Eben's Prayers

Travel and retreats/gatherings

2009-05-10T18:56:00.000-07:00

There's a lot going on this week for our team, so I think I'll break it down by day:

Monday, May 11:
-Please Pray for Allison Jurecki as she is flying back into Valencia, arriving around 2:30pm.
-Also pray for her and Justin as they take an overnight bus to Maracaibo. Pray for safety and a restful journey, especially for Jurecki, considering that she was a relatively short turn around time between arriving on the plane and leaving on the bus.
-Please pray that Allison Pepple, Sarah Brown, Oscar Zapata, and I can schedule appointments well as we have a short week. Pray also for discernment in what to cover in those meetings and that students would be punctual and eager to receive.

Tuesday, May 12:
-Please pray for Jurecki and Justin along with all the other city directors from around Venezuela as they meet together in Maracaibo. Pray for wisdom for them as they consider how to determine the criteria for selecting a new national director and the vision for how to continue forward with the current national director, Keith Onishi, leaving in July of next year (2010).
-Please pray again for Pepple, Sarah, Oscar, and I in scheduling and having appointments (discernment in content, punctuality, and excitement)

Wednesday, May 13:
-For energy for Justin, Jurecki, and the city leaders as they meet for another day.
-For Pepple, Sarah, Oscar, and I in scheduling and having our last appointments of the week (discernment in content, punctuality, and excitement)
-For safety and a restful trip as Pepple, Sarah, Oscar, and I take a nightbus to meet up with our leaders in Maracaibo for a team retreat.

Thursday, May 14:
-For rest and attentiveness to God's voice for Jurecki, Justin, Sarah, Pepple, and I as we spend a day with the Lord.
-For Oscar as he has a meeting to talk about Venezuelan fund-raising policy within Campus Crusade for Christ

Friday, May 15:
-For our team to be encouraged, to be refreshed, and to have fun as we spend a day together in a team adventure outside of Maracaibo.

Saturday, May 16:
-For Justin, Jurecki, Pepple, Sarah, and I as we debrief about the year and begin considering questions/preparations to return home. Pray for insight in what to share for the staff member that will be leading that time (probably Elisha or Sherri) and that we would be able to identify things necessary for personal closure for each of us. (Just for memory's sake, Pepple will leave May 28th, Sarah around June 15th, and the rest toward the end of July)
-For Oscar as he spends the day with his family after having been away for a month and a half.

Sunday, May 17:
-For our team as we visit Oscar's church in Maracaibo
-For safe and restful travel for Jurecki, Pepple, Sarah, Justin, and I as we take another night bus back to Valencia.

Monday, May 18:
-For energy, endurance, and readiness to learn for Oscar and all the other Venezuelan staff as they start a three week intensive training conference about fund-raising.
-For Jurecki, Pepple, Sarah, Justin, and I as we get back to ministry in Valencia, as we plan appointments for the week, and make plans for a parents' meeting to present who we are as a ministry and explain what is coming with summer project.

Travel safety and finishing well

2009-05-05T07:35:00.000-07:00

Congreso came and went, hopefully I'll get a chance to post my update letter about it one of these days to fill in some blanks about what happened. As for now, I have two specific prayer requests:
1. My teammate Allison Jurecki's grandmother passed away unexpectedly yesterday morning. It's a pretty substantial blow to the family as she had lived with them for quite some time and was really an integral part of their lives. Allison is flying home tomorrow evening(Wednesday) and will arrive Thursday afternoon to be with her family until Sunday. Please pray for her safe travel, and for God's comfort for her and her family in their grief.
2. We're approaching the end of our STINT year. Allison Pepple is leaving at the end of May to go home and raise funds for a second year, Sarah Brown leaves in mid-june to do the same, and the rest of us leave toward the end of July. Please pray for wisdom for us especially in our discipleship relationships, that we would know what is important to focus on and pass on to the students before our time with them ends.

Bus

2009-04-02T21:35:00.000-07:00

This is a slight modification to the last post:
Tomorrow (Friday, specifically at 9am) we're going to try to go talk to the director of the University to ask for a bus to transport students to Congreso. Please pray that we can get in to talk to her, that she would show us favor and give us a bus, and that we would have an opportunity to share the gospel with her.

Here it comes...

2009-03-27T19:56:00.000-07:00

Please continue to pray for Congreso details as it is quickly approaching. We're working on videos, still don't have many details about the sound equipment, and are still awaiting confirmation on the band members.

Additionally, please pray for buses for Congreso. So far we have only hit roadblocks in trying to get one from the school, but we're pursuing the permission we're missing from higher up the chain of authority. Please pray for favor and that we would speak with wisdom and clarity. Also, please pray for all cities since they have also been having similar trouble securing a free bus from their respective universities.

Thank God for the retreat and the details he's worked out this far. The stage is going to be a whole lot easier than I imagined, and the dramas have come together too. Retreat went really well; hopefully I'll have a chance to write more about that in an update in the coming days.

Also, thank God for his financial provision. Through a quick call to my monthly supporters he has already raised enough money for us to send 17 students to Congreso 100% free. Additionally, a letter that Gustavo (one of the guys I'm discipling) wrote has so far seen the fruit of bringing in enough money for him to pay his own registration, the registration of another, and halfway toward a third person (and he still has yet to receive from a few potential donors that have said they're planning to help him!).

