Here are Ronnie's journal entries from the first two days of his trip. Warning: If you plan on hearing Ronnie and Brannon speak at FBC, you may not want to read these entries because you will see some of the same pictures and hear the same stories. However, when Ronnie tells them in person, there are way more details!
Saturday, July 3rd
I have now flown on3 different airplanes in my life and all of them were today. I actually enjoyed flying way more than I expected. The second plane was a very small and hot 13 seater but it was ok since we only had to be on it for 20 minutes.
We took this plane from Bonaire to Curacao. The beaches on Bonaire were beautiful as we flew over them. On 1 side of the airport was the beach and flat land covered with brush and cactus and on the other side were mountains. We ate at a restaurant at Bonaire and everyone in there was tuned into the World Cup game on the big screen. It was like their Super Bowl party. We had a lay over in Curacao so I tried to take a siesta on the floor and I was sleeping pretty hard until a group of young men began beating on a snare drum and laughing. They were from one of the Bahama islands, and they were having a pretty good time. Our plane finally left Curacao an hour after our scheduled departure time. As we were preparing to leave the airport the devil began to start his junk because Adrian and Marales had lost the folder with their passports in them. We had to leave them and their kids at the airport. They were able to get their luggage and copies of their passports and so as of right now they are in a hotel trying to get everything worked out. For the 1st night I stayed by myself with a host family of a mom and her 2 daughters. They were extremely gracious hosts. I think I went to sleep around 2 a.m. after getting settled in. It is hard to believe I am actually in another country and how I terribly miss my beautiful family, but I know God will work in my life fore giving Him this week to serve in Venezuela. I should sacrifice every week to Him as I have this week because they are all His and I have them to do an eternal walk for Him.
Sunday, July 4th
I was actually able to take a hot shower this morning. I felt very refreshed after a few good hours of sleep. I did have to use Scope to wet my toothbrush this morning because I had no bottle water. After getting ready, I had breakfast with my host family and one of Ms. Germany's daughters. I had an arepa that was like fried cornbread with white cheese in the middle.
I'm a little nervous because the hostess put some ice cubes im my orange juice. I didn't drink very much after that. When one of the girls left the table she was singing "Best of Both Worlds" by Hannah Montana. I just smiled as I thought about SC singing. I shared the photos of my family with them. They thought my wife and girls were beautiful. Of course, I agreed. I also miss them very much. On our way to church I again was amazed at the chaos in the driving in Venezuela. Thankfully we arrived safely. The church meets in a movie theater and has 2 services. The first service was very full. The praise band was awesome. They sang "Shout to the Lord" in Spanish of course but it was beautiful!. Every song was beautiful even though I couldn't understand all of the words you could sense the presence of God. Brother Gary delivered a powerful message from Mark 4 when Christ calmed the storm. After lunch, we visited Muchos Manos orphanage. I can't begin to describe what kind of blessing this was. As all of the smiling girls came out to greet us the first thing I noticed were 3 little girls that were about SC's age.
I really began to miss my family but again I knew God was going to bless me and my family during this time. I immediately showed the photos of my family with the girls and of course all told me that my family was beautiful. I played some type of patty cake game with one of the girls which was a huge blessing and comfort. I was amazed at the joy and love shown on the faces of the girls when so many of them have lived through some terrible experiences. Ashley shared a message on faith with us and the girls after we sang worship songs in Spanish and English. After we ate, the girls and women from our team began to dance and again I could just picture my SC out their with them.
I hope we can take her to pick out some dolls to send to the orphanage. I want SC to start being a part of missions now. After leaving the orphanage, we went to the mission where the church is being built. We were blessed again by Jerry and Marlana who oversee the mission. We went to the church to look at all the work that had been done.
The altar is nearly finished and Mrs. Marlana wanted us to pray over the altar because they had placed names of lost people under the altar and she prays over them every morning and night during her devotions. They are very devoted, loving, and passionate people down here. I am amazed and convicted by the humbleness and devotion to the gospel.
Love it!
ReplyDelete