Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Visa Renewal

Please pray for our visa renewal trip. We leave Saturday for Quito, Ecuador, but several details are still up in the air. I have yet to receive details from the agent issuing our tickets, and I've had similarly little success securing transportation to the airport in Caracas. Pray that those details would come together quickly and without stress, and that we would have a safe trip with lots of opportunities to seek God and reflect as a team and as individuals.

Monday, February 16, 2009

One of those weeks...

Please pray for this week in general. There are LOTS of things happening, and it has potential to be pretty exhausting. I have at 3 different meetings with different teammates to work on a retreat we're planning for mid-March, finances for next year's STINT team, and looking at how we can start impacting more campuses besides the two on which we are already focused. On top of that, our sixth teammate Oscar arrives early tomorrow (Tuesday) morning (I was slightly misinformed in my prayer request last week), we have an outreach planned for Wednesday, I have my usual discipleship time Thursday, and a couple staff members from Maracaibo are visiting Thursday and Friday to scope out the Congreso site. Pray that we keep track of all the different things going on, engage in them all well, and have energy to get us through the week.

Please continue to pray for:
-My health. While for the most part the cold symptoms seem to have gone away, I'm still dealing with a lot of thick nasal junk (I promise I put that as least grossly as I could). Please pray that those little things that are keeping me away from normal/fully healthy would be resolved quickly.
-Odds and ends. I still many to do items including Congreso items and a prayer letter. I was able to take care of my taxes and fafsa. Thank God that I finished those, and continue to pray that I can get the rest done and enjoy the process.
-Election fallout. The amendment to abolish term limits for all Venezuelan politicians passed, and so far things have seemed pretty relaxed in its wake. Pray that the peace continues to hold, especially as tomorrow is the first day back to classes after the vote.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Oscar and elections and extraneous odds and ends

Please pray for:
*Oscar- We have a sixth member of our team joining us this coming weekend. He's from Maracaibo, and what is known as an MP4, a 4 month missionary intern. Please pray that he'll feel welcomed here (especially since he's never lived away from home) and learn a lot about God and evangelism during his 4 months in Valencia. Please pray for safe travel too.
*Elections- This weekend is a nationwide election on a proposition that if passed would allow President Chavez to stand for unlimited terms. Last December (2007) when a constitutional reform that included a similar article was up for vote, there was rioting leading up to it and once it was voted down, huge celebration. Pray that people would be safe regardless of the outcome of this election, and that any protests would remain peaceful.

Please continue praying for:
*Odds and ends- I still have lots of details to work on for Congreso, a prayer letter that needs writing, some taxes and fafsa paperwork to finish up, and several other things on my agenda. Pray that I can get them all done and enjoy the process.

Thank God for:
*Health-I think I'm pretty much over my cold, and I finally made it in to see the dermatologist today. She said it was definitely a scar, confirmed that there isn't any wart left in it, and gave me some cream to help the scar continue healing.
*Men's/women's time: The ladies had 5 girls over for a their sleepover, and almost a dozen guys came to the game day we had in the men's apartment. I think both activities went well, and both made for good environments to keep building on relationships.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Mens'/Womens' Times and To Do Items

Please pray for the womens' time happening this Friday morning and Saturday morning and the mens' time happening Saturday. The hope is to spend some quality time together and build a little bit more community in which people can cultivate caring and encouraging each other in their faith.

Also please pray for me and the various "to do" type things that I really want to get done within the coming week. Among those are catching up on some correspondence, getting some Congreso details worked out, writing a prayer letter, and other things that aren't coming readily to mind.

Please continue to pray for my health as this cold has peskily been holding on and not going away.