School news…

We finished another year at Colegio Privado Adonai, five years of struggles, five years of victories, five years of pain, five years of growth, five years of decisions, five years of faith. We thank God for His faithfulness! Without Him as our General Director and Supervisor, we could not have gotten this far!
Things that happened this year…we had two big fund raisers, Missions week and Folklore Day. We had a clothes and food drive for the neighboring AC church of Sajonia. We painted and cleaned the UAA, a sports center two blocks from school that loans us its grounds to us for retreats, Olympics, and practices. The middle school and high school kids went on two different outings. We received gifts from the Banco Central de Paraguay. Four computers were donated by friends from the states. The best student from 9th grade was baptized in November…the first of our students! Plans for 11th grade have been finalized and accepted by the “Ministerio de Educacion”. Plans for a new building were drawn up and started. Report cards were handed out; grades turned it to the “Ministerio de Educacion”. The teachers cleaned out their rooms. Good-bye 2007!
Things to look forward to…the 2008 school year calendar is printed out. New teachers are checking out books and writing up lessons. Vivi (Ben’s wife) will be our morning principal and vice-principal for the afternoon classes. We get to wear JEANS next year instead of a uniform…even the teachers! One of our (lady) teachers will also be working in the area of counselling (especially for girls) along with our pastor. We will have clubs…sports, English, art, music and poetry. (Should I include that I MIGHT take on some classes…I just need to figure out what to do with Edson.)
The construction project is underway. We bought cement, bricks and other materials and will be picking up the first crew today (from Ohio and New York). We are excited to see things in progress and are grateful that the Lord is answering our prayers.
So…we are counting on you! Please pray for us, visit us, write to us, or COME HELP US!
Love,
Oscar and Karen

Family favorites!

I was talking about our family outing in another post. This time I’ll tell you about our meal since it has made a hit, with our family, our visitors, their family, and their relatives! I kind of invented the recipe (a gift I inherited from my mom who used to try out recipes on us before publishing them in the Trading Post. She would always write a story about us and then include a recipe. Hey, mom, you should blog your recipes!) after tasting this amazing dish.
Well, dinner was included in our deal. We were given the choices, Cerdo a la Mostaza (Pork with a mustard sauce), Pollo Grille (Grilled Chicken), or Lomito Relleno (Filled Beef Round). Oscar, Gaby and I picked the traditional Grilled Chicken and Brandon (as always) braved it with the new flavored pork dish. The meal was wonderful. Brandon kept commenting on his excellent choice until he could eat no more. The sauce was left over and he passed it over to me to try. I dipped my grilled chicken into the mustard sauce and it was the most amazing flavour! It was so good, both Oscar and I finished our grilled chicken dipping it in his mustard sauce.
Well, Tuesday night, Dan and Elias came over. They are our boy’s friends from baby days. Brandon wanted a SPECIAL meal for his SPECIAL friends (since according to him I only make popcorn for HIS friends). Well, I made “chicken breast a la mostaza” and they ate it in Pita breads. Once again it was a total hit for his friends. Marlene, Dan and Elias’ mom, came just before dinner, so I sent some home with her. She said they practically licked out the Tupperware…it was so good. Then she made a beef stirfry with mustard sauce for her nephew and their family the next night, who also commented on the wonderful flavor. So we have now tried it with Pork, Chicken, and Beef and it is still so good.
Here’s how I made it. I put the chicken in the slow cooker and cut it in strips. I added salt, pepper, onions, pepper and garlic and a squirt of mustard. Cook it for a couple of hours. I saved the juices after it was cooked, added some flour and water, about a ½ cup more mustard and milk (you could probably use sour cream for a better flavor.) I mixed it, and cooked it until it was a little bit thicker and added the chicken again. The kids were eating it out of the pan! It’s now…a family favorite!

Just keeping in touch...

History of the Jesuits

The picture is ours but the info is from Encarta...

The most famous work of the Jesuit missionaries in the New World, however, was the establishment in the order's South American provinces of reductions, or village communities of native peoples under the spiritual and temporal direction of the priests. The most successful were the reductions of Paraguay. In that country for almost 200 years the Jesuits governed a communal nation of Native Americans, founding 32 villages with a total population of about 160,000; they taught the Native Americans agriculture, mechanical arts, and commerce and trained a small army for defense of the settlements.© 1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

A Two Day Family Trip...

Oscar’s nephew, Fernando, was graduating this past weekend and we went as a family to Encarnacion (280 km southeast near Misiones, Argentina) for his graduation. We took advantage of the family time and spent a wonderful weekend together. He graduated from a Bible School called “Parque de las Naciones”.
Gaby wanted to see the Jesuit Ruins. Brandon, Oscar and I went when Brandon was in sixth grade. Since other nephews and a niece wanted to go, Brandon and I gave up our seats. I stayed back at Parque de las Naciones with Edson and my sister in law.
Here are some pictures of the sight.

It smells like Christmas!

It’s December…well, things have been getting hotter, in Paraguay, anyway. People will say (funny) things like…ummmm, it smells like Christmas! How strange! I smell sweaty bodies mixed with an aroma of flowers, food, exhaust. WHAT smells like Christmas?
When we talk about Christmas smells, I imagine cinnamon, peppermint, chocolate, cookies baking in the oven, evergreens, etc. I think of pies or bread baking and can even “smell” that in my mind. I picture oranges and nuts in the bags we used to make for the Sunday school program and smell the different scents in my mind…THAT is what Christmas smells like to me. What about the crisp smell of new fallen snow or the smell of gloves or scarves that have been tucked away for a year? Smelling fireword, sitting by a fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate milk…ummm…that smells like Christmas!
Here in Paraguay the sign or smell of Christmas is the aroma of coconut flowers. People even bring one into their home carefully placing it under their Christmas tree or by their Nativity scene…ahh…the smell of Christmas! Little firecrackers and the smell of sulphur it leaves behind…that’s the smell of Christmas! Barbeques (asado), outdoor grilling, fruit salad…this is the smell of Christmas!
My senses are all mixed up! It doesn’t feel like Christmas…its 100º. It doesn’t look like Christmas…there are trees full in bloom and everything is ripe with colors. It doesn’t taste like Christmas…the flavors are all different! Chocolate even melts at room temperature. It doesn’t sound like Christmas…it’s too loud, full of firecrackers, different music. Sorry…it just DOESN’T smell like Christmas…

Those 1st steps!

Finally…our little slow poke started taking those first steps. Why do I say slow poke? Because comparing Edson to his brothers (I know, you should never do that, but…) he was slow at walking. He had been taking forced steps all along, but didn’t like it. He cried when we tried to MAKE him walk. We tried everything, but it always ended up in frustration, for all of us. So we just stopped trying and so did he!
Saturday, December 1, Vivi came running over and said…”Karen, did you see him walk? He is walking all by himself” Yeah, yeah, that’s what everyone says. Everyone else in the whole church saw Edson walk months ago…everyone but ME! So, it was hard to believe. Well, she went and got Edson to prove it. AND…YES, Edson stripped away his fears and started walking LONG strides not just little steps. Now it’s non-stop WALKING, climbing, and reaching for anything that he can get his hands on.
So, Brandon started walking at 10 months, Gabriel at 11 and Edson at 12 months,15 days. Edson seems to glow at his newly earned freedom. Even a couple falls now and then don’t seem to discourage him. He’s bruised and crying, but wiggles himself right back up. I wish we could all be like him! Sometimes when WE fall…we just don’t want to get back up!
Our prayer for little Edson…”The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. Psalm 37:23 and 24.