Projekta Apraksts

        2017.gada 1.decembrī

Mīļās amatmāsas, amatbrāļi un draudzes!

Ārmisijas nozares vārdā vēlos vēlreiz pateikt paldies visiem, kas esat atbalstījuši "Dzīvības ūdens"projektu. Kopā tika savākts $ 14,583.00 !

2016. g jūnijā Charity: water tika nosūtīta nauda, un šobrīd ir zināms, ka darbi pie akas izrakšanas rit pilnā sparā, un 2018. gada pavasarī tie būs pabeigti! Tad saņemsim aprakstu, kā arī bildes un GPS koordinates. Pie akas tiks arī uzstādīta plāksne, norādot, ka šo aku ir sponsorējusi LELBA.

Tā kā "Dzīvības ūdens"projektam tika savākts vairāk nekā 10,000.00 dolāri, tad Ārmisijas nozare nolēma atbalstīt vēl vienu projektu, starpību sedzot no jau esošajiem līdzekļiem kasē. Šis projekts ir Kambodžā, kur ģimeņu mājās tiek uzstādīti biofiltri ( biosand filters), kas attīra ūdeni. Kambodžā ūdens netrūkst, bet bieži vien tas ir netīrs un nav lietojams sadzīves vajadzībām. Katra ģimene, kas saņem biofiltru, tiek apmācīta, kā to uzturēt lietošanas kārtībā, un piedalās to uzstādīšanā savās mājās. Ieguldot $ 6,000.00 LELBA nodrošinās attīrītu ūdeni 340 cilvēkiem. Šis projekts būs pabeigts 2019.gadā. '

Kā nākamo devīzi ārmisijas darbam esam izvēlējušies "Dzīvības maize". Gan pašmāju, gan ārvalstu mediji katru dienu atgādina, cik esam svētīti, jo šobrīd neciešam badu. Bet daudziem citiem Dieva bērniem tā ir ikdienas realitāte, kur izdzīvošanas dziņa un dienišķās maizes trūkums ir aizēnojis iespējas mācīties un strādāt, būt veselam un justies drošībā.

Pateicoties LELBA priekšnieka prāv. Gunāra Lazdiņa jau iesāktajam darbam Venecuēlā , kur šobrīd valda neiedomājams trūkums un krīze visos līmeņos, vēlos draudzes aicināt piedalīties projektā " Dzīvības maize Venecuēlai". Prāv. Gunārs Lazdiņš līdz šim no saviem personīgajiem līdzekļiem ir katru mēnesi sūtījis pārtikas pakas uz Venecuēlu. Vidēji tas izmaksā 250 dolārus mēnesī. Kas sākotnēji bija projekts atbalstīt 12 bērnus , kur viņi pēc skolas atnāk uz vietējo baznīcu Valensijas pilsētā, lai saņemtu vienu siltu ēdienmaltīti divas reizes nedēļā, ir "izaudzis" par projektu, kur tiek jau atbalstīti 120 bērni!

Tā kā jebkurā valstī, kas ir nestabila politiski un ekonomiski, ir svarīgi izveidot "tīklu"ar cilvēkiem, kuri ir uzticami un atbildīgi, tad šajā gadījumā, tas jau ir izveidots. Primārās kontaktpersonas ir māc. Gunāra Lazdiņa ģimenes locekļi un baznīcas mācītājs, kas sniedz atskaites par to, cik pārtikas pakas ir pienākušas, ko muita ir izņēmusi, cik bērni ir paēdināti, un kādus pārtikas produktus vajadzētu nosūtīt nākamajā mēnesī.

Vai ir iespējams paēdināt vairāk bērnu? Vai ir iespējams viņus ēdināt biežāk kā tikai 2 reizes nedēļā? Protams! Tādēļ aicinu ikvienu draudzi un draudzes kopu ziedot šim svētīgajam darbam! Tuvojas Kristus piedzimšanas svētki, kad Dievs top par bērnu, lai nāktu un būtu ar mums. Šo svētku gaisotne lai iedvesmo mūs dot un dalīties ar Viņa bērniem Venecuēlā!

