Tag Archives: United Methodist Church

God Has a Plan

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Moving to Paraguay, changing careers, learning a new language—it all seemed like a big deal in the beginning, but it didn’t take me long to get into the groove and feel comfortable in ministry and with the Paraguayan people. It sounded like a big deal but it really wasn’t. I guess that’s why we Christians say, “God has a plan.”

For 16 years now Angelica and I have been doing much of the same things, sometimes adding here and there. For the most part, we have been successful in ministry. You could even say we’ve been comfortable. Well, things are changing.

At first I fought change, thinking change as negative. I also over emphasized the importance of our role in ministry. Now that has passed and we are eager to see God’s plan for us in new areas.

Angelica and I have always considered the young people we work with partners in missions. We have worked with them for years in our familiar ministries and we are now beginning to move into new challenges with these young partners.

paraguay mapThere’s a northern region of Paraguay called Alto Paraguay. About the size of South Carolina with a little over 17 thousand people, Alto Paraguay has no paved roads and no electrical power. In fact, their only power comes from generators, that is when fuel tankers can make it in. For the past 14 months, many parts of this region have become even more isolated because of flooding. The government has made little progress in reaching the inhabitants and there are no private operations either. I have been researching this area, looking for ways to help. I am putting together a team of Paraguayans to travel to Alto Paraguay to see what we and maybe a few America friends can do.

Alto Paraguay calles

The roads of Alto Paraguay

Alto Paraguay gente

People trying to navigate through Alto Paraguay

Angelica and I have also begun to explore international mission training and opportunities for our youth. Though these kids are discipled by us and have served with us for years, we feel many could benefit from additional training with other people, as some are being called to missions outside of Paraguay.  We have explored several training options and are planning a short-term trip to Brazil. Many people have been dedicated to preparing and sending Angelica and me, and we want to do the same for Paraguayans called to missions.

If I just glance briefly at my first few years here and even my last year in The States, it would seem everything was clearly laid-out and that I had all the answers. Upon further examination, I see this was not the case. There were many unknowns and I really had no idea.

Angelica and I are not sure how these “new ideas” are going to play out, we don’t have all the holes filled in, but we are sure—God has a plan.

Paraguayan Fact

Our next door neighbor asked San Roque (The Catholic Saint of Dogs) to heal her dog. In return, she fixed a “Holy” meal for the dogs in the neighborhood. Our dog Georgia is not Catholic but she still enjoyed the meal.

dog

Our Visit to the U.S.

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One of the great things about living in another country is the ability to pick and choose the things you want to emulate from your home country and from the country you live in.

I love the preaching and teaching in the U.S. but the music and prayer in Paraguay. I enjoy my time in the U.S. relaxing and watching football, but enjoy the work I do in Paraguay. Here in the U.S., it is so nice to be able to travel on paved roads, but I miss the miles of dirt roads in Paraguay. It is good to see old friends while we are here, but we miss our team of youth in
Paraguay.  Some things are the same—I love the food and hate the traffic in both.

We Are Teachable

Angelica and I have had opportunities over the past few months to listen to great sermons, ones that challenged and motivated us. We have enjoyed Bible studies, small groups, and conferences that have better prepared us to serve in Paraguay. We are even more committed to God’s call to share what Christ has done in our lives as well as the lives of so many people we know.

We can see the benefits that Christians enjoy here in the U.S. because they chose to honor God’s plan for their lives. It is very clear to us that a life lived with Christ is a life better lived. We want everyone to have the opportunity to respond to Christ.

Travel Plans

When Angelica and I return to Paraguay, we will join with our fellow Paraguayan missionaries in working in the same areas that we have for years, but the work will be different because Paraguayans are now in charge of the day-to-day operations at the school and with the agriculture project. 

Angelica and I will spend more time traveling the country with other Paraguayans, disciplining and sharing how God has worked in our lives. We hope to go further and reach more diverse groups of people. We hope to spend more time training Paraguayans to serve in Paraguay and other parts of the world.

