Key result is what happened in hearts of volunteers

For Alabama Baptist missions partnership director Reggie Quimby, the six-year partnership between Alabama Baptists and the Baptists of Venezuela did not end with a sigh of relief, even though the workload had been demanding. 
   
The partnership did not end with a smile of satisfaction, though most of the agreed-upon goals were accomplished and he could point to no real disappointments.
   
Instead when Quimby left the platform of the National Baptist Convention of Venezuela’s meeting Feb. 25, officially marking the end of the six-year relationship, he left with tears in his eyes. 
   
“The key to this partnership was what the Lord did in the hearts of participants,” Quimby observed. “What God did in my heart was make lasting friendships, create respect for capable leaders and a love for the people and the work in Venezuela.” 
   
From the beginning, Quimby recognized the key to the partnership was how Alabama Baptists responded to the opportunities they saw while working in Venezuela. 
   
“You can’t force people to care,” he said. “You have to depend on the leadership of the Lord.” 
   
In the end, Quimby said he is convinced Alabama Baptists cared deeply about their Baptist partners in Venezuela. He cited repeated trips of scores of Alabama volunteers that helped with construction projects, furnished transportation for pastors and provided for other special needs. He also noted partnerships established between churches in Alabama and Venezuela that will continue beyond the statewide partnership’s closing. “We know how much money was spent by the state convention in Venezuela,” Quimby said. “But we have no way of knowing the total contribution of Alabama Baptists out of their own pockets or through their local churches because they cared about the people.” 
   
He acknowledged that in establishing those relationships and making those contributions, volunteers had “bumps” to overcome. Some were concerned about travel after 9/11. Some were concerned about the political unrest in Venezuela that forced cancellation of a major evangelistic project. 
   
Some were concerned about personal safety. One team was robbed at gunpoint as they worked on a church construction project. 
   
But the volunteers came. “We would like to have had more volunteers,” Quimby confessed. “We could have used them, but the Lord always provided enough for where we were going.” 
   
Quimby said one of his biggest challenges was communicating what can happen in the heart of a volunteer on a missions project. “One volunteer told me that if he had known what being a volunteer was like, he would have been here all these years. But one has to experience being a missions volunteer firsthand to know what it is like.” 
   
At a Venezuelan Baptist church service Feb. 26, several first-time volunteers from Alabama stood before their host congregation and shared what missions work was like for them. 
   
One said he came “as a teacher” but is going home “as a student.” The experience with Venezuelan Baptists taught him far more than he had been able to share with the national Christians.
   
Another spoke of overcoming fear in making her first airplane trip in order to be a volunteer missionary for a week. But the overriding experience for her was the love she received from the members of her host church. That love gave her new strength, she said.
   
Still another spoke of the spiritual blessings received in working side by side with Baptist brothers and sisters in Venezuela. She said her life would never be the same.
   
Wilfredo Velasquez, pastor of Faith Baptist Church, Maracaibo, and president of the Baptist Convention of Venezuela, echoed the value of relationships between ministry partners. 
   
“We praise the Lord for the spiritual results of the partnership,” Velasquez said. “We are grateful for the ministry to the medical needs and joy in the financial support we received. But one of the main things is the relationship between Alabama volunteers and Venezuelan Baptists. These will be treasured in the hearts of volunteers for a lifetime.” 
   
He pointed to the sad farewells as volunteer teams left their church assignment and even the sad farewells experienced at the closing convention as evidence of the fondness Alabama Baptists and Baptists of his country developed for one another. 
   
Velasquez also pointed to the hospitality Venezuelan Baptist pastors received in Alabama when they went to assist with Hispanic work there. 
   
“That was visible evidence of the relationship between our two conventions,” he noted. 
   
Velasquez said the joy of the partnership would have eternal consequences. He explained that some day, those brought to Christ during the partnership by the joint efforts of Alabama Baptists and Venezuelan Baptists will stand before God robed all in white. 
   
“The celebration we have in our churches for the results of our work will become an eternal celebration for what God did when we worked together,” Velasquez declared.