thank you.

leading worship with kids from my school :) i MISS THOSE TIMES :)

a banquet with school friends.. kinda like our prom :)

WOW.
so i am "back home in Indiana" (ha i think that is a song my dad sings sometimes :) )!
i wanted to just take a second and express my gratitude for all who have been reading my blog and have left encouraging comments and notes. Your prayers have been answered and helped me get through the year. I look back at the year and all i can say is "WOW GOD thank you. thank you for all the opportunities and experiences you have me. Thank you for all the friends you provided me with. Thank you for all the lessons you taught me. Thank you for all the encouragement i got from others. I praise you for the amazing work you are doing in Venezuela!"

And let me tell you... GOD IS WORKING THERE! It is incredible to see the church grow and see God working through people. There are so many people i knew down there who were using the gifts God had given them- whether it was evangelizing, preaching, leading worship, leading, praying, encouraging, hospitality.. and so many others. Those were the most beautiful moments for me in Venezuela- when i saw God working through someone, when i saw someone living out God's purpose for them. Its absolutely beautiful and makes me just wanna stare and smile! :)

Goodbyes were super hard. The school i went to was small, so we were all SUPER close. So the past few weeks home my heart has ached. Its also been hard not having anything to do. I just miss people. I miss the church. I miss all the adventure in Venezuela. haha i miss doing crazy things that are a little risky. :) I just like to live life on the edge sometimes because it keeps me on my toes and keeps me on my knees praying and trusting God! :)

Ever since i have been back i have kind of been analyzing my year and the different lessons God has taught me. I have really been wrestling with purpose since i have gotten back. Its been like "Ok God, now what?" and i have asked myself over and over "what are you living for? are you living for what counts?" and i am realizing more and more that life is really all about love. i know this sounds simple and an elementary childrens lesson.. but its so true and we CANNOT miss it. In Venezuela i really feel like i loved deeply from the heart and i felt like God loved others through me- like it wasn't my love or me loving them. Through that i got to see the power of God's love. It blows my mind to think of how many people cover the earth and how i can get all wrapped up in myself and in my life and yet there are millions of other lives going on. (i think i really realilzed that being in a city of over 6 million people). But out of everyone, God loves me. That i matter to Him. He cares about my thoughts, my past, what i am doing now, and He holds the perfect plans to my future. Its insane. Its overwhelming. Its breath-taking. Then back to loving others- i have seen the power of love, God's love, change people this year. Its what people need. The dont need condemnation or judgment, just pure love that asks for nothing in return. I am just learning about true love.. what an amazing lesson..

So a few of my future plans... right now i am starting the college search. I feel called and passionate about becoming a Medical Missionary. SO i am looking at studying to be a nurse practitioner so i can prescribe medicines and do all the basics :). We will see where God continues to lead. I am really looking forward to my Senior year of high school. I have been praying that God would show up in incredible ways and really shake Covenant. I wanna see God's power :)

I just looked up and realized what i called this blog in the beginning "Seeing God in Venezuela." Thats exactly what happened. Thanks for caring and reading this. it means more than you will ever know. May God shower blessing in your life. May you live a life sold out for Him. May you take each day and live for Him. Put your trust and dependence in HIM and not in worldly things. May He sustain you in all areas and situations in your life.

Much love,
Mariah Brooke Smith

my friends from church gave me a flag of Venezuela that they all wrote on as a goodbye gift :) I LOVE IT!

leaving Venezuela.. look at that contrast between air port and Venezuela

my sad face on the air plane :(

OH boyyy... 3 months, 1 blog

playing with kids at the Warao community

my first medical missions experience

I apologize yet once again for letting this blog slip out of my hands. I have so much I want to tell that God has been doing in my life and in the lives of the people here in Venezuela. I could never thank those of you enough who have have been praying for me and continually encourage me on this adventure that I am living in Venezuela. I do not know what I would do without you. Lately I have been realizing just how many awesome people God has placed in my life. Thank God and thank you (those reading this) for the blessing you have been in my life. May you influence others like you have influenced my life.

I do not even know where to begin. Life here has been incredible. Not because of what I have done, or what I have seen, but because God is alive, here, and working in amazing ways. All i can really do is stand back and marvel at our incredible God who would even begin to care for us. The church here has been going through a campaign called "50 dias de fe" (50 days of faith). This has been a journey for many in the church, including myself. I have felt challenged and am beginning to understand what faith really is and how important it is. The church continues to grow and people keep coming to the Lord desiring to give Him their lives. It's truly one of most beautiful things i have ever seen. It's all God working and flowing through the people that have chosen to follow His Glorious Name.

