From Gail Graves, Simple Church Team Leader:
Co-laborers in Christ: Greetings in Jesus’ name. Please pray into the training of several hundred simple church advocates in Venezuela. Our Lord is calling out laborers for the harvest in Venezuela. Hundreds are availing themselves to training in simple church core values. The training dates are September 29, 2007 thru Tuesday October 9. We leave for Venezuela tomorrow. See the team members below. Our hope is that our Lord will begin a church multiplication movement that will reach the entire nation in Christ and beyond. Please join our Lord in what He is doing there in prayer. Your brother, Gail.
Venezuela House Church Training Team
Deitra McCleery; San Angelo, TX
Sherryl McCleery; San Angelo, TX
Mike Birrer; Tucson, AZ
Felicity Dale; Austin, TX
Tony Dale; Austin, TX
Gail L Graves; Boise, Idaho
Bill Rowland; IMB Missionary, Venezuela
Please join me in praying the Luke 10:2 prayer. Set your cell phone alarm at 10:02am and pray each day to the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into the harvest
Kerry also leaves tomorrow...he will return on Sunday. He will take care of several issues while down there such as hotel reservations and other details with Jacobo. Buck left on Monday and will be with the group listed above. They will travel to Puerto Ayacucho toward the end of their stay for a few days with the pastors and churches there. Buck will return on the 15th. Pray for safe travel, safety while there, the training taking place, and the details being ironed out.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Christ in You, the Hope of Glory
To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27
While this wasn't the sermon text for this morning, it was referenced by our pastor. My mind just seemed to grab hold of that thought. The Christ that is in me IS my hope...without Christ in me, there is nothing I can do that is right, nothing I can do that is good enough, nothing I can do that will make a difference. It is only through Christ that I can be called a child of God, only through Christ that I can endure this life on earth, only through Christ that I can be assured of an eternity with Him in heaven. And it is my obligation, my responsibility to share this hope with others...both here and through our mission efforts in Venezuela.
It's amazing how everything I hear, everything I read seems to turn my thoughts to Venezuela. Probably because we are in the "crunch time" for the crusade in January. Our Sunday School director put up a display in our room this morning...a Venezuelan flag and an American flag connected with a row of crosses...depicting what we are trying to do...carry the message of the cross to Venezuela. And he had this written on the board....124 days. No, that is not how many shopping days until Christmas. And it is not how many days left in 2007. It is the number of days until the crusade in Caracas. Then he said...if you cannot do anything else, you can pray for the next 124 days.
That is so true. Yes, we need funds...we need assurance that we will have the stadium...we need other things to fall into place in order to hold a crusade in a city of six million people. But more than anything, we need prayer. And everyone of you who are sitting there reading this blog can pray. So we are asking you...please pray. Scroll through the previous postings and find the prayer lists. There are plenty of things to pray about. Be specific in your prayers...everything from the obvious (open hearts to the gospel, souls saved, churches started) to the not-so-obvious (decent weather, health and safety of team members). There are things that need to be prayed about that we don't have listed, because we do not know everything God has in mind. When we held the crusade in Puerta Ayacucho in 2006, there was a Christian radio announcer who showed up, on his own, driving 27 hours, bringing his own equipment, who broadcast the crusade on the radio for 3 hours every night. We did not know he was coming. The pastors there did not know he was coming. But God knew...God sent him. So ask God to put needs on your heart to pray.
I started out this posting talking about hope, and ended up talking about prayer. I guess they really do go hand in hand. Take from this what you will...it may seem like rambling...but it is what is on my heart this Sunday evening.
God bless you...have a great week!
Diane
While this wasn't the sermon text for this morning, it was referenced by our pastor. My mind just seemed to grab hold of that thought. The Christ that is in me IS my hope...without Christ in me, there is nothing I can do that is right, nothing I can do that is good enough, nothing I can do that will make a difference. It is only through Christ that I can be called a child of God, only through Christ that I can endure this life on earth, only through Christ that I can be assured of an eternity with Him in heaven. And it is my obligation, my responsibility to share this hope with others...both here and through our mission efforts in Venezuela.
