United Church News, Rocky Mountain Conference edition
October/November 2005

Yo Amor Venezuela!!
By Kim Mapp

As I walked into my first worship service in Venezuela, I was blown away. They seemed to be breaking all the rules of a traditional worship service. They were walking around and clapping their hands. Some were dancing, which I would later take part in and even come up with my own dance moves. It seemed as if the UPEV worshippers could never sit down for longer then five minutes, almost like they had ants in their pants. I started to realize that this was just their way of praising God.
The way they praised God was more than just loving him or understanding him, it was a way of experiencing him. This passion for worship and for God carried into everything the Venezuelans did.

They had a passion for the world…
The first day we were in Venezuela, I learned more about world problems than I knew existed. A professor from Costa Rica presented a lecture that just started to touch on world issues; such as global warming, thinning ozone layer, war and poverty. The bishop of the UPEV told us about Venezuela. He talked about their government and their resources, about what was going wrong and how they were trying to fix it. They wanted the American youth and the Venezuelan youth to understand what was happening around us. The bishop and the professor believed that we are the future and therefore must be educated. They not only had faith that we could make a difference; they were giving us the basis to do so.

They had a passion for each other…
Everyone was family, and therefore should be treated like so. The Venezuelan youth and adults opened their arms and hearts, and greeted us as old friends. Because of this, we quickly felt comfortable around each other. We shared our life stories, with pictures and words. The Venezuelans wanted to know us, wanted to be friends with us and be a part of our lives. In return, they opened up their community to us and let us dumfounded Americans experience a little bit of their culture. Therefore, by the time we left Venezuela, we all left a little part of us behind in the hearts of the UPEV people. However, we also took a little bit of them with us, to share with the world.

They had a passion for music…
It may seem odd, but music and rhythm ran through their blood. It did not matter where we were or what we were doing; music surrounded us. During worship services, music would be ever present, even during sermons. While singing, I found that almost everyone was dancing, in their own way and some better than others, but nonetheless still grooving. On our seven-hour bus rides to camp, drums and guitars were played the whole time. Yet, I never saw a written piece of music. Music is in their blood.
After returning from Venezuela, I’m trying to carry on this passion, but for life. I want to share with others just what it means to “experience” God and, more importantly, to have passion in all that we do. This truly is how to share God’s love.

The following youth and adults comprised the 2005 Youth Mission Trip to Venezuela: Kyle Burnhardt, Community Church UCC, Wiggins; Alex and Sara Kirkpatrick, and Kim Mapp, First Congregational UCC, Longmont; Lexi Sweatt, Hilltop UCC, Parker; Ariel and Thad Weiss, First Congregational UCC, Colorado Springs; Aljean Greenacre, Hillcrest Congregational UCC, Montrose; Alena Heath and Becca Terpenning, Community UCC, Boulder; Robyn Brown and Steve Hoffman, Parkview Congregational UCC, Aurora.

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