Andean Aid June Frontier Flyer

When Andean Aid President Wayne Cramer traveled to Rubio, Venezuela this past April, Pastor Anderson Cáceres wanted to visit with him and see for himself the work being carried out at the Help and Hope Center. Pastor Cáceres was excited by what he saw and went back to his congregation, Igelsia Unidos en Cristo (United in Christ Church), to discuss how they could demonstrate the love of Christ to the poor children at the Center in a practical way.

Dr, Aury Quintero, a member of the church, operates a dental practice in downtown Rubio. When she graduated from dental school she desired to someday have a ministry providing dental care to non-Christians and the poor. In her mind this ministry would be for adults, but when Pastor Cáceres discussed the needs for the Center she modified her dream as a ministry to children. She suggested that the church take on the responsibility of the children’s dental care. If the congregation would pay for the materials, she would perform all of the corrective and preventive dental work for all of the children registered at the Center.

Every Thursday afternoon three to five children march to Dr. Quintero’s office for treatment. She performs all corrective dentistry on each child before moving on to the next patient. Dr. Quintero and the folks at Inglesia Unidos en Cristo are following the philosophy of ministry that Andean Aid and the Help and Hope Center practices – that these poor children deserve the best that we can provide, not the scraps from our tables. The treatment is excellent and cavities are filled with expensive acrylic fillings.

Dr. Quintero says that the dental work is not a burden. All of the children she has seen are sweethearts and she views her work with the children as God’s work.

A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed ~ Proverbs 11:25

Not a day passes that someone doesn’t ask if the Help and Hope Center sells photocopies. This is a service in big demand in Rubio and throughout Venezuela. Many places in Rubio provide photocopying but none are more conveniently located than the Center. The Center itself is routinely in need of photocopies to serve the nearly 200 children that are registered there.

So, Gaby Andrade, Director of the Center, presented a proposal to the Andean Aid board of directors. She suggested that we purchase a copier, which will be used for the needs of the Center and well as being available for selling copies to the public. The copier will be installed at the hardware store next door owned by her husband Rubén. This will meet a need for the Center as well as provide income to help defray the cost of operating the Center.

Andean Aid works with a fraternity of fifteen Pastors in the Rubio area and we will ask each of them to send their copying business our way. Now, here is where you fit into the plan. We need donations to cover the purchase of the copier which will allow us to gett this micro enterprise off the ground in a way that it can begin generating a profit immediately. You can send a check to P.O. Box 190, Antioch, IL 60002 and put copier in the memo field or you can visit our web site at www.andeanaid.org, go to the Just Give button and specify that the contribution is for the copier.

Andrés Eloy Amaris Hernández is an eight-year old boy who has a great talent for story telling. His tale, La Gallina Rabona (The Bobtail Chicken), which he wrote as a play for the puppet theater at the Help and Hope Center, was so good that college professors thought a student at the university had written it. This comes as no surprise to the staff at the Center since Andrés is a very bright boy who does most things well.

In some respects he is like any little boy. He likes to play with friends and read stories. His favorite sport is baseball and he loves to play soccer. His favorite foods are rice, fried potatoes, broasted chicken, watermelon and strawberries.

He loves his family greatly. Andres lives with his mother Yhajaira Amaris Hernández and his thirteen-year old sister Melody Amaris Hernández. Both children are very intelligent and do exceptionally well in school.

The family lives in Santa Barbara near an aunt and four cousins. His father has left the family and his mother is raising the children alone. She cannot work due to an illness and recent surgery. The aunt works as a maid at a hotel in San Cristobal, a one-hour bus ride from her home, and supports the entire family. They are very poor.

Andrés suffered with meningitis as an infant. This has caused a problem with his growth. Being shorter than most boys his age he is often picked on and shoved around. His mother worries about him and what the future holds for him. He knows exactly what he wants to do in the future – he wants to be a doctor and save lives. He certainly has the potential.

Andean Aid and the Help and Hope Center want to provide him with the assistance he needs to meet his goals. Andrés says that the Help and Hope Center has taught him to better understand division and he loves to learn about the computer. It also provides a clean place to study with the tutors and materials needed to improve his chances for success in school.

A family has recently decided to sponsor Andrés. Imagine their satisfaction in helping to give this young man the best chance possible to realize his dreams and how this will affect Andrés, his family, his community and Venezuela. You too can help impact a child’s life. Over one hundred children still need sponsors – Melody included. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to make an empowering difference in an afflicted child’s life.

James 1:27 – Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

More than one hundred children are still in need of sponsorships. What better way to share the love of Christ this Christmas than to bless a poor child with the help and hope available at the center. You will receive information about the child and his or her family and will have an opportunity to build a relationship via e-mail correspondence. The staff will periodically update you on the child’s progress.

This is a wonderful opportunity for families and home school groups. Children will learn about a child in another country and their culture. Those students studying Spanish can establish a pen pal relationship with a child whose native language is Spanish.

What a year it has been! The Help and Hope Center (Centro de Ayuda y Esperanza) will celebrate its first year of operation next month. The Center opened its doors to a handful of curious students on January 21, 2006. Today nearly 200 students are registered and more come to get involved with this wonderful ministry each week. Local Pastors, teachers, school officials and government officials are using the Center as a resource for improving the educational opportunities for poor children.

This August Andean Aid and Harvestland Children (the Children’s Sunday School) from the Chain of Lakes Community Bible Church in Antioch, Illinois teamed with The Family of God Church in Rubio to provide a Vacation Bible School for two extremely poor areas, Villa Bahareque and La Ahumada. Nearly 150 children attended this program and many of them desire to be part of the Help and Hope Center. We are so excited to see children helping children.

