The sense of urgency continues...

"The Venezuelan government temporarily suspended permits for foreign missionaries on Friday so regulations for preachers in the country could be tightened.

"We were already working on this, but these declarations have made us speed things up," said chief of the Justice Ministry's religious affairs unit, Carlos Gonzalez."

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Venezuelas President and His Mentor...Castro

One of the reasons we have a sense of urgency is the possibility of Venezuela closing its doors to missionaries and mission organizations.

Please continue to pray for the young leaders in Venezuela as they begin to unite and expand the kingdom together. Pray for us, that soon we will have the necessary resources to further assist and engage in what is happening with the Venezuelan church.

Edison

Edison a co-worker and longtime friend from our mission work in Venezuela, will be coming to town in November. It will exciting to sit down and plan out our goals and vision for 2006. God is moving and we are gearing up for what he has in store.

Support Raising

Thanks to all of our friends, family, and supporters. Your prayers and giving have done the impossible. We are currently 50% of the way to being fully supported and enabled to pursue the various opportunities that God has placed before us.

We promise that an updated newletters will hit the postoffice in the next couple of weeks.

Thanks for your prayers and support.

Chris, Kristina, and Connor

Dogs and Outreach

Yesterday Connor (my son) noticed that our new neighbors seemed to have a need, so he spoke up and volunteered to babysit their dog should they need it. Little did we know that they were having to go back up to Maryland (they moved in last week) to take care of some business and were wondering what to do with the dog.

So here we are babysitting a pug for 2-3 days. What so great about that? Connor's willingness to listen to his young heart has opened the door for us to develop a relationship with our neighbors. I can smell a cookout on the horizen.

You never know what God may use to connect you with the people around you. He may even use a pug...he used a donkey before...remember.

Movies @ the Park

One of the events that we do is Movies at the park. We show a free movie, giveaway free popcorn and drinks, and look for opportunities to build relationships. This also gives us a chance to just share God's love with the community without expecting anything in return.

rAIN mORE rAIN

images_skyline
Originally uploaded by alfordmin.

Rain: The past few weeks have been drenched with repeated thundershowers. The past 5 Friday nights it has rained almost exactly at 8:00pm, the precise time we are supposed to start our outreach events at Finley park.

Last Friday we had a few of our Latino friends playing soccer in the rain. It is exciting to see the Latino community developing community and begin to feel wanted and needed.

Please pray we are going to attempt 3 more movies in August. Pray that God will solidify some existing relationships and give a few new ones.

Cultural Event

Cultural Event
Originally uploaded by alfordmin.

This is a cultural event we helped sponsor to promote literacy and to create opportunities to share God's love and grace.

Bumpy Road

This has definitly been a roller coaster week. Radius our home church has been searching for a building downtown Columbia (as mentioned before). This week has seen possibilities disappear, and a yes turn into a no. So...here we are back at square one, looking for direction.

Please pray for our leadership team as we navigate this transition...

Not So Weekly Update

radius: Our home church Radius has been searching for a new home downtown Columbia, SC. I've checked out so many buildings that I'm considering a career in commercial real estate.

Kristina My lovely wife has had some physical ailments over the past couple of weeks, and we would appreciate your prayers. That is part of the reason why they updates have not been posted.

Venezuela God has blessed us with a group of business owners who are researching ways that they can create business opportunities in Venezuela to fund the work there. Pray as we meet with them and seek God's guidance.

Youth Camp 3 weeks ago, Kristina and I served at a youth camp in Newport, TN. I led a seminar on missions and enjoyed challenging the youth to be creative and innovative in reaching their communities for Christ. Kristina had a chance to lead a young lady to Christ.

Support We have been blessed in recieving a few new supporters, but are still praying that God will provide the rest. Keep praying and we will keep pushing forward. Oh, our specific request is that we can get the fundraising portion of the adventure behind us by October, so we can concentrate on the mission. We've scheduled a gathering of young leaders in November (in Venezuela).

thanks for everything...especially your prayers