BSM UTPA Missions Blog 09 Recording our experiences as we serve God this Summer

It has been a really fun 4th of July. We went on a field trip with some of Mattaw kids to a safari park next to Mnt.Elgone in Kitale . The ride there was really bumpy (lol i didn’t get car sick for the first time yay!) but it was great to see all the giant, green trees and awesome mountain views. I was just in awe with God’s creation. Africa is really beautiful and rich! At the park, we saw a brown rhino (i thought they were gray), really tall girafe, ostrich, monkeys and some other animals that I really didnt know what they were. All the kids and Suheily went on a horse ride. She was really brave! It was an amazing place. Late that afternoon, we went to eat at the local coffee shop and they had a pretty good American bbq for us. They tried their best to make it like home. It was delicious. Thank you Jesus:)

This week a family from San Angelo, Tx came to Mattaw. They are gonna be here unil next tuesday. They are a really fun family with really great craft ideas. So, we put together both of our craft ideas and they turned pretty good. The kids had alot of fun. We also sang some songs and praised God together.
Last week was Nehemiah’s birthday, but we celebrated today. It was really fun to hear all the kids sing happy birthday song to him. When it was time to open the presents, Nehemiah showed us one candy and shoe at a time. He had a huge smile. It was super cute and hilarious. It was such a blessing to be there.

This past week many of the children at the children’s village were sick with tb, so the doc and nurse in our team took them to the hospital. The children that had symptoms were tested and treated for tb. At times it was very heart breaking to see the children suffering with runny noses, really bad coughs, and fevers, but today there were all doing alot better. The smallest of the village, Georgie was laughing and smiling again. It was such a blessing to be able to be a part of their recovery. I was really happy to help and make their lives a little better.
On tuesday, the kids had their physicals done and learned proper hygine. I taught them proper face and hand washing, and to cough to the side or inside their shirt instead of their hands to prevent the other children from getting tb.
On thursday, the rest of the children got physicals. We also bathed them and showed them how to bathe properly. Some of the children that only go to school at Mattaw were really dirty and wore the same uniforms everyday, so they were really excited and just ready to take a bath. It was really fun and so cute. A couple of the children fell asleep right after. I guess because they felt relaxed and felt good in their clean clothes. They were also so happy to have a pomagranate lotion rubbed on them and had huge smiles in their pictures. It was a awesome blessing to see them feeling so refreshed and good about clean little body. When we finished with them they were squeaky clean:) Later that night, I was reminded of the time when Jesus washed his disciples’s feet. Well, I think that’s it for now…please pray that we may not get tb.

Blessings,
Jess

I thought I’d post a picture of Nehemiah…or at least half his face. God has been blessing Jessica and I throughout this trip and one of them was meeting the little guy the BSM sponsors. He’s so full of energy and his face just melts your heart. He’s a bit shy but very curious he has 2 more brothers which look almost the same and well, he’s the spitting image of his dad.
The days here in the little town of Kitale have been slow paced, we mostly spend them at the Children’s Village loving on them and helping around in what we can. I can not grasp the concept on how some of these kids were abandoned and left behind. They have so much love to give that sometimes I wish I could multiply myself and tend to all of their needs. I see them and I see how happy they are with what little they have it makes me feel guilty I’ve taken so many things for granted, but I know that through that God is teaching me so many things which Im thankful for.
As for the next to weeks we’ll keep on loving kids and following God’s will, for where he leads me I’ll follow.

HIS,

Suheily

It was 11pm on tuesday when we landed on Naerobi. I was extremely tired, so I was happy to be off the plane. We had orientation the next day at 8 am, so it was an easy day. For lunch, we went to eat at a restaurant called the Java House. I ordered a mexican burrito thinking that it would be like a normal burrito, but shortly I learned it wasnt. Let’s just say, I got a taste of Kenya! Thursday was the first day we actually started ministering to people. The team got divided in two. One team went two one of the largest slums in the world and the other team went to another slum in Naerobi. I went with the team that went to Mathare (not sure of spelling). I don’t really know how to describe it. As we drove down the slum, I prayed to God that He would give me the strength to take what I was about to see. The streets were filled with women and men selling food, clothing and different things. Oh yeah and the streets were also filled with tons of trash, so you can imagine the strong odor. We drove in the gates of a church that had several ministeries. One of them is visiting homes of people with HIV/AIDS. We visited three homes. The first home we visited was really hard to take. The family of 6 lived in a room the size of a restroom with no running water or electricity. It was dark in there and the only thing they had was a small lantern. It was very sad to hear their story. The doctor in our team gave some medical advice to the mom, and the rest of us gave her some encouraging words. I offered to pray for the family. After we were done, we walked down the stairs and my legs felt shaky. It was a very humbling experience. At another home, I was so blessed to hear a single mother’s story. She said, “I tested positive but I’m living positively. She said that instead of worrying she counts her blessings. Towards the end of the visit, she said “I’m just living like a normal person”. I was filled with mixed up feelings, but I was blessed to hear her share her testimony. From all the home visits we did the first week she has been the most encouraging, motivating, blessed woman.

God really moved in the hearts of the students who attended the concert at Primera Iglesia Bautista de Valencia last night and we know that He is continuing to work in the hearts of the students at the Universidad de Carabobo.

Today, we visited la Facultad de Ingenieria  (similar to UTPA’s College of Engineering) and met the students of that facultad’s Union de Cristianos de la Universidad de Carabobo (UC²).  We prayer-walked the facultad, in preparation for the second day of La Semana de La Paz y de La No Mas Violencia.  “Del Valle de Texas,” along with Checreton & Dani and La Cuarta Dimensión, two other bands who would help minister to the students of that facultad, as well.  The leaders of UC² had warned us that their particular facultad was a very rowdy one and would often boo and throw things at people when they didn’t like what they were doing, so we were a little nervous about how they would react to three Christian groups sharing their music with them.  Even so, we trusted that God was already working in their hearts and that He was in control of what happened that afternoon.  Praise God that all three groups were well received by the students!  We could tell that they were paying attention to what was being said (and sung).  After the concert was over, we stayed and ate with the UC² group and fellowshipped with them.  It was a great blessing to be able to partner with them to reach their facultad with the hope that only Jesus Christ can bring.  We also taught them to play Ninja. =)

Tomorrow we will return to the Universidad de Carabobo, except we will be visiting a different facultad.  Please pray for this university campus.  They have seen a sharp increase in the amount and severity of violence that occurs on campus and many students are seeking to put a stop to it.  Please pray for students like the one with the pin that reads, “Universidad de Carabobo por La Paz.”   Pray that their hearts and minds will be open to hearing about the peace that only Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, can bring and that the Christians who are students on that campus will be bold and willing to share God’s message of peace with them.  Please also pray for boldness, endurance, and divine appointments for our team, as we will continue to minister to the campus this week.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”  Isaiah 9:6

Thank you for all of your prayers! We got here safely and hit the ground running. We left McAllen at 6:15 PM on Monday, June 22nd, landed in Houston around 8 PM and were welcomed by Belinda’s family who then took us to eat dinner. We left Houston at 11:59 PM and landed in Caracas, Venezuela around 6 AM on June 23rd.

We visited the Mision Ultimo Frontera – Caracas (M. U. F.), a ministry for college students that meets in what used to be Figuras (a women’s gym). They took us to visit the Universidad Central de Venezuela (the oldest university in Venezuela) where we prayerwalked the campus. Keila sang and played guitar while we distributed tracts with information about M.U.F.’s activities to students who came to listen. After lunch, we talked with a group of college students who are looking to start a Christian ministry on their campus. Several of our team members talked about Free Lunch, Choice, Campus Outreach, and other BSM activities and we answered the many questions they had about our ministry.

We then drove to Valencia, about 180 km (112 miles) away and ate dinner at Iglesia Bautista El Trigal, where we met our host families.

Today, we are at Primera Iglesia Bautista de Valencia, where we met with a group of about 20 young musicians, shared a devotional with them, and then talked about the essentials of being in a band. Although the “talk” ended about 45 minutes ago, there are still students talking to the band members about music and their instruments! =)

We are now preparing for the three concerts in which the band will be performing tonight, tomorrow, and Thursday evening. The concerts make up La Semana de la Paz y de la No Violencia, sponsored by the Convencion National Bautista de Venezuela, The Union Nacional Bautista de Jovenes, the M.U.F. de Valencia, and other Christian groups. Given the current political situation, the organizers changed the band’s original name of Red Door to “Del Valle de Texas.” We’ll try to post up a picture of the posters soon.

Please continue praying for our team and our ministry.
Pray for:

-Our team’s health (6/9 of us are sick)
-Venezuelan Christian college students (There is a lot of political unrest happening on the actual campuses.)
-The MUFs in Venezuela (who are actively seeking to reach college students with the Gospel)
-La Semana de La Paz y de La No Mas Violencia (We’ll be at the Universidad de Carabobo in Valencia tomorrow and Thursday)
-The college students we will be sharing the Gospel with these two weeks

We’ll post again soon.

Many of you have heard about our Valley Summer Project Students. They are all part of the BSM here at UTPA. They all love God and they all believe in making a difference in this world. This group is a picture of what the students at our BSM are all about. I don’t say this because I am their campus minister, all the people in the places they serve tell me that they have never seen such a dedicated group serve others in God’s name.

Today I also want to point to you to 2 more students from our BSM: Suheily and Jessica. They gave their lives to Jesus about two years ago and today they are strong followers of him. Right now they are serving in Kenya, Africa for the entire summer. They are working in an orphanage loving children with all their heart. I still remember the day they came into my office to pray and seek God’s direction for their lives this summer. ” We don’t want to tell God where we want to go, we want to go where He wills.” Well, we prayed and all the doors opened to go to Africa. At first they were scared, but little by little their fear became dependence on God and now they are doing things for him they never imagined they would do. This is a picture of one of them, her name is Suheily, her major is journalism and her passion is to serve God. At our BSM she is the one that washes dishes after an event, cleans up, shows up early and leaves late. Right now she is not doing something different than what she already does here at home. That is what I love to see in our students, when they do on missions they do not change what they already do, they simply change the  location of their service.

Update on Venezuela Team. They arrived today in Caracas and they are doing well. They are currently visiting a university and will be giving a conference this afternoon. Please pray for all these missionaries serving so faithfully.