Paraguayan Facts:

Traveling almost always includes “assistance” vehicles.

People NEEDS Jesus

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Angelica likes to say, “People needs Jesus.” I think she means, “People need Jesus,” but you get the picture.

We have been in the U.S. for over a month now, and we see the good news of Jesus is needed just as much here as it is in other parts of the world. We have enjoyed our first month spending time with people dedicated to living Christian lives and sharing the Gospel.

Our time here is a time of rest and rejuvenation, but also a time for us to listen and learn from others so we can improve what we are called to do in Paraguay. We have enjoyed this first month and look forward to spending more time with all of y’all who so generously support us.

I have a friend in Paraguay named Pedro, and he always tells me that I have something to offer Paraguay just because I am an American. It sounds patronizing and a little oversimplified, but he is right. I watch my wife and our older daughter Camila while they are here and the same is true about them—they have something to offer the church in the U.S. just because they are Paraguayan.

Each and every one of us who claim to be Christian has something to offer and the responsibility to offer it. What do you have to offer and are you doing it?

A Few Things We and Our Paraguayan Friends Are Doing

Although we are here in Georgia, our friends in Paraguay are working hard, living and sharing the Gospel while we are away. Through the marvels of modern technology, Angelica is in constant contact with the youth, counseling them, preparing activities for her upcoming visit to Paraguay, and encouraging the believers we support.

In Paraguay, we use the word “youth” to describe those in the church between ages 16 and 30. We have been developing some of these young people for leadership for 15 years now, mentoring them in their faith and developing them to disciple others. While we are away, they are busy teaching children, adolescence, and other youth both in churches and in the Christian schools. Our friend Guiermo is just now returning from serving in Nepal as a missionary, and our friend Perla is pastoring in Chile.

I have been busy working remotely on different agriculture projects we have going in partnership with Paraguayan businessman and the Paraguayan government. 

Angelica and I and our partners in Paraguay do not take likely the sacrifices made by our donors—we take very seriously the privilege and importance of our responsibilities. We believe our service in Paraguay is the same thing all Christians are called to do and Paraguay is where God has placed us.

We also feel confident God has you where you are, to serve, support ministries, or prepare for service elsewhere.

As Angelica says, “People needs Jesus”.

Perla in Chile

Guiermo in Chile

Guiermo in Nepal

Paraguayan Fact

As it turns out, Paraguayans fit in pretty well with Californian culture.

Camila in California

Luck? Or Divine Intervention?

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I pride myself on being able to make good, quick decisions. I often make fun of Angelica for making poor menu decisions then trying to eat my food. I can go into a store and pick out what I want in less than five minutes. I am good at the little insignificant decisions. No one is better!

Unfortunately (or fortunately), Angelica is responsible for most of our good ministry decisions. She has the ability to see potential in people — to see them for what they can be rather than what they may be at the present time. She can see through their lack of confidence or what appears to be laziness. More than once, she has identified someone to assist in ministries whom I thought was not up to par.

We work in ministry with some of the most qualified people I have ever been around. Although they are Paraguayan nationals, I consider them missionaries like us. Almost all of them are young and many of them showed little promise, in my eyes.

I chalk up much of our success to another great decision of mine — the decision to trust Angelica’s ability to choose the people God puts in our lives as partners in ministry.

Mission Accomplished

Doña Maria is grandmother to 11 — or at least that is how many live with her. I have known her for a while but have had few conversations with her because she only speaks Guarrani. Occasionally, I play with the kids and talk with the older ones who speak some Spanish.

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Their difficult financial situation has not gone unnoticed and we often take leftover food to them. At times, I have given the kids toys but stopped after they returned a soccer ball I gave them, per Maria’s request, because the kids were fighting over it. The kids are students at The Susanna Wesley School but only attend church occasionally.

In all my work and busyness, I really did not give this family the attention I should. I didn’t take notice until a teacher at the school told me all the kids in the family have problems with nose bleeds and they can hardly read.