Details

2009-03-10T06:14:00.000-07:00

This week is one of details. Thursday I'll be going to look at a stage for Congreso and going out to the site to make some measurements so that we have a better idea of what we're working with. We also have a retreat this weekend, so there are lots of transportation, food, content, and logistic details to work out. Please pray that Congreso details like the band, the stage, the emcees, the skits, etc continue to be worked out. Please pray for our retreat, that the details all come together, and that it would be a time for students to grow together in community and be "transformed" (the theme of the retreat).

You can also thank God for our safe travel. We got to the airport in Quito only to find out that the second leg of our journey was canceled. However, the airline lined things up and took responsibility, so we got home a mere 7 hours later than anticipated. That let us be back with enough time to prepare for the finance meeting the next day which went really well. As I worked on preparing a little talk about the biblical basis for raising funds for ministry, I came across Acts 18:1-5 and was excited to see how both "tent-making" and partnership methods of providing for needs during ministry appeared in the same passage. Overall, I definitely think the meeting went well.

Fund raising meeting & Travel

2009-03-03T20:10:00.001-08:00

Please pray for a fund-raising meeting we are going to have Thursday. The goal is to help students learn about how they can raise funds for Congreso. My part to prepare is the biblical basis both for the "tent-making" or part time work approach to raising funds for ministry as well as the partnership approach of asking people to be a partner in the ministry by giving/providing for the financial needs. Please pray for students to come, that they would get a good idea of what Congreso is, what the biblical basis for support raising is, and practical advice/pointers/starting points on how to do it.

Also prayers about our visa renewal trip would be appreciated too. Thank God for the time of rest we've had (I'm actually writing in Quito, Ecuador now), and pray for safe travel tomorrow (Wednesday) morning and rest to recover from the traveling tomorrow afternoon.

Visa Renewal

2009-02-25T05:14:00.000-08:00

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.

One of those weeks...

2009-02-16T19:39:00.000-08:00

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.

Oscar and elections and extraneous odds and ends

2009-02-09T19:30:00.000-08:00

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.

Mens'/Womens' Times and To Do Items

2009-02-05T05:58:00.000-08:00

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.

blech

2009-01-29T04:32:00.000-08:00

Please pray for my health. On Monday evening, my throat was feeling a little sore or scratchy. It got a little worse Tuesday, and by yesterday, it was affecting how much I wanted to talk. Yesterday congestion started as well, so it seems to be a full blown cold. Pray that it won't progress any further and that I could get appropriate rest to get over it. Pray for a balance of relying on God's strength to power through to still meet with people and of recognizing and taking opportunities that he's giving me for rest and recovery. Pray that I'd be relying on him and seeking him in all cases.

Follow Up

2009-01-26T19:31:00.000-08:00

Please Pray for:
Follow up: I'm finally just going to do it. I've got an appointment for tomorrow morning (Tuesday) with a student named Jorge who I was hoping to follow up with as Christmas break started. He felt sick that day and didn't make it, and I've finally managed to set up tomorrow to talk to him. I originally told him I'd like to hear about his church background and I pray for the opportunity to take the resulting conversation deeper to really talk about the character of God and knowing him. I texted another student, Rafa, to see if I could talk to him on Friday, but I have not heard back from him. Pray that God would be at work in both of their lives and hearts, and that he'd use my intentionality in seeking them out to bring about his transformation.

Please continue to pray for:
Follow up: Even as I feel like I'm finally at least making a start, there's part of me that still doesn't feel like I know what I'm doing and is a little afraid that I'll somehow screw it up and botch this person's chance at being drawn to a real life changing relationship with Christ. That's silly because it's the Holy Spirit that is at work in them and in me, and it's not my job to make any change happen, but I guess I sometimes get concerned that I'll get too caught up in trying to be systematic and will fail to care enough. Enough for what is a good question, the most obvious seeming answer being to cause the change, which gets me right back to needing to remember it's ultimately God at work and not me. I guess ultimately that's a request that I care for the people that I meet like Christ cares for them, and that I wouldn't see them as a bullet point on a to-do list, or simply another task as part of my job.
Wart remains: I still haven't gotten to the doctor to have the is-it-scar-tissue-or-is-it-wart-making-a-come-back spot on my knuckle looked at. Continued prayer for healing would be appreciated.
Congreso: Having worked on a few things in preparation for Congreso today, it has reentered my mind that prayer for God to provide our every need for Congreso is really important. Pray for him to provide so much that all students could go free of charge and experience 100% gracia 100% gratis (100% grace 100% free). Please also join me in consistently praying for over 60 students to go to this year's Congreso from Valencia.

Praise God:
Movement meeting: It went well, did not go too long, and we got some good feedback from students as well as getting a general idea of what events we'll be doing this semester. That was good for both us and the students to have.
Discipleship: Even though I didn't feel like I had really good direction going into my discipleship meetings last week, I came out of the week feeling like I all the meetings went really well. I felt like I had relevant things to speak into the guys' lives even though I hadn't necessarily planned them, and that all parties walked away edified.
Safe travel: Sarah's parents got here fine. It appears they are enjoying their time here. If you can pray for their safe travel home on Friday, that would be appreciated.

Thursday movement meeting and other details

2009-01-19T19:19:00.000-08:00

Please pray for:

Movement meeting: Thursday we'll be getting together with the students to talk about a concept of "transformational community" and how we really want to see one develop this semester. We'll also be talking about some specific events we're hoping to see and how we hope they'll help toward that goal. Please pray for focus and clarity in communication. Meetings with students that focused on the movement as whole have in the past had a propensity for tangents that prolong meetings and distract from the original purpose. Pray that God's direction would really be presented and that students would be excited to get on board with it.

