You shall be my witnesses

To the end of the earth Acts 1:8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our activities in the preschool and our Sunday Bible class for the youth centered on the Ascension of our Lord, which we celebrated on Sunday, May 21, and Pentecost, May 28. Pentecost brings us to the midpoint of the church calendar. From here on, the emphasis of our Scripture readings shifts from the earthly ministry of Jesus to the mission of the church to continue what “Jesus began to do and teach” (Acts 1:1) to the end of earthly history when “this same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).

Ascension.

St. Luke tells the story of the Ascension twice. According to the closing verses of his Gospel (Luke 24:50-53), after witnessing the Lord carried up into heaven, the 11 remaining apostles returned to Jerusalem “and were continually in the Temple praising and blessing God.” This is important to bear in mind when reading the opening chapters of the Acts of the Apostles. There we read that upon returning to Jerusalem, the apostles met regularly in an upper room for prayer and supplication. 

Pentecost.

This was different from the week following the crucifixion when the risen Christ appeared to them as they were cowering behind closed doors (Luke 24:33-43; John 20:19-29). The Lord had appeared to many other witnesses during the 40 days between His resurrection and ascension, the Roman and Jewish authorities were having trouble explaining away the empty tomb, and the apostles were not afraid to thank God for all of this in public. But the growth of the church, the new royal priesthood, did not begin until the visible and audible outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, not just on the apostles, who now named Mathias as one of them, but all the believers who were gathered with them (Acts 2:1). These included, according to Acts 1:12-15, “the women, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers...altogether the number of names was about a hundred and twenty”. The women certainly were those that had ministered to the Lord, even in Galilee, and later had made the journey to Jerusalem to be present under the cross and became the first to see Him resurrected on the third day.

Perfect score for Reinner Ortega.

As St. Peter told the gathered crowd, the manifestation of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel 2:28-32, in which the Spirit would be poured out on all the faithful, regardless of sex, age or social status. And with that, the marks of the church appear, for after Peter’s preaching, 3,000 were baptized and those baptized “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and prayers” (Acts 2:42). It is this water baptism, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that is the baptism of the Holy Spirit which Jesus promises in Acts 1:3, not the outward signs that established the presence and action of the Holy Spirit for that time and place. It is this same baptism which empowers Christians today to carry on the Lord’s mission and be His witnesses to the uttermost ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).

Update on teacher’s strike

A visit by primary education students.

Well, it’s not quite over. Our schools are not completely shut down, but since their salary demands were not met, most public schoolteachers are only working two to three days per week. Thanks to your support and the dedication of our preschool teachers, we have been able to keep the preschool open four days per week.

Happy birthday, Wilker Flores!

There is a cloud on our horizon for which we would ask your prayers. Every morning we have the preschool children form two lines, boys on one side and girls on the other, to sing the national anthem, say the Lord’s Prayer and listen to a Bible reading. Our teaching reflects the truth that “male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27) and institute marriage as the lifelong union of one man and one woman for mutual companionship and the nurturing of any children with which God may bless their home. So far, by God’s grace, we have not had to deal directly with la ideología de género or gender ideology, as it is known here. In 2021, the Roman Catholic bishops of Venezuela issued a

Happy birthday, Nelson Rodriguez!

statement of concern over growing pressure to legalize abortion, euthanasia and gender ideology in the country.

However, we have heard of “experimental” program in a neighboring state in which preschool children are taught that there are not just two, but many genders and corresponding pronouns for them. We hope this program does not serve as a model for something that will be made mandatory, and, if it does, that God may grant us the courage and wisdom to stand up for His order of creation.

Fiber-optic is the fashion

When I arrived in Venezuela 20 years ago, most people in Venezuela had access to the Internet only through cybercafes with row upon row of networked PCs. Internet service in the home was limited to a 56k dialup modem connected to standard landline. Wifi and mobile Internet access were unknown. Times have changed.

Installation of fiber-optic line.

As of the first month of 2023, according to Statista, overall Internet home Internet access in Latin America stood at 74.63 percent of the total population. Venezuela stands near the low end with 61.6 percent. The region of Latin America and the Caribbean has seen continuous increase in the proportion of the population using mobile internet, with more than half of the population connected in 2019, according to GSMA. According to the Venezuelan Observatory of Public Services (OVSP), only 38.1 percent of people had access to fixed-line connections at home as of October 2021. Although 80.4 percent of people owned smartphones with which they could access the internet, around half of respondents reported daily failures in cellular data service. As of August 2022, according to Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index, median mobile speeds in Venezuela were the third slowest globally, with Venezuela ranking 138th of 140 countries reviewed.

For several years, we have had entirely wireless Internet access at the mission through a cellphone network, but this has not been the ideal solution, as the above statistic indicates. Now a local company that has provided basic cable television service to our community since 2007 offers fiber-optic Intenet access. We have had this installed and have experienced a marked improvement as this chart would suggest. This is important to us because of increased use of videoconferencing in distance learning.

Giving thanks for those who gave us life

Mother's Day cake.

Mother’s Day fell on May 14, so giving thanks for mothers was on the top of our prayer list for the sixth Sunday of Easter. However, also on that morning we remembered in prayer Aurora Torrealba and her family, recipients of medicine shipped by GLO, upon the loss of her husband, Manuel Rojas.

This was our prayer for Mother’s Day:

Honoring mothers.

Kind Heavenly Father, you formed us in our mother's womb and sent your Son to be born of a woman to live and be tempted like us. On this day we give you thanks for the gift of life that you gave us through our mothers. We thank you for providing them to love us, care for us, and share your Word with us. Bless mothers everywhere with love, patience, wisdom, understanding, and strength so they can raise their children to love and honor you. Grant that in our homes reflect the joy of Easter. Let the good news of the resurrection reach all nations, so that men may behold the glory of Christ and find abundant life in the fruits of his victory over death. Amen.