Angelica and I are confronted with needs every day. We don’t have the resources or, even more, the time to address every need. This is the reason we spend so much time in education and training others — so these people can make a difference in the future. It is a slow process and can seem like we are really not addressing some people’s needs.

After speaking to the teacher, I knew we had to do something to help Doña Maria. I did not just want to throw money at the situation because, potentially, that can cause problems in the future with other families and their needs. I needed a quick solution that did not appear as though we were giving them money.

The answer was their location. They live right in front of the Ag Center, so I figured I could do something with them, giving the excuse I was using their land and proximity to test
new ideas.

With the help of some of our America friends, we planted a small garden, planting some typical things and putting a few “test” plants in as well. We also plan to have a young girl,
who we are helping attend school, work with the kids. She is interested in working with kids who have special needs but never felt she would have the opportunity to use this skill in the Interior because “just providing a school” is all the government can do.

Garden

I know the garden may seem like something really little, but Doña Maria told Angelica that she had been praying for years for a little help and feels the garden is the answer to her prayers.

Paraguayan Fact:

In Paraguay, we keep the most interesting things in barrels!

Barrel

 

    

Juntos Para Siempre: Together Forever (AnnaBelen)

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One of the great things about being a missionary is that our schedule is very flexible. We almost never “have to” be somewhere at any specific time but are always on call.
Angelica and I are together almost all the time and we are with the kids most of the time when they are not in school. Both Camila and AnnaBelen are important parts of our ministry and are usually right beside us in whatever we do. Except for three or four days a month when I am traveling and they are in school, we are never apart. 

Because of this, we don’t do well apart. Recently, a good friend of ours took Angelica and I on a cruise. AnnaBelen questioned our commitment to her and Camila, saying, “As missionaries, we should not be doing such things.”

Angelica and AnnaBelen will be in the States from March 23 until May 3rd, for AnnaBelen to participate in a special program to help her with reading. I did not sleep much the night before they left and started missing them when Camila and I left the airport. We are thankful we have the opportunity to get help for AnnaBelen, but we will sure miss them for the next six weeks.

More Than Just on the Surface

Last month we had our annual youth camp, just as we have for the past 12 years. The camp is always a lot of work but comes with great expectations. This year, like always, we were not disappointed first, with all the help we had from the talented and dedicated youth who work with us and second, with the participation. We had over 200participants and 46 youth who came from the northern district, about five hours away. We even had a youth come from Argentina because he had heard about the physical and spiritual healing at previous camps.

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These camps are tremendous experiences and really seem to make a difference in the lives of the youth. They feel comfortable with Angelica and a few of the youth leaders. There is always lots of time spent in counseling and prayer. Many of the youth told Angelica that they were comfortable sharing things with her that they would not share with anyone else.

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This year we are striving to keep in touch with the youth Angelica counseled, and we are working with the pastors in continuing what was started at the camp. We are also planning to visit many of the youth and their churches this year.

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Closed and Open Doors

When we returned to Paraguay after Christmas in the US, I was met with some disappointing news. Our work together with the Ministry of Agriculture has turned sour. The Ministry of Agriculture has made some classic mistakes, the kind that we were taught
about repeatedly in missionary training. It seems both the government and the people who live in the village around the Ag. Center are not interested in working together. We decided to pray about the situation and began discussing our options. A week later the government contacted us about the possibility of working with a different group and doing a better job of applying the things we have learned.

The community in which we work knows that our goal is to help them live better lives and share the Gospel. This makes for a healthy environment, one in which we can just change course and try again if things don’t work out. The support Angelica and I receive to serve here as volunteers makes this environment possible. It also encourages the people and the government to do what they feel is their part in reaching our goals.

Tough Decisions

We are surrounded by needs: some small some big, some with easy solutions, others with seemingly no solution at all. Angelica and I are always doing a balancing act between what we should dedicate ourselves to and what is best not to tackle. It is not just the scope of the need but also determining if we can really even solve a problem. Funding and time are usually a major part, but sometimes we just can’t solve a problem. We believe that God can solve any problem and always go to Him in these situations.