Pielikumā atradīsiet Saras Lazdiņas aprakstu par šī brīža situāciju Venecuēlā, kā arī aprakstu par baznīcu, kas veic šo darbu . Tāpat vairākās fotogrāfijās varat apskatīt misijas darbu. Ja jums ir papildus jautājumi par šo projektu, lūdzu, griezieties pie prāv. Gunāra Lazdiņa, kurš labprāt uz tiem atbildēs.

Ar cieņu,

Dace Skudiņa

Ārmisijas nozares vadītāja

The Description of LELBA's Ministry Partners 

Written by: Sara Lazdins

Who are we:

We are a church belonging to the Venezuela's Federation of Missionary and Christian Alliance whose mission is "to preach the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to every human being regardless of its race, ethnicity, political ideology, literacy, social status or cultural background with the purpose of creating group of believers in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela" For the past 30 years, we have been actively involved with our community located in a neighborhood called "La Esperanza", in addition to nearby communities of the Libertador County in the Carabobo State (Central region of Venezuela).

Fourteen year ago, our church decided to work with the Venezuelan's OANSA clubs. OANSA is an international and interdenominational organization with a Bible-based ministry dedicated to teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, reaching out children, adolescents, parents and relatives. Other goals, within our mission, include to train and to challenge boys and girls to serve our Lord Jesus Christ through leadership, service and testimony so that they can accept the responsibility of preaching the Gospel around the world" (Matero 278).

Our history,

As mentioned above, we are an OANSA club with 14 years of work in our communities. In general, these communities are formed by very low-income families coming from less-privileged location such as, "Comunidad Popular Nueva Valencia" and "Comunidad Popular Fundación Carlos Andres Perez", etc. When we started the OANSA club, our church gave us financial support to accomplish our mission and to this day it continuous to do so. Within the club activities, we have had a diverse Saturday schedule throughout the years. As established by OANSA, and in agreement with the Venezuelan's school calendar, we offer two hours of weekly activities on Saturday mornings (usually from 10 am to noon) from September to July. We don't have activities during school breaks (August and 3 weeks in December for Christmas and New Year).

Our activities include:

1) Reading and learning: National OANSA organization provides our club with copies of bibles and booklets for our students to read, learn and memorize verses. Most of the reading are based on the life of Jesus, Christian life and salvation. The complexity of the reading is according to the children's age and their content is related to the life of Jesus around children and his teachings.

2) General Sessions: This activity is held every 3 months. During this activity, Children pray, worship, and learn biblical stories, in addition to singing canticles. They are also taught biblical lessons.

3) Playing: These activities are organized by OANSA where children can play and have recreation.

Our reality today:

As you might be aware, for a long time Venezuela has been facing economic, political and social turmoil in which quality of life has continued to deteriorate. Our ministry does scape this reality. Inflation and shortages of food and medicines have made our existence very difficult. Our church has made enormous efforts to keep us going, but over time it has also been difficult for them to continue to provide financial aid.

Last year, we realized that most of the students, who were attending our club, were facing malnutrition. In many cases, and at most, many of the children would have no more than two innutritious meals per day. Knowing this situation, we decided to provide a nutritious lunch for the children and decided to include "lunch time" to our current schedule of activities. However, since we took this responsibility on our shoulders, we are facing a tremendous economic challenge. It is also very hard to teach of a loving God to children in hunger.

Despite of this, we continue to work within our communities and with our children because we believe that instilling in them God's love, providence and salvation at an early age will build the future leaders and generations of men and women capable of rebuilding our country. But, it is imperative and urgent that necessities of these children be met. We have had fundraising activities to help our desperate situation, but it is not enough. We are still struggling to obtain the financial resources to provide food for our students, we are also in need of clothing, personal hygiene items and school supplies. The crisis in this nation has many ramifications. Nevertheless, we have faith, and more than anything, we believe that this is the work that God has entrusted to us to do, we have the willingness to continue our work in the communities. We strongly believe that with help we will be able to continue providing for our children and communities.

Thanks and God Bless.

Everyday Life of a Venezuelan

It is said with irrefutable certainty that in the absence of light comes darkness. The same level of certainty and conviction can be used to say, as a Venezuelan living (I use living very lightly) in Venezuela, no matter the time of day or year, no matter the simplicity of the task, from the wealthiest to the poorest, in these times of darkness - misery awaits all.

