CPA - 7

We started out with 9 teachers; 4 were homeroom teachers and 5 of us were teachers of special classes. School hours were from 7:00 am to 11:00 (morning session) and from 1:00pm to 5:00 pm (afternoon classes).
Claudia – kingergarten and 1st grade
Estela – 2nd and 3rd grades
Zully – Principal and 4th grade
Mariela – 5th and 6th grades
Mary – Christian Education
Baldovino – Phys. Ed. and Administrative Secretary
Graciela - Music
Amy and Karen – English
Oscar – Pastor
Marcos – Secretary
Nancy – Cleaning lady
Elena – Snack bar
All the teachers were born-again Christians and 7 out of the 13 people on the staff were from the Apostolic Christian church denomination.
We scheduled a two-day camp, Mission’s Week, Olympics, Kid’s Day, and other exciting activities. We celebrated Mother’s Day and Independence Day, Father’s Day, and Folklore Day. Our music teacher did an amazing job on all the school programs. She had exciting ideas and got everyone involved. The parents loved it. At each school program we had the opportunity to share God’s Word with the adults. Hundreds of people would come and our school seemed all of a sudden too small.
We started praying for the empty property next to us…

Thank God for MOMS...

Right after last week’s funeral, my neighbor lady came to me with another problem. Mrs. Adriana who just had a baby was sick in the hospital with only days to live. Her baby girl was with Mrs. Rubia, her three teen age boys were here and there on the streets until late at night and Mr. Gino was with his wife in the hospital 1 ½ hours away.
I was thinking of my own family, my teenage boys, my baby, my friends at church who just lost their mom (a sister in church who always served and loved others with open arms)…another family with no mom! I sat down at the table and cried for a minute…for their family…for those boys, my kids’ ages, roaming the cold streets with no parental direction and her baby, a tiny little girl 20 days old, not even realizing that it isn’t her mom holding her and giving her her bottle.
Right before Mrs. Rubia came to tell me, I was nagging at the kids to clean up, study for finals, do this, do that…you know, the things moms have to nag about! The kids were grumbling, rolling their eyes and disgusted…you know the things kids hate about moms! We all just sat stunned after hearing the news of our neighbors, our friends. We prayed for that family, for Mrs. Adriana’s health, for Tito, Johnny, and Ariel, our neighborhood buddies. We prayed for Mr. Gino and little baby Luz. AND…We thanked God for our family, for our health, for our “nagging” mom and for all these added blessings that moms somehow provide.

Edson

Things have been kind of crazy lately with Oscar gone and getting back. Kaylie has been taking ALL of my English classes at school while I juggled other activities and family demands…the most demanding, of course, has been Edson. And then, the look on his peaceful face as he sleeps makes me think that it really wasn’t all that bad just a few hours before.
Saturday night was tough! Oscar was busy with others and I had a “free” moment to change a dirty diaper. Since we don’t have changing tables at church and the bathroom sink is often wet, I took Edson in the Pastor’s office and laid him down on the desk. It’s cold and he had about 3 layers of clothes on. I got the bottom part off, ready to change his diaper just as he reached for a box of pins and completely spilled them all over his face and body and all three layers of sweaters and sweat pants. I tried to pull them all out of his clothes, quickly change him, and bundle him up again. I think I was being tested for patience!
The rest of the night was full of squirming, screaming, scrambling and the rest. After that evening, we were both so exhausted that he came right home to bed. Since I changed him at church, I just laid him down and he instantly fell asleep.
Sunday morning came along. It was my turn to prepare breakfast for 50 kids at Sunday school, get my own kids up and once again, change Edson. Since I changed him so early the night before, he wet through most of his layers. I was taking off the layers one at a time, got to his diaper and found a pin in it…laying flat, but pricking at his stomach! Then another fell out of his sweater! Oh no! Could that have been the reason he was so ornery the night before? He was being pricked by pins and couldn’t be still!
He’s still asleep. It’s warm in those covers. He’s peaceful, cute, and calm. Let’s just blame those wiggly, active moments on the pins!

Oscar's home!

Okay, so what have I been doing this week that kept me from blogging?
Too much!
I was finishing up my last couple of days as a single parent. Oscar flew to Canada for a friends wedding, a visit to our Canadian Mission Organization, a meeting with someone thinking about coming down, and a visit with our relatives from Kitchener. Two weeks made me appreciate Oscar even more than before! He helps me so much with so many things! Running around with Edson to all of my responsibilities at school, church, just wore me out. I was so used to Oscar giving me a hand with Edson. Especially at meal-time when I am working at getting things ready it seems as if Edson needs to be held…just then! Oscar is always there to pick him up and care for him a couple of minutes. I missed Oscar way too much!
I had to drive everywhere, solve strange problems, get Edson up, put him to sleep, spend time with my company, help the kids with homework, cook something for tomorrow, etc. etc. All this without my right hand man!
We had some shocking news on Tuesday morning. A sister in church died. She was an older lady that Oscar cared for, served, and visited on a daily basis. Funerals here in Paraguay usually take place 24 hours after the person dies. There is a 24 hour vigil with the family and then the burial. Oscar was leaving Canada that night and I called him to tell him the sad news making him more homesick wanting to be home to comfort this family. I had to juggle my hours around to spend time with them, while finding someone to care for Edson. By Wednesday morning I was exhausted!
I kept my eyes glued to the clock…Oscar was going to be at the airport at 5.10 pm. There was a Paraguay/Boliva soccer game that the kids wanted to see. Positive that there would be a TV at the airport, all three kids and I went. Brandon and Gaby were standing for an hour watching the game and happy that Oscar’s plane got in an hour late! Tired, anxious mom and squiggly, active Edson were just waiting and waiting trying to entertain ourselves in our seat so we wouldn’t lose it.
Finally he came through, Edson threw himself at Oscar and could not even be pried off. His papá was home! The whole rest of the night he only wanted to be with Oscar…whewww! They both loved it.
Yesterday we were busy with school meetings, studying for final exams. Oscar took me to the dentist all the way in town just to find out that they left a message on the answering machine letting me know that my appointment was cancelled until today, Friday at 4 pm. So, we went all the way in and back…but enjoyed ourselves catching up on everything. Yes, we listened to the message when we got home. Last night we took Kaylie to a Churrasquería restaurant and today…
I am home…catching up on emails, blogs, travel plans, housework, etc. I’m thankful God got me through such a hectic week. We are healthy…even though many at school are sick with colds and the flu. We are happy to be a family again. Ohhh, God is good!

