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Venezuela: 'A Wonderful Opportunity'
By Cory Urban

We were all very excited as we gathered in Denver. It was finally starting to sink in that we were actually going to Venezuela. That first night we slept over at a church, and then left for our flight in the morning. The long day of travel gave all that was happening a chance to settle in. As we exited our flight into Maricabo, we were greeted by about 20 youth from Venezuela and Columbia. We introduced ourselves, and then loaded up on the white bus that took us to the church. The bus ride was overwhelming. All these people had come to meet us, and now we were going to a church to meet more youth from all over the country. We arrived at the church, and we walked into a worship service. We were overwhelmed by the excitement. Defiantly not like the worship services in the U.S. The church was packed with youth from all over the nation. We walked in, and then got the chance to introduce ourselves to the youth. We sang and danced, and we also tied our flags together to symbolize our unity. As we left to go to the hotel, all of us knew it was going to be an awesome trip. You couldn’t really beat what we were feeling right then.
For the next couple of days, we hung out with all the youth, singing, worshiping, and playing. They were some of the friendliest people we had ever met. They treated us like they had known us their entire lives. We played soccer, and watched the world cup. We did activities together, and really got know each other. It did not matter that there was a language barrier, because you always found a way to communicate what you were trying to say. After a couple of days, the youth from all over Venezuela left, but the youth from Maricabo and Colombia were still there. As we talked together, we really got to understand each other’s cultures. We talked about the differences in our everyday lives, and the similarities. There were times for big group discussion, and times for individual discussion. One thing we found that we had in common was the love for music. We spent a lot of time singing, and listening to each other sing. They were so passionate about their music, which was the part that I loved the best.
We got to visit the Wayuu people, which is pretty much one of the lowest level of poverty groups in Venezuela. We brought them supplies, and we spent the day with them and the children. It was really encouraging to see how they had so little, but their faith was so huge. The children were so excited to see us, and we had a great time paying Duck-Duck-Goose. We spent a lot of time at the global partners office, and we got a chance to add a little touch of Colorado to it. We also spent a lot of time at our hotel, swimming together and playing Uno. It is amazing how much you can interact with one silly little game. Each night we sat down together and talked about what we had seen that day, and what it meant to us. That was one of the best parts because as people shared their memories, you felt like you had experienced it also. It made you feel like you had twice as many memories.
On the last day, the bishop and his wife threw us a great big party, with lots of music, lots of dancing, and lots of food. It was the perfect way to end it. We all joined hands at the end of the party, and we sang a song about unity. The bishop talked about how sooner or later, we would all see each other again, and that was very inspiring. It made us all feel like we had made a difference. Over all, it was very much a life changing experience for all of us in some way or another. It was a wonderful opportunity for us to be in another culture, live another type of life, and make some of the best friends a person could ask for.

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