La Vida Loca (part 2)

So in order to save you all from a crazy long ( it was already long) blog post over my past 3 weeks I decided to make this post a 2 part blog! Have I mentioned how crazy my life has been this year?

So after finally being able to get out of Uruguay (I had to stay a day longer due to their only being one bus company to PY and they only leaves twice a week!) I traveled for 27 hours straight back to Limpio where I learned that I had to immediately pack everything I have and clean out my room because that evening I will be traveling to Luque to work with my final ministry assignment in this country, Letra. So I had to wash all of my clothes and pray that they dried on the line in time for me to pack them (one good thing about being in a crazy hot country is that wasn’t a problem) then I had to start the packing process. When I walked into the bathroom however I discovered that during my 3 week travel it had flooded! So on top of my little sleep and crazy day I got to mop up a bathroom.

I made it to Letra, which is the Bible translating program in Paraguay that is partnered with Wyciff, Thursday night and Friday after lunch I was packed once again and on my way back to Puerto Barra the Ache community I had worked with back in June. So out of 72 hours when I left Montevideo to when I arrived in Puerto Barra I was either in a bus or car for 37 of those hours! 

We arrived in Puerto Barra to be a part of the 1^st women’s conference for the Ache indigenous communities. Although I was thoroughly exhausted from the past 3 weeks I am so glad that I was able to be a part of this conference and to have another visit to this beautiful community.

Milka (a friend from the Parque SAMM where I taught English is also working in Letra) and I spent Saturday morning playing with the children so that the women could be free to participate in the conference. The kids were so excited to see us again and I think I was equally as excited.

That evening we were able to join the women for one of the workshops where we came up with different ways that they can share the gospel with someone that doesn’t know Jesus. The women really had great ideas for ways they could connect with their neighbors and show love to them.

That evening all of the Ache women from Puerto Barra had a special outfit they were given and it was so sweet to watch them come in all dressed up and seeing the smiles on their faces as they fussed over each other. This was definitely a time of celebration and just being connected with each other. A group of the women came forward and led us all in worship and it was just beautiful… I sat there listening to these lovely ladies who had just spent the weekend soaking up so much truth and love and seeing how their smiles just lit up the room and as I had tears in my eyes the only word that came to mind was Joy… this is what joy looks like, this is what love and true worship sounds like… beautiful.

I was able to catch up again with Juliana who I have actual been in contact with through whatsapp. It’s not a secret that I struggled a bit my first time in Puerto Barra there was a lot of spiritual attacks going on, but Juliana was such a joy to me during that time and God used her to show me his love for me and the way that he saw me. Seeing Juliana again was such a blessing. At first she didn’t see me, she had seen Christiana one of the leaders of Letra, so Juliana had ran out to greet and hug her. When she turned around we made eye contact and she just froze, I gave her a big hug then she pulled back and just stared at me with tears in her eyes as she touched my face then she hugged me again even harder. It was precious. I love this lady dearly she had such a sweet welcoming for me but don’t let it fool you completely she is such an ornery lady. The rest of the weekend I would find her stealing my water bottle, or finding different objects to poke me with and try to blame it on her neighbor…. She’s really just so funny to be around. But I also loved getting to see her in a leadership role quite a bit throughout the weekend, I loved seeing her going up and praying for people and supporting those who needed support.

We said goodbye early Sunday morning so that we could drive to Cuidad de Este and attend a Chinese church service and for Viktor (the other LETRA leader) to give a report to this supporting church. This entire service was done in their language and afterwards we were invited to share lunch with them. (I am not 100% what I ate but it was all delicious)

Since 2005 Letra and partners have been able to work together and complete

the entire NT in the Ache language

 80% of the NT in the Toba Maskoy Language

70% of the NT in the Nandeva language

40%of the OT in Ache Language

They also have a vision that by 2025 they will complete all biblical translations for the indigenous peoples of Paraguay.

We then got back into the cramped car and traveled another 7 hours back to the Letra base very tired but full of His blessings, then 6am the next morning the normal work week started….

I am very excited to be a part of this ministry over the next month I will definitely go into more detail of my work here in my next post. 

But for now be praying

• -For the women that attended the women’s meeting this past weekend. They got a lot of deep truths that weekend be praying that they use this time to go deeper with Christ that they take what they learned to love their neighbor more and that they continue seeing his blessings every day.
• Be praying for the Chinese Church in Cuidad de Este.
• Be praying for the ongoing Bible translations here… it’s lots of work but I love seeing the vision and the passion behind these people.
• Be praying for my time here at Letra… it has been non-stop here and after I received my schedule for the next 4 weeks I kinda wanted to curl up and cry J but I didn’t. It’s a mad dash towards the finish line for my time here in Paraguay and I will not have a free moment till I fly out October 3^rd but I am confident in God who has gotten me through thus far and am excited for what this even crazier month is going to have in store.

Thank you all for coming along on this journey. For sending me encouragement and for lifting up this work to the Father. I leave PY Oct 3^rd but will visit missionaries in Peru for 2 weeks and also in Ecuador for one week. My return day to the states is October 26^th! I will get about 2 months back home to see family and supporters then will pack up once again and head to Germany for year 2!