I recently watched a video on short-term mission trips, in which a man said many people aren’t content just giving money.” He said, “People want to do more.” It occurred to me, this man doesn’t understand the significance of funding. Almost everything we do here in Paraguay is because of your support.

Paul speaks frequently about the importance of supporting the church and missions. Over and over in his letters, he thanks the believers for their gifts. Angelica and I want to do the same. Truly, you are our partner in sharing Christ in Paraguay.

Though COVID still creates limits on what we can do, Angelica stays busy counseling people in need. In fact, people grab her whenever she leaves the house.

In our last letter, I asked for prayer about an exploration trip to “the Choco.” As it turns out, the trip was much like a story I once heard about a pastor who had an accident while traveling. The accident scattered Christian pamphlets all over the road. Upon seeing the mess, a passerby stopped to help. Realizing the man was a pastor, the passerby asked, “Didn’t you pray before you left?”   

On our trip to the Choco, my adventurist buddies and I made a few miscalculations—including route, time, fuel and money! The roads were much worse than we anticipated, and my GPS had a hard time finding alternate routes.

We traveled 283 kilometers on dirt roads, mostly in 4-wheel drive. On one stretch, we saw only one other vehicle and two buildings in 3.5 hours. The 10-hour drive took over 13 hours, and we saw more wildlife than people on the way. Even though we brought 20 liters of extra fuel, we almost ran out.

The roads were so bad, we never reached the town we intended to explore. But just as God works,

He had a plan for that difficult journey.

Instead of our original plan, we landed in the perfect place, meeting just the right people, including a local political leader. We were able to explain our sexual abuse prevention ministry for children. This trip also allowed us to test our system for maintaining and preparing food for days without electricity, and we learned we can cut six hours off the trip by taking a ferry to Brazil. We are now planning another trip (this time with Angelica) to bring the Gospel to this very remote region of Paraguay.  

Friends, we thank you for your partnership.

Because of you, we are able to reach the most remote parts of Paraguay with the message of God’s love. You can make a year-end gift by giving here online (https://www.tms-global.org/give) by tomorrow by midnight. (Our “Worker ID” is 0445).

Paraguay Fact

If you have a friend who is a chef, you can eat good no matter where you are.