Stepping Out Of Venezuela...

Thank you so much for all the various forms of support that you have given me – I am truly grateful to God for the friends and family he has blessed me with! Being here in Venezuela always reminds me of the importance of having loving people beside you. Thank you for being that for me.

As Christians, our first and foremost goal is to love God and follow him where he leads. In life there are always many choices to be made, and we are given the opportunity to choose whichever we would like – that's the beauty (and sometimes the difficult part) of God's gift of free will. Sometimes any one of the options would be fine, but other times in the midst of these options there seems to be one that God highlights and you know without a doubt that this one is the best. God speaks in many possible ways, but in the end, he gives an incredible peace so that you know you are doing his will.

In these last weeks, God has been speaking to me about a different path that he has for me. As you know, "the plan" was to stay here until summer or fall 2006, but God has spoken clearly that he wants me to step out of Venezuela at least for a short while.

I don't believe my time here was wasted – no, not at all. I have learned so much besides the huge accomplishment of learning the Spanish language. I have worked on living together with others, learning how to express myself and understand how others feel. I have been learning what culture really is, and how distinct the mindset is in each place, and how to work together with people so different from myself. And I have learned to appreciate who I am and that God has created me for wonderful purposes.

Also, I have seen fruit from my being here. Although I haven't done any "official ministry activities" because the focus was on language acquisition up to this point, I have seen little "God-things" happening. One of the guys here in the apartment has accepted Christ into his life, and he's found a sense of purpose in his life, as if before he thought that he was good for nothing. The daughter of my "Venezuelan mom", who isn't a Christian, has been opening up quite a bit about her hurts and past experiences with the church. Another YWAMer who is living here has been a wonderful source of light to her, and I am excited to see what will happen in the next few months as they continue to talk. My "mom" says, and I'm still trying to accept it, that I have taught her things about herself. That now, she knows a little more of who she is, to stand up for herself, and is not afraid to be organized and responsible in the midst of a sometimes chaotic society. Also, at the base, I have worked a lot with the staff there preparing and planning for the DTS and helping to organize things for the purchase of the house. As I look back, it has been an incredible three months! Praise God!

The political situation here in Venezuela is declining fast. You've heard of the New Tribes Mission being directly ordered by the government to leave their location in the Amazon. There are many missionary families here who have a lawyer that holds a key to their house and has authorization to sort out the details of bank accounts and personal belongings in case of an emergency leave. I have been told as well that there are many contingency plans that make it possible for families to leave with a 24-hour notice. Although this is not the reason of my return, it is a daily reality here, and I have seen a change for the worse since the last time I was in Venezuela. Now is the time for prayer – this next year brings a presidential election which is sure to cause a lot of grief here. Let's pray that God would move in the government and restore this country to prosperity and peace of mind.

Therefore, following God's voice, I plan to return to Canada in the next while. There, I will work with the church, using some of the things I have learned here. Honestly, I feel a lot like Abram – God is telling me to leave and I'm not sure what lies ahead. All I know is that God has told me to go, and I want to be obedient to his call. If you have any questions, I would love to talk with you about it a little more.

Thanks again for all your prayers and encouraging words. I would appreciate your prayers during this time as I return – that God would continue to guide and that I would be sensitive to his voice. You are in my prayers! May God bless you greatly!!