The Venns

We've changed blogs!

2008-06-07T17:36:00.001-07:00

Hey friends and family,

Sherry and I have switched our blog over to Wordpress. I know…I know…we just started blogging, so why in the world did we switch? It’s quite simple. We don't like Blogger. It is not very easy to use. Plus, we think WordPress looks better. So there you have it.

Our new blog site is: thevenns.wordpress.com

Go ahead and bookmark that page for all things Venn-related.

Thanks,

Rich & Sherry

Brazil!!

2008-06-03T15:38:00.001-07:00

Sherry and I are back from our trip to Brazil and we had an amazing time! There were so many experiences and memories, that when I think about it, I get a little overwhelmed. So needless to say, we are both still processing.

We arrived in Manaus, Brazil in the late afternoon on Sunday, May 18, after a long day of travel. Manaus is located in the northeast part of Brazil and is the capital of Amazonas state. Located near the meeting point of the Rio Negro (Black River) and the the Amazon River, the city is the chief port and a hub for the region's extensive river system.

When we landed, we met our team for the week: Pastor Dijard from Manuas Presbyterian Church, our four translators and three Bel Air Pres college graduates who were already doing short-term ministries in Manaus. Our partner church, Manaus Presbyterian Church, ministers to the Amazon region of Brazil and supports more than 75 church plants throughout the small villages along the many rivers in the area.

We ate dinner at a restaurant called “Habibs,” a Brazilian fast food franchise that specializes in Middle Eastern cuisine and is known for its low prices and exotic dishes. After we ate, we went to a church service at Manaus Presbyterian Church and then were taken to the boat that we would call home for the next week.

We traveled down the Rio Negro on an open-air boat and visited seven villages during the week. We experienced and learned about close community as the one large area on the second level of the boat served as our dining room, bedroom and living room!

In each village, we offered medical and dental care (we had a dentist and a doctor on the boat), Vacation Bible School (VBS) activities for the children, men’s ministry of soccer and testimonies and an evening church service. On our trip alone, we had the opportunity to minister to 75 families in 7 villages. The doctor and nurses saw 228 patients (91 children and 137 adults), the dentist saw 38 patients and did 138 procedures, we had 174 children in VBS and had 54 men for the men’s ministry.

In the villages that we visited, we found that most people lived in two-room houses made of wood. Most didn’t have running water but some had electricity from a generator, which was used to power lights, TV and a refrigerator.

One of the biggest highlights for us was helping lead the VBS activities under Rosario, Pastor Dijard’s wife. The kids in the villages were so warm and friendly, and were excited to interact with us despite the language barrier. It was very encouraging to us to be welcomed, trusted and embraced by them.

To view some photos from our trip, please click HERE.

Enjoy!

And we're back!

2008-05-27T19:36:00.000-07:00

Hey friends and family!

We got back late last night (or early morning) at 1:30 a.m. We're glad to be back and had an amazing experience. Once we get unpacked and re-situated, we'll dish on the details. In the meantime though, thanks for your prayers and support that allowed us to go on this incredible trip.

Love,
Rich and Sherry

And we're off!

2008-05-17T19:23:00.000-07:00

Hey friends and family!

We are all packed and ready to go! Let's hope both our bags weigh less than 50 lbs., otherwise there are going to be some tough decisions to make at the check-in counter.

We are both really excited to be going on this trip and look forward to telling you about it when we get home.

Love,

Rich and Sherry

Happy Birthday

2008-04-08T15:50:00.000-07:00

In the midst of getting shots for Brazil, Rich neglected to mention it was also his birthday last week! We kicked off the week with a joint party with our small groups (we celebrated 2 other birthdays as well) and dined on fine cheeses, salads, tri-tip, BBQ chicken, mashed potatoes and Sprinkles cupcakes. On Wednesday, the actual day of Rich's birth, we headed to Duke's in Malibu for an intimate dinner which turned into a so-so meal. Watery cocktails, rubbery chicken, over-cooked steak, and an unfriendly waiter all contributed to our meal of mediocrity. Still, I thought we had a good time together.

