Our mission is overflowing with people
Good news from Ted Krey in Venezuela. LCMS e-News “People, people, people everywhere! Our mission in Maracay, Venezuela, is overflowing with people. In July, we confirmed 10 adults and currently have another 25 in four different confirmation classes. Our mission congregation of 38 people now has an average attendance of 70! We have had to rent additional chairs four out of the last 10 weeks. The members are in the process of buying their own chairs, so that there might be seats available for our guests.
“In August we held a regional youth lock-in. There were Lutheran youth here from seven different cities. We had four different topics—all based on the second article of the creed—teaching the youth how to defend their faith in Christ and respond to the cults, to the unbeliever and to those interested in the Lutheran church. Not only did the youth learn how to evangelize, but they also helped us to evangelize in a prison. Currently, we are following up on contacts that the youth were able to obtain, and as a result, we have two adults in confirmation, two baptisms and five other adults who are attending a new Wednesday night Bible class. Truly, the Holy Spirit was working in and with these youth as they declared God’s love in Christ to our community! “One of the ladies who is currently studying to become a member served as a cook for the lock-in. She came to talk with me the Monday following the youth event. She told me that she loved the enthusiasm and dedication of our youth and the friendliness of our mission. She had really enjoyed our divine worship service on Sunday. She also brought with her two of her children who are not baptized and asked if we couldn’t teach them about Jesus. So, we are teaching her and her children of Jesus and His love. “We also had a group of young people from the United States come and do a VBS with us. We had a short two-day VBS in which there were more than 40 children from the neighborhood. There was a lot of great interaction and this school helped us lay the groundwork for our second VBS three weeks later. The second VBS had 60 children plus a class of 10 adults. This event, in turn, has really helped us to kick-start our Sunday school in which we now have four teachers and our very first Sunday school superintendent! “Finally, a month ago, two of the new men in the church approached me and asked if we could start a men’s society. So, the following Sunday, the men got together, elected a president and stipulated that their mission is to take care of the church property—our first trustees—and to assist the church in any manner possible as men of the congregation! So far, the men have helped pick up children for the VBS, (they fit a record 27 kids in my eight-seater Mitsubishi Starwagon). They went to a neighboring town and helped lay the foundation for a new Lutheran sanctuary, and they have plans to go again.”