The Good
Our trip to Venezuela was a success. We accomplished everything we set out to do this week. We walked the city of Merida each day to become familiar with the different areas. We made contact with several real estate companies so that they can help us find a house when we return to Venezuela next summer. We found a Baptist bookstore and made contact with a Baptist pastor in Merida. We learned about the three different Baptist works that are currently in Merida. There is one Baptist church with about 30 people, one with 7 people, and one with 15 people. In a city of 390,000 people, there is a need for another Gospel preaching church! We also were able to get an idea of the cost of living in the city. From what we learned on this trip, the cost of living is about the same as living in the States, with the exception of the price of gasoline. Gasoline is very cheap. Because we had to spend a day in Caracas, we had the opportunity to talk to Peruvian missionary Julio Marquina about Venezuela. He was able to share what he has learned in his 5 years in Venezuela. We received a lot of good information about the cultural differences we will experience in Venezuela. It was blessing to be able to spend some time with him.
The Bad
From the time we left Arequipa, the devil was attacking us. We flew from Arequipa to Lima on Wednesday morning. Our flight from Lima to Caracas was supposed to leave at 12:45. After checking in at the airline counter, we paid our airport taxes of $62 and proceeded to go through immigrations because we were leaving the country. Our Peru residency cards had expired in October, but we had been told that we could travel with our US passports. Immigrations told us that we could not leave the country with expired residence cards. Before we could leave Peru, we had to renew our residency. Sounds a little strange that a US citizen can not leave Peru with a US passport, but what do you do?? We had to beg & plead with LAN to change our flights from Lima to Caracas to the next day or we would lose the $1379 that we had paid for the tickets. Miraculously, the manager agreed to change our flights without a charge. (God did this, because LAN is known for not working with the customer when there is a problem!) So, the flight had been changed, but our residency still had to be fixed. We raced to the immigrations office in Lima. We arrived at 1:05 pm. The office closed at 1:00 pm. We begged and pleaded again, but without our paperwork we could do nothing. We called our contact in Lima, and she agreed to meet us at the immigrations office at 8:30 the next morning. She worked a miracle for us the next morning, and we rushed to the Lima airport to catch our flight. After barely making it to the airport on time, we rushed through immigrations again. Everything was in order, so we were allowed to travel. Then, our flight was delayed for 2 hours!! Because of this delay, we missed our bus in Caracas and had to spend the night in Caracas. I had eaten a few bites of a sandwich in the Lima airport while waiting on our flight. By the time we arrived in Caracas, I was very sick. The chicken salad must have been bad! I spent the night in Caracas running back and forth to the bathroom! Needless to say, I did not get any rest. The next evening we caught our bus to Merida. We were told the bus ride would take 12 hours. Because of problems with the tires, our trip took 19 hours. It was not a pleasant trip. The driver kept the air conditioning on high the whole trip. We did not have blankets like everyone else on the bus, so we were freezing to death the whole trip... another night of no rest!! We finally made it to Merida, and we collected our luggage. Rodney's bag was soaked all the way through. Remember that the air conditioning was on high the whole trip? Rodney's bag was under the air conditioner and all the evaporated water landed on his bag. He had no dry clothes!! But, we had made it, and we found a cheap, clean motel in downtown Merida. The hotel agreed to dry his clothes in their dryer! After all of this, we were faced with the challenge of finding some real estate agents. In Venezuela, there is very little advertising for this type of work. It was very difficult to find the agents, but in our search for real estate offices, we found a Baptist bookstore. After this find, our trip began to turn around for the good, but as I stated earlier, the devil was really fighting us. I am so thankful for a determined husband. If it weren't for his dedication, I probably would have just given up. But, I do have to confess...I did cry!!
The Ugly
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| New Social Order...painted on the wall by the government |
On our trip to Venezuela in 2006, I was stunned at how beautiful and modern the country was. On this trip, I was stunned at how much the country had changed in four years. Yes, the countryside is still beautiful, but inside the city of Caracas, it is very ugly. The crisp, modern, clean look that Caracas had in 2006 is gone. Everywhere you look, there is graffiti and trash. The city is dark and dirty. There are buildings everywhere that have been taken over by gangs. The government even takes part in painting the city with graffiti. There are political statements spray painted on every empty space.
In conclusion, Venezuela is a country in need of the Gospel. Merida is a city in need of the Gospel. Satan is going to do everything he can to keep the Gospel from being preached here. We are going to do everything we can to make sure that the Gospel is proclaimed loud and clear for all who will listen. Will you please commit to praying for this country and for us as we endeavor to share the Gospel with the people of Venezuela?