Over the weekend, we celebrated one more time with the family and our niece Ashley went all out to give Rich a Harry Potter themed birthday. OH-MY-GOSH, she was so cute with all of the decorations, from table decor to signage and games. Saying she loves Harry Potter anything is an understatement and she knows every piece of trivia a 10-year old could possibly know. She did such a great job being in charge of the party, she could have a serious future in this.

In Brazil news, last night Rich and I headed to the travel clinic to get our Yellow Fever shots and unfortunately I was unable to get mine. Since I'm allergic to egg whites, they wouldn't administer the shot since the clinic was not equipped to handle anaphylatic shock if that were to occur. Apparently I need to go somewhere that will give me portions of the shots in 3 controlled increments to make sure I won't seriously react. I don't think I'll have any problems since my allergy isn't life-threatening, but as annoying as it is to have to go somewhere else, I guess it's better to play it safe. Rich did get his shot though, so he's all set and ready to go.

-Sherry

I've been shot!

2008-04-03T22:30:00.000-07:00

It's true. On Tuesday, I had to go get several immunization shots for our Brazil trip. And it is a pretty lengthy list of shots too: Typhoid, Hepatitis A, Tetanus and a prescription for pills to prevent malaria, the ones without the psychological effects. Yes, apparently one of the prescription drugs that prevent Malaria, called mefloquine (Lariam), has several side effects including, sleep disorders, headaches, bizarre dreams, disorientation, severe anxiety, paranoia, hallucinations, depression and unusual behavior. I have two alternative choices: Doxycycline and Malarone. Doxycycline's side effects include sensitivity to sunlight which is probably not a great idea since we'll likely be working outdoors in Brazil, but the drug is unlikely to produce psychological changes. And Malarone can cause vivid dreams, insomnia, and dizziness. Malarone sounds like the best choice for me even though the 18 pills I need cost an arm and a leg. Doxycycline just costs an arm. But I don't want to risk getting skin cancer in 10 years...

I am still shopping different travel clinics for a yellow fever shot since my PCP wasn't liscensed to administer it. The cost of the yellow fever shot alone ranges between $125-$145 plus travel clinic administration and office visit fees. Crazy, huh? Unfortunately, my health insurance plan doesn't cover any "travel" immunizations, so Sherry and I (and pretty much everyone on our mission trip team) have to pay out of pocket for all our shots. I think we'll end up paying close to $500 each for all our shots at the end of the day. But we need the shots to safeguard our health, plus there is a yellow fever outbreak right now in the region of Brazil that we'll be traveling in, so all the more reason to get the shots.

So, that's the latest in our string of adventures in preparing for the trip. Sherry's doctor's appointment is today, so she'll come back with sore arms, just like mine.

Rich

Adventures in Snowboarding!

2008-03-18T20:12:00.000-07:00

After years of begging, pleading and whining, it finally happened.

I was convinced to go snowboarding. It had been nearly 10 years since my last attempt, and it wasn't pretty then. So naturally, I wasn't gung ho on going.

Who knew it had been since the 1900s when he last went. I realized the day might be disastrous when the night before Rich said, 'I hope I don't break any bones and then can't go to Brazil.' It was then I knew what I was dealing with.

Sherry's an Olympic gold snowboarder. I knew I'd have to face up to this someday. After all, I married into this sport.

We convinced our friends RO and Mindy to go with us to Snow Summit in Big Bear. That way, Rich and Mindy would have somebody to learn with, and RO and I could hit some advanced runs. I checked on Rich after his first run, and seeing the frustrated look on his face, made me believe my worst fears were coming true; he was never going to do this again.

Before the day even started Mindy and I agreed we'd blame Sherry for organizing this outing if we had a bad time. And I would take the credit if we had a good time. Needless to say, the first "run" down the bunny-slope was more of a painful series of falls.

Everything always seems better after lunch, so soon after, we headed over to the grill and chowed down on cheeseburgers, chips and Gatorade. Magically, everything was better after lunch. Rich became the rock star of the green (beginner) slope and, oh yes, hit a blue (intermediate) by the end of the day, wha wha!

