North Georgia UMC Leaders at January Seminary

Our January, 2008 Wesley Seminary session is January 28-February 1 in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. We are honored to have Dr. Steve Wood teaching Expository Preaching. Steve is the Senior Minister of Mount Pisgah UMC in Alpharetta. I will be teaching Sacraments and Rituals along with the team of Drs. Jim Cantrell and and Mike Cavin. Jim is the District Superintendent of the Atlanta Decatur Oxford District and Mike is the DS of the Northwest District. Joining us will be Kelly Falany and Steve Brumbelow, students at Asbury Seminary. They will be hosted by Rev. Dan Dunn who is also studying at Asbury working on his PhD. Dan plans to give more leadership to Hispanic Theological education.

Our Ministry Assistant, Samuel, will be staying in our home in the US in order to have the Rotator Cuff surgery he requires. He will be hosted by David and Carol Cosby. They are also staying in our home while David receives some very needed orthopedic care. We will greatly miss them in Venezuela, especially David in his role as Academic Dean. However, we will be working with Jon and Jeannie Herrin as well as a number of wonderful Venezuelan friends.

While we are in Venezuela, we will be investigating a missionary home that is currently for sale. We are considering buying it for use by the mission. We will also be visiting a site we want to acquire for the seminary. The acquisition of a suitable facility for the seminary is absolutely critical. The site we will visit can be purchased for approximately $150,000US and already has at least $150,000 in improvements. With a the addition of a couple of construction projects, this property would be ideal for the seminary for at least the next 10-15 years.

Please pray for the week of seminary, the potential of acquiring property and the worship services and relationship building. Also, please pray for travel safety and personal security for all involved. Additionally, you can help by providing financial support for this effort. You can send a financial gift to Venezuela Now, Inc. The address is above in the masthead for this blog. God will bless your generosity.

(Here are some pictures of the potential seminary site. Note the existing buildings and the beautiful trees and landscaping. This would make a great home for the seminary.)

Samuel, Our Beloved Ministry Assistant

Samuel Rojas, our Ministry Assistant in Venezuela, is here for his first ever visit to the United States. He arrived last week and is staying with us in Ball Ground, Georgia. The Cosby's are also here for some medical treatment and staying in our home. They are hosting Samuel and took him to the Varsity for his first American meal! They then took him to see the Nutcracker Suite at the Fox Theater, an historic Atlanta landmark.

However, Sam's visit is not all fun and games. He will also visit with many of the ministry friends he has made as they traveled from their United Methodist Churches to Venezuela.

Those visits will have to take second place to the primary reason he is here. Tomorrow he will have knee surgery to repair damage done a couple of years ago when a taxi hit him in Venezuela. A couple of weeks later he will have his Rotator Cuff repaired. This damage was done when a transmission fell on him as he was making repairs to a friend's vehicle. All of this surgery is being done as outpatient surgery and is being done gratis by the Orthopedic Surgeon and his team. The surgeon met Samuel in Venezuela (see previous post). He is a member of the Alpharetta First UMC and was a member of our church in the distant past. We are most thankful to him and his team for this generous ministry to our trusted assistant, Samuel.

Please keep Samuel in your prayers as he has both of these surgeries and the busy schedule he will have while here in the US. Since his visa is only for 2 months, this will be a very busy time sandwiched between the surgeries and the recovery periods.