December 2022 Newsletter
Greetings from Colombia! It’s always a blessing to be here, taking the Word of God to the world. We fulfill the great commission through every means possible- through radio, in person, through internet, with Bibles and books, through our Bible school, through our churches, and through prayers. We sure appreciate your prayers and support which makes the work possible.
I am happy to announce that we were able to put up the 7th radio station in Barinas, Venezuela. In the last newsletter I mentioned that we were (on the 31st of October) getting ready to start the station. The station sounds great and can even be heard in another state in Venezuela. I believe that it is of vital importance to get the Word out in these last days. In places like Venezuela where very few people have internet access, the FM radio is a lot more practical.
One of my FM radio stations (in Maracaibo) was actually shut down. The radio director over FM usage in Maracaibo is radically Muslim. Based on what he puts on his WhatsApp status and on what he posts online, he is anti-Christian and very pro-Muslim. That’s ok though- we just took the equipment from that place, opened it back up a few miles at another place in Maracaibo, and changed the frequency number.😂 It’s like that in Maracaibo, but it’s not like that in the other places where we have the radio stations. It’s because Maracaibo is the 2nd biggest city in Venezuela (right after Caracas.) In the smaller towns and cities, they don’t bother us at all, because they know people like to listen to the radio and there aren’t many stations. So they shut us down in one place, we moved it a few miles away, started that station up again, and started up another station as well!
Lord willing, we will soon be starting up another radio station in Catatumbo Venezuela (that is the place with the most lightning activity in the world). I will be sure to buy a lightning rod!
In Colombia everything is well. I have been preaching at my church and I have been preaching a few times a day through my FM radio station. In a couple of days we will go to Barranquilla Colombia, where I will have a cell meeting. In the city I will also buy a guitar for the church in Repelon.
This month in Venezuela we are expanding my one church because the congregation has grown and all the people can’t fit in the church. They are making the cement cinder blocks for the building. They will finish making the expansion and then once the outside wall is made, they will knock out the current inner wall to connect it. We are trying to be good stewards of the money, so we opted to make the cement blocks instead of buying them. Once finished we will buy more chairs for both of my churches in Venezuela.
In the month of November I sent an Indian team to evangelize the different tribes. They are going to stay in the mountains for 2 weeks preaching. I sent Venancio, because he really likes to preach in the different tribes. Venancio taught his wife and a few other people how to run the radio station when he is gone. This is the radio station that reaches the mountain Indian tribes.
On November 25 we had a women’s retreat- “Dancing in Fields of Grace- A Journey of Love and Transformation.” This was our sixth women’s retreat in Venezuela this year. 60 women attended and many lives were touched!
At the Caparro mountain tribe, the Indian chief, named Guillermo Romero, asked my Indian leader, Rafael, to stay a few more days at his tribe. He said that he sees the signs of Jesus' return. Because of this, he wants to get right with God. He and his family wanted to accept Christ and be water baptized. He said he wants to preach and as the tribe’s chief, he said he would prohibit worldly parties at the tribe.
There is a testimony I want to share with you. The Indian is from one of the mountain tribes that we disciple. His name is Edgar Aki Suarez. He says that every day he goes to his mountainside land to work, farming his land. It is a long hike to get there. One day his wife asked him if he prays to God. He replied, "Every time I come home I'm tired! I don't have time! So his wife told him, "You have to pray to God!" Edgar responded, "I am too tired."
The next night Edgar heard in a dream a voice that told him, "Son, you have to pray so that you are protected. Every day the devil roams like a roaring lion, seeking whom to devour. If you pray, I will protect you. You must stand firm in the faith. If you stand firm, he can't devour you. Prayer is your protection.”
Two weeks later he heard the same voice in a dream. This time the voice said, "Son, I told you to pray. You must seek first the kingdom of God and His ways of doing things, His pathway and purpose. Anyone who is not praying and watching will be devoured. You must stand upon the rock, because the devil and his army seek to destroy God's children through many obstacles. You must prepare yourself in prayer so that you can withstand it. Then the voice said, “You must be strong like Venancio” (pointing to him in the dream.) And in the dream Edgar saw Venancio, at the front of the Marewa church, with his Bible preaching the Word. The voice said, “Venancio has been through many tests, trials, threats but because of his faith in the Word, prayers, and being planted on the rock, he has remained faithful.”
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Someone responded to my last newsletter and said that I should give people a chance to sow directly into any project that they want in Venezuela and Colombia. So I will add a few of the different projects that I am currently doing and how much they cost. As the money comes in, I will begin the project. I won’t wait until all the money is given for a certain project to start, I will just little by little use the money to get the supplies and material for the job.
A few projects and their costs:
Church/radio station in Maracaibo: $5,000 (cost for stage 1- for this project the whole cost will be broken down into 4 stages - as the money comes in we will buy the construction needs.)
New radio station (equipment and the building of the small radio station): $7,000 - $8,000
New Mule for my Indian leaders’ missionary trips to evangelize and disciple the mountain Indian tribes: $400
Water maintenance and new water project for Indian tribes (depends on a lot of factors): around $600-$800
You can always write me at dougedennis@hotmail.com if you would like any further information.
Again, thank you for all of your prayers and support. We want to wish each of you a very blessed Christmas and a happy new year!
In His Service,
Doug, Veronica, James & Ana