Going back a few months to January...
In January i had the opportunity to go on a missions trip with the seniors from my school. We traveled 12 hours on a bus to get a city where a missionary names Peter lives. He has been a missionary to an indeginous group of people called the "Warao" for over 20 years. We stopped at his house and served the community there for a day, then we took a boat 5 hours to get the Warao community. {i dont even know how to begin to describe this so bare with me}. This community lives on the water and we visited a specific one that has a mission house, which is where we stayed. They all live along this big river and there are 387 different Warao communites. Peter and his wife were the first missionaries to go to the Warao and trust me, their ministry to those people has been absolutely incredible and God filled. Out of those 387 communities, only 25 have heart the Gospel. Oh the work to be done. "harvest is plentiful, yet the workers are few." That number crushes my heart and all i can pray is "God take me where you want me and prepare me for you work." I pray the same for all believers as well. The community we went to was built right on the bank of the water. Warao actually means "people of the water." We spent a few days there doing VBS for the kids, cleaning hair to get rid of lice, cleaning wounds, passing out milk, and simply talking to the people. This was my first time getting to experience medical missions and i loved it. They do not speak spanish but we found a wat communicate. A smile was really all you needed. :) How humbled i was by these peolple. They have very little, thus they depend on God for nearly everything! There is so much i could say about this trip, the Warao culture, and lessons i learned but i would much rather say them in person. :) so ask when i get back.
You are more than welcome to check out my pictures on facebook to get a better idea of what i am talking about. No words can truly describe that experience but i hope you get an idea.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=142083&id=503614515

One thing i will tell you about is what i went through before i even left for Delta. Here in Venezuela to travel as a minor (under 18) you need a permission signed by your parents. Since my parents aren't here and they can't sign it, I could get into trouble if i traveled without a permission. We tried everything we could to get that slip and there was a lot of uncertainty on whether i should even go or not. I was crushed. I had been planning and thinking about going to the Warao community ever since Deshay, my cousin, had gone and talked a ton about it. My decision was comletely split. There was a lawyer here that we talked to and he said i should be fine since i have my student visa. They embassy said i should not go. So many people i respected told me yes and no as well. My parents were totally cool with me going and didn't mind taking the risk. Like i said, I was torn. I started praying this verse (my favorite verse in Venezuela):

"Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love; for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go; for to you I lift up my soul." Psalms 143:8

This verse means so much to me. I laid my whole situation in God's hands. I put my trust in Him, knowing He would show me the way to go. If He wanted me to go, then i would go and He would teach me so much. If He didn't want me to go, then He would keep me in Caracas and show me just as much would have at the Warao. I felt such a peace know that my future was being held in God's hands. I learned so much about trust in that situation and what it meant to truly give yourself and plans to God. As you already know, i ended up going, by the Lord's will, and now i am forever changed.

Here's a brief summary of some of the things i have been doing:

• God has completely blessed me with friendships here. I have gotten to spend some quality time with people here and truly get to know people. There are so many awesome people here, either from school or church, that i really wish my friends and family in the states could meet. Please be praying for me. Leaving Venezuela will be one of the hardest things i will ever do.
  
• I have started to play a lot of piano here. Last year i asked my piano teacher in the States to teach me how to play for church.(this was before i had even thought about coming to Venezuela). What a God-thing. These past 2 months i have been playing piano for my school about twice a week ANDD i also am on the rotation at church and i play piano once a month in church. I have truly enjoyed getting to do this and i am so thankful for the opportunity.
  
• I am currently playing basketball for my school. About every time i tell my brother this he just laughs at me becuase he knows about my awesome skills. haha the last time i played basketball in 7th grade i fouled half of my games. I guess i am a soccer player at heart or i watch too much Colts football. Anyway all i can say is that basketball here is a ton different than in the states but i am enjoying it! :)
• The weather here is starting to feel like an oven. no joke. its been 90-100 for the past few weeks and i am getting used to sweating most of the day ( i even think my school uniform shirt offically has pit stains. joy). :) you just bear it and grin :). not much i can do about it. Also we have been going through a drought here in Venezuela so water has been short and every now and then they turn off 0ur water once a week to conserve it. This is also a problem with electricty because the water powers the electricity so we have had a few black outs too. Nothing too bad, just makes you appreciate things. It's all part of the experience :)
• Last night I got to go to another lock-in at my church. (also called vigilia). All i can say is that God is amazing and i love being with His people. I had so much fun laughing, worshiping, and hanging out with people from my youth group here. I felt such a heavenly joy that is beyond describtion. But get this, before i went i made monster cookies to take to church that night. We pulled them out about 4 in the morning and while i was sitting and talking to some friends, 2 guys came up to me showing me a hair they had found in their cookie. I WAS SOOOOOOO EMBARRASED and seriously almost cried. all i could do was laugh. I just told them it was my special ingredient and we left if at that. :) But anyway, i had a ton a fun and am so blessed once again by friends there. Once and a lifetime opportunities and memories that i will never forget.
  

Thats a short summary of my life in Venezuela over the past few months. Praise God for all the ways HE is working. Recently i have started to think a little bit about going home. It is truly bittersweet. I really need prayer for my adjustment back to the States. I am not looking forward to that at all. I will probably go through some bad reverse culture shock. I am not ready to leave this place so special to my heart where God has taught me so much. I truly living a dream. But i am starting to get really antsy so see people back at home as well. once again. bittersweet.

unworthy servant,
Mariah Brooke