Dear friend,

  Greetings!  I want to say “thank you” to all who support and pray for the ministry. It makes all of my work in Venezuela and Colombia possible. Before I tell about what I’ve been doing in the ministry, I wanted to share a testimony.

       

  The testimony has to do with an Indian preacher named Fernando Komateto from the tribe of Yurumutu. (It takes about 15 hours of hiking to get to this tribe.  I evangelized this tribe and started a church there 17 years ago.) Fernando has been preaching in Yurumutu for many years now. He always attends my Bible school that I have with my mountain Indian leaders. He also has gone with me on the trips that I take to the mountain tribes to evangelize or disciple. Fernando shared how he was invited to go to another tribe called Kunana to play soccer. When he arrived someone at Kunana accused Fernando of stealing, which was false. At the mountain Indian tribes they have little jail cells made of wood which they make. They are really small- if I was put in the jail, I would barely fit sitting in one. They look like a cage made of wood. 

          Well, they put Fernando in the jail cell overnight. Fernando said that he prayed for most of the night, not knowing what they would do to him. At the Kunana tribe there are some evil Indians, and one of them is the Indian chief. The Indian chief went with another Indian to the jail cell where Fernando was at. The Indian chief said that they were going to kill Fernando. The Indian chief had a machete in his hand. When he was about to swing the machete, Fernando cried out to God to protect him. When he did the machete broke at the handle and they all saw a bright light. And that was when Fernando said, “If you want you can kill me, but God is with me. I’m innocent and your accusation is false.” They were very scared after seeing the bright light so the Indian chief told the Indian with him to free Fernando and they told Fernando to leave their tribe. So because of God’s miraculous protection, nothing happened to Fernando. After he was released, he went back to his tribe and preached. 

 

          This has been a good month.  I sent out different teams of my Indian leaders to the mountains of Venezuela. A day ago I sent out a team to the tribes in the mountains of Colombia. I feel that it is important that even though I can’t go to the tribes I can still send my teams of Indian leaders to go to the mountain tribes to evangelize and disciple. I buy them food for their trip and when they come back, I pay them wages. 

          The Bible school is going well. In a few days my main Indian leader will head out with my preaching videos and movies. With the electric generator he will have the Bible school at the tribes. Also, I’ve been making many radio messages for the 6 radio stations that I am on in Venezuela.

 

          In Venezuela the power is still a problem- most people only have electricity for a few hours a day. There is no cash (everything is either bought with a debit card, which is a problem because they need electricity for the transaction, or with Colombian money.) The gasoline situation is difficult. Like I said in a previous newsletter, in the city of Maracaibo where my house is, people have to wait days in lines at the stations that still have gas. Many analysts say that within a month the whole country could be without gasoline. There is also very little food and water. Please pray for Venezuela.

 

          This month I will be going back to Colombia again. There I will be preaching at many different churches, and evangelizing at new cities that I’ve never been to. I am looking forward to what God will do there. In the one town I will have a 3-day Bible school class with them. 

 

          At one of the churches I helped a pastor buy a canoe. It cost about $300 to make. Here below is a picture of the canoe that he had built so that he can go fishing to provide his family with food.

        

                Again, I want to thank you so much for your prayers and support.  It is greatly appreciated.

        

                                                                                

 

                                                                                                       In His Service,

                                                                                                       Doug, Veronica, James & Ana