Back in Louisana

I'm back in Louisiana for a few days - unthawing from my trip up north!
It was great to be back in WI to see family and friends. I also enjoyed my time visiting places in MN, IL, and ND!

We just did a full day of Crisis Response Training in Barrington, IL. It went well and it was exciting to launch this day training. Our vision is to train churches across America and prepare them for crises that exist or could happen in their communities.

I'm both excited and nervous about my trip to Venezuela this week. I leave early Friday so I should be on the ground in Punto Fijo by 8 pm that evening. I did a review on Spanish and I think I will be able to communicate a little on my own, but I will be working with a missionary there who will help me with translation. I will be looking at the process of church planting and get to see a few church plants in different stages. I'll also be able to attend an EFCA conference in Venezuela so I will meet missionaries from that country and that should be pretty exciting. We are driving quite a ways to get to the conference so I will be able to see some of the country side.

Please keep me in prayer as I take this new adventure! I'll try to stay updated with pictures and stories of my time there!

Vaya con Dios!
Mariana

Exciting Stuff!

For me, anyway! My new year has been busy and full so far. I've been traveling - I started out in TX, then went to WI, IL, IA, ND, and back to LA. Tomorrow, I take off again for the north flying back to WI for more work in the area of raising support and presenting at churches.


TX -
Things continue to run smoothly there. Lots of volunteers are signed up for the next few months and extra staff have arrived, providing help to lead those coming and help them have a great mission experience! The follow up part of the ministry has been going well and several people have been involved or shown interest in contacting people Galveston Bible Church has served through Ike relief.

WI -
I'm support raising with individuals and churches. Please help me bathe this in prayer!

IA -
I stopped through Iowa on the way to WI and checked in with the churches we helped in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. I found out that Parkview in IA City had completed their rebuilding and they were having a grand opening. I was able to travel back to IA on Jan 25th to attend and set up a booth to talk to people (photo above).

IL -
I attended a church planting meeting with Mark and a few other leaders from the EFCA South East district. Ther is an excitement from the district regarding the opportunity to look at planting churches in Louisiana! More to come on this...

ND -
I did workshops along with Ron Hesselgrave at a district summit in Grand Forks. We did 3 one-hour workshops on the development of Crisis Response Ministry and then we followed up with a Q & A session in Fargo. Churchs there are very interested in further training and we have offered to do an extended version with them.

LA -
I coordinated training in Louisiana this week for our staff on a household evangelism method of discipleship with Joe Hernandez from City Team ministries. Everyone is now equipped with a new way to witness in the lives of others and help them mature in Christ.

WI - I'm heading back for more support team building and to present at a few churches in WI and MN. In a few weeks, I will be going to Barrington, IL, to launch our first longer version of Crisis Response Ministry training.

I hope that your New Year is going well and that you feel blessed by the love of the Father!

In Him,
Mary