Discipleship: I've got meetings this week with my disciples, but I've been wondering a little bit about what exact ground I should be covering with them. Pray for continued guidance and discernment and attentiveness to areas where I can help foster growth.

Wart remains: I had a wart frozen off several times in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. On my last visit to the dermatologist, it seemed that the wart was dead and all that remained left to do was allow time for full healing. It's now been two months, and I'm beginning to wonder if the skin on the affected knuckle looks funny because it is scar tissue or because the wart is returning. I had hoped to finally return to the doctor today to have it looked at, but I didn't make it and probably won't have time until next Monday. Pray that it really is just scar tissue and that it continues healing and start looking less suspicious.

Safe travel: My teammmate Sarah's parents are coming down to visit for a week, arriving this Friday. Pray that they'd have safe travel, a quick recuperation from the time in transit, and an enjoyable stay.

Call it a new year's resolution

2009-01-12T16:47:00.001-08:00

Please pray for:

Consistency in communication: Sometime in the last couple months, I sat down to think about goals I want to pursue, things that I want to be true in my life. One of those is being in better communication with people. That means taking the time to call friends at home, but it also means being more consistent to post prayer requests here. With the new schedule that we've set up, I think I can be consistent with posting on Mondays. Now I have a day to post regularly. Pray that I'd stick to it.

The schedule: we made several adjustments to our weekly schedule over the break, but I think it will be good for us. It reflects realities of Venezuela, and gives us a better flexibility in the afternoon, and much fewer evenings dominated by language lessons. It even factors in time to work on things ahead of time, so definitely pray that I utilize that well (old procrastinating habits from college die hard...). Also, this week is a little topsy turvy with our team leaders coming back midway through the week from a retreat, moving our staff meeting and rearranging a few schedule elements. Pray for their safe travel and for smooth schedule rearranging.

Praise God for:
Our internet: Having not posted in a while, I see the last post was about the internet. I think we got it about a week and a half later. I recall it being something like November 12th because I think I remember it still possible to consider it a gift to correspond to my birthday on the 11th.

I'll leave it at that for now. Hopefully more next Monday if not sooner.

Internet and Discipleship

2008-11-01T15:38:00.000-07:00

Please pray for:

Internet: We went and filled out the paperwork to get internet in our apartments exactly one month ago today. They had said something about a 3 week wait for cable modems, but then 2 hours after we missed a text message at 6:30am (somewhere around week two, two and a half), the technician said he'd already installed the modems elsewhere and was once again out. I called the company a week later, and then finally went in and talked to them in the office a few days later (I think Tuesday of this last week). They took my information again and said we should be getting a call from the technician this week. We didn't, and so we are still without reliable internet in our apartment (I say reliable because we can get one 5-minute trial per day of one signal and can occasionally get other stray wifi connections, which probably aren't that secure). In any event, please pray that we'd hear from the technician this next week and have internet installed in our apartment by Friday at the latest.

Discipleship: we are finally starting some formal discipleship relationships. This last week I met with 3 different guys (Ingve, Samuel, and Gustavo) to try to nail down regular times to meet with them. Please pray for another few that I haven't been able to meet with and that I don't know yet if they want discipleship (Anthony, Deivids, and Alan). Also please pray for relevancy in the material we cover, that God would use these interactions to draw both them and me deeper into his love and plan, and that the guys would be able to take what we do and model it into discipleship relationships of their own in the future, hopefully before this STINT year is over (if you feel like asking for something seemingly ridiculous or on a level that only God can bring about, pray that they'd be ready by the start of classes in January after the Christmas vacation).

October Prayer Letter

2008-10-27T15:31:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,
Three Sundays ago, my alarm went off at 2:15 am, signaling the start of my part of the Fall Break Merida trip. Four hours later, I was in the Caracas airport, welcoming Christine and Ashley to Venezuela. Even though their trip had started Saturday morning, they still chose to go to church with us. It was the first of many instances in which these girls from University of Portland demonstrated their character and trusted God with the details. It made for a great week.
Later that day, we had “Christmas in October,” opening the suitcase of rare-to-Venezuela-goodies that my mom had sent down with the girls. We started our week-long study of Galatians, covered schedule details, and then spent some time together as one big team, eating dinner and talking. Monday, we went to Universidad de Carabobo here in Valencia and the girls got their first experience sharing in Venezuela, striking up spiritual conversations and presenting the gospel. During that time, Ashley saw a guy and a girl pray to receive Christ as their personal savior. That night Sarah, Ashley, Christine and I got on an overnight bus and embarked for Merida.
Once in Merida Tuesday, we went up to the humanities campus and met with Keren, one of the student directors of the Merida ministry. After a time of worship and fellowship with another Christian group on campus, we once again went out sharing. Christine paired up with Keren, and while sharing, saw another girl pray to receive Christ. We finished out our day with another student-led activity: a prayer walk around the university grounds. On Wednesday, the girls handed out weekly meeting flyers and continued to meet Merida students during the games, worship time, and teaching time of the meeting itself. That night at a fiesta, after playing games, dancing, and talking more with students, both girls were asked to give their testimonies. Even though it was really impromptu and hard to hear over the torrential rain outside, both did an awesome job of sharing their stories. After a typical round of Venezuelan goodbyes (hugs/cheek kisses to every girl and handshakes/hugs between guys) to everybody in the room, we ran through the pouring rain, crossed a few shallow rivers (aka streets), and finally caught a taxi back to our hostel. Thursday, after an early lunch of arepas with the student leaders (arepa: traditional Venezuelan cornmeal pocket/patty), we went sharing on the technical campus where, as I translated for Ashley, we saw one more girl accept Christ.
Friday morning we arrived back in Valencia, and the girls had a relaxed day as our STINT team met with the student leaders here to plan for a few weeks. Saturday we went to a nearby beach and a spent a little time debriefing about the week and a lot of time enjoying God’s creation. Then, early Sunday morning, we were once again in Caracas, this time to see the girls off to Oregon. As the girls left us to go through security, I felt a deep sense of affirmation that the trip went well. While there were a few learning moments for me, I felt like I engaged and initiated throughout the trip and did not hold anything back. In short, I would not change a thing, and I am incredibly encouraged by the fruit of the trip. Christine and Ashley felt accepted by our team, they connected with the students in Merida, and God changed lives through their being here. I feel like that is exactly what I had hoped to see, and God made it happen. To Him be the glory. In his grip, ~Eben