And Sherry's rock star moves turned heads, mainly mine (which almost lead to a collision into a pine tree). All in all it was a good day, beautiful 45 degree weather, good snow and good friends.

I think I might even be able to convince Rich to do this again sometime -- hooray!

Our passion buckets were filled.

We're going to Brazil!

2008-03-04T20:45:00.000-08:00

Oi, Como vai!

That means “Hello, how are you?” in Portuguese!

Beginning May 18th, we’ll be traveling to Manaus, Brazil with a team from our church, Bel Air Presbyterian, to help people in need who live in remote villages along the Amazon River. Our team will spend seven days on a medical boat traveling to isolated communities to bring supplies and lend a helping hand to the locals through physical labor, visitations and activities.

We’re honored to be a part of this effort to impact and learn about the global community. We hope to return with a new understanding of our place in the world and the social responsibility that accompanies it.

We would like to invite you to join us in this mission as we reach out to the people of Brazil through financial and prayerful resources. Together we need to raise approximately $4,000. Your generous contribution will not only help pay for the logistics of the trip, like plane tickets, meals and supplies, but your gift to this effort will bring needed medical attention, as well as hope and love to the people living in remote areas of the Amazon.

We appreciate the role you play in our lives and hope you’ll consider playing a role in this trip! If you have any questions, we’d love to talk to you more about this. Also, be sure to check back here for updates on our progress and preparation leading up to the trip and afterward as well.

Much love,
Rich & Sherry

If you feel moved to contribute, please click here. Fill out the form, select Brazil #3 Middle Sch Ldrs May 18-26 in the ‘Mission Trip’ field and type ‘Rich and Sherry Venn’ in the ‘Suggested Team Member Name’ field. That’s it! Oh, and contributions must be made by April 11, 2008. Thanks!

A Wii-nderful time in Pismo

2008-03-02T22:00:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, Sherry and I escaped L.A. and drove up to Pismo Beach to spend the weekend with my best friend, Joseph and his wife Erin. We ate good food, enjoyed the nice weather and caught up with our friends that we don't get to see enough of.

So, what was so great about the weekend? I'm glad you asked.

1. Joseph's "Glorious" Waffles: This delicious breakfast creation is not a meal, it is an experience. There were fresh strawberries, mangos, whipped cream (lite), pure maple syrup, trans fat-free vegan butter (go ahead, add a tablespoon to the top of your waffle) and crispy bacon baked to perfection in the oven. And we drank Orangina. That's carboned orange juice in case you don't shop at Trader Joe's. This was one of the several amazing meals that we enjoyed. Joseph should have his own cooking show. Rachel Ray has nothing on him.

2. Another highlight was our introduction to the Nintendo Wii. When it comes to video games, I'm pretty old school. I wasn't more current than Super Nintendo until my lovely wife Sherry got me a GameBoy Advance for Christmas this year so I could attempt to challenge the video game wizardry of my nieces. With the Wii, I was pretty surprised to see that the classic "game contoller" is now a remote and a nunchuk. It took some getting used to, but it is pretty awesome! The sports games like bowling and tennis are really fun, and Sherry and I got a good workout with the boxing game. But my favorite was Super Mario Galaxy.

3. Suburban shopping trips to Wal-Mart and CostCo. After church on Sunday, we stopped off at Starbucks and then headed to Wal-Mart to buy cereal (cause it's cheap!) and a waffle maker (inspired by Joseph). But we were foiled. Doh! They don't have waffle makers, and apparently only the Wal-Mart in Clovis has the cereal we like. Curses! However we did walk away with a toaster oven. Can you say impulse buy? Works great on bagels. What else can you use it for? We're taking suggestions.

So there you have it. The weekend went by way too fast and now we're back in the L.A. grind. But now we have a toaster oven.

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

Rich

Yipee! We have a blog!

2008-02-28T20:50:00.001-08:00

Hello friends and family!

It's now official. Sherry and I have entered the wild world of blogging. With this blog, we hope to share with you what is going on in our lives and keep you up-to-date on all of our adventures! So, go ahead, if you dare, and bookmark this page! And by all means, feel free to leave comments!

Rich