As many of y’all know, children’s needs slide through the cracks and some children have even died here because of lack of attention to details. We have children in the community in which we serve who are not being taken care of emotionally, physically, and
educationally. We ask y’all to join us in prayer for how to improve this situation.

Many of y’all know that allocating money is not always the best way to tackle these problems, and we stand the danger of opening ourselves up to other problems in the future. As partners in the ministries in Paraguay, we want y’all to know about tough decisions we are confronted with. I plan to send a special newsletter out about some details, once we have more information.    

Paraguayan Fact:

THIS almost never happens!

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Focusing on the People

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I don’t know about you, but I am not a person who often does things I don’t want to do. Only in an emergency or when it can really benefit someone do I put my sentiments aside. My first week here in Paraguay, I figured out it is best to just tell the Paraguayans when I do not like something. Now they joke about the things that I “won’t do”.

Though people sometimes talk about the sacrifices of being a missionary, I am not really that “sacrificial.” I live and serve in Paraguay because I enjoy it; I think God prepares us for what He asks of us. I don’t think He would call us to a life of continual discomfort.

Many of you know, I consider those who pray for us, support us, or visit us “partners in ministry.” Most of you can’t or don’t want to live in Paraguay, but that does not change your commitment to God and His plan to share the Gospel. Each one of you is an important part of what happens down here. 

Since y’all are partners in the ministry in Paraguay, I thought I would fill you in on some of the things I am being asked to do but don’t want to do, and to be honest, probably will not do.

In the back of all missionaries’ mind is the problem of dependency. Before arriving in the field, we are trained about the potential pitfall of dependency, and we are encouraged to take that into account as we consider how best to use our funds. Many times, when we don’t get the intended results we desire, it is because we have funded incorrectly. I have been reading a lot about doing missions well and how to fund it correctly.

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Angelica and I focus a lot on education. Our thinking is you can never take away what someone has learned. Once money is spent to educate, the recipients will always have that knowledge. We feel the same way about discipleship programs. We work hard to get to know people and to identify those who have both potential and calling. These are the things we feel are worthwhile. We care about the church here in Paraguay, but really, we focus on people.

Without getting into too much detail, I would say we are being encouraged to be more involved with the church as an institution, both with our time and resources. I am pushing back on this, not because I have a problem with the national church here in Paraguay, but because I think we can be more effective by serving and developing people.

We have been tremendously blessed by churches in The States. I know the benefit of a strong church environment. However, I think our Paraguayan friends should build and be responsible for their own churches. We want to be members, help prepare leaders and disciples, and let them run their church. Angelica and I feel we can better serve the Paraguayans and spread the Gospel by investing in people.

Included in this post are pictures of some of the people we have touched together. These are people who have a relationship with Christ, a personal relationship with Him.

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Toddler_WEBLydia_bothParaguayan Fact:

The gospel really IS good news!

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Look Out! The Paraguayans are coming.

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When I first began my preparations to serve here in Paraguay, I knew almost nothing of this country, and I really did not know too much about missions. I knew I wanted to serve in the field and felt fairly confident that God would take care of the details. I spent a lot of time thinking and praying about what I needed to become and what I was going to do. I have “become” something and I “do” a little, but it is the people we work with who really make things chic down here in Paraguay.

I met Angelica my first 45 minutes in Paraguay and started developing friends shortly after. I was introduced to dozens of kids and youth within my first week in country.  We have all been working together for the past 12 years, sharing Christ.

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In December, we are bringing a few friends with us to visit. These are youth that have been a vital part of our ministry for years. They are just a few of the great people who we work with down here.  They are energetic, enthusiastic followers of Christ, and we look forward to having y’all meet them.

You can’t beat the Christmas season in The States!

I know the Paraguayans get tired of me telling them how great the Christmas season is at home. I always tell them that Christmas is meant to be celebrated in the cold, because we know it was snowing when Jesus was born!

Anyway we are looking forward to sharing a little of our Christmas traditions with our friends and hope that we can get around to see as many of y’all as possible during our time at home.