Please Pray:
-For wisdom and time for filling out reimbursements for Merida trip expenses; that it would process quickly.
-For God’s continued work in those we shared with, especially that they could connect with other Christians.
-For our STINT team as we start establishing discipleship relationships; that what we relay would be relevant, and that we would develop a fully functional method for us and for students to follow up with new believers.

Merida Trip

2008-10-12T19:53:00.000-07:00

The two girls coming down from University of Portland (Christine and Ashley) to go help in Merida for the week arrived this morning. It's been a long first day, so please pray for their/our rest and energy for this week. Pray that God's vision would be cast in this trip, and for safety in all the traveling we'll be doing. We're overnight busing to Merida tomorrow (Monday) night, and coming back on another overnight bus on Thursday. Pray for a fruitful time in Merida, and for good connections to be made and for the student leaders to be able to follow them up. Also pray for Friday as we'll be meeting again with students here in Valencia to continue planning for the first 6 weeks of classes. Pray for our debrief activities for the UP girls Saturday, and their safe journey home Sunday, that they would return to their classes rested, ready, and radically met by God.

Apartment update

2008-09-16T22:25:00.000-07:00

The apartment I mentioned in the last post fell through; the owner backed out and decided he didn't want to rent from us. His reasons weren't incredibly clear, but most likely a big part was the documentation we had available at the time to confirm us as good potential renters. We've slowly but surely been working on acquiring more of these such documents, and are finally starting to get them in hand. We looked at another apartment yesterday and found out about one today that is in the same building as the girls'. Please be praying that we would be able to get in and see this new apartment ASAP, that it would be affordable, and that we would be able to have adequate documentation to move in soon. (If you feel like asking for something really wild, pray that it will have a place to hang up a hammock...)

On a different note, a wart on my knuckle that I had frozen off while home in the US has returned in a substantial way. Please pray that it would either go away on its own, or that I would be able to find a doctor here soon that can treat it to eliminate it once and for all without causing any other lasting damage.

Arriving and Apartment

2008-09-08T11:36:00.001-07:00

A few praises:
-I arrived to Valencia with my new team last Wednesday night (Sept 3). All of our flights went smoothly, we didn't lose any baggage, everything was still in our luggage, we met up with our director without any trouble, and had an uneventful bus ride to our apartment in Valencia.
-So much was already set up and ready for us when we got here. Summer project had rented a couple apartments, one of which we were able to keep for the year. It's in a great location, close to the university with plenty of stores, etc nearby. It also gives us a great head start instead of having to stay in hotels while we try to figure out housing (since we are the first STINT team to Valencia)
-Within 24 hours we found another apartment in the same complex for the same rent and are currently in the process of getting all the documentation set up. In case you don't realize just how miraculous this is, the first team in Merida (a smaller city) spent several months trying to find apartments available near each other, and my team there last year spent over 4 months trying to find a new nearby apartment and ended up having to move across town. Finding a second apartment that quickly, close by, and comparably priced is pretty much unheard of in Venezuela.

Prayer requests:
-Wisdom and discretion in finances as we transfer money and start buying additional appliances/furnishings for our apartments. Pray that we would find good quality items for affordable prices. Pray that all the details would work out so that the money transfers go through quickly so that we can move into the apartment and get money to live on.
-Pray for Christian Vivas, our city director. Pray for him and his wife as they are expecting a baby early next year and are still trying to finish out their support. Pray for health for him and his wife, as both have been experiencing some illnesses of late. Pray that the details of our apartments and transfers would be resolved quickly so that he can finish his part in them and return home to his wife. Pray for his safe travel.
-Pray that we would continue to start the year well. So far, I feel like our team is bonding and getting along well. Pray for our continued unity, especially as ministry will soon be starting in earnest. Pray that we would continually deepen our relationships with God and each other and that we would be empowered to serve from an overflow of the love of Jesus Christ in our lives.

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Family Emergency

2008-06-10T11:05:00.000-07:00

Please pray for Elissa Adams(a fellow STINTer this year in Maracaibo, Venezuela): she just found out that something severe happened to her mom. It sounds like a brain aneurysm, but last I heard they were transporting her to Greensborough, NC to larger medical facility to find out for sure. Elissa was up here in Merida for the Maracaibo project's mid-project retreat when she got the call from her sister this morning. She's currently in a taxi to Maracaibo (the fastest, most reliable method of getting there) where she might be trying to get a flight home tomorrow. Pray for safety and wisdom in travel, peace and provision for her family, and restoration and healing for her mother.

