Put the "Giving" Back into Thanksgiving

Aren't we blessed?  It just seems natural that during this time of year we pause and reflect upon God's goodness to us.  We have a God that loves us, a roof over our heads, clothing on our bodies and a big feast to eat tomorrow. As you do your Christmas shopping this season, would you consider giving back by helping the poor?

Missionary Ventures has highlighted 35 projects around the globe in this year's Christmas catalog.  Your investment in one of these areas (children, nutrition, agriculture, ministry, education, community development) is changing the landscape of daily life for many people worldwide. 
 
Here are just a few of the ways you can tangibly give back this holiday season to the people of Paraguay...

Keep a child warm with a wool blanket this winter, click here.

Give the Word of God to someone who doesn't own a Bible, click here.  

Impact a family's economy by allowing them to raise and sell chicken, click here or here to help a new family get started with a chicken house. 

Provide healthy food for a family through a garden by giving them seeds, click here.   

Prevent malaria or yellow fever for a child, donate a mosquito net by clicking here.

Help raise up a new generation of Paraguayan pastors by helping them through one year of Bible training, click here. 

Grant a man the opportunity to labor on the farm by supplying him with necessary farm tools, click here.

Help Paraguayans gain knowledge and training through a rare resource- books, click here.  

Support a Paraguayan evangelist to lead people to Christ for an entire year, click here. 

This past year:
YOU covered 46 children with blankets,
YOU gave 1016 Paraguayans their first Bible,
YOU helped buy 22 new tools for men to make a living,
YOU provided new income to families by purchasing hundreds of chicks, 6 chicken houses and a corn mill
YOU protected 113 children from malaria by giving them mosquito nets

YOU have made a world of difference in each of these lives.  Our sincerest gratitude to each of you that gave to the projects and to our work here.  Our hope is that your hearts will continue to break for the poor and for those that don't yet know HIM. You are one of the greatest reasons for us to be thankful this season and it is our sincere privilege to partner with you for the cause of Christ.    
We love you!

We are Grateful for CMA!

We had the privilege of distributing 9 motorcycles to pastors and ministries thanks to the generous partnership of our brothers and sisters in Christian Motercycle Association during the Run for the Son annual fundraiser event.  This year despite the economic crisis, CMA raised over $3.7 million for missions!

Today, the Latin American representatives, Hiram and Sharon, are arriving to help train new Paraguayan CMA members in three different parts of the country.  They will also see some of the donated bikes in action.

Here are some of this year's recipients (we're still waiting for photos from five recipients):

Pastor Norma in San Antonio

 Pastor Benigno in Coronel Oviedo

 

 Pastor Victor in Triunfo 43

 

Pastor Pedro in Itá

On behalf of these pastors from different churches all over the country,  thank you CMA for all that you are doing to advance the Kingdom in the heart of South America.  You are making a world of difference here in Paraguay and we are so grateful for your giving hearts. 

To our Son

To our son...

From the minute we found out you were growing inside mommy...we were in love with you, sweet little one.  Your birth was nothing short of a miracle.

You are such an amazing blessing to our family, we love you more every day.

You made us a mommy and papi and we are thankful to God for answered prayer.

You started walking running at 10 months and you haven't stopped yet!

You love music, books and "just thinking."

Your favorite drink is terere (cold Paraguayan green tea)

You drove the Suburban at 2 years of age and it's by God's grace that you were not harmed!

You enjoy being outdoors and discovery (and mud) is what drives you.

Your love languages are touch and words of encouragements; you give us lots of hugs!

You are your papi's assistant and you love to take apart anything to figure out how it works. This is definitely a gift, since you know how to fix things that mom can't even fix!

Today is your fourth birthday and we thank God every.single.day for your life, for your gifts and for the joy you bring us and everyone around you.  We love you with all our hearts and we consider you our greatest treasure.

Happy Birthday Timothy Samuel!

Giving Wisely

A super resource for anyone who cares about missions and/or gives to global non profits.  Giving Wisely:  Killing with Kindness or Empowering Lasting Transformation has been the book on my nightstand this month.  The author, Jonathan Martin, is a missions pastor in Oregon and has served overseas in Asia.  He talks about the need for wisdom and compassion in our generosity.  The two objectives that giving should accomplish are:

1. to show the compassion of Christ.
2. to truly help the person who’s in need.