Spreading the Gospel

Things move slow down here. I always heard we are slower down in The South compared to the rest of the country. Well, we are even slower down here in South America.

Two years ago, Angelica and I began focusing on the youth outside of the capital city of
Asuncion. We wanted them to have the same camaraderie and unity as the youth in Asuncion. We wanted them to have opportunities to develop, have fellowship and healing, if needed.

Over the past eight months we have been very active in the central part of the country. We have hosted several youth and adolescent events. Both the youth and the pastors have really responded. The youth from Asuncion were with us in everything we did.

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We have come to know the youth from the Interior better and are working with several of them in leadership development. Angelica has also been able to develop a relationship and work with some of the girls who have suffered abuse.

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We are hoping to use the agriculture center that many of y’all have had the pleasure of visiting over the years, as a place to meet more frequently with the youth leaders in this part of the country. We also see this as a mission for some of the youth leaders from Asuncion.

Paraguayan Fact

All gas stations need a hang-around dog.

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The 100s

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It starts each year in late August — a little tinge of anxiety, builds to nausea by mid-September, and full-blown loathing by October — seven months of miserable heat.

We are now in our second day of rolling power outages and have many more to come. I could live with the heat, even without AC, but without fans and a way to keep the fridge cool, it is pretty tough.

I should not complain. At least we have AC in our trucks these days.

I always thought, at some point I would get use to the heat. I thought I would eventually not wake up each night sweating. I thought planning meals and bedtime around power outages would get easier.

Well, they don’t. Don’t get me wrong. I love living and working here in Paraguay! But I could stand a little more cool weather.

Enjoy your winter up north!

Good Reinforcement

You know those national tests that we take in the U.S. — the ones that estimate students’ academic level compared to other students around the country? Well, we don’t have those here in Paraguay.

I am always asking Angelica, how she measure the academic level of the students at the Susanna Wesley School? This is something that has frustrated me for years. We often hear stories of how the one or two kids who continue their education in town seem to excel, but that has never been enough for me. I want a way to gauge the kids academically and in other ways.

I still don’t have that, but a local pastor’s wife is now working in the public school in the closest town. The pastor told Angelica that the students who come from The Susanna Wesley School are set apart from the rest of the students. They are more advanced academically but also much better behaved.

This did not just happen by circumstance. The quality of the kids that finish the school are a culmination of a lot of preparation by Angelica and a lot of dedication by the teachers. Because of y’all, we are able to really touch these kids’ lives.

We feel honored to have been a part of this with so many other people.

Maybe Something New

We are always exploring new ideas.

This year, it was getting the clinic starte, hopefully to be up and running by next year.
We also visited almost every church in Paraguay over the past year.

Now we are thinking of adding more home visits. We have done this in the past, but would like to do it on a larger scale. The Paraguayans that partner with us at the school and the agriculture project do such a good job, it frees us up to pursue other ministries.

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We don’t really know how it will work out yet. We know we would like to use some of the youth who we work with in Asuncion. It would have to be done in Guarani. We have even thought about helping the “Campasinos “ (country people) start small groups of believers.

We feel that God has done great things down here in Paraguay — that he has equipped many people to share the Gospel. We don’t want to just rest on what we have
accomplished in the past, but we want to constantly look for new ways to share Christ.

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Paraguayan Fact

In the summer, everyone goes shirtless.

So Much Happening

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So much is happening at the Agriculture Center in Paraguay!

There is such a thing as “too much of a good thing.” I have been so overwhelmed by activities at the Agriculture Center in Quinta Linia that I told the man who helps me, “We are going to have to designate places for people to meet, walk and park or we were not going to have any more grass.”

There has been a constant flurry of activity at the center for the past three months. We have hosted three teams, three groups of agriculture engineers, three cooking classes, two bonfires, two Bible studies, one equipment demonstration, a Kid’s Day — Oh, and a few World Cup Parties!