Merida = no dice, homeslice

2008-05-14T17:51:00.000-07:00

So we were told a couple months ago that applicant numbers were way down this year for STINT, and at the time we weren't all that sure of how that would affect next year. After a long process of waiting, the news is finally official: the outcome of that shortage is there will not be a team next year here in Merida.

Please pray for two things:
1. Ministry: We shared the news with the students today, emphasizing that this is an opportunity to see God work and asked them to start praying about how God wants them to be seeking Him, and if and how he may be asking them to get more involved. We've been working on reshaping our servant team over the last month or so, and now that we know we won't be here, it allows us to be more intentional and specific in how we train the new leaders. Please pray for the whole process as the team will be gone at the end of July. Pray for God to bring the right people to the new servant team, and the hearts of all the students to be drawn closer to God in the change. Pray that they'd have a united vision of the ministry and not get caught in the loss of resources but rather focus on finding creative solutions.

2. Placement: As you may or may not know, I applied and was accepted to do another STINT year. Now that there's no team in Merida, I'm now in the process of trying to figure out where God's calling me. I pretty much have four options: Marcaibo, Venezuela; Valencia, Venezuela; Costa Rica; or Croatia. While I'm leaning more toward wanting to be back in Venezuela, I know from talking to our regional director that there is a felt need on both of the teams in Costa Rica and Croatia. Please pray for wisdom and clarity of calling, that God would make the "calling and election secure" (2 Peter 1:10)

p.s. I know the title of the post is odd, and maybe even flippant. I just liked how it sounded. Thank you again for your prayers, even if I am a bit of an oddball.

The end is in sight

2008-05-05T19:25:00.000-07:00

So looking at the last post, we found an apartment through our exchange contact, moved, and I think I even caught up a little on the finances. There's always more to do in that arena, but God's been pretty gracious to pick up the slack on little oversights that I make.

I mentioned motivation in the last post as well, and I feel like it has improved a little. Coming off of a visa renewal trip and realizing the end of my year here is quickly approaching has helped me realize I have some things I'd still like to see happen before the year ends.

Here are the four:
1. Servant team- that the reorganization that is in process would result in a team that can more easily, specifically, passionately, and cohesively plan events and shape the direction of the ministry for the future.
2. Men's retreat- that we would be able to find a good date and venue, as well as that God would provide the ideas etc needed for a good program
3. Discipleship- that I'd have the initiative to seek out key students and meet with them to share resources to aid their growth so that they can in turn pass on the resources to other students after them
4. Apologetics study- I'd love to see a study happen on the technical campus that addresses apologetic questions. Pray that I'd know how to structure that well and involve others that are interested, both as potential leaders and participants.

We also have a major outreach planned for this Thursday and Friday in which several churches and ministries are partnering together to reach the university. I'll be giving a talk/lecture as part of that on Friday morning, and I'd greatly appreciate your prayers for preparation, content, and delivery. Please also pray that it doesn't rain here in Merida on Friday (we have the closing event in an outdoor amphitheater), and that students would be reached and receptive.

Post Congreso Prayer Letter

2008-04-19T20:34:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,
Three weeks ago yesterday (Saturday), the final two busses rumbled off into the night, taking with them the last moments and participants of Congreso Nacional 2008: Prueba de Fuego (National Conference 2008: Trial of Fire). I have sat down at least four times since then to try and write this letter, but every time the words either do not seem to come out right, or I end up otherwise occupied with other tasks. So at last, I hope to not only share about the conference, but about the busy weeks since. It’s enough that I need two pages…

CONGRESO FIRSTHAND:

From my perspective, Congreso is pretty well hyped by staff and students that have been before, and I think I went in subconsciously expecting to have an amazing ‘Congreso Experience,’ essentially to witness God work mightily in students lives and learn something profound myself alongside them. However, being there to help run it instead of just attending it (I was pretty much in charge of setting up the stage and supervising the technical aspects of the main program), I felt like did not have the chance to take in much of the content or do much interacting with the students. It actually left me a little frustrated, feeling like it had been busy and stressful work instead of the rewarding, inspiring time I had expected.

Since I knew that Congreso was much more than how I experienced it, I asked two guys in my bible study to share their experiences. Both wrote in English since they study foreign languages, but please forgive the grammatical errors as both are fairly early in their studies :

“In my opinion, I think that Congreso was WONDERFUL, AMAZING, MARVELOUS. I mean, it's an experience I'd never known before. I really, REALLY loved it. I must confess that, in the beginning, I was like "ok, I have NO idea of how it's gonna be like", and I actually got to think it was gonna be a little boring. But WOW! I couldn't ever imagine that it would be so great, even though the trip wasn't good at all, it worthed it! I never knew how really wonderful God was until that Congreso. The workshops, the talks, the time sharing with our friends, and of course, the praising time (that was the thing I LOVED the most).” - Leonardo

"I really learnt how to keep a good communication with God, how trust him. One of the most activities that I loved more was the [main sessions]”... “I really liked it because while we were singing those songs we could felt like God's love through us. I also like when we went to the beach to share with other people our faith. At the beginning I was really nervous and worried at the same time because I had not done that before. I mean, I had shared before but not like by myself , I always were the translator so it's easier”… “But when you trust in God you never are going to feel afraid of anything. Fortunately, with the guys that I was sharing, they were really good doing it, but I [prayed] and I talked to God in order to he could helped me of not feel any [fear] or insecurity of myself while I was sharing with other people. After I [prayed], I really felt good”… “I did it really natural. I could not believe that I had shared and I was not scared of it. But now I feel confident about share my faith with someone else. I really like that conference. I hope the next year I can go to the following one.”

