My Final Days

VBS
2 weeks before I left I got the opportunity to organize and put on a Vacation Bible School for the orphans. Everyone from the church took on a role or helped out in some way and it was a huge success! The theme was about God keeping his promises, and we used the story of Jonah. There were puppets, arts and crafts, games, snacks, a skit, and tons of singing! We even built a whale for the kids to go in. ☺

Puppets!

What kids don’t love fishing out of the baptistry…

Kids going inside "The Whale"

Arts and Crafts time!

Mateas eating a snack

And last but not least…it’s not booster booster, but I think you’ll see it has the same spirit ☺ Click to watch...




WOMEN’S CONFERENCE
The weekend before I left we had the annual Women’s conference Mujers de Fe (Women of Faith). There was about 60 or 70 women total. Carla Borja was our guest speaker and she came all the way from Texas. She was a blessing to the women of Paraguay, an incredible speaker, and such a joy to be around. It was a wonderful rejuvenating weekend for the Paraguayan women.

Helena and Brittnea working hard to prepare

Carolina and Maria Jose at the conference sign – in table

During the conference

Small groups


Waiting to eat some delicious food

The Whole Group

Smilce, a woman who attended the conference because she saw the advertisement in the newspaper, was baptized a few days later.
GOING AWAY PARTY
On my last night they threw me a going away party and it was great! We sang my favorite devo songs, ate brownies (thanks Rocio) ☺, and I just got to spend time talking and sharing a few last moments with everyone. The amount of love that I felt from the Paraguayans was overwhelming. I got a box full of letters and cards and so many gifts. My desire was to go to Paraguay and be a blessing to the people, but instead they blessed my life. I will always have special place in my heart for the people of Paraguay, and Lord willing I will be able to return someday.

Brazil and happenings here...

As you can probably tell from my lack up updating, we had a super packed month of April, but it was incredible! It’s hard to believe my time here is almost over! Here’s a few highlights from the past few weeks.

Brittnea and I went to Itu the beginning of this month and we had a blast. We have to leave the country every 90 days because we have tourists visas, and almost 90 days had passed since we returned from church camp in Argentina, so it was time for us to leave. We chose to go to Itu to visit Mark and Ali Kaiser (some of the missionaries that we spent a lot of time with at the conference back in January), and to get ideas of they types of activities they do with their youth and university students. We had an exciting full weekend! We ate a lot of delicious Brazilian food, walked around the city, attended a Brazilian birthday party, went to a chocolate factory, and we even helped them take their youth group to an amusement park. This amusement park was surprisingly a lot like American amusement parks… minus all the safety precautions you would find at Six Flags. Whoever dreamnt it up definitely traveled around American amusement parks a lot. And Sunday morning we got to worship in Portuguese, which if you didn’t know, is absolutely beautiful. I also got to see the family that I lived with in 2005 when we went to Itu with Aggies for Christ. It never ceases to amaze me with the body of Christ that it doesn’t matter what country or culture you’re from, we’re all family. Here’s some pictures from our wonderful weekend:

Me and Brittnea with two of our new Brazilian friends Karina and Soraya. Soraya is in the university group at church. We got to attend her birthday part that night ☺

Here’s part of the youth that we got to take to the amusement park…notice we’re a little wet... who doesn’t love water rides?

Here’s another shot from the park of a few of us before we left

These are two beautiful parrots I saw at the chocolate farm
…speaking of parrots, my host family here in Paraguay's neighbors (well the people that live directly above us) have a parrot and every morning they put it out on the balcony and it sings and talks. It’s a wonderful way to wake up every morning ☺

Now here’s a few pictures of our church family here in Paraguay one Sunday during and after worship:

Yes, there are potlucks in Paraguay…and yes they are just as great ☺

Eating some delicious food!

Me and Luanna! She is precious!

Here Luanna is feeding Emma. I love this picture!

Update on my English studies… We finished our LST English course a couple of weeks ago, and 4 of my students decided to keep meeting with me to study the Bible more, so praise God for that answered prayer.

This is my student Zarita. She is so sweet and super smart! She comes from a Catholic background and has some knowledge of the Bible, but never before has really read it much for herself.

This is Sergio and Monica at the English graduation. They have been dating for 8 years, and they are really interested in the Bible. We have great conversations in our studies. I think they are the ones I look forward to most each week.

Now I just ask your continued prayers for these and my other students, as I am about to leave…that they can feel welcomed by this church family here, and that they’ll continue to grow and decide to become Christians. It’s one of the hardest things to know that I’ve just planted the seed and I can’t stay here to water it or watch God grow it. But I know that God's in control and has a plan for these children of His. Thank you for your prayers and I'll update again before I leave...have a blessed week!

Life with the Yegros!!

