Back in Paraguay

We returned Saturday to Asuncion from the South American missions conference. It was such a wonderful experience, and the week just seemed to fly by. The conference was held in a beautiful hotel in the town of Canela, Brazil. The main purpose of it was for the South American missionaries to meet together, share with other teams, and encourage one another. Here is a picture of mine, Rocio’s, and Brittnea’s chalet that we stayed in.


The theme of the conference was “The God We Serve.” John Willis, a professor that has been at ACU for decades, was the main speaker. He taught the 2 main classes everyday, which were all about God’s promises, commandments, forgiveness, discipline, deliverance, and more. There were also ladies classes, mens classes, and classes for the children and youth taught by various former missionaries that now live in the United States.  We spent the day listening and learning from these speakers and from each other. We also shared the meals together, afternoon fellowship time, and devotionals together.


In the picture above I am with my dear friend Ali Kaiser who I met when I came to Brazil in the summer of 2005. Her and her husband Mark are two of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. They went to ACU and now they are working with the youth and university students at the church of Christ in Itu, Brazil.

This conference was a great transition period to my time here in South America. I was able to meet many wonderful missionary families, and I got to bond with our Paraguay team as we spent time together in planning and working together. I also learned a lot about life on the mission field, and saw how encouraging it was for American missionaries to be with other Americans, spending fellowship time, and worshiping in English. Some of the people at the conference were truly some of the most self-less people I have ever met.

We also got to do some other really neat things at the conference. One afternoon we were able to go visit some waterfalls in a town nearby. They were absolutely incredible! God’s creation never fails to amaze me!

We walked down 900 something stairs to get to the bottom of the waterfall. In the picture above are some of the bravest of us.

Another night, after the nighttime activities were over, we got to walk around the city of Gramado, which is famous for it’s Christmas decorations and lights. I’ve never seen such excitement for Christmas 3 weeks after Christmas. There was a singing chorus of people in a huge Christmas tree (see picture below). It was amazing ☺


The friendships we made at the conference were such a blessing. Below is Waleska Rehbein. She is absolutely precious! She is one of the