It's amazing how everything I hear, everything I read seems to turn my thoughts to Venezuela. Probably because we are in the "crunch time" for the crusade in January. Our Sunday School director put up a display in our room this morning...a Venezuelan flag and an American flag connected with a row of crosses...depicting what we are trying to do...carry the message of the cross to Venezuela. And he had this written on the board....124 days. No, that is not how many shopping days until Christmas. And it is not how many days left in 2007. It is the number of days until the crusade in Caracas. Then he said...if you cannot do anything else, you can pray for the next 124 days.
That is so true. Yes, we need funds...we need assurance that we will have the stadium...we need other things to fall into place in order to hold a crusade in a city of six million people. But more than anything, we need prayer. And everyone of you who are sitting there reading this blog can pray. So we are asking you...please pray. Scroll through the previous postings and find the prayer lists. There are plenty of things to pray about. Be specific in your prayers...everything from the obvious (open hearts to the gospel, souls saved, churches started) to the not-so-obvious (decent weather, health and safety of team members). There are things that need to be prayed about that we don't have listed, because we do not know everything God has in mind. When we held the crusade in Puerta Ayacucho in 2006, there was a Christian radio announcer who showed up, on his own, driving 27 hours, bringing his own equipment, who broadcast the crusade on the radio for 3 hours every night. We did not know he was coming. The pastors there did not know he was coming. But God knew...God sent him. So ask God to put needs on your heart to pray.
I started out this posting talking about hope, and ended up talking about prayer. I guess they really do go hand in hand. Take from this what you will...it may seem like rambling...but it is what is on my heart this Sunday evening.
God bless you...have a great week!
Diane
Thursday, September 20, 2007
God Meets Our Needs
"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19)
My niece called me on Tuesday to share this scripture with me. My niece who is like a daughter to me. My niece who I have been the one to encourage through the years. Now this niece is calling to encourage me! And share scripture with me! Of course, I know this scripture. But sometimes in my humanness, I forget. I forget about all the other times He has supplied everything I needed. I forget about all the times He has supplied everything my family has needed. In my humanness, I forget.
This niece of mine...let me tell you about her. She has 4 kids and is a stay-at-home mom. Her husband works in the oilfield in West Texas. She is a consultant for Home & Garden Party. She informed me a couple of weeks ago that God had put on her heart that she needed to help us in our Caracas endeavor. "But what can I do? I can't go!" She questioned God, and He reminded her of Kerry's sermon at our family reunion (where we had our own little church service on Sunday morning). Kerry spoke about using what is in your hand, using Moses, David, and the little lad with a lunch as examples. Then she realized what she could do. She explained to me that she is developing a fundraiser through Home & Garden Party, selling candles, and will give all the proceeds to Venezuela Vision! Wow! I never cease to be amazed at how God works!
So, Maggie, I know you are reading this...thank you! Thank you for being willing to let God work in your life. Thank you for doing what little bit (in your eyes) you can for God's Kingdom. (He, of course, does not think it is a little bit...nor do I!) Thank you for your interest and participation in our Venezuela Vision. Thank you for calling to encourage me when I needed encouragement. I love you!
Diane
My niece called me on Tuesday to share this scripture with me. My niece who is like a daughter to me. My niece who I have been the one to encourage through the years. Now this niece is calling to encourage me! And share scripture with me! Of course, I know this scripture. But sometimes in my humanness, I forget. I forget about all the other times He has supplied everything I needed. I forget about all the times He has supplied everything my family has needed. In my humanness, I forget.
