Home! 8/16/06

Hello all! We made it home! I will update you on the last few days. Saturday was a quiet morning, and getting ready for the Closing to theImpacto, which was held at the church. Right before we were going to start the Closing, the power went out! So, a few Gringos (as we were affectionately called) were standing there, and we prayed. Then as we finished and looked around, there were quite a few other groups of two or more people doing the same thing. it was a reminder that yet again we were put in a place of dependance on the Lord. He sovereignly and graciously put things in our lives each day to continually remind usthat we are dependant on Him and that we must trust Him. No water. the South Digestive Virus. No water. No power (happened more than once in our two weeks.) No water. More viruses and illness. No water.Yes, there were hardships, and yet amazingly He kept our attitudes in check and showered grace on us in the midst of hard things. He truly is amazing!!!So, then as Victor (a venezuelan) and I were about to pray together, the power went back on. We still sat there and prayed and praised God for His goodness. We really needed power for all the things we had planned, and it was so good of Him to provide so quickly. The program went well and the gospel was presented. Many children were there and quite a few parents. It was a powerful program. i was able to be in a skit that presented the gospel. Sunday was a morning of rest and going to the mall. Gabriel, Krina andI practiced for the offeratory. I played and sang and the other two sang. We sang Worthy is the Lamb, first in English and then in Spanish. It was probably one of my favorite moments of the whole time: worshipping the Lord in my language and another language. Worship during church was a sweet time too. I stood there in amazement that I was singing in a language I didn't really know, songs that I could understand some of them, but some not understand. I knew that i was lifting high the name of Jesus in a different language with saints that didn't speak my language. It was really moving. I am so thankful to the Lord for times like that. Monday was a day at the beach. The CARIBBEAN!!! it was the clearest water I have ever seen! We had to take a 20 minute boat ride to the beach we were to spend the day at. We had quizzed Lois about these boats and she said "it is an adventure!" we asked how big the boats were, she said fishing boats bigger than a rowboat. So in my mind I was wondering what they could be like, seaworthy??? yes, they were. They were bigger than I thought, yet still not huge. they were wooden boats, that seated about 40 people. There was not dock, however. So we waded about waist high out, and then waited for waves to pass before jumping on, really grabbing someone's hand and being pulled onto the boat was more like it! Then 20 minute ride to the beach. Then jump offinto a little bit shallower water. It was beautiful. The water was aqua blue and bright green, and clear. The waves weren't too high, so we could play out and swim in the water, which was pretty warm. We went on a walk down the beach, and went climbing on the rocks and intoa "cave." It looked similar to a cave, but you could walk through it,under it to the other side of it. it was fun. Then we went to the"island" (it wasn't really an island, it was stil attached to the mainland basically-- but there was a helicopter pad (not working anymore, because the house was abandoned), and so people were jumping off the helipad into the water. Now, as many of you know, I am not all that adventurous and will not go cliff jumping. However, this was safer than cliff jumping as there weren't many rocks under the water, and you only had to jump out a few feet to clear the rocks.I am ok with heights like that as long as i don't have to jump out too far. So i looked at Elisa and told her that if i jumped, she had to jump. she said okay! So i jumped. ( in her words afterward, she thought, oh great. Tanya jumped, now I have to jump!!!) I think I screamed the whole way down until I hit water! it was so much fun! then we all did it again. Most of us got fried at the beach. We put on sunscreen often, but we were only 7 degrees away from the equator and so we got burned. It was a lot of fun though to relax and hang out with our vene friends. Monday evening we went to Momperal, which is by the beach we were at (1 1/2 hours from Guatire). There was a Venezuelan team at Momperal running a sports camp there the same week we ran ours. So we went to visit them and see where they had been living. Right before we left for Guatire, we all grabbed hands and circled around the swimming pool there. There was at least 45 of us, Gringos and Venezuelans, holding hands and praising the Lord for the work He had done all week. Then two Venezuelans prayed. It was such a sweet moment! Those moments of prayer were some of the best times, and I looked forward to them everyday! They became sweeter and sweeter all the time. This one was bittersweet, because I knew it was our last before we left for home. we went back to Guatire, and said a few goodbyes to those who wouldn't be around the next morning. Tuesday morning we woke up early and saidour goodbyes, some very tearful! We headed to Caracas to leave. We were tired after only a few (literally) hours of sleep, but most of us were able to sleep lots on the plane. The Lord was good to me with allowing me to sleep most of the plane rides. As a rule, i don't sleep any on planes and yet I think I slept for a total of 6 hours on the plane yesterday! I am grateful for that rest. Definitely God's grace! As many of you know, we had a 26 minute layover in Salt Lake City. However, by the time our plane landed and we stepped off the plane, which was delayed in Atlanta, we had less than 10 minutes before ournext plane LEFT!!!! We had to go from D3 to E64! We were sure that we would not make it. We all left the gate running, not sprinting, running for the next gate. The Lord again was watching out with another miracle as we discovered that the next gate was so close, it took us less than a minute to get there!! Praise the Lord that Salt Lake airport is not laid out like most airports!!! So, we made our flight! The Lord is good! And, all our luggage made it to Spokane too!!! God is so good again! He constantly was providing this whole trip. Even when things looked bleak, He was faithful to provide exactly what we needed when we needed it. It is such a sweet lesson that as we trust Him and as we cast our worries on Him and let Him work, then we don't have to worry and we have peace as He provides!! There are so many things that God taught me. It is hard to sit down and make a list. But hopefully as you have read the stories, you too have seen God's faithfulness in our lives. I am so grateful for the chance to have gone to Venezuela. I am so grateful for all your prayers! we are planning a night to share pictures and stories with you and anyone else who wants to come hear how God abundantly blessed us and how He worked. I will keep you posted on when that will be. I am getting used to being back home now, a little bit of culture shock I think will still take place. It is really quiet here and the traffic is not nearly as crazy. It is a little weird to not have to listen hard when talking to someone to understand them. We all are missing our friends that we made in Venezuela- yet it is good for us. It is bittersweet to come home! you might think that crazy, but it is true! Yes, we love all of you here and love being here, but it is just a bittersweet time for us! Pray for our bodies to heal all the way, Karmyn is still probably getting well as are a few still fighting the Digestive Virus, and other things. Please pray for the follow up that the Venezuelans will be doing in the next few days and weeks and more. Pray that God would continue to open hearts and draw many peole to himself and that many would be saved. Pray for the church there that they would continue to grow as they seek the Lord. I am looking foward to seeing each of you and telling you about my trip and hearing about how the Lord is blessing you and growing you! I love you! Tanya