On Mission with God In Paraguay
I headed out the door for Paraguay on May 31st, 2007. The trip ahead would take me about 21 hours. The group I was traveling with would be flying out of Atlanta, GA and I live in Ocala, FL (6 hours of driving). The flights (two of them) added up to be 12 or 13 hours altogether and then there was a 3 or 4 hour trip from Asuncion to Yrybucua.
2 Cor. 2:14 – “Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of him in every place.”
That was the verse I read on the plane before landing in Paraguay. It reminds me that I am being led by His Spirit everywhere I go and that the sweet smell of the Gospel not only is for man’s benefit, but is also a pleasing sacrifice to God. This verse is my prayer. I desire that God would lead me as I seek a place in this world to go on mission with Him. I also desired that He would use me to reach souls with the fragrance of Christ this week. Be praying along with me brothers and sisters in Christ!
Friday, June 1st, we headed down the red clay dirt roads towards the Agriculture center (Ag Center) where my group would spend most of the week. The rest of the group would be giving the children at a number of schools health check-ups and also doing VBS. The Ag center will be used to teach the local Guaranie (predominant Indian tribe) how to farm and grow a variety of crops and also show them farming techniques. The Guaranie Indians do not have a very good diet. It basically consists of mandioca (yucca root), poultry or beef, and cabbage. Some families will include tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers with the cabbage for a salad. The only other crops I saw the Guaranie growing was bananas, pineapples, corn, and citrus fruits. The Ag center will broaden their understanding of farming and also teach them about Christ and the Bible. The Ag center will be ran by the local churches and the profits will help the church communities provide for their families and also give more back to God in their offerings. The pastors and several church members helped us with the project, or rather we helped them. They were the skilled builders! We were simply grunts that helped mix cement and carry supplies to the workers. I had the opportunity to try throwing “roboki” (plaster/cement) on the walls. It was fun but I was never as good or as efficient as the Guaranie. They could throw a trowel full of the roboki on the wall and not a bit of it would fall to the ground! They would empty a bucket full onto the wall in the time it took me to run from the cement mixer back to the room, so you can imagine how much cement we had to make and carry in one day! We continued this work for the rest of the trip.
Now let me tell you more about the missionaries that we joined in Paraguay. Their names are Ed and Linda and they work with the Guaranie Indians to provide fresh water by digging wells. They dig wells and build water towers to pump good, clean water for the people. The purpose of these wells is not to only quench their physical thirst, but also their spiritual thirst for the Living Water, Jesus Christ. They also head up the effort to provide Christian schooling for children in Yrybucua and also in the city of Asuncion. All of their effort is made possible by tithes from churches and individual Christians in the USA.
On Saturday night we went to a church in Yrybucua. It was a memorable service. We sang some familiar hymns in Spanish and Guaranie (or a mixture of the two) and opened the service with a testimony and prayer. The prayer was fascinating. All the church members would pray in agreement with the pastor when he led the prayer. At first I did not know what was happening. I opened my eyes to see why everyone was praying out loud. I was unsure what they were saying. It appeared that they were simply worshiping in praise to God, so I joined with them. What an awesome feeling, being able to pray and worship with these Christians that I hardly knew and could hardly understand! But I know that I was related to them through the blood of Jesus and this made me feel right at home – isn’t it cool how God’s Spirit brings us together?
On Sunday, we went to another church closer to the Ag center than to Yrybucua, where we were staying. Oh and just in case you try to find Yrybucua on a map; it is very small and might not be on the map yet. At both of the church services the music has been very upbeat and it is neat how they distinguish between praise, worship, and offertory hymns/songs. Mr. Bailey (the leader of our group) gave a testimony from another one of his mission trips and the guys from our group played a song, “Standing Still” for the church. The sermon was about the True Bread that came down from heaven and then we shared Holy Communion with them.
On Monday through Friday, we did more of the same work: shoveling sand and rock to make cement/roboki, painted oil/varnish on the wood of the structure, and of course did some clean-up too.
Friday, June 8th, the group that did construction all week had the opportunity to help with the Bible School and playing games with the kids. We stopped at a church on the way back to Asuncion and sang songs with a church-full of kids and parents. We played some games and then read a story for the kids. The story was about Noah’s ark and a monkey that didn’t want to get on the boat. After we read the story, we then involved the kids and let them put on masks of different animals and let them perform a skit. I ended up being the monkey and had to tell Noah, “No, No, Noë!” over and over until I finally agreed and went with him onto the ark. It was really fun to experience “both sides” of the mission trip and not just work the whole time.
Around the building that we are staying in there is a family of kids that come out to play. I have learned some of their names: Anna-bell, Miguel, and Wilson. There is a young girl near the Ag center that is named Luz Clara or “clear light”. Isn’t that the coolest name ever?! I hope I never forget it. Her little brother, Renaldo, is in the picture with me where I am leaning on the brick wall of the Ag center giving a thumbs-up. This little boy was so funny! Renaldo was so loud and would yell at the top of his lungs something in Guaranie over and over, then would around his house banging on pots and pans – a typical 3 or 4 year old! The funniest thing was that Renaldo would call us North Americans “Jimbo” because someone on another team two years ago was name Jimbo and so he thought all of us were named that. So when we would drive by in the truck he would yell, “Jimbo, Jimbo, Jimbo!”
The kids are great fun. We played soccer a lot (of course) and I tried to get them started on a game of tug-o-war, but was not successful for very long. The children started to change the game and we began to use the rope as a jump rope and two of us would jump at the same time. A lot of fun! The kids loved for me to throw them up in the air and to spin them around. I spun some kids so much that I had to fall on the ground because I was so dizzy!
One of the most memorable things that I experienced down there was the beautiful sunrises and the stars at night. I have never seen stars as bright as I have down there! I would have taken a picture if it would show up on film. The stars were so visible that you could actually see the Milky Way make a band of stars across the night sky. There were also a lot of stars that I have never seen too. The only constellation that I could point out was the Southern Cross.
It was winter down there and the weather was colder than we expected, or believed. I brought just enough clothes to keep warm at night. And thank God that I brought some wool socks and a beanie cap. Without those I would have been miserable. At night I would sleep with two blankets and wear a few layers of clothes too! It got down into the 30’s one evening and there was frost on the ground the next morning. Keep in mind that this is a country where it is 110 degrees 90% of the time.
June 10th, 2007. On the way home we ran into some problems. When trying to fly out of Asuncion our plane was late and we didn’t leave until three or so hours later. This means that we missed our connecting flight to the USA. When we arrived in Sao Paulo, Brazil, we sat in the airport for a few more hours until the airline figured out what to do with us and until we could arrange to get some tickets from Delta for tomorrow evening’s flight. We had a difficult time getting a hold of anyone with the travel agency around 3 am in the morning! While sitting and waiting I managed to hand out the rest of my Gospel tracts. I simply said “tu quieres?” and people took them, some said “gracias” in return and only a few refused. On the plane to Sao Paulo I sat beside a Paraguayan woman who I unfortunately could not communicate with, but I gave her a Spanish Gospel tract and prayed that she would understand it. She read most of it aloud and I believe she was touched by the way she looked at me and spoke afterward. It sure motivated me to learn some more of a language BEFORE I leave on a trip! Ugh! It was frustrating not being able to speak to her! I pray that God will save her and that I will see her in the Kingdom of Heaven one day!
The trip ended according to God’s will and timing. We stayed the night in Sao Paulo and flew out the evening of June 10th. We arrived in Atlanta at 10 AM the next day, and then I drove home, leaving Georgia around 12 noon. God was gracious and kind to us while on the trip. It was well worth the hard work and time that we put into it. I enjoyed being able to see another country through a missionary’s eyes and worship with other Christians of another culture. Thank you to those who supported me and the team to go to Paraguay. “Grace and Peace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.” | 