Dia de Campo

This past week we helped host an event in the village. The event was actually held on a farm “across the way” from the center.  It was called Dia de Campo (Day of the Country) and was put on by the Ministry of Agriculture.  The event lasted two days and involved more than 250 people, including over 20 engineers, veterinarians, government officials, and representatives from The Ministry of Agriculture.

FIELD

The first day we hosted classes at the center on cooking with local products and classes on making natural detergents and cleaners.

TABLE

The second day, they set up tents in different locations on the farm and participants were divided in groups of 15. Every 25 minutes, a group would start out on a rotation, visiting the first of the seven tents. The tents were dedicated to many different aspects of farming, from soil preparation and planting to harvesting and packing.

TENT

PINEAPPLE

SIGN

The culmination of years of work by lots of people.

These last few months have been a long time coming and have been put together by the efforts of Americans and Paraguayans — always with the goal to help the Paraguayans enjoy a better life and know Christ. We are grateful to every person from here and afar that has been a part of this ministry throughout the years. This would not be possible without the efforts, talents, prayers and support from so many people.

Worst Vacation Ever / Best Months Ever

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Worst Vacation Ever

Our family once took what Camila called “The Worst Trip Ever”. It was summer vacation for the kids —  really, winter down here. We planned to visit the southern tip of Paraguay, which I discovered is quite cool and rainy during July. The roads were a mess, and it took a good bit longer to get there than I had anticipated.

Despite my impeccable sense of direction, we got lost. Around midnight, we finally arrived at the famous Hotel Tirol. (Dr. Josef Mengele once stayed and was almost caught there, after the war.)

Tirol is quite the place in the summer. But in the winter, we found that it is all but closed down. They finally agreed to let us stay and put us in a room that Camila said “smelled like old people.”

After going to bed hungry, the next morning we walked up what seemed like a thousand steps to find that the kitchen was closed. We eventually convinced them to fix us a grill cheese sandwich and watered down coffee. Unfortunately, the kids could not bring themselves to enjoy their breakfast for fear of the stuffed wolf on the wall of the dimly lit dining room.

After our delicious breakfast, still tired and famished, we hauled our luggage and AnnaBelen, who was less the two, up the thousand steps and left. It might not have been high season for the hotel but the price sure seemed like it.

For question of time and space, I will stop here. Though, I would like to mention that the weather just got worse and the last night of our “vacation” was spent all sleeping in the same bed.

Best Months Ever

Angelica and I have had a few packed months of ministries. A few packed months of training. A few packed months of fellowship. Over the past several months, we divided up into teams and visited eight churches, some near some far.

Paraguay 2014 198On occasion, the trips resembled “the worst trip ever” but with one difference — great fellowship with the youth.  We had the chance to meet with lots of the youth and adolescence, many we did not know.  We had opportunities to do some training and learn a little from them. We had the opportunity to see the youth and adolescence leadership in action and they are great. It is rewarding to see years of work and preparation come to fruition.

A few weeks ago, we had a two day youth and adolescence gathering. We were blessed to have a group of our American friends participate with us as well. It was two days of praising, learning and fellowship. It is always uplifting when we can get Christians together from different cultures for worship.

baby pigsDuring the past few months, we have had a busy schedule at the Agriculture Center. The Ministry of Agriculture continues to use the facility for teaching and now we are looking into creating demonstration plots.

A few weeks ago, we had a surprise visit from the manager of the farmers market in Asuncion. We set-up a date for him to come back and teach us how to better care for and back product once it is harvested.

Finally, this month Angelica began work on the clinic that she has been praying for, for so many years. A team came down and helped start a house for the traveling doctor to stay in. The first day we had about 25 people from the community come and help. In a few days, we will have a group come down and help us start on the clinic building.

A Little Help

Angelica and I are always amazed by the assistance that we have in serving here in Paraguay. My dad once told me that life is easier if you don’t surround yourself with stupid people.  The people that we work with both here and in The States sure make our lives easier. When I began preparing to serve in Paraguay, I never anticipated so many people helping in this endeavor.

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Paraguayan Fact

Sometimes early mornings can bring big surprises. And we just thought that she was fat!

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