After a long day of travelling on Thursday, we arrived safely at the Las Piedras airport around 5:45. Unfortunately, our four hour stop in Aruba was spent at the airport as there was not enough time to go into the city for lunch. Customs/Immigration went very smooth in Aruba and Las Piedras. Anticipating the normal welcome entourage, we exited Customs only to find noone was there to pick us up! No Samuel, no Juvenal.....and we are now the only people left in an airport where noone speaks English. Barco was finally able to get Samuel on the phone and, for whatever reason, everyone thought we were arriving on Friday morning. Jim had already planned how we could sleep on the chairs in the lobby......and then Samuel arrived to whisk us to the hotel. Pastor Lucy Morales had already arrived as she spent time with her family in Barquisimeto for a few days prior. After checking in at Santillana Suites, exhausted, we went to the restaurant for a late dinner. Pastor Juvenal and Yoe joined us shortly. Juvenal shared with us that he had just learned his 21 yr old nephew, Humbert, has a cancerous tumor in his leg. This is the son of Juvenal's sister, Zoraida, who is the pastor of the church in Punta Cardon. After stuffing ourselves at dinner, we all went to bed early at 9:30 (10:00 Georgia time)!
Friday morning we had a great breakfast and then travelled to the church where we will conduct the training on Saturday. Juvenal's sister in law, Edga, joined us to help transport in her car. Barco, Jim, and Juvenal set up the projector and planned space for in the morning. Lucy and Donna planned the space for the ladies to meet while Rhonda found a baby to carry around and entertain. Not sure if the baby understood, but she sang Jesus Loves Me to her to keep her from crying!
After a brief stop at Juvenal's church, we travelled to Punta Cardon to see his sister. His sister the pastor, Zoraida, owns a beauty shop which is also where she conducts her church services. We were happy to find out that she is now preaching to around 100 people every Sunday!! While there, Samuel decided to get a haircut. After spending some time talking with everyone, we prayed and layed hands on Umber to pray for his healing of the cancer. What a great spirit he had because he told us that it didn't matter what the doctors said because God is in control and he was going to serve Christ no matter what happens to his leg. What a great display of faith in a young person! We then left to have a lunch of chicken and arepas at Tropi Pollo.
Friday morning we had a great breakfast and then travelled to the church where we will conduct the training on Saturday. Juvenal's sister in law, Edga, joined us to help transport in her car. Barco, Jim, and Juvenal set up the projector and planned space for in the morning. Lucy and Donna planned the space for the ladies to meet while Rhonda found a baby to carry around and entertain. Not sure if the baby understood, but she sang Jesus Loves Me to her to keep her from crying!
After a brief stop at Juvenal's church, we travelled to Punta Cardon to see his sister. His sister the pastor, Zoraida, owns a beauty shop which is also where she conducts her church services. We were happy to find out that she is now preaching to around 100 people every Sunday!! While there, Samuel decided to get a haircut. After spending some time talking with everyone, we prayed and layed hands on Umber to pray for his healing of the cancer. What a great spirit he had because he told us that it didn't matter what the doctors said because God is in control and he was going to serve Christ no matter what happens to his leg. What a great display of faith in a young person! We then left to have a lunch of chicken and arepas at Tropi Pollo.
After resting back at the hotel and spending some more time preparing for Saturday, we headed to the church for the welcome service. Everyone was very excited to see us and it was great for us to see many familiar faces as well as quite a few new ones. Pastor Juvenal introduced us and we enjoyed the praise band and entertainment from DRACMA, the youth performing group. Pastor Juvenal preached about extending the kingdom of God, whether from far away (referring to us) or in the community of Punto Fijo. After the service, we went to get a quick bite to eat and all had Guanabana drink at Samuel's referral...it was good!
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