A frightning experience!

I am still a little bit shaky, but I guess I'll write about it.
I think I could consider myself a very ontime, punctual person especially in a culture where punctuality really doesn't matter. I am up and out of bed on time, we get to church or other places on time, my kids like to get to school 1/2 hour early...it's just in our personalities to be where ever...early! It's probably a pride thing, too.
Well, here's the story. Our electricity has been blinking off for about 5 minutes at a time. The first time it happened was Wednesday night at midnight. My OLD, electric clock/alarm got unprogrammed because of those 5 minutes of electrical power we lost. No problem, yesterday we didn't have to wake up early, there was no school (yes, a holiday, again). Then, yesterday morning the same thing happened...the electricity just blinked off for a short time. In the afternoon the kids and I were watching a dvd and the power went off for about 2 minutes. Each time this messes up my 20 year old, digital clock. Before going to bed, I decided to set both cellphones to "alarm" just in case something happened. One was set at 4.30am and one at 5.00am so I would be sure to get up and get the kids ready for school. Pastor Dario was coming to pick them up at 6.00am. I went to bed trusting those two little alarms.
At 6.00am I heard someone clapping outside (Paraguayan doorbell). I JUMPED OUT OF BED AND LOOKED...it was Pastor Dario. What????
I looked at my cellphones...5.58am. I ran downstairs, woke up the kids, ran outside, opened the gate, I ran here and there apologizing to the kids as they got ready for school in 2 minutes. I couldn't believe this was happening. (My heart is still pounding!) They were out the door at 6.05!
I sat down to check my alarms and have no idea why they didn't ring. I was so jolted awake that I went back to my room to pray and calm myself down. Being the "quality time" person that I am, I felt sick to my stomach that I didn't pray WITH them, or talk to them, or fix them breakfast, or hug them. They left...and all we said was a hurried..."bye"!
I AM thankful that Pastor Dario came to take them to school today or else we wouldn't have gotten up on time!
Good thing tomorrow is SATURDAY!

Wasting Time???

Last night I got distracted finding myself on a google map and thought you might like to see where we are...
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?f=q&hl=es&geocode=&ie=UTF8&t=k&msa=0&ll=-25.404108,-57.581964&spn=0.004032,0.004882&z=17&msid=103513512202011473796.00044f5a81704c69a0687 If you make the map smaller, I've added some other places like the school, the churches in Bañado and San Pedro and was trying to get the one near Ciudad del Este on, but had some problems for the time being.
So, instead of blogging, I was playing, but IT WAS FUN.
Take a look!

Kaylie

Last year at Mid West camp Oscar and I were walking toward the dining hall and this really friendly girl stopped us to tell us that she had plans to go to Paraguay after she graduates from high school. She wanted to come to teach English, learn a different culture and help in any area needed. That was nice, but, was it for REAL? We didn’t even know her or her family…could it be true?
We wrote back and forth for a couple of months after camp...and then, her letters started changing a bit. She was talking about her trip down. She was making plans. She set a date and bought her tickets. She was coming! It WAS for real.
May 23rd finally came…for her and for us! We didn’t know WHO the Lord was sending us, but we were definitely excited. We found out that she is a beautiful child of God who is eager to serve Him. She speaks Spanish and her outgoing personality has already won her many Spanish-speaking friends. The students have been supplying her with notes, cards, and gifts…they love her. She is their new “teacher Kaylie”.
We’ve enjoyed a lot in two weeks! Cold weather, early mornings, hectic-school days, holidays, "terere", "máte", visits, bike rides, late night talks, bathing babies, trying Paraguayan foods, a baby shower, “cosido”, citrus fruits off the trees, and much more.
Her love for the Lord is just bubbling over, and she is helpful in every way. She has already substituted for all of our English teachers. She has been a huge blessing to our family, our church and Colegio Privado Adonai. We are enjoying her visit and her exciting attitude, and we are extremely grateful to share part of her young life.
Kaylie, thanks for being a part of our family and ministry. You have BIG plans in life! May God bless you in each one.

CPA – 6

Finally the day arrived, the first day of school in ADONAI...February 9, 2003. With our vision statement in mind…“to educate children, molding their character in order to serve God and the nations.”…we opened the doors to 58 students. It was a miracle! BUT…We still did not have the resolution from the government on the first day of classes...we were “jumping into faith”. We KNEW that God had brought us this far, and He would get the paperwork through the right channels.
We checked, called, and visited the Ministerio de Educación (MEC) almost daily to see how the papers were coming along and our answer was always… “this takes time, you’ll just have to wait”.
We waited and prayed, waited and prayed. Finally, in March the supervisor came with the resolution. Escuela Adonai was accredited by MEC from kindergarten to 6th grade!