What a way to start off my first mission trip ever! When we arrived to Maturin, Venezuela, it looked as if though it was in pretty good condition. But then we took some backroads to what I call "God's Country." Full of one room huts lived in by families of 6. They were surrounded by lots of weeds and dirt. However, the people are very friendly here and I respect that a lot. They don't have as much as we do back home, but that doesn't stop them from being courteous to foreigners.

This morning started at 7:30 am with breakfast and orientation at Paul and Shelly Scott's house. The food was great and instruction we got was very helpful. Don't drink tap water and don't teach the kids "dirty" words in English were a couple of the rules. After that we headed to a local high school to hoop with some kids and teach them the word of God. It was a blast. All of the kids speak Spanish here so we have translators to help us. The helpers are Paul and Shelly, Shandra (she came with us from Tennessee), Samuel , and Arturo. Those guys are our age and really helpful. I have gained friendships from both of them already.