A country recognized as the wealthiest in the America's, whose culture gave birth to people of simplicity, love, happiness, and compassion. A country governed by honesty and loyalty to the well-being of its people. A country with an undeniable sense of pride, whose people (like many nations) stood proudly and sang loudly for its flag, symbolizing such positivity, now acts as a mark of pain and suffering.

As the Venezuelan government carries out its new plan - its people are left to suffer at the hands of an unattainable inflation rate that has acted more like a extermination tactic than a financial reconstruction strategy. Simple task such as finding food, has now become the new daily survival challenge. As supplies continue to decrease, prices continue to increase ensuring wages remain ineffective not covering even the basic necessities. Amidst the turmoil, the simplicity of the Venezuelan way of life has spirits kept high with a new sense of nostalgia ' we were happy and we didn't know it", providing hope that if we can one day get back to the old ways we will be happy again.

The story repeats itself when dealing with personal hygiene items such as; soap, deodorant, and tooth paste. Skin diseases once completely eradicated, are now in the highest numbers. With the absence of proper supplies such as disposable diapers and sanitary towels Venezuelans have turned to the use of cloth for dippers and female towels. Thus, creating an environmental concern as city workers are no longer actively removing waste and garbage from neighborhood streets.

A healthy life is now a hope for an answered prayer. Medication, regardless of its use or urgency can only be found at the counters of the black market. With supplies decreasing daily, one is literally forced to put a dollar value on his/her life, which is unobtainable to the majority of people regardless of socioeconomic status. If the hurdle of money becomes the hurdle in between life and death then that hope for an answered prayer is the only hope for life.

Venezuela's crime rate has always been one of the highest in the world, now we stand alone with the highest crime rate worldwide. Typical factors of government corruption, is now accompanied by hunger as a contributing factor to such an increase. The government has managed to place a dollar value on human life, and with the lack of proper supply, has watched its people resort to primitive behavior in order to ensure survival.

The educational system has seen its highest ever dropout rate as a result of hunger, or lack of hygiene creating a total school dropout at any age or grade. These children now find themselves on the streets in a race for survival which includes crime, drug-use and prostitution. Parental care for children is a task that has taken a back seat to the task of individual survival.

For the fortunate ones that once belonged to the now none existent middle or upper class, now have a new fight that brings hope, a fight to leave the country. However, this challenge has proven to be more fantasy than reality based on the increasingly high cost of doing so and the unwilling support of all governing entities. Access to foreign currency, or documentation such as passports and visas which would make the move possible, is heavily monitored/regulated by the government. Everything involves days and nights long line ups to obtain something as simple as an appointment with any of the dozens of entities which regulates the exit of the country...but the hope never dies...more than half of the Venezuelan population has some kind of a relative living in exile...and this is the hope, the hope to one day join them.

In reality for the Venezuelan people this is very disheartening, it is a lost country amongst its crime, sins, misery, corruption and hopeless life... for God's children, us whom have believed in Him, we still have that flame of hope, in fact we have learned that he has been there for us and has extended His hand giving us that message of salvation, love, justice, all food to keep the faith alive.

This is no easy task for anyone here, for many of us is very painful to see each and every day how our lives deteriorates more and more, to watch the news is very depressing, to see the suffering of an entire system from those who still have some recourses to survive, to the lower class worker, the child who still has that naive hope that everything is good until he asks for food at home and there is none to give, and even for the animals that once were able to survive from the scraps of food and now that scrap has become a meal for a child or grown up, is all very disheartening to see.

The writer's family and personal lives is no longer the same, we have experienced plenty of changes in our daily race for survival, we have learned good things amongst the worst of the situations, we have seen God's hand in each end every step we take, we have seen our God's willingness to guide us, protect us, provide...he has provided us with the required strength to keep that faith in Him. As a family we have decided to stay here and soldier this entire system until He guides us otherwise. We have come to the realization that in this beautiful country, in every corner there is a Venezuelan that needs to find Jesus Christ our savior, so they can join us in prayer to strengthen our faith in Him to carry on His word and message...it is His job which has been passed on to us to preach faith for a Venezuela to once again become full of hope and freedom.

Sara Lazdins