Plans change…. Drastically
My plans had been to take the first two weeks in August to
visit some other ministries in the surrounding countries (without a plan) but
while I was at the conference in Encarantaion two weeks ago I ran into a
missionary family that I had gotten to know before leaving for Bogado. The Hill
family has been working in Paraugay since 2004, their ministry is to help
empower women to be able to provide for their families teaching them the
practical skill of sewing. I was able to spend an evening with this family
before leaving in June and had hoped to meet up with them again before leaving
Paraguay.
While I was in Bogado however I learned that Sylvia was told
by two doctors that she needed to head back to Germany to have immediate surgery
on a growth on her spin. The recovery time from such a procedure was three
months minimum. This all came as quite the shock for this family of four, they
were not in a place to be able to leave for Germany together so Sylvia made the
journey alone.
When I ran into Norbert at the congress it was pretty
apparent that he could use some help in the middle of this rough time. So after
talking for a bit with him we decided that instead of heading out as planed I
would return back to Asuncion after the Manarah conference to help Norbert with
the sewing ministry and with the children.
During the second week of Manarah we found out that Sylvia’s
growth on her back had shrunken and that the pressing surgery would now not
have to happen! She is however still needing to have tests ran before returning
home, but it is definitely answers to prayer!
My time in Cuidad de Este was pretty incredible. I had went
with the Parque Samm group for a two week intensive training on working among
Muslims. Our days were split between in-depth lessons over Islamic culture and
between a practical period where we would get to go out in the city making
connections with the Muslim community there.
Although I had traveled with the Parque group I broke away
from the group during the day and met with a group of four others. Paula from
Brazil, Melina and Santiago from Argentina and we always seemed to have a
floater person making the fifth member of the team. We would head out into the
city intentionally trying to meet Muslims- not to evangelize to them, but to
befriend them and to love them.
Our first day we were invited to sit down and have some
Lebanese tea (which is delicious) at one small shop and as we were getting
ready to leave this empty shopping center, we decided to walk further into this
creepy little shopping area, walking by a little seemingly empty shop. In this
shop however we met Ima, a Lebanese women who had lived in Paraguay for over 30
years. We spoke with her for a while then made plans to come back tomorrow for
lunch. (in this little shop of odds and ends she also cooks meals behind
the shelves) We returned the next day and she had went all out making multiple
different dishes for us to try and she just bounced around as we all ate and
talked. Every day we ended up going and having pretty good conversations with
Ima. Even though I couldn’t understand everything being said, it was really
interesting getting to know about her life and the struggles she is facing and
her beliefs. Through the meetings we were able to learn that Ima isn’t Muslim
and that she does in fact believe in Jesus but hasn’t given her life to him,
plus she has quite a bit of new age thoughts mixed in. She isn’t open about her
beliefs because it would hurt her business since it is catering mostly to
immigrants from Islamic countries.
The last day we were able to visit with Ima she asked for
all of us to pray with her since she was feeling such opposition in her life.
So we all huddled in her little shop and prayed over her life asking that God
continues to reveal himself to Ima and that she can see the truth and walk in
the peace of his unending grace. We were also able to pass her contact info on
to people who live in CDC so that hopefully she continues asking her questions
and seeking truth. 
I cannot even begin to express to you how invaluable this
training was. This is only a brief recap of what happened over these two weeks,
we met many others and had many meetings that I can only give credit to God
for. I was so interested during the class times as we were learning about Muslim culture, how encounters I have had in my past mission experiences kept
coming to mind. My whole time in Albania, parts in Greece and even my time in
Germany just kept flooding in and I saw how deeply their beliefs are mixed into their culture identity. It is vital that us
as Christians stop feeding into the stereotypes, the fears, and rejection of
Muslim culture but instead that we see these people for who they are,
relational people that have so much to share and such value. We need to be building
bridges and tearing down the barriers that keep us apart. It was a real honor to
get to sit, drink tea, laugh and joke with these people to love on them and
offer them friendship even though I would be leaving soon. 
I had mentioned in an earlier post that I was nearing my 90
day stay in Paraguay and would have to leave the country to reset my visa for
the next 3 months. I was less than an hour away from Puerto Iguazu, Argentina
and I planned on spending a few days there. The night before I had to leave for
Iguazu Falls everything seemed to sort of fall apart and my plans become very
un-secure, but God was faithful through it all and I am still amazed at the
way he worked everything out for that weekend.
I had a wonderful time in Puerto Iguazu (even though I was
alone) The waterfalls truly are the most beautiful sight of nature I have ever
seen. I am completely captivated by this place. Sunday
I had another crazy adventure when I left the hotel i had no idea where I
was going to end up that night. I wasn’t needed back in Asuncion till Tuesday
so I was alone and relatively free plus I couldn't find any bus schedules online and my hotel was far from the terminal. So I got into the taxi with no plan and as
the day unfolded and without time to really think things through I found myself across the 3 borders, back in Paraguay, on a bus for Asuncion… with no way to get a hold of the missionaries I was
going to, it was a pretty big surprise for all J
And I finally got to see my wild monkeys! and coati's which i didn't even knew existed before this trip.
Please be Praying
- For Sylvia as she continues to have test and procedures done. Be praying for healing and also peace as she is so far away from her family.
- For Norbert, Michi, and Beky as they are still here in Paraguay running the ministry without Sylvia
- For the school here in Limpio- There is a lot of unrest going on right now with a Christian organization trying to other throw the leadership of a Christian school that has been helping the community for 35 years. It’s really an ugly situation and a horrible testament for the non-believers. Be praying for peace and reconciliation to occur between the two groups and that they can work together to repair the distrust that is spreading within the community.
- For those who attended Manarah. Pray that they continue to build bridges and break barriers and stigmas. Pray that they can make deep and meaningful friendships and that they can share this knowledge with others around them.
- For my time here in Limpio, I only have one week left before I will move on to the Chaco and a few other places. Then September first I will be heading to work with bible translators in Letra for my final month in Paraguay! It’s really hard to believe how fast the last few weeks have been and then realizing that I am at the home stretch in PY. God still has a lot for me to do here and be praying that I see and take every opportunity that God puts in front of me, to love his people, to show them his love. Also be praying for my health the last few days I have started to feel pretty bad and I just don’t have time to slow down and be sick :/ As of now I can push through, be praying that I can continue to push through.
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