Villa Bahareque children - click for larger photo

Chain of Lakes Children - click for larger photo

These children are a blessing. With the blessing comes the challenge of providing an excellent ministry to more and more children. We need more space, tutors and materials. Our goal is to provide an outstanding educational enhancement experience for these children. We will not lower the standards of the service to accommodate more children. As we receive additional resources and can take on more children we will do so.

Christmas is just around the corner and the Help and Hope Center is taking a holiday program to Villa Bahareque. Those children living in the city of Rubio will be provided transportation. Cakes will be served and games played. The children will present a program to their friends and family. Each child will be given a decorated gift bag with treats.

We are looking forward to an exciting 2007 serving more children and families. Schools have asked us to provide programming and more pastors are asking how their congregations can get involved. Parents are using the staff at the Center a resource for family issues. Hopefully we will continue to bridge the gap between the poor and the rest of Venezuelan society.

The Center staff and all the children and their families wish you all a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year.

Andean Aid is pleased to offer a service to those attempting to learn Spanish. Our Founder, Wayne Cramer, has been on a quest to gain fluency in Spanish and has come across a great product called Rocket Spanish. It’s fun and effective, comes with great audio files and computer learning games, can be downloaded immediately to your computer, and is very reasonable priced. Now, Andean Aid is not in the business of endorsing products but this is a great program and fits nicely with our ministry mission.

For those that are planning a mission experience in a Latin American country this is a great way to learn some basic Spanish to enhance your trip. If you visit the Rocket Spanish web site through the Andean Aid site at www.andeanaid.org/learnspanish.html and make a purchase within sixty days, then Andean Aid gets a percentage of the purchase price. You get a great Spanish learning program for a very reasonable price AND help Andean Aid achieve its mission at no extra cost to you. Check out the Rocket Spanish site to hear Wayne Cramer’s testimonial of the product.

Please pass along this information to anyone you know that is looking for a way to learn Spanish. Also pass it along to any church contacts you may have. Perhaps they would like to offer a means of learning Spanish to those getting ready for short-term missions teams. Rocket French and Rocket German are also available through the Andean Aid site, at the same web address, with the same benefits to both the purchaser and to Andean Aid.

Please pass this newsletter along to friends or family members who might like to read more about our work in Venezuela. If you are a friend who has received this newsletter, email us at andeanaid@sbcglobal.net to start receiving your own updates.

We value your interest and your feedback. You may contact us electronically at andeanaid@sbcglobal.net, or by phone at 847-201-8311 or 847-489-8703, or by mail at Andean Aid, P.O. Box 190, Antioch, Illinois 60002.

What does the future hold for ministry in Venezuela? How does the Bolivarian Revolution push toward socialism after the last election effect the work of Andean Aid? Wayne Cramer is currently accepting speaking engagements to tell the Andean Aid story and to share his experiences and perspective on the situation in Venezuela and the challenges facing ministry there. This presentation is particularly suitable for small groups and for church mission conferences.

or made by credit card at www.andeanaid.org (click on the JustGive.org button) .

Remember that any gift to be deducted on your 2006 taxes must be postmarked no later than December 31, 2006.

I stand in awe at how the Lord has blessed our ministry this year. Who could have imagined a year ago that two hundred children would have their lives touched through the Help and Hope Center? That little children here in the United States would reach out to the poor in Villa Bahareque by providing a Vacation Bible School? That a local church in Rubio would be touched and become Jesus to the children through a dentistry ministry? That a Civil Association would be formed with outstanding Venezuelans helping to lead Andean Aid into exciting new ministry that meets needs and touches hearts? That people would sponsor children and make them an extended part of their families and take an active role in their physical, spiritual and social development?

One of my favorite songs is Jesus to the World by the group Newsong. Part of the lyrics goes, ”Will we see their need and hear their cries, look at our watch and just walk on by, or will we stop and take the time to be Jesus in their lives”. The subtitle to this song is Roaring Lambs. I want to thank all of you Roaring Lambs that have joined with Andean Aid to be Jesus in the lives of the poor children and families in Tachira, Venezuela this past year.

Yes, we have been greatly blessed – and with the blessings come challenges. We need even more Roaring Lambs next year – we need you! The Help and Hope Center is bursting at the seams and we will need to decide soon whether to move to a larger location or limit the number of children we serve. The influx of children registering at the Center requires additional staff and materials. The one measure we will not take is to offer a watered down and ineffective version of our service to the poor. We also don’t want to turn any child away. Gaby Andrade has recently commented on the fact that many of these children have turned to the Center and the enriching activities there instead of drug use and criminal activities. Imagine if just one child was nurtured away from a life in the drug trade what an impact that would have.

Next year we plan to venture into new ministries that augment our flagship ministry - the Help and Hope Center. Our overreaching goal is to guide these young lives toward becoming productive citizens that love the Lord by providing physical, spiritual, social and economic development. Our new ventures may include a pre-school with an early reading program, guidance for education and career decisions, job training, micro economic development for business start ups and a variety of social and health services. Some day we envision Help and Hope Centers and the accompanying ministries located throughout the Colombian frontier of Venezuela and other Andean countries.

So, I welcome you to join us. We need your hearts, your prayers and your resources. Only God knows what the future will bring for Venezuela but Andean Aid will continue to make a difference in the lives of the poor paso a paso (step by step).