Michael and Keila Dawson - Venezuela

September 4th 2026

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:12

Dear Praying Partners, first of all, let me say that we are extremely grateful for and blessed by our partners in this ministry. I can honestly say, if it were not for our partners, you all, we would have thrown in the towel long ago and left. The work gets more difficult, more stressful seems like, by the day. So please know you all are very appreciated. Thank you.

Our biggest source of stress right now is still the split in the village due to people wanting to allow illegal mining in our area. Sad thing is, they think they can control it, but it very quickly gets out of hand. Downriver from us in a village about 6 hours away, there are about 300 native people in that village, but they are now totally over run by over 3000 outsiders, the villagers have totally lost control of their own village. Of course, the ones here that want to open our area up claim they will do it "right," they will remain in control. But anyway, a lot of tension and stress here over that.

Now, don't get me wrong, it is not all bad news. We have been planning on doing a seminar with the christian leaders on the Iyowei River. On the last trip we had into the area, we told them we would come pick them up on the 12 and 13th to start classes on the 14th....Well, somehow, not sure how, but somehow, people days and days away, actually, walking I am sure it is over a week away from the villages we are supposed to pick up, well, 10 people, 8 guys and 2 ladies showed up yesterday late, for the classes on Monday....Sad to say, they are here a whole week early. So looks like we will go ahead and start classes with them on Monday. I am meeting today with the church leaders at 4 to figure out how we are going to handle this. Our only hesitation is that we are committed for the week of the 14th, then after we get those guys home, we have another seminar scheduled for the guys on the Orinoco for the week of the 28th, again, don't get me wrong, we are super excited to do the seminars, but it takes a lot of fuel, food and effort, but like we were talking this morning, we can't not take the opportunity to teach these guys who came from so far away and got here yesterday evening. Prayers coveted.

Biggest disappointment in this, is that when we schedule these seminars, we thought our torches would already be here. But we just heard again this morning, that they are not getting out of customs today, but will be released, they hope, sometime next week. We had been told this Friday, today..... Bad thing is, we already have a truck waiting to get them from Caracas to Puerto Ayacucho. Then, there is a flight scheduled for this Monday and the pilot told us he could add a flight for us, so paper work is probably already finished for that flight, but now, no cargo there yet as the torches are still in customs. But Keila keeps reminding me, God is in control, non of this is taking HIM by surprise, but all the same, the scheduling, the permits are a source of stress. Now, as I was texting with a friend today, I am normally much more upbeat, but a few days ago, I somehow hurt my back and boy, what a downer that is, I can tell you. The bad thing is, nothing stops here when you don't feel good. People are still here constantly, generators have to be fueled and started, Boats have to be unloaded which means getting on a tractor with no breaks and heading down to the river....Ok, this is my back talking, I had better stop this rant while I am still ahead.

Again, thanks so much for your prayers for us. We are honored to be your partners in this work. Thank you!

Michael and Keila