Sunday was a travel day that began in Caracas around 4:30 a.m. Sue and Maggie, our 23 month-old great-granddaughter picked me up at the Lynchburg VA airport at 5 pm. The sixteen days in Venezuela could not have gone better. There were nine prayer seminars. I ministered to around 4,790. As far as I can determine, a few over 300 made professions of faith and now know "where" they were when they trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. The final seminar, in the Jerusalem Church, was taped by three cameramen fromt he Discovery Channel (quality is very good). This means that the prayer seminar will soon be available in Venezuela by DVD for individual or group study. I was blessed to work once again with the best interpreter in the world, Adam Nathanson, and to be a guest in their home with Dianna and their two sons, Daniel and David. The days went quickly and were busy. But the best part of any trip is being home. Home, sweet home!

Last night we completed the seventh seminar since arriving in Venezuela Sunday, March 16. There are two more to go. Attendance and interest have been excellent, but it appears that the next two seminars will be the largest. I continue to be impressed with Merida, a beautiful city of 600,000 nestled in a valley in the Andes Mountains. The mountains are beautiful beyond words. I can see why folks delight in living in this university city. One thing that I asked our Doorkeepers and friends to do on a bookmark was to pray that "the unction of the Holy Spirit would rest on each word spoken" to enable lives to be encouraged and challenged. At this point, it is my conclusion that the prayers have been answered. Of course, as usual, I am homesick. I do not like to travel and would rather be home. But the prayer seminar ministry (along with my work in the academic area working with the accrediting agency) has mandated travel. God's protection has been evident so many times. He, alone, touches my spirit and brings traveling grace and peace to be able to meet each responsibility. He has been faithful and I want to be faithful. Thanks for your prayers.

Merida is very beautiful. Out my window, I can see the mountains, first a low range and the background is a very high one. It seems that the temperature here is constant (except during January-February it can be quite cold). Folks grow bananas and fruits with their own trees. The city is clean and seems well organized.

Merida is a beautiful city of 600,000 nestled in the Andes Mountain 500 miles from Caracas. On Saturday,Adam Nathanson and I went to the Caracas airport along with boxes of prayer seminar workbooks only to find the flight was cancelled. We were late in getting to Merida, a university town. The president of the Baptist convention, who is a university professor, and his wife, who is a physician, rushed us off to the first venue, one hour from Merida. We were only ten minutes late. Folks had gathered from many churches, some from two hours away. The seminar was scheduled for 2-8 pm., but we finished at 7:30 p.m. to assist them in their travel. The seminar was well received.  Then on Sunday, I preached three times on the meaning of the resurrection. I believe that around thirty-three adults trusted came forward to make professions of fath. The unction of the Hoy Spirit was strong in each service bringing the Word of God alive. We serve a risen Savior and need not fear life or death.

Yesterday's prayer seminar was intense. Over three hundred attended. We began promptly at 9 a.m. and taught until noon. Started again at 1 p.m. and finished at 4 p.m. In order to cover the material with an interpreter (and ADAM NATHANSON is the best), I have to use words carefully and keep moving at a fast pace. Most know only Spanish. I continue amazed at the powerful unction of the Holy Spirit on the Word of God as it is presented. Day 5 went well; now I am looking forward to Day 6.

Day 3 (Monday) was busy with a prayer seminar from 9am until 4:15 pm. It amazes me how God's children anywhere in the world where we have been respond so positively to the prayer seminar. Yesterday was no exception. There is a lot of interest in praise and worship in Latin America, including Venezuela. When God's people rise to the same level of interest in prayer, I believe that the power of God will be unleashed to the level of a spiritual awakening (when the church is revived and many unsaved people come to Christ for salvation). This, of course, must begin with each person responding to the Word of God as the Holy Spirit brings it alive. Yesterday was a blessing in my life as I watched God's children respond. Now I am looking forward to Day 4 in Venezuela.

Yesterday was an adventure for me.en route to Caracas, Venezuela, but delayed in Atlanta. My flight was to leave Roanoke at 2:01 p.m. and arrive in Caracas 9:48 p.m. Amazingly, I landed in Atlanta at 9:48 p.m. Tornadoes were not finished with Atlanta Friday night, but returned to Georgia on Saturday afternoon. Our small jet began to be tossed around when we were to arrive at airport, so redirected to Chattanooga, Tennessee. Right out of Chattanooga, we were caught again and finally landed in Birmingham, Alabama. Once we thought we were off to Atlanta around 7:30 p.m., airport closed again. My flight left for Caracas at 9:20 p.m. so I've overnighted in Holiday Inn North. Out of my 2.2 million miles traveling, this was probably the most dramatic.

The last fifteen months have been among the busiest in our twenty-four year history and the next two weeks is a reflection of that fact. Two days from now, I will be flying to Venezuela. Ten prayer seminars are planned. On Easter, I will bring three messages in a church in Merida. The prayer and financial support from our Doorkeepers and friends are encouraging, yet humbling. Our budget for the trip has been met and I am grateful. We seldom have the opportunity to give away, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ on behalf of those who supplied the funding, 4,000 Spanish workbooks. That is what is projected. Many have written to say that they will be praying every step of the way. This will make a difference.

Our partners are called DOORKEEPERS, an expression that comes from 1 Chronicles 9:22 in the Living Bible, Ken Taylor's paraphrase. It speaks of 212 DOORKEEPERS, whose genealogy was right and appointed to do work for the Lord. We generally have active Doorkeepers in around forty states. A DOORKEEPER provides the prayer and financial support we need. For the Venezuela ministry March 15-30, we will provide 4,000 Spanish workbooks in addition to the travel needs. As of today, we need $153 to meet the established budget. In addition, our DOORKEEPERS made regular contributions for the day-to-day needs. Since we are a faith ministry, we never charge for our work. We have provided a prayer seminar workbook for each participant regardless of whether a contribution is made for the workbook (suggested contribution is $5) or not. We have seldom asked for support beyond prayer seminars. In January, we asked for HELP FOR MARTIN to get his ministry reestablished in Kenya after he lost everything during the post-election violence. The DOORKEEPERS and other friends gave almost $14,000 and achieved the goal we had set. Martin is back in place and his ministry has been reestablished. What a privilege to be the missionary/minister for so many godly men and women around the nation.

It is important to eat properly to ensure good, vitality on a daily basis. Not only is this true of physical food, it is true of spiritual food. Jesus Himself said that "man should not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." I am firmly convinced that a major secret of good, spiritual vitality is the daily time in the Word of God. By reading three chapters a day and five on Sunday, a person can go through the entire Bible, reading devotionally, in a year. I encourage any person who is concerned about his spiritual health to give much attention to the Word of God even to the point of meditating on it.