Paraguay Update

You may not get this in your email...but, I thought I would share.
November 13, 2009
We are praising God for beautiful weather!
School News
Well, there are two more weeks of school; reports, speeches, final exams, end-of-the year programs, party days scheduled, etc. This is the first year we have a high school graduation! We are thankful to God for opening the doors and blessing us with a fully accredited school from Pre-school to 12th grade. We are also grateful for our Jr. High and High School principal, Sebastiana, who has worked endless hours with these students, their parents, their teachers and the Ministry of Education. We also ask for your prayers for Sebastiana who will be travelling to Brazil, days after the graduation, for surgery, and will be staying there this summer (at her relatives home) to recuperate. We feel blessed and encouraged by this first-12th grade graduation.
A Short Story or two...
Beatriz often got her hair done by Blanca (a member at church). They became good friends and Blanca had many opportunities to share with Beatriz about her new life in Christ. Her marriage was in bad shape, things weren't going well financially, so, Beatriz opted for...Spain! So many Paraguayans have gone to Spain to make it rich and bring home "lots of cash". What they leave behind are kids...on the street with no parental guidance, love, or protection. Soon, Bernardino, her husband also went to Spain and the kids, Sandra, 20 and Marcos, 12, were left practically alone at home. Marcos is a wonderful, respectful, cute kid who would always be hanging around our church activities. He was always so polite and cheerful. Our family had a special bond with him and it was heartbreaking to see how abandoned he was.Last year, Beatriz came back from Spain for a three week visit and we had the opportunity to talk about her family's situation. Her marriage was OVER. She was going back to Spain. Her kids were going to be living with an aunt. Through our conversation, the Spirit convicted her to stay in Paraguay and work out her salvation, the lost time with her kids and her "broken" marriage. To keep the story short...Next week both Beatriz and Bernardino will be baptized! Their daughter and her fiance are also interested in getting to know Christ more. Praise God with us for healing another family! Alvaro and Raquel will also be baptized. Raquel is a sister-in-law to our 4th grade teacher. She was very bitter about life in general and things became worse when she became pregnant, but still unmarried. We rarely saw a smile on her face until several months ago when she told us that she was getting married AND baptized! Her new life in Christ has changed her completely! She is so smiley, happy and "in love" with Christ (and Alvaro). When I see her laugh, pray and worship...I am still amazed at God's miracles! Praise God with us for these beautiful miracles.
Student Scholarship Support
Some relatives of the couples mentioned above have been given scholarships through donations from the US and Canada. These students started coming to school and their parents started coming to church. We are thankful for the donations sent for this project, and for the spiritual guidance that the staff at Colegio Privado Adonai offers to students and their parents. Thanks for giving. Thanks for praying. You are also an important part of this ministry!
Student Sponsorship Info

Last Week's Youth Retreat at the Quinta

120º

YESTERDAY
...120º F...(in the sun) at 3:10 pm.!

Warm Weather!

Jeremiah 17:7-8 (New International Version) "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."

Summer is my favorite season. It's warm. It's beautiful. We have longer daylight hours. I enjoy creation; the sights, the sounds, the warm feeling.

But...
...yesterday (and today's forecast) was just a bit too warm! In the afternoon, my outside thermometer reached 109ºF.

Now, it's 8:30 am. I found a neat time/weather site and these are the current weather conditions...

Sunny. Warm.
Location: Asuncion / Aeropuerto
Temperature: 81 °F
Comfort level: 85 °F
Dew point: 72 °F
Barometer: 29.65 "Hg
Humidity: 74%
Visibility: 10 mi
Wind: 6 mph from 0° North

I wonder what 12:00 noon will be like? Later on today it says 96º F and comfort level like- 103º F.

Last night we turned on the airconditioner in our room about 9:30 and about an hour later the electricity went out in the whole neighborhood. It was soooooo hot and there were so many mosquitoes that all I could do was pray for electricity! (How strange...living in a country where we have two, binational-hydroelectric plants...power shortage is kind of a normal, expected thing.)
Well, back to summer; clothes dry out on the line in 10 minutes. Lettuce and watermelons are becoming some of the cheapest things to eat. Flowers brighten my day!

Ensalada de Arroz - Rice Salad

One of our favorite salads is Rice Salad.

Here in Paraguay this is a very popular salad that goes good with barbecues or grilled chicken. People make this salad for chicken-dinner-fund raisers, etc. I make it when I am going to have a crowd over. The red and green peppers in it makes it look kind of Christmas-y...It looks nice and is filling.

2 cups of uncooked rice
4 cups of water
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons of oil
Salt to taste
Cook until rice is done. Set aside to cool.

Add the following ingredients and mix well:
1 small onion, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped
1 small red pepper
1/4 cup Parsley chopped fine
½ cup mayonnaise
lemon juice

SUMMER!!!

Today is a very hot day! Yes, summer is here! It is 37ºC...98.6ºF! Tomorrow is supposed to be the same!

That's okay...it's TERERÉ TIME! Cold, minty, herby water in a cup (guampa) packed with yerba mate leaves and a straw (bombilla).

It's quality time for some of us!

Down the Memory Path

Today I was travelling back through time. I got out some foto albums to scan. (Yeah, like I have time for this...) Here are some of the photos I found!

BRANDON

SEE...He's always been so cute!