Weekly Meeting

The biggest even on our weekly schedule is the Wednesday Meeting or Reunión Semanal.

Normally, we are able to hold the meeting in an empty classroom on the Humanities campus, though there have been a few acceptions. This campus has the largest number of students involved in the ministry and is also fairly central geographically. Students attend from several other campuses as well though.

The meeting begins at about 12:15, as soon as all the preparations are ready and the majority of the students have arrived. (Remember... we're on Venezuelan time. :) ) Each week two students serve as MC´s for the meeting. They welcome the students and explain what is Vida Estudiantil. Then they invite all the new students to introduce themselves. Most weeks we have had at least seven or eight new students. One week we had 12!

After the introductions we sometimes have a video put together by students. It may advertise a retreat or conference coming up, or explain more of what Vida Estudiantil is, or even give ideas on how to raise money for the National Conference.

Then it is time for the ice breaker game. We've played all sorts of fun and slightly crazy games including the human knot and a slightly more active and competitive version of rock, paper, scissors.

After the game we sometimes have a skit (usually pretty silly) that has to do with the meeting's theme. The best so far included Eben who is roughly six foot four, as the baby of Elvia who I would guess to be about four foot five!

Next, the MC's give a few announcements about Bible Studies, upcoming retreats or parties, and any other important information the students might need to know.

Then a few students lead a time of worship with three or four songs, again related to the theme. Usually there is a guitar and sometimes bongo drums as well. Keren, the student who usually leads the time does a wonderful job of explaining for the new students the purpose of worship. She explains to the new students that we sing as a way of taking time out to praise God for who He is and the wonderful things He has done in our lives. I love seeing new students as we sing, usually experiencing openly praising God through song for the first time. Some start off a little skeptical and just watch, but others immediately join in and you can see that they are really connecting with God.

After worship it is time for the speaker. Usually a student speaks, or sometimes one of the members of our team. It is just a short talk of 5-10 minutes. Sometimes it is someone's testimony or a story of something that God has taught them or done in their lives. Lately, we have been studying the Fruit of the Spirit. The idea is to teach something both to help "older" believers to learn and grow, as well as to clearly explain the gospel and teach something about God to "newer" students.

Then, after the speaker, some prayer, and sometimes a few more announcements, we all head out into the hallway for lunch. Sonia, the Pastor of one of the local churches very graciously cooks for us each week (along with a couple student helpers). The food is wonderful and it is a great chance to catch up with the students and to get to know new students.

The first week about 25 students attended the meeting. Each week up until Christmas we saw that number increase up to 60 students the last week before the break and we almost ran out of food! Lately I think we've pretty consistently had between 40-50 students!