– Neuro (slightly condensed, some spelling corrected)

THIRDHAND CONGRESO: During our staff retreat after Congreso, I learned that over 20 students had attended a lunch for those interested in either a 4 month or year long full-time ministry commitment. At church the following Sunday, one student, Jesús, talked about personally seeing 15 people make decisions to follow Christ during the 2 hours of sharing on the beach Friday of Congreso. Waleska shared about having her perspectives changed on missions, Yuliana shared how God established the path He wants her on in the future, and Angela shared that it was simply impactful to her that God provided to take her there and that she’d really been ministered to by a staff couple there. Saturday of that week we had time for students to share about Congreso, in which Darwin talked about being challenged to please God in the little things, Leonel said he was able to see how much he’s grown since last year’s Congreso, and Jatniel explained how a workshop helped him see how he can be distinct from the crowd to reflect Christ to them.

BY THE NUMBERS:
4 days, 3 nights (Mar 19-22)
180 Students
-30 from Merida
-9 from Santa Barbara
20 Ohio State Spring Breakers
26 National Staff (e.g. me)
9 Cities represented

SINCE CONGRESO: So even though I didn’t necessarily enjoy my own experience at Congreso, in light of so many positive testimonies, I’m really beginning to see how much God used it. Even for myself, I’m seeing how He’s been leading me to scripture (like Psalm 91) about taking refuge in Him and His sufficiency, and as I consider how little I did so at Congreso, I’m relearning how vital it is. It is definitely a learning process, especially in the craziness of the past two weeks.

In three concepts, the last two weeks have been servant team, finances, and moving. As a team, we created a new model for our team of student leaders (aka servant team). Instead of the current model of a group of core students helping plan all aspects of ministry together, the new model has core students in smaller groups, each focused on a particular aspect of the ministry. It’s been a process of trying to specify those key aspects of ministry and trying to figure out what core students we should invite into the leadership roles. Please pray for the process as we are hoping to finalize who to ask this week and ask them for a decision by the beginning of May. In the finances department, Congreso costs along with upcoming events(including a trip next week to help jumpstart a movement in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital), made for enough financial details that I took all day last Thursday in my role as team administrator to organize them. Please pray for clarity and accuracy in that department as there is a lot to track, especially with the new apartment. Speaking of moving, our money exchange contact has an apartment we can use temporarily while we keep looking for something longer term. So Tuesday and Wednesday we spent the afternoons packing, and moved here to the new apartment Wednesday night. It is not close to the girl’s apartment and is a little on the expensive side, but it is a Godsend to have a comfortable apartment in a nice part of town in the timeline we needed that even includes good relations with the landlord. Please keep praying for long-term housing solutions for our whole team, seeing as I was told Friday that the girls need to move before the team ends its year here in July.

Finally, thank you for your prayers. I recently looked at last month’s letter and realized that God provided a bus the same day as bus details appeared on the calendar. Your prayers are powerful and effective, and I love that I get to see Him answer them specifically. ~In his hands, Eben

Piling up

2008-04-01T19:21:00.000-07:00

The Santa Barbara trip went well, and I'm ashamed to come back to this blog and realize I never posted any requests about Congreso or even my last prayer letter that did talk a little about it. I guess things have gotten crazy and I definitely haven't been the most diligent about posting requests.

In any event, I feel in need of a lot of prayer right now: stuff just feels like it's piling up. We still need an apartment. We've been making calls, checking the paper, talking to realtors, canvasing nearby apartment complexes with our information, and haven't found anything workable yet. We had an appointment to look at an apartment today, but the owner never came and didn't answer our calls. The cosigner on the apartment said he needs to talk to me urgently and I'll need to go talk to him tomorrow. I'm honestly afraid for that conversation because I fear it will basically be him passing on the pressure that the landlord is putting on him to get us out. There's just a lot in this situation that has me scared because I pretty much don't feel like I know what I'm doing or how to go about getting results or even what steps I need to be taking. In addition to the whole apartment mess, there's finances stressing me out too. Our exchange contact, while amiable, hasn't been very time-conscious, resulting in needing to not only wait extensively for him to arrive, but also in more meetings with him. Adding to it, I'm a little bit behind and need to get caught up on keeping the books for the team's finances. The icing on the cake is feeling a little lack of motivation for ministry activities, including finishing of my latest prayer letter. I know what I want to share, it just doesn't seem to want to come out on the screen.

Thank you here and now for trying to make sense of my ranting and lifting the stuff up in prayer. Ultimately I do know that God's in control of it all and will work it out; however I'm in the moment where I'm seeing for just how much I need to be trusting him and it doesn't seem like a small amount.

Santa Barbara Catalytic Trip

2008-03-11T20:39:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow (Wednesday, March 12), I'll be taking a trip to a school in a relatively nearby city. We have occasional contact and visits with them, and try to encourage them in their ministry. Since we aren't there full-time, but rather try to help things along with short trips, we call it catalytic ministry. Anyway, it takes about 3 hours by bus to get there and we will be making the trip twice tomorrow. We'll be encouraging them about Congreso, and this will be my first trip out there. Please pray for safe and problem free travel, and for our time with the students there tomorrow.

