severely affects how we can do ministry. Pray for safety as well as wisdom and creativity in how to minister in such situations, especially as much of December is likely to be turbulent.
~In His hands, Eben

Riots and Fiesta

Without delving too far into Venezuelan politics, there's a national constitutional referendum vote coming up in early December. Its potential to cause a lot of government power to change hands and all or nothing vote-style has a lot of people upset. We had somewhat expected that ministry might be disturbed or look considerably different in December as a result, but riots have already been happening in most of the major Venezuelan university cities the last couple days. They tend to be centered around university campuses, so while that means we are pretty removed/safe where we live, it closes campuses, shutting down a lot of ministry. I just got word that a major protest is planned for tomorrow; pray that against expectation, that it will remain peaceful. Pray for discernment for us in how to operate in ministry in this state of events; especially as there's very little way to know when things may calm down. We had planned to have a fiesta this weekend where I would give a testimony, but I don't know if it will still happen if the riots continue. I'm honestly not scared; we haven't been venturing out anywhere near the riots and ultimately I know we are held in the protection of God's hands (which I suppose is still a reason to pray). It is more frustrating that ministry seems to be grinding toward a halt. So if you can pray for wisdom, safety, and a restoration of peace, it'd be truly appreciated.

Bible Study and Guys'/Girls' Night

I have bible study again tomorrow, and would appreciate prayer, especially since circumstances occurred such that I'll have to prep for it tomorrow morning.

Additionally, we'll be having separate guys' and girls' nights tomorrow. Pray that both would be chances to connect with students on a deeper relational level and simultaneously growing for all involved.

Office and Contracts

The contracts for our apartments and the office we rent near the university's humanities campus all seem to have an inexplicable skill of hiding; we can't find any of them. (Please pray that we do.)

There are also new developments with the office. The landlord wants to raise the rent. The office is actually a house, and I've just learned that we legally are only renting 3 bedrooms and not the whole lower level of the office as it appeared. It apparently has made for some issues in the past when the owner has come to stay in the 4th/final room as his vacation house. Pray that in the process of renegotiating the rent, that we may be able to negotiate having the whole lower level at a low price.

First Bible Study

Simon and I decided to colead one of the bible studies this semester. We'll have our first study on Friday. Pray that guys would show up and the Simon and I could work out a time to meet beforehand.

Lavish Apartment

I've mentioned before that we're in the process of looking for an apartment. Silly as it is, I really hope we find a place that has a natural spot to hang a hammock. Whether that's a patio, there's already hooks in a room, or whatever, I just really desire to have a hammock in our new apartment. Hammocks are relatively common, and I really enjoyed them when I was here on summer project two years ago. It seems a little silly to ask for something so arbitrary that's ultimately a luxury. On the other hand, scripture talks about God giving us the desires of our heart and knowing how to give good gifts. So I'm asking, and would love for you to ask for it too.

Starting Bible Studies

We'll finally be starting up bible studies next week. I personally would like to help with two of them. There are two guys, Simon and J.J., that have been in the ministry for years and could each potentially co-lead. However, I feel like both of them have the ability to lead on their own. At this point I don't know if it would be better to have two bible studies and lead with them, or have four with each leading our own. Two studies might allow me to help hone their leadership while they help with my Spanish. Four studies could feasibly serve more people, and allow us to involve other less experienced students in co-leader roles. Please pray for discernment, direction, and wisdom in the decision process. The studies are expected to start next week after being announced at Wednesday's weekly meeting.

Meeting with the Landlord

I'll be meeting tomorrow (Thursday) with our landlord. He originally said he wants to sell the guys' apartment, and it's been a little bit of a mess. With my Spanish where it is, I've been having trouble catching everything he's been saying so Sarah and Claudia will be coming along tomorrow for extra ears and better Spanish. Pray for a clear understanding of what is actually happening and that the eventual outcome is an affordable, comfortable, reliable (meaning well-kept) apartment for the guys to live in for the rest of the year.

Day with the Lord

Tomorrow (Tuesday) the team is taking a 'day with the Lord.' Basically it consists of unplugging from anything remotely work related and spending the day with God. I'm planning to do a little hiking, and would appreciate some prayer for safety, protection from bugs, and most importantly some solid connection with God. I think I'm kind of hoping He'll show me something new about myself, though I'm not exactly sure what I mean by that...

Fiesta

We have a fiesta tomorrow night at 5pm. Pray that it goes well, that we can build relationships there, and that God would use Claudia's testimony which she'll be giving.

September Prayer Letter

Half the adventure was getting here…
Dear Friends,
A month ago, I boarded a plane with my new team, finally embarking on this adventure of serving God here in Merida, Venezuela. We arrived in Caracas late Sept 12th and learned that one of my bags had been left in Atlanta. After much assurance that it would follow me to Merida (it did a week later), we left the airport for our hotel. The next day, we successfully navigated baggage check, airport tax, and security before boarding. As we then accelerated down the tarmac, the cabin pressure suddenly changed. I looked up just in time to see the emergency door topple inward four rows in front of me! A passenger next to it jumped up and pounded on the cabin door until the pilots managed to slow the plane to a stop, aborting the lift-off. Several pictures, a few hours, and a new plane later, we were once again airborne. However, a mid-flight announcement of an airport rain closure rerouted us to a nearby airport and resulted in an hour long taxi ride into Merida. When we arrived, Claudia, our Venezuelan teammate, let the rest of us (L to R below: Me, Chelsea, Amanda, Sarah, and Ivan) into our apartments, finally concluding our journey to our new home.

And the other half has been adjusting and starting ministry…
The weeks since arriving have been full of adjustments and new things, both positive and negative. Among the good is waking up to a majestic view of the Andes out my bedroom window. Among the less pleasant are the car alarms. In their abundance, they seem determined to allow no more than 3 minutes of quiet at a time. However, they are pretty entertaining in the heavy storms as large cracks of thunder tend to trigger them all at once, creating a symphony of wailing, chirping, and blaring. The storms are nearly daily since it’s rainy season, but there are many enjoyable stretches of blue sky and tropical temperature in between the sudden torrential downpours (and the occasional accompanying power outage).
Though somewhat expected, Spanish is probably the biggest adjustment. After two weeks of intensive language school, various bill-paying experiences, and time sharing with students on various campuses, I’ve seen that I still need to improve. In general, students are quite warm and open to spiritual discussion. Last week when I was on the technical campus with Jatniel, a student in the ministry, we sat down and talked with a student named Alexangel. The day before he’d been intrigued by a verse on his friend’s shirt and decided he needed to start studying the bible to see what it said. Jatniel answered Alexangel’s many deep questions more quickly and thoroughly than I could have hoped to do with my level of Spanish, and Alexangel decided to put his trust in Jesus Christ. In that conversation and others, I am really encouraged by the evidence of God’s orchestration, and I am looking forward to seeing His continued work. ~In His hands, Eben

Please pray for:
-The spiritual growth of Alexangel and the other new believers of the past weeks.
-Merida Retreat (Nov. 23-25). We’re praying for 80 students and still need to do a lot of planning.
-Team health to continue. Beyond some initial intestinal issues, our team has been healthy.
-Continued improvement in Spanish (understanding and speaking) for our entire team.
-Wisdom and clear communication in my role as team administrator (in charge of finances).
-A new apartment. We recently learned our landlord will be selling our current place.