In order to carry out those ideals, he has developed four foundational principles of true generosity that serve as the basis for whether or not their church funds a project. 

The helpful acronym RAISE stands for:

R-    Relationships First

A-    Accountability

IS- Indigenous Sustainability

E-     Equity

Martin tells a variety of horror stories to highlight how our dollars affect developing nations and the importance of not sending money blindly to any cause.  Know who you’re giving to, Check their track record, their leadership and their results. The goal of giving should be to allow nationals to take over the identity and finances of the project.  Finally, make sure that you’re not creating rifts of jealousy by your support on a national leader.  

While reading the book, I had to ask myself, “How are we doing on the RAISE concept?”

Being on the mission field, I can attest to the importance of accountability.  Even though I find that an increasing amount of our time is in administration, paperwork and sending monthly reports, it helps develop a trust with our partner organizations back home.  While raising support is one of the hardest aspects of missionary work, I’m truly thankful for the team we have surrounding us.  If we didn’t need the help of others, we wouldn’t have the incredible relationships we do with our partnering churches and families.  

Truly, What we are trying to avoid in working with the national church here is dependency.  We want to help them get started with projects that they’ve designed, and we shouldn’t be funding them for eternity.  It is crucial for a plan to be in place and goals to be set for self-sufficiency of the local effort.  This is the formula for long-term prevalence of a ministry and we’re happy that the radio is now at the point where it no longer needs us!

We especially resonated with the chapter on training and education.  He says,

“If you want a person to reach his or her own culture, don’t take him out of it. Don’t take someone out of a relatively impoverished country, show him the glitter and comfort and

material excess of the U.S. and then expect him to want to go back.  Don’t take a Chinese

man from China, train him in a western school and American mega-church ministry

techniques, and then expect him to slip back into his culture like he’d never left.” P. 165.

Most of Norberto’s peers from overseas that he studied with in the U.S. wound up in the good ol’ US of A for good!  We can’t blame them for doing this, many came from huts, crummy educational systems and little promise of a future.  However, what good does their education do for their developing country that desperately needs professionals?

We felt a strong confirmation that the training institute we are embarking on will serve the purpose of training Paraguayans in their own setting to impact their own people in a culturally appropriate way.  The book helped validate many of our missions philosophies and helped us see our need to continually up the ante on accountability and relationship building.

 
I would highly recommend this book to all missions committee members and nonprofits involved with helping global efforts.  I need to warn you though, it will challenge your ideals and force you to get more personally involved with those you support.  If you give simply to appease your conscience or for the tax credit; this book is not for you.  However, if you want to see real and lasting change with your hard-earned resources, definitely take the time for this spot-on book.

Evidence of a Tropical Storm

We've had our fourth tropical storm in three weeks and as I type, we're about to get another one.  A tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a large low pressure center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and flooding rain.  Each time we get one of these fierce wonders of nature we lose power for at least 8 hours and up to two days and we lose our water as well.  Here's what happens:

Instant flash floods...

Our corn and yucca crops were badly damaged...

 

Hail up to the size of golf balls...

My poor prickly pear!

For some reason, our part of the country is getting beaten up the most.  Our national newspaper reported that there haven't been storms this strong in over twenty years.  For the farmers' sakes we are praying for no more hail this season!

On a positive note, we are thankful that we have a roof over our head and we are learning how to be very creative without power for huge spans. We are extremely grateful that the radio continues to have broadcast regardless of the weather because of our new generator!!

What do you you think... do uncharacteristic weather changes make you wonder about whether they are simply natural cycles or caused by humans?

Empowering the Next Generation

Did you grow up participating in Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts?  We were all about that in my family.  I remember the Pinewood Derby races each year, the campouts and the thin mints.  Oh, what I wouldn't give for a box of those right now...sigh.  Those were great memories in my childhood and I'm so thankful for the adults that invested in us.  I still remember my troop leader; she was kind, impartial, creative and she had a contagious positive attitude.
 
One of the couples that came to know the Lord through the radio station has taken the initiative to bring that kind of experience to boys and girls in our town.  For the last year our church has organized a troop of Royal Rangers, (Exploradores del Rey) very similar to Boy Scouts, but with a Christian emphasis.