"March" Prayer Letter

2008-03-09T19:52:00.000-07:00

Apartment hunting

2008-03-03T16:18:00.000-08:00

Please pray for apartment hunting tomorrow. We still have yet to find one, even having looked in the paper for the last few months. I've finally figured out how I can do something a little more proactive than just look in the paper though, so tomorrow I will go with a student named Jatniel to ask around all the apartment complexes nearby here to ask if they know of any availabilities and give them contact info in case they hear of any after we talk to them. After that, we will probably go visit various realtors to try and get them looking, since we've finally found out that they do not charge to look, but their fees are only assessed if you actually enter into a contract in an apartment they've found.

Please pray that we can move through the apartment complexes in a time-efficient manner.
Please pray that the search would be fruitful.
Overall, please pray that God would provide us with an apartment
1. nearby (important since we work as a team and the girls already have their apartment),
2. that is affordable (the market price I've seen in the newspapers for apartments like ours is double what we are currently paying),
3.and that has amiable landlords (we've had several issues with our current landlord being less than ethical or friendly)
4. soon (we legally have until April 15 to be in this apartment, but from the landlord's previous statements, I think he may begin hassling us if we aren't out by March 15).

Thank you all for your prayers.

Plane crash

2008-02-22T16:41:00.000-08:00

Dear friends,
In case anybody else heard about the story below, let me assure you we weren't on that plane. We are on our visa renewal trip, so we were flying yesterday, but we flew from Merida to Maracaibo Wednesday and from there through to Caracas and to Port of Spain yesterday. So no Merida to Caracas for us. However we have several flights Monday through Wednesday, so prayers for that would be appreciated as well as for the families of those in the crash (none of the students in the ministry were on the plane, but we have no idea yet if there are any relations to the passengers).

Additionally, I would appreciate prayer for me as well as during this trip I need to make a final decision about whether or not to reSTINT (return for a second year). Please pray for God to speak clearly and for enough distraction free time to not only hear from him about the decision, but also just some good time of connection in general.

Thank you all for your prayers.

- quoted text -

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- A commercial jetliner with 46 people on board was reported missing in western Venezuela on Thursday, officials said.

Noel Marquez, director of Venezuela's emergency management agency in the western city of Merida, said the twin-engine plane did not make contact with control towers in two cities as expected after it took off from Merida en route to Simon Bolivar International Airport outside of Caracas.

"It did not make contact with the control towers," Marquez said.

He said authorities were searching for the plane and confirmed it belonged to the company Santa Barbara, a small Venezuelan airline that covers domestic routes throughout the country.

Belated updates and requests

2008-02-20T16:51:00.000-08:00

Well, so much for being better about keeping this blog current. Hooray for living under a covenant of grace.

The most immediate things I want to share are three current prayer requests (keep going past them and you'll get to the updates of past prayers):

1. Wisdom for my decision about whether or not to return for a second year of STINT. As I type this, we're embarking on our second visa renewal trip. Being gone for a week gives me some time away to step away from everything to really listen. Pray that I take advantage of that time, and that God speaks clearly. Pray also for peace and assurance/security in the decision as I've definitely felt the weight of the decision growing over the last few days as the time to decide is finally upon me.

2. Safety and refreshment for our team on the visa renewal trip that I just mentioned above. Sarah and Chelsea have both been under the weather and are in process of following doctor ordered treatments to get better. Pray that they will feel better and be able to enjoy the time to be refreshed and ready to return to ministry at week's end.

3. Our apartment. We are still in the process of looking. We have at most until April 15, but would really like to be out as soon as possible. Our looking in the newspapers has not been very fruitful, and we will need to look into hiring a realtor (a very expensive option) when we return from the visa renewal trip. Please continue praying for God's provision.

And now for some updates from previous posts:
Some Crusade staff were able to come down and help us better look at our team dynamics. I guess this update could also count as prayer request 4, as I feel like we've not quite resolved everything that originally surfaced.

The adventure company was contractually obligated to give us 50% back on Ivan's portion on the cancelled post-Christmas trip. They finally returned a little bit more than that.

The student leader retreat went well. All the details came together, and it was a great chance for student leaders from around the country to come together and be mutually encouraged and equipped.

As evidenced by my mentioning the visa renewal trip a few times, we did finally manage to get the tickets and the trip planned, all well within budget.

More updates and a different retreat

2008-01-07T14:53:00.000-08:00

So I did go to the doctor Friday, but he wasn't available until 3 today (Monday). He looked at it and told me it was a ganglian (I think the technical name for a cyst, or pocket of fluid). Whatever word you use, it's not at all serious. He told me we could drain it or operate, but seeing as it's not causing me pain or inhibiting motion, we decided to leave it alone for now and see what happens.

The team meetings went well the last day or two, but you can be praying that God would be showing us how to better work as a team, seeing as we discussed at length today how everybody seems to feel like we are lacking.

Also, tomorrow Sarah, Ivan, and I will be going to talk to the adventure company that guided a trip for us after Christmas. Ivan got sick last second and wasn't able to go, and they seem to be constantly changing their story and not wanting to refund the portion of his money that they should. Pray for favor if you get a chance.