This niece of mine...let me tell you about her. She has 4 kids and is a stay-at-home mom. Her husband works in the oilfield in West Texas. She is a consultant for Home & Garden Party. She informed me a couple of weeks ago that God had put on her heart that she needed to help us in our Caracas endeavor. "But what can I do? I can't go!" She questioned God, and He reminded her of Kerry's sermon at our family reunion (where we had our own little church service on Sunday morning). Kerry spoke about using what is in your hand, using Moses, David, and the little lad with a lunch as examples. Then she realized what she could do. She explained to me that she is developing a fundraiser through Home & Garden Party, selling candles, and will give all the proceeds to Venezuela Vision! Wow! I never cease to be amazed at how God works!
So, Maggie, I know you are reading this...thank you! Thank you for being willing to let God work in your life. Thank you for doing what little bit (in your eyes) you can for God's Kingdom. (He, of course, does not think it is a little bit...nor do I!) Thank you for your interest and participation in our Venezuela Vision. Thank you for calling to encourage me when I needed encouragement. I love you!
Diane
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Planning Banquets and Enlisting Ball Players
As we get closer and closer to January, we have a tendency to panic that plans are not going according to schedule...we tend to forget that God has everything scheduled already, and His timing is not necessarily our timing.
I'm not sure why the fundraising got left in our hands, but apparently God has a reason for this. We have been able to delegate most of the other areas (i.e. baseball players and clinics, house church groups, follow-up and discipleship) to others who have embraced the vision of evangelism in Caracas. But God has left the gathering of resources in our hands, so we are doing what we know to do.
Our efforts these last few weeks have been on putting together a fundraising banquet. We seem to be getting bogged down in enlisting table hosts and underwriters for our Vision Banquet. We have asked our good friends Rick Williams and Charlie Smith to help in this area. Pray with us that God will lead people to step forward to this task. This is a critical part of a successful fundraiser. Time is getting short to enlist people who will commit to asking others to attend the Vision Banquet who will be helpful in funding the crusade in January. The date of the banquet is October 20. Pray that all the planning and enlistment will come together, that we will have a peace about the whole process, and that God will use the event and speakers to gather His resources that will be needed.
The other problems we have encountered this week have been in getting our Venezuela Vision office set up. Our friend Robert Thorn has been helping us get all the equipment set up, but there have been problems with the phone service and having the phone lines set up as needed. This has delayed our getting the office up and running. We DO have volunteers, however, who are waiting to begin serving in this area of the ministry. They will be there to answer the phone and do other office tasks that need to be done. They will also be helpful in the office work required for the banquet.
On an upbeat note, we are excited about the professional ball players who have committed to go and share their testimonies at the crusade. We are meeting in Atlanta on November 2 with Dr. Bill Cashion who is spear-heading this facet of the crusade. We will meet with many of the ballplayers who will be a part of the clinics and the crusade. Jacobo, from Caracas, will be here as well, having just been to the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual convention in Amarillo. We have several ballplayers on board, including Juan Rivera and Carlos Subero, and several more we are waiting to hear from, including Mariano Rivera, Omar Vizquel, and Edgardo Alfonso. Jeff Siegel of Global Youth Baseball is on board with his ministry that conducts clinics all over the world. Jeff is also our link to SCORE International.
So a recap of this week's prayer needs:
1) Vision Banquet: the planning and enlistment of table hosts and underwriters, the gathering of guests who will embrace the vision and help financially, a calming peace for Kerry and me.
2) Meeting with ballplayers in Atlanta: traveling mercies for all who will attend, God's presence in the meeting, God's leading in expanding our vision to them.
3) The Venezuela Vision office: the set-up and quick opening of the office, the volunteers who will help, gratitude for those helping us.
4) The House Church teams: the enlistment of teams to go in January to work with local church members in setting up groups, the small contingency going at the end of September to help train local church leaders in Caracas.
5) The shipment of Bibles: The 50,000 New Testaments are ready to ship. Pray that they will get to their destination, that all of the paper work will be in order, and that they will be delivered as planned to the group in Caracas. There are numerous horror stories of shipments from the US being confiscated or held in port because of faulty or "mislaid" paper work!
