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September 14, 2002
Greetings to All,
We hope that you and yours are all well and relishing this wonderful
life that God has so graciously given us.
As I (Deborah) write this I am looking at a sea urchin shell
and thinking about the situation here in Venezuela. Right now
the country is like two living sea urchins with their spines attacking
everything that comes within their reach, each side defending
its "causes." How wonderful it would be if each one
would surrender its spines (causes) and participate instead in
currents of peace and well being for the Venezuelan people so
that the true beauty that is beneath the spines could be revealed.
Our hearts continue to grieve for Venezuela as it persists in
splitting into two factions-those for President Chavez and those
against him. The battle intensifies each day and distracts those
in charge from running the country, and thus the people continue
to suffer as inflation and unemployment increase. Please continue
to keep the country in your prayers, asking that the two factions
cede their causes and begin to dialogue for the good of the people.
Jubilee Center
The construction at the Center continues steadily. Hopefully
by the end of this month the caretaker's apartment will be finished
and the remodeling of the kitchen will begin. In addition the
center is serving more groups every month.
An interesting situation arose about two months ago when several
families (children and all) of prisoners in a prison nearby decided
to stage a sit?in within the prison as a way of pressuring for
the release of the prisoners. After almost a week the families
finally agreed to come out. However the state juvenile court decided
to prosecute the mothers involved in the sit?in for exposing their
children to such conditions. After making this decision and while
processing the actions, the court found they needed a place (other
than the prison itself) to house the mothers and children. We
were asked to lend the Jubilee Center for this purpose and so
we did. The families were there several days until the court decided
to put the mothers on probation. Surprisingly, several families
expressed a reluctance to leave the Center because the living
conditions there are apparently much better than in their own
homes. The whole situation was lamentable but thanks to all of
you who support the Center both financially and with prayer, the
Presbyterian Church in Venezuela now has a comfortable space with
which to serve in times of trouble and in many other ways to the
local community.
Other Mission News
The seminary extension program, the Institute for Ecumenical
Studies, continues to make progress. A new semester begins in
early October. Carlos is still acting administrative dean and
will probably continue to be so until the early part of next year.
The Good Shepherd Church in Santa Bárbara will soon have
four students enrolled in the program, Ramón, Jesús,
Leidy, and Johanna. Please keep these four and all the students
in your prayers.
The Good Shepherd Church is currently in a campaign to minister
to and evangelize 100 people who showed interest in the church
during the medical mission drive in March. Please pray during
the months of September and October for these people that their
hearts might be open to receiving Christ in their lives. At the
end of October we will be celebrating the church's 55th anniversary
with several special activities. Please also pray for a children's
program on Wednesday nights.
Carlos continues to minister to the Valencia congregation once
a month. Please pray for this congregation as they hopefully struggle
to reestablish themselves after the loss of their pastor under
difficult circumstances.
Our Family
Last week my parents were able to visit with us in Margarita,
Venezuela's largest island, and meet the children for the first
time. It was a wonderful reunion and despite the fact that the
grandparents do not speak Spanish and the grandchildren do not
speak English we were amazed at how well they managed to communicate
with each other. Carlos's parents could not
come at this time but will come at the end of October. We're not
sure the kids really understand this whole grandparent thing,
but they have grasped that grandparents are special people that
love them in a special way.
The adoption process has been on hold from August 15 to September
15 because the courts are on vacation. Please pray during the
week after September 15 for everyone involved. We are even more
hopeful than ever because the adoption agency has received urgent
orders to process the tremendous backlog of pending adoptions
as quickly as possible. Thank you for all your many prayers up
to now.
Carlos is feeling almost completely recovered from his second
operation. We are so thankful to God for a solution to his long-term
sinus problems. Our many thanks for your prayerful interventions
on his behalf.
Que Dios los bendiga. May God bless you,
Deborah (and Carlos)
The 2002 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 264
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