New Chapters

Bear with me...I am going to start a new project!

Someone told me once that they'd like to hear about the amazing stories of how the school started and how others came to know the Lord. Along with my family updates, I want to start posting CPA (Colegio Privado Adonai) chapters...way back from the beginning. Well, it was only six years ago. I think I can still remember some stuff from 2003.

Why??? I want to repeat over and over again what the Israelites said about their God..." The Lord is good and his love endures forever!" I want to write and share about the miracles we experienced. Keep tuned!





By the way...this is one of my favorite pictures. It's Pastor Dario's 5 year old son. Check out that smile!!!

A nice thought...

"What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments,
but what is woven into the lives of others." Pericles

I’ve Been Reading This Novel…

…called THE BIBLE. Way back in January I started a program to read the Bible in 1 year. (I am actually just reading the OLD TESTAMENT for now.) I never really challenged myself to do that…sorry to say. I always read here and there, book by book, chapter by chapter, or whatever. Of course, I have ALWAYS been reading my bible. It’s underlined, highlighted and even broken in the binding. It’s a Spanish/English NIV. I actually read both translations sometimes just to see how something is expressed in the other language.
Anyway, I get everyone off to school by 6 am and I have about an hour to drink coffee and devour this amazing, God-inspired novel. I went on the whole “Exodus” with Moses, and captured the Promised Land with Joshua. I discovered the terrible stubbornness and disobedience of God’s people in Judges. I read about their cry for A KING and how this king’s pride ruined his whole kingdom. And now, I am totally captured by King David, Samuel, and Solomon. It’s neat to read about their ups and downs, their errors and sins, their battles, their decisions, but most of all their strong faith in God.
The temple King Solomon built was just amazing. It must have been so beautiful! The whole Temple was sparkling with gold, bronze pillars, cedar walls, carved flowers, and beautiful pools and so much more. Peace on all sides, a beautiful home for THE LORD and a WISE KING…after so many years of slavery, travelling, disobedience and fighting.
I’m ahead of my schedule, now. I just couldn’t stop reading. This NOVEL has every kind of wild story you could ever imagine…stuff rated for the General Public to the X-Rated kind with sex and violence, rapes and massive killings. It seems even worse than what we read about in newspapers or see on TV. There is so much to learn…so much to apply to my own life. I guess that the more I read, the more I realize how much God honors our obedience and love for Him. He is a jealous God…He wants 1st place in our hearts. Ever since the beginning…that never changes.

Brandon

Brandon came home yesterday from a neighbor's house. They were playing soccer and had to be home by 6:00pm - little before dark. He came home saying, "Mom, don't worry about anything, I had an accident, but it's nothing." He lifted up his (long) hair and showed me an egg size bump, red (bluish at the base) and scratched.
He was goalie. He blocked the ball, it fell back onto the ground, his cousin (who is as big as he is) kicked at it again, but kicked Brandon's head instead of the ball. Ouch!!! He was knocked out for a couple of minutes They put ice on it and later he continued playing.
He thought it was a total adventure. I worried like a mother!

New President for Paraguay

We have a new president! He is from a new political party after 61 years of the Colorado Party government in Paraguay.

Here are some English articles that tell about it.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ausf6OyWF2j8&refer=home
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/world/americas/20paraguay.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Whew! I'm glad this is over...or is something just starting???

Pray for Peace

I’m not really a political person. I hear rumors and stories about him or her. I mention some things that I’ve “heard” about the candidates, but truthfully, I never really investigate the promises and “new government” issues they all promote. It’s all fixed, anyway...according to me! Tomorrow, April 20th we have the 2008 Presidential Elections in Paraguay.
“Blanca” is from the Colorado Party – “They always win.”
“Lino” has the “military backing him up.”
“Lugo” is a Catholic Bishop who “is a friend to the poor.”
Those are the three major candidates. There’s talk of political unrest for Sunday night or Monday.
Okay…I did some research…If you’re interested in Paraguayan politics…see these:
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1142/44/
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1218/44/
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-04/17/content_7996462_3.htm - pictures of candidates
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aUwmH_cdWYDk&refer=latin_america
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/18/1?gusrc=rss&feed=worldnews
Pray for our small, weak, corrupt country. Pray for our authorities. Pray for peace.

Blogging Time…Yeah!!!

There is a steady rain outside. (Edson is asleep.) I have several things I could do, but I decided to dedicate it to BLOGGING!
There is soooo much going on!
Our school is getting ready for Teacher’s Day, April 30th. That is a “free day” for our teachers at Adonai, so the REAL party will be on Tuesday, April 29th. I have been preparing my little students to sing “This Is the Day” and “Praise the Lord”, two songs I learned at Mid West Camp last year. Some of my friends’ kids are in Kindergarten and their kids went home to tell their moms that “Teacher Karen dances and everything!” The kids sing it VERY well and I am excited to have THEM perform…while THEY’RE up onstage, I will NOT be dancing…THEY WILL BE! (I only do that during practice!) So, that is an exiting event for me and my students. One of the songs we will sing for Teacher’s Day and the other one we will sing for “Family Day” (Mother’s Day) on May 14th. (We have to call this day Family Day because so many “moms” are in Spain or Argentina…kids are growing up with NO “moms” or “dads” here in Paraguay. Sad stories!
We are going out to eat to an “American Buffet” on the 29th with all the teachers at school for their special day…a way to say THANKS for all the good work they do! On May 1st its Labor Day so we will also take the other workers (secretary, administrator, librarian, and cleaning lady) at school out eat, too. There are 36 people total! Our school has grown…God is good!
Other activities…Oscar is still busy with Bible Studies on Tuesday nights and I have a Praise and Worship study on Fridays. The kids like to hang out at church on Fridays for sports. Lately, the group has grown to nearly 100 teens. Oscar’s nephew heads that up. Girls play Handball and Women’s soccer the first two hours, then there is a devotional time, after that the guys play non-stop soccer till 10:00 pm. Oscar still goes to the Prison Ministry two times a month and Dario, another Pastor at church, goes for a prayer ministry. Saturdays are usually busy with Praise and Worship, set-up, youth meetings, and church services. Sundays start off with an 8:30 am service and sometimes all day activities. Wednesday’s are prayer meetings and so that means Mondays and Thursdays are our “family days”. Since our day starts off so early (4:30 for us, 5:15 for the kids)…sometimes we are in bed by 8:30 pm…can you believe that????
Our family is also planning on going to San Pedro next weekend for an Evangelistic Campaign for Friday and Saturday night. The road is ALMOST ALL paved. That’s so exciting for us. When I was married it took us 8 or sometimes 10 hours to travel there because of dirt roads. Now we can get there in 3 ½ hours!
The rain keeps coming. Edson is still asleep…I have time for another activity!