 Last week, we participated in a special training near the capital to learn how to be commanders (troop leaders).  We had to go through the same rigors that the rangers go through and even Timmy got involved!

Currently, there are over 50 regular Rangers (aged 4-17) in our program and we are gearing up for our first campout next weekend.

 Most of the children and youth in the program come from broken homes.  Having a loving adult figure in their lives to guide, instruct, correct, laugh with and love them will impact them for the rest of their days.

 

 We're looking forward to building great relationships with young people, helping shape future leaders and pointing the way to Christ.  Thanks for praying for our troop and our church as we pray the ministry will impact even more young people.

How God Provides

This has been, how shall I say it, a trying season for us.  First, our truck was almost swindled from us, now we get robbed.  As we've been asking God what we should be learning from these situations, I felt like God pressed upon my heart this powerful passage from 2 Corinthians 6:

We work together with God, and we beg you to make good use of God's kindness to you. In the Scriptures God says,
   "When the time came,
   I listened to you,
   and when you needed help,
   I came to save you."
   That time has come. This is the day for you to be saved.

We don't want anyone to find fault with our work, and so we try hard not to cause problems. But in everything and in every way we show that we truly are God's servants. We have always been patient, though we have had a lot of trouble, suffering, and hard times. We have been beaten, put in jail, and hurt in riots. We have worked hard and have gone without sleep or food. But we have kept ourselves pure and have been understanding, patient, and kind. The Holy Spirit has been with us, and our love has been real. We have spoken the truth, and God's power has worked in us. In all our struggles we have said and done only what is right. Whether we were honored or dishonored or praised or cursed, we always told the truth about ourselves. But some people said we did not. We are unknown to others, but well known to you. We seem to be dying, and yet we are still alive. We have been punished, but never killed, and we are always happy, even in times of suffering. Although we are poor, we have made many people rich. And though we own nothing, everything is ours. 

When we read about Paul's difficulties, our recent hardships pale in comparison.  In fact, in all his hardships he did not consider himself worthy of the Gospel.  We are confident that daily the Holy Spirit is protecting us, sharpening us and teaching us about his love and power. 

Some of you may have participated in the Candle in the Corner Event  to help raise funds and awareness for missions. Well, the results came in this week and $4065 was raised!  Yesterday the hostess deposited $362 in our bank account. I (Julie) cried tears of gratitude.  That was just about ($350) what we had been robbed; unfortunately, we found that our grocery money had also been stolen after we wrote about the theft. 

We are so thankful for this unexpected gift from people who believe in what God is doing around the world.  
We recognize God's kindness to us in this and we continue to count it our greatest joy to serve the Lord, despite the circumstances.  Our prayer, like Paul's, is that our love continues to be real.

P.S. Congratulations to Nancy from South Carolina that has won the beautiful Paraguayan lace and frame!

Paraguay's San Francisco Self-Sustaining Agricultural School

Some of you may be aware that we are in transition in our ministry here. As of last month, Norberto is no longer the director of Radio Alternativa 92.7 Christian radio station.  He has turned over the leadership to a local pastor.  The radio has been self-sustaining since Sept. 08 and we are very confident that the radio will continue to grow and impact many lives with national leadership.

Over the next few months we'll be sharing with you more about our vision for our next steps in ministry and we'll give a spotlight to each of the activities we're working on, including the visit we made here this week:

We've been wanting to visit Escuela Agricola San Francisco in Cerrito, Paraguay for over 18 months.  We first discovered them when they were highlighted in the national newspaper for being one of the world's finalist for the BBC World Challenge 2008 and they won second place!   Finally, we were able to make the long trek to low Chaco to take tons of notes and get ideas from this model school owned and operated by Fundacion Paraguaya.

It is a self-sustaining school that is currently teaching 160 young Paraguayans who have finished ninth grade (aged 16-20) new techniques in farming and animal husbandry.  Its three year program gives students exposure to all areas of farming in the first year and in their second and third years the structure gives the students an opportunity to create and become entrepreneurs by being in charge of the seven different sectors of farm (poultry, pigs, goats and cows, milk and cheese production, garden, carpentry, tool and die, composting, and research in bio fuels).  The picture you see is cow dung used to fuel their gas stove in the kitchen.  They also the same resource for their composting, their garden, and organic soil production (using imported worms). 