Finally, there's now another retreat this weekend for student leaders from the various cities in Venezuela that have Vida Estudiantil (Campus Crusade), and out team is tasked with the hosting duties of arranging lodging and food. Pray that we can make all the necessary arrangements and that the retreat goes well.

Ok, finally for real this time: another thing I forgot until just now is that Ivan and I need to buy plane tickets for our next visa renewal trip at the end of February. Pray that we find time to do that this week, and that we can find economic options.

"December" Prayer Letter

2008-01-07T14:52:00.000-08:00

Dear friends,
The first two weeks of December flew by before students left for their three week break from classes. My parents visited the next week, and it was a lot of fun to show them around Merida and have family here to make it feel a little bit more like the holidays. They left the 23rd, and as my team celebrated Christmas and New Year’s together, we learned that both eves are fiercely celebrated with fireworks at midnight. Since the noise finally died down around 2am on the 1st, it’s been pretty peaceful around here, giving me a chance to reflect some on my time here and think about not so much New Year’s resolutions, but New Year’s hopes: things I desire to see from God this year. Whether they are somewhat vague notions without any idea of how he will accomplish them, or a little more concrete, I’d really appreciate you taking them to the Lord in prayer with me:

Vision Meeting: We had originally planned to meet with the students in the movement to see what vision God had set in their hearts and get them thinking bigger picture than simply maintaining what already exists. It never happened due to some miscommunication with the servant leaders. I would love to see it happen as we begin this semester and see where they want to strive after God, trusting Him for bigger things.

Men’s Ministry: I desire for the guys here to be instilled with an understanding of what it means to be men of God. I’m not entirely sure what that looks like, but I’m considering a series of guys’ nights that would lead up to a men’s retreat similar to CRUX (retreat back home incorporating shared adventure and talks). Ivan found a list of biblical masculinity topics, and I’d also like to look at the life of David, a man after God’s heart. Please pray for wisdom on how to proceed and how to make the adventure (CRUX is usually rafting) economically reasonable for the guys.

Initiative: Last semester I think I for some reason felt obligated to focus very heavily on evangelism or helping initiate others’ faith, and I somewhat neglected my greater passion to strengthen or deepen faith. Please pray that God would provide me with initiative to pursue individual time with involved students and wisdom of how to pour into their lives.

Returning: Coming in to this STINT year, I was considering it a one year commitment, after which I would enter law school and pursue a career in patent law. However, students began asking me in November if I’ll be returning, and I’m now wondering if God might be calling me back for a second year. My understanding is that the deadline for the decision is not until March 1, but it is definitely already on my mind. Your prayers for discernment are greatly appreciated.

Hoping your Christmas was merry, your New Year’s happy, and your 2008 blessed, ~Eben

Quick updates on last post

2008-01-03T09:54:00.000-08:00

First off, we just postponed our team retreat until later this month when some additional staff will hopefully be able to come to provide some content and outside perspective. We'll still meet a couple times this weekend to spend some time as a team and get refocused to restart campus ministry.

Second, I didn't end up going to the doctor yesterday, but now have made more concrete plans to go tomorrow.

Thanks for your continued prayers.

Health, Housing, Retreat, and Returning

2008-01-01T09:20:00.000-08:00

First off, I'm sorry for not keeping this better updated. It is not a difficult or time-consuming task to jot down a couple prayer requests, and it's simply too important to ignore. Call it a resolution if you will, I'll strive to keep better updated.

So the prayer needs:

HEALTH: The first couple months went by relatively healthily, and for that thank you for praying. However, a few health problems have cropped up. The most ongoing of these has been that Sarah has been having trouble sleeping. She's been to the doctor numerous times and is still in the process of finding a medication that works consistently to give her sufficient quantity and quality of sleep to function well. Amanda had a few dental issues that are pretty much resolved, and seems to be almost fully recovered from a sudden eye infection that popped up almost a week ago. Ivan was not able to go on a 4 day trip with the rest of us since he woke up shivering and vomiting. He's feeling recovered from that but is in still in the midst of another occasional bout with stomach/digestive issues. Chelsea was having some back pain earlier this month and now is dealing with a lot of coughing and sore throat. On a plus note, Claudia's broken toe is fully healed. Finally, for myself, I've been waking up congested the last day or two and feel about on the edge of a cold. Also, last week I noticed a strange raised lump about the size of a dime on my wrist. It hasn't hurt or itched or turned funny colors but it's still pretty visible. I'll probably head into the doctor tomorrow to have it looked at. Prayer for additional wisdom in how to proceed there and in all these cases, as well as just healing and protection from additional illness would be greatly appreciated.

HOUSING: We are still in need of a new apartment for Ivan and me. Please keep praying that we would find one near our current location, and would have wisdom in how best to search.

RETREAT: As a team we will be going up to a retreat center this weekend to spend a little time regrouping/refocusing to be prepared to restart ministry with the restart of classes next Monday. Please pray for a relaxing time of good team interaction and learning.

RETURNING: Pray for safety and energy for students returning from Christmas break and wisdom in what to change and continue in ministry as we too return to campuses next week.

"November" Prayer Letter

2007-12-05T17:50:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-15T19:12:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-06T18:26:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-01T19:28:00.001-07:00

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

2007-10-28T15:47:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-25T04:57:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-19T11:13:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-17T20:26:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-15T20:46:00.001-07:00

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

2007-10-12T18:05:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-12T17:18:00.001-07:00

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.