We have been so busy here in Asunción that the time has just flown!! To update you all, about 3 weeks ago I moved in with the Yegros family. Nora, my Paraguayan mom, asked me to come stay with them and I was very excited for the opportunity to practice my Spanish more. I also was excited about the opportunity to get more of a feel for Paraguayan life. :) My host parents, Ike and Nora are incredible and my brothers and sisters (Ale, Luis, Mauri, Helena, and Romina) are so much fun! The Yegros' are some of the sweetest people in the world, and I’m so blessed that they’ve allowed me to share their home! Here’s a picture of Ike and Nora before they went out for their 25th anniversary last week:

The following pictures are from Mauri’s birthday party last week:
Here's a picture with all of their cousins

Mauri's cake was delicioso :)

Here's Ale using a hairdryer to make the flames bigger on the grill :)

And here’s some pictures of me at the sock factory that they own! That's right they own a sock factory! It's so awesome! They are slightly confused as to why I think it's so cool, but it's a sock factory!! It's like Willy Wonka minus the chocolate!
Me and Nora behind one of the machines

Me and Mauri holding socks

They always give some of the socks they make away to the children at church, and Nora let me have the job of picking out each child’s socks :)

Also, the weekend of Easter I had the opportunity to travel with them to visit some of their relatives in a small town about 5 or 6 hours away. It was great getting to meet all their family and just have a few days to relax. We also had an ‘asado’, which translated means ‘barbecue’, of lamb! It was pretty tasty :) Here’s some pictures from our vacation time:
Lunch at their grandparents


Gina, Alba, and I in a mango tree


The fun group that went


Jesuit ruins from a war long ago


All the girls at the square


My Paraguayan family!


These guys are pretty funny- they keep me laughing


Me, Helena, and Romina :)


Picture at their grandma's house before leaving Pilar


Helena, Gina, and I on the way home from Pilar


Man on horse

Lastly, we are about to finish week 5 of our 8 week English course, and I think some of my students are going to be interested in studying the Bible with me more after we finish this particular English course. So please keep that in your prayers- their hearts and that God will provide me with the wisdom I need to teach them.

Also, Brittnea and I will be traveling to Itu, Brazil this weekend! Since our 90 day visas expire soon, we decided to go to visit the missionaries and the church there. Thank for you for your prayers and for taking time to read this! I love you all!!

Church Retreat, English Classes, and Orphans

The weekend before last we had an all church retreat at a place out in the country about an hour away. About 60 people came. The place was beautiful, and it was a great time of fellowshipping with everyone. The theme of the weekend was “The Battle Belongs to the Lord.” I was in charge of the kids classes and we did “The Armor of God.” Along with the lesson, the kids got to dress up like soldiers, make swords and shields out of cardboard, and even have a real battle- dodgeball style. Alba and Laura, who are both in our university group, helped teach and they did an amazing job! In the afternoons we had free time to relax and just spend time with everyone. All the kids swam, all the guys played soccer, and al the women sat around on blankets talking under the trees (typical I know). Also, we did spiritual skits one night, which were fun to participate in, even though I didn’t exactly understand them all. We also had a bonfire and got to roast marshmallows. They don’t have marshmallows in Paraguay, but luckily every missionary brings back suitcases of food when they travel to the states. Enoch and Perry supplied the marshmallows, which were quite a treat for the Paraguayans. It was without a doubt a great weekend, and everyone left recharged and encouraged. Here's some pictures:

This is Bruno with his armor on :)


Boys working on their shields


Pati, Luana, and Gabby

Emma, one of the missionary kids. She's adorable- I know :)


The Lord's Army (it's a video)

Eating yay!

This is Nora, my Paraguayan mom :) She's wonderful!!

Anyone who has ever roasted marshmallows knows that the only way to roast marshmallows is to catch them on fire and blow them out. Here Gina and I are demonstrating.


Singing (and fighting off mosquitoes) :)

In other news, my English classes, which is where I spend the majority of my time, are going great! I have loved getting to know all my students. Getting to talk with them, teach them English, and learn about their lives while sharing the Bible with them is an awesome experience. One of my students is named Maria, and she works at the federal bank here in Asuncion. She is about 45 and extremely excited about English. She always says “thank you teacher” after everything she says. I love it. Last week she told me she was telling all her co-workers about how lucky she was that she got to learn English and learn about the Bible at the same time. It was really encouraging to hear her say that. So if you are wondering what you can pray about for me…it’s for my students- that they will develop a genuine interest in the Bible, and that what they learn goes beyond the English language. My other students are named Celia, Jazmin, Daniel, Sergio, Monica, Zarita, and Nohemy. Also, every Thursday night at the church we get together with whoever of the students can come, and we have food, play games, hang out, and they are able to practice their English with us and other students. Here’s some pictures from last Thursday:


My student Celia

Lastly, the orphans are doing good, and are still as precious as ever. Here’s some pictures from this past Thursday’s visit. I’ve also included a couple of videos. You might have to watch the video twice where I spin the little girl around. It’s hilarious.








Helicopter Video :)


HOLA Video ("Yo quiero sacar" = "I want to take a picture!!")

I love you all, and I continue to thank you for all your prayers and support!!