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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.

It’s been quite the long weekend but things have finally calmed down a bit for us this morning. Praise God that we have had the energy for everything He has called us to do so far and for the rest He gave us on Monday.  So, what have we been up to that has caused this little break from blogging? It was Manifest Hope Camp.  On Thursday morning, we headed to South Padre Island to begin the camp. Months of back planning had been going on before we even knew about the camp. They had been setting up hotel reservations, scheduling our speaker, and getting a lot of other planning, event scheduling, and graphic work done. When we arrived at La Quinta, where the event was to be held, our team quickly unloaded our very very very packed bus and had everything including a full sound system set-up well under the time constraints we had. Students from all over the Valley soon started arriving and registering and we started to see the faces to the hearts that God would soon touch. The event started, we played some games, the band played, and Gabe Salazar, our guest speaker, spoke. We had no idea that in that first night, we would see lives touched. As Gabe finished his sermon with the invitation and the band began to play in the background, students began to come forward crying, happy, broken, and changed. For the next three days we saw this time and time again. By the end of the weekend, it seemed as though every young person that came realized something different was in store for their life. The three days were also filled with fun and excitement for all the youth and our group as well. We had some beautiful sand castles built including a huge whale, a very happy group of six youth that won a volleyball tournament, and plenty of quick games to get the blood flowing before the main sessions. Gabe Salazar even taught our group a new game called “Ninja.”  (Ask any of us about it and we will show you how to play.) Overall, through sleepiness, sunburns, and sand, God moved in ways we never could have expected. Sure, we expected a couple people to cry here and there, maybe someone to share a testimony about how bad they were before they met Jesus, but the overwhelming response from the youth that came forward really opened our eyes to how much God can do when a few of His servants get together to do His will.

-Brian Martinez

Whew!  This week has been quite an adventure!  The entire team is exhausted, but  more importantly, we are really and truly joyful for all that we have seen God do this week. 

In the past week, the Valley Summer Project Team has:

-Led a 12 year-old boy to Christ! =)
-Prepared for and led two four-day Vacation Bible Schools at Primera Iglesia Bautista, Hidalgo and Iglesia Bautista Cristo El Rey in Mission, respectively
-Led a two-day Kids’ Rally at Buckner Children’s Home in Mission
-Helped organize shoes that have been donated to Buckner’s Shoes for Orphan Souls program
-Red Door, our BSM band has faithfully practiced in preparation for leading worship at Manifest Hope Camp at South Padre Island
-Prepared a seminar, teambuilding activities, media, music, volleyball and sand castle-building tournaments, and helped with many administrative tasks that needed to be completed for Manifest Hope Camp

These are just a few of the things we have accomplished this week.  What has amazed me the most about this entire process is our team’s willingness to do whatever it takes to serve. 

During our second day at Buckner Children’s Home, several members of our team saw that there were more volunteers (13 from our team plus 30 from a local church) than children that day.  Instead of standing around keeping to ourselves so as not to overwhelm the kids, our team went and asked if there was anything else that we could do to help; a representative from Buckner told us that the only thing they needed help with was in the warehouse, but said that it would probably be too hot for us to work.  We told him that we would serve wherever we were needed, including inside the hot warehouse.  God used the short time it took for the seven of us to finish that  project to allow us to be a part of His plan for the children who will be receiving those shoes.

Honestly, we had fun serving God in the hot, dusty warehouse.  We knew that God was there with us, just as He was with the rest of our team ministering to the kids.  What God really impressed upon my heart that day was the fact that as servants of God, we must be willing to be hot and sweaty, freezing cold, smelly and dirty, etc. in order to share His love ith those around us.   Little did we know that God would use our running around playing tag with 8-10 year olds, dressing up as a bunny for preschoolers, or re-stacking big boxes to show us that what He is really looking for is a willing heart.   God gives us the opportunity to choose whether or not we want to serve;  He has proven and continues to prove to our team that choosing to serve is far more rewarding than being comfortable could ever be.

The chorus of the song “Little is Much” by Downhere sumarizes something that God has been revealing to our team these past two weeks:

“Little is much when God’s in it
And no one can fathom the plans He holds
Little is much when God’s in it
He changes the world with the seeds we sow”

Lord, we pray that You use the seeds we are sowing to change the world. 
We’re ready to work.

-Ali Cepeda

The Manifest Hope Camp has officially started.  It is awesome to be serving together with our BSM UTPA students.  They are an amazing team. They love God and are fully committed to seeing His name glorified. Sharon and I are privileged to serve alongside this team. They make us proud and show every day a love for God that is going to fuel them for the rest of their lives.

So our hearts and gratitude go out to these college students. You guys rock.  They will be posting more on the camp they have planned and are now serving at.

Robert

Friday, June 5, 2009:

We traveled to Weslaco to scrape paint and begin re-painting a woman’s home.  We even got to meet her!  She was so grateful, but really it was a blessing for us to be able to serve her. 

Saturday, June 6, 2009:

We went door-to-door inviting kids to Vacation Bible School at Iglesia Bautista Cristo el Rey in Mission, TX and then hosted another Block Party at One Way Road to Heaven Church in Donna, TX.

We’ll be working on mid-week photo recap.  Look for it coming soon!

Thursday, June 4, 2009:

We met with Robert & Sharon for lunch and hosted a block party at One Way Road to Heaven church in Donna, TX. Check out the puppet Robert is holding; the twin-ish moment was NOT planned. =)  -Ali