They opened up a store on the highway to sell their products (including dulce de leche, cheddar cheese, and a wide variety of produce) to locals and have opened up a quaint hotel on the property to tourists who want to experience "life on the farm." These operations are run by students to give them practical, hands-on experience as they prepare to enter the workforce.
 

These third year students are studying carpentry.

Bio-intensive Garden using techniques from Mexico

Students spend one week in the classroom and the next week working in their area of interest.  They receive specialized training through professionals that give roughly 10 workshops each month.   Upon graduation, the students receive a micro-loan or one-time stipend, if their project is approved, to begin their dream of making a dignified living. 

Why was this visit so important to us?  This is very similar to the model we want to utilize in our leadership training school that we are projecting to open in 2011 (Lord willing!).  However, we want to add the crucial elements of Christian character development, leadership training and Bible study.

These are exciting times for us as we prepare for this new stage in our ministry!  Will you pray for us as we continue to glean insights as to what specialties will work best in our region.  Also, would you consider joining us for the resources necessary to purchase or rent land to employ the agricultural side of our training.  Our hope is to see a new generation of Paraguayans live out their God-given dreams and become strong leaders in the church, community, and the world.

Robbed

We are asking for your prayers again, friends.  We were robbed this week.  While we have had chairs stolen from our patio, clothes stolen from our clothesline and shoes stolen from our front porch, this is the first time in seven years (we celebrate our 7th year anniversary in Paraguay today!) that we have had someone steal inside our home.

We arrived home from a funeral (we were the choir) around dusk and as we pulled up to gate of our house, Norberto's mother said she saw a light go off in the house.  Norberto ran into the house and our door was wide open and our curtain had been pulled down. 

Also, as we were pulling in there was an unknown man in front of our house texting on his cell phone.  When Norberto greeted him, he looked down at the ground.  We have no neighbors and since this man was just "hanging out" that was our clue that he was working with the person inside.

We realized immediately that although we arrived before they could take much, the thieves grabbed the money ($209) that Norberto and his mom had just been given from teaching/gas money at the Bible school in Posadas, which was on the kitchen table.


We also believe they took several house keys and his extra set of motorcycle keys.  This poses a huge concern for the security of our house and we will be changing the locks on our doors asap. We are also trying to close the rest of our home (we are still under construction and don't have all the windows in yet) so we are going to press to finish that now.

Our friend, who farms the land next to our house, had told us that he heard whistles the other day and saw a young man jump our fence, so we knew that people were scoping out our place.   It is a terrible feeling to be violated this way.  It is easy to start worrying about what will disappear next and whether or not someone might break in while we are home.    We are asking the Lord to calm our spirits, keep us safe and we love what the Psalmist David wrote in chapter 27:

The LORD is my light and my salvation—
       whom shall I fear?
       The LORD is the stronghold of my life—
       of whom shall I be afraid?-Psalm 27:1

We ask that you pray with us that God put his guardian angels of protection around our home and around us and pray that whoever has stolen from us will come to know the love of God and turn from crime.

I Never Thought I'd Be Here

Yeah!  It's Paraguay day in the Candle in the Corner Event.  We are gratful for your interest, prayers and investment in God's work around the globe.  I'm going to tell you a secret...I never considered being a missionary.  I knew that I wanted to be a CEO of a large corporation when I was 15.  I double majored in college (marketing and finance) and was on a fast track to making big bucks.  I would donate to God's work, of course; I just didn't want to get dirty myself.  Until...

I went on a college mission trip, then two, then six.  I just loved serving cross-culturally and I knew that God was doing something inside of me.  My junior year I changed  my focus and finally admitted that God had other plans for me.  It was at the same time, God was preparing me for something amazing...my latin lover. 

God brought to Smalltown, Indiana the most incredible man, who grew up on the mission field.  He lived in the jungles of Paraguay and went without electricity and running water for most of his youth.  I fell in love with his MacGuyver style (that dates me, I know) and his passion for life and for God.

