Hey everyone!!! I'm so excited to be giving this update! Thank you so much for reading and your continuing support.
So we have been in Venezuela almost 3 weeks now and the amount of things God has done is unbelievable!
It was a really hard first week for me because I was out of my comfort zone and I honestly missed Belize and my normal routine with the people I know. We started off in a town called Barinas. We did a lot of street ministry which includes dramas, testimonies, preaching, and praying for the people on the street. God brought about 50 people people to Him during our week stay in Barinas. Our host church was amazing. They treated us so well. The people in Barinas treated us like movie stars; they constantly asked us to take pictures with them. Even on our free day in the mall we were approached for pictures. The people here aren't used to seeing a bunch of English speaking white people in this country. It was a little bit of culture shock because I wasn't used to all the attention, but it was a good first week.
Our next stop was a mountain town named Merida. It was totally different from from Barinas. Merida is in the Andes mountains so it was a bit chilly in the morning, but surprisingly hot in the afternoon and the evening. Sickness hit our team really hard also. I think our leaders had to take someone to the hospital everyday. It was very miserable, but I feel it really brought our team closer because we were suffering together! Being sick also gave us an opportunity to pray and spend time with God. It wasn't all sick though, we saw a bunch of healing. God healed a woman who couldn't even lift her arm and after we prayed for her it was healed. God also healed a man's ear! It was an amazing time. I'm so thankful for everything and all the ways He is using us! Oh, our team is now a traveling choir, who would have thought? Definitely not us!!! I'm not exactly sure how it started, but we have been singing as group almost every time we have done ministry!
Right now we are in Turen. I'm in love with this city! I have a brand new attitude and excitement about what He' doing. Saturday we did street ministry again 3 times in one day. I need to mention that it is extremely hot in this town, so doing street ministry out in the sun was draining. However, God anointed our team with energy! By our last location we were all pumped and ready to go! I was personally given the opportunity to pray over a 4 month old who was wearing a witch craft bracelet. His mom was 17 and had been involved in the church, but strayed away and became pregnant with him. Her sister forced her to put the bracelet on the baby she said. I found myself really connected, more than I have with anyone here. I started telling her my story and told her that when she was ready to come back to God He would be there. That it is never too late. She started off shy and by the end of our conversation we were laughing and joking together. Oh, I also forgot to mention that the people her speak very little English so everything we say has to be translated. This makes it very tough for me to get connected and it is actually something I have been struggling with. I like to talk to people and engage in conversation, but not being able to speak their language makes doing his difficult. That's why me connecting with this girl was such a God thing. I have really been praying He helps me feel engaged and connected and He came through and He still is! Anyways, that conversation ended not with her accepting Christ, but with me telling we no matter what she does, nothing can separate her from the love of God and that when she's ready He will e there. On Sunday we spent the morning in our host pastor's church. Afterwards our host mom, the woman who's house all of us our saying at, arranged for the team to have a nice afternoon at the pool here all I ourselves! It was so much fun! Sunday night we were given the opportunity to lead a church service of about 200 people. We started with a time of worship, did our family drama, I gave my testimony, our couple (Jakob and Nicolina) gave a message on family, Amy gave her testimony and we ended with a call for prayer. Almost the entire church responded to the call!!! We prayed for so many families to be restored which was awesome! I was able to pray for a girl who told me her dad was cheating on her mom right now. No words can describe how awesome it was to give her hope, that God would turn this situation into something good! No words can describe the joy I felt after this service! The Holy Spirit showed up in a miraculous way!!! After the service we played games and got to hang out with the congregation which was so much fun! It's been a jammed pack time. I know it's only by God's energy I'm still going. I can't wait to see how God will use us during the rest of our stay here on Turen and in the rest of our locations! Our next stop is the city of Barquisimeto and we will be there for 14 days, so it'll be a little more relaxin I think.
God is doing so much that it's almost impossible to put it all in this blog or it would be the length of a novel! I can't wait to tell all of the amazing things God did when I get home! If you have any questions or would like to know some more stories please feel free to email me!! I don't have constant wifi right now, but I will reply as soon as I get it! Please continue to pray for good health, energy, for the people's hearts to be open to God, and for Him to keep doing amazing things here in Venezuela! Thank you so much for your prayers and support. It means so much to me and my team!! As always I you have any prayer needs I would live to join with you in praying for them!
Dios te bendiga (God bless you)
Brittney
Brittney Timberlake