Thanks to everyone for their prayers. And if you are interested in being a part of our trip in January, let us know!
Diane
I'm not sure why the fundraising got left in our hands, but apparently God has a reason for this. We have been able to delegate most of the other areas (i.e. baseball players and clinics, house church groups, follow-up and discipleship) to others who have embraced the vision of evangelism in Caracas. But God has left the gathering of resources in our hands, so we are doing what we know to do.
Our efforts these last few weeks have been on putting together a fundraising banquet. We seem to be getting bogged down in enlisting table hosts and underwriters for our Vision Banquet. We have asked our good friends Rick Williams and Charlie Smith to help in this area. Pray with us that God will lead people to step forward to this task. This is a critical part of a successful fundraiser. Time is getting short to enlist people who will commit to asking others to attend the Vision Banquet who will be helpful in funding the crusade in January. The date of the banquet is October 20. Pray that all the planning and enlistment will come together, that we will have a peace about the whole process, and that God will use the event and speakers to gather His resources that will be needed.
The other problems we have encountered this week have been in getting our Venezuela Vision office set up. Our friend Robert Thorn has been helping us get all the equipment set up, but there have been problems with the phone service and having the phone lines set up as needed. This has delayed our getting the office up and running. We DO have volunteers, however, who are waiting to begin serving in this area of the ministry. They will be there to answer the phone and do other office tasks that need to be done. They will also be helpful in the office work required for the banquet.
On an upbeat note, we are excited about the professional ball players who have committed to go and share their testimonies at the crusade. We are meeting in Atlanta on November 2 with Dr. Bill Cashion who is spear-heading this facet of the crusade. We will meet with many of the ballplayers who will be a part of the clinics and the crusade. Jacobo, from Caracas, will be here as well, having just been to the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual convention in Amarillo. We have several ballplayers on board, including Juan Rivera and Carlos Subero, and several more we are waiting to hear from, including Mariano Rivera, Omar Vizquel, and Edgardo Alfonso. Jeff Siegel of Global Youth Baseball is on board with his ministry that conducts clinics all over the world. Jeff is also our link to SCORE International.
So a recap of this week's prayer needs:
1) Vision Banquet: the planning and enlistment of table hosts and underwriters, the gathering of guests who will embrace the vision and help financially, a calming peace for Kerry and me.
2) Meeting with ballplayers in Atlanta: traveling mercies for all who will attend, God's presence in the meeting, God's leading in expanding our vision to them.
3) The Venezuela Vision office: the set-up and quick opening of the office, the volunteers who will help, gratitude for those helping us.
4) The House Church teams: the enlistment of teams to go in January to work with local church members in setting up groups, the small contingency going at the end of September to help train local church leaders in Caracas.
5) The shipment of Bibles: The 50,000 New Testaments are ready to ship. Pray that they will get to their destination, that all of the paper work will be in order, and that they will be delivered as planned to the group in Caracas. There are numerous horror stories of shipments from the US being confiscated or held in port because of faulty or "mislaid" paper work!
Thanks to everyone for their prayers. And if you are interested in being a part of our trip in January, let us know!
Diane
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Watching God Move
Excitment is building and resources are coming together as we enter into these critical days of planning for the crusade in January. God continues to bring people to us who are able to embrace the vision and have committed to help in the planning process as well as participate with us in Caracas.
Most recently we have been in contact with Ed Jump, Director of Missions for the Corpus Christi Baptist Association. He was just waiting for our call and is ready to recruit pastors from his association to take part in the the crusade. Also, his wife has committed to leading a women's ministry there in Caracas.
Bill Cashion, who is our team leader in charge of the baseball players and baseball clinics, is setting up a meeting in early November with many of the ball players and our planning team, including Jacobo from Caracas. Please be in prayer for that meeting.
Gail Graves and Sherryl & De McCleery have just returned from the annual National House Church Convention where they were able to speak and share our vision for taking the Gospel to Caracas and starting 1000 house churches. They had a very positive response, especially from a delegation of Chinese Christians who had come from China for the convention. They want to be a part of our group in January! How amazing is that?
On the local front in San Angelo, we are busy putting together a fundraising banquet scheduled for October 20. We have many close friends, most of whom are from our Sunday School department, who have committed to help us as we put this together. Pray that God will lead us to mission-minded men and women from our community who will be willing to host a table and invite their friends to become a vital part of this endeavor by sharing the resources God has given them.
One of the most exciting aspects of this whole thing is watching God work and move His people together! It is amazing what He can do when we take our hands off and allow Him to work in the lives of His children! Our favorite quote these days is from Henry Blackaby...Don't ask God to bless what you are doing...find out what God is doing and get in on it! That is our prayer for us and for you!
Have a blessed day!
Most recently we have been in contact with Ed Jump, Director of Missions for the Corpus Christi Baptist Association. He was just waiting for our call and is ready to recruit pastors from his association to take part in the the crusade. Also, his wife has committed to leading a women's ministry there in Caracas.
Bill Cashion, who is our team leader in charge of the baseball players and baseball clinics, is setting up a meeting in early November with many of the ball players and our planning team, including Jacobo from Caracas. Please be in prayer for that meeting.
Gail Graves and Sherryl & De McCleery have just returned from the annual National House Church Convention where they were able to speak and share our vision for taking the Gospel to Caracas and starting 1000 house churches. They had a very positive response, especially from a delegation of Chinese Christians who had come from China for the convention. They want to be a part of our group in January! How amazing is that?
On the local front in San Angelo, we are busy putting together a fundraising banquet scheduled for October 20. We have many close friends, most of whom are from our Sunday School department, who have committed to help us as we put this together. Pray that God will lead us to mission-minded men and women from our community who will be willing to host a table and invite their friends to become a vital part of this endeavor by sharing the resources God has given them.
One of the most exciting aspects of this whole thing is watching God work and move His people together! It is amazing what He can do when we take our hands off and allow Him to work in the lives of His children! Our favorite quote these days is from Henry Blackaby...Don't ask God to bless what you are doing...find out what God is doing and get in on it! That is our prayer for us and for you!
Have a blessed day!
Venezuela: An Invitation to Harvest
This is a post copied from the House Church blog by our brother and fellow team member, Gail Graves.
Our Lord is very much at work in Venezuela. Evangelical leader and DAWN Ministries International associate Jocobo Garcia says, “These are perilous times in Venezuela. Now is the hour for Spiritual awaking in our country.” North American house church advocates have been asked to help start 1000 house churches in Venezuela. Venezuela evangelicals are planning an evangelistic stadium crusade in the capitol city of Caracas January 2008. Caracas is the most unevangelized large city in South America with only two percent evangelical Christians. They are expecting 10,000 to 30,000 professions of faith. All Christians need help especially the new ones. To follow up this many decisions for Christ is an overwhelming task for Caracas believers. Please consider ways that you can join the harvest that our Lord is multiplying in Venezuela.
1. Commit to pray. The one way and the most important way that everyone can join our Lord in this endeavor is through prayer. This is a spiritual battle. It will be won in prayer. Each of us can join our Lord and Venezuela believers in a concerted effort of prayer. Your investment of prayer may seem like a small thing. Remember in God’s economy little becomes much. When we pray in faith, mountains are moved and walls come tumbling down. Ps 2:8 says, “Ask of me and I will give you the nations.” The precious people of Venezuela rightfully belong to God. Let us ask for the nation.
2. Ask the Lord to use you and your network in putting together a church planting team. Travel together to Venezuela in January for a minimum of ten days to start a new network of house churches. Venezuela crusade leaders will place in your hands 100 to 300 decision cards over a five day period of new Christians located in a specific part of the city. Contact each of them by phone in the first 24 hours of their new walk in Christ. Make appointments for meeting together and introduce the rest of their family to Christ. Help them form new churches. Extensive HC training is being conducted thru the remainder of this year with established Christians in traditional churches who are excited about simple church life. Feel free to start free churches or you can partner up with a trained simple church advocate native to Caracas. Venezuela leaders have committed to help furnish bilingual interpreters to help in the process. As you are there you will discover and build relationships with persons of peace. When you return to the states you can keep in touch through inexpensive modern communications to help nurture the new networks over time. God will show you how to proceed.
3. You can help make it possible for someone else to go. There are hundreds of capable network facilitators in North America who are stretched to the limit with their time and resources. ‘Many hands make light a heavy load.’ God possibly could use you with the help of others to make it possible for a capable simple church advocate to be able to afford the time off work and travel expenses to participate. Our Lord has led Venezuela evangelicals to stretch their faith and attempt what only God can do. Please consider joining Him and them as He extends Himself to the precious people of Venezuela in the building His church. For more information see this link http://venezuelahousechurchvision.blogspot.com/ or contact Gail Graves gailgraves@msn.com.
Our Lord is very much at work in Venezuela. Evangelical leader and DAWN Ministries International associate Jocobo Garcia says, “These are perilous times in Venezuela. Now is the hour for Spiritual awaking in our country.” North American house church advocates have been asked to help start 1000 house churches in Venezuela. Venezuela evangelicals are planning an evangelistic stadium crusade in the capitol city of Caracas January 2008. Caracas is the most unevangelized large city in South America with only two percent evangelical Christians. They are expecting 10,000 to 30,000 professions of faith. All Christians need help especially the new ones. To follow up this many decisions for Christ is an overwhelming task for Caracas believers. Please consider ways that you can join the harvest that our Lord is multiplying in Venezuela.
1. Commit to pray. The one way and the most important way that everyone can join our Lord in this endeavor is through prayer. This is a spiritual battle. It will be won in prayer. Each of us can join our Lord and Venezuela believers in a concerted effort of prayer. Your investment of prayer may seem like a small thing. Remember in God’s economy little becomes much. When we pray in faith, mountains are moved and walls come tumbling down. Ps 2:8 says, “Ask of me and I will give you the nations.” The precious people of Venezuela rightfully belong to God. Let us ask for the nation.
2. Ask the Lord to use you and your network in putting together a church planting team. Travel together to Venezuela in January for a minimum of ten days to start a new network of house churches. Venezuela crusade leaders will place in your hands 100 to 300 decision cards over a five day period of new Christians located in a specific part of the city. Contact each of them by phone in the first 24 hours of their new walk in Christ. Make appointments for meeting together and introduce the rest of their family to Christ. Help them form new churches. Extensive HC training is being conducted thru the remainder of this year with established Christians in traditional churches who are excited about simple church life. Feel free to start free churches or you can partner up with a trained simple church advocate native to Caracas. Venezuela leaders have committed to help furnish bilingual interpreters to help in the process. As you are there you will discover and build relationships with persons of peace. When you return to the states you can keep in touch through inexpensive modern communications to help nurture the new networks over time. God will show you how to proceed.
3. You can help make it possible for someone else to go. There are hundreds of capable network facilitators in North America who are stretched to the limit with their time and resources. ‘Many hands make light a heavy load.’ God possibly could use you with the help of others to make it possible for a capable simple church advocate to be able to afford the time off work and travel expenses to participate. Our Lord has led Venezuela evangelicals to stretch their faith and attempt what only God can do. Please consider joining Him and them as He extends Himself to the precious people of Venezuela in the building His church. For more information see this link http://venezuelahousechurchvision.blogspot.com/ or contact Gail Graves gailgraves@msn.com.
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