We married in 2000 and after finishing seminary together in 2002, we started our missionary adventure by driving to Paraguay in a 1988 Surburban called, "Blue Cruiser."  That adventure through 13 countries took us 70 days.  Let's just say our rear ends took on new form after we finally arrived in Paraguay to start our missionary service.

For seven years, we've had the privilege of serving southeastern Paraguay, only about 30 minutes from Argentina.  I direct a children sponsorship program and Norberto is transitioning from serving as director of Radio Alternativa, one of the few Christian radio stations in the country, to starting a leadership training school to teach Bible and vocational skills.

We love young people and that's a good thing since 70% of the population here is under the age of 30.  Paraguay is one of two land-locked South American nations and one of the poorest.  It has the land mass roughly of California, with a population of 6,500,000.

We now have one beautiful son named Timothy and we are hoping to adopt a Paraguayan orphan in the near future.

What else would you want to know?  We almost always have red toes (from the red clay), we drink terere every day, we laugh a lot, could eat a whole jar of pickles in five minutes and we avoid housework whenever possible.  We also love God and want to him Him the best years of our lives.  We are passionate about what we do and I am sure glad we both decided to take the risk of pursuing God's plans for us to get involved and get dirty.  We gladly accept prayers, since they fuel all that we do here.

We want to highlight some exquisite handiwork of Paraguayan women for our giveaway prizes:

Nandutí is a traditional Paraguayan embroidered lace, introduced by the Spaniards. The name means, "spider web" in Guaraní, the official indigenous language of Paraguay. This beautiful, hand-made lace is woven on a flat, wooden loom of pins.  It is sold world-wide in vibrant colors and distinct patterns.

Encaje ju is a Guaraní word meaning, "needle."  It is commonly called "needle lace" and the cotton threads are embroidered into intricate designs such as birds, plants and animals.  I am giving away a lovely table runner.

Interested in finding out more about little candles all over the world?  Go here and visit Heidi.  Take a minute to thank her for putting this great event together and check out the prizes you could win for donating just $5.00 for missions!

"I don't think the way you think.
   The way you work isn't the way I work."
         God's Decree.
"For as the sky soars high above earth,
   so the way I work surpasses the way you work,
   and the way I think is beyond the way you think."  -Isaiah 55:8

One more thing:  Your plans may not include missions, but it's amazing what might happen when you let God take you to places you'd never thought you'd go!

Colorful Messages of Hope

Isn't it just great how God uses the diverse gifts He has given us for the benefit of His kingdom.  I love that it takes the entire body of Christ to fully reach a lost and dying world.  A few weeks ago we had the privilege of getting acquainted with some incredible missionaries that not only impressed us with their unique gifts; they blessed us immensely.  Jamie is an artist and Marion works creatively with children's ministries.    These fine folks gave us four beautiful paintings of Biblical stories to hang in public places in our part of Paraguay. So far, they have distributed 350 paintings all over the nation with colorful messages of hope!  Plus, they shared with us some wonderful children's resources that they have created in Spanish for our work with kids. What a dynamic duo!

This week we had the privilege of sharing the gift with the Church of God in Obligado:

The kids were so excited to see the beautiful scene of Noah's Ark on the wall, that they jumped up and down!

With the Police Station in Hohenau:

The police chief (pictured right) said that the painting was a gift from God himself to their station, which desperately needed a positive message.  The Bible board shows the picture of the Good Samaritan and reads, "Love Your Neighbor."  The cool thing is that the station's doors are always open and since there's a fluorescent light on top of the painting (the chief went and bought a new bulb since we could tell it hadn't been used in long time) so that the painting can be seen from the road! 

We distributed the next painting, the scene of Jonah and the whale, to a poor primary school in Cerro Cora

This is the first painting that the school has ever had! It's hanging in the principal's office.  We have yet to get a picture of it hung, since Norb's battery went out on the drill and he went back on the motorcycle later on without his photographer ;)

Finally, the last picture will be dedicated to the Church of God in Bella Vista on their anniversary on Nov. 15.

We are incredibly thankful to the talent and generosity of Jamie and Marion (pictured right). Thanks guys for trusting us with the Bible boards to hang in our region.  Now God's word has been colorfully spread around all the United Colonies (Colonias Unidas) of southeastern Paraguay.  It takes all of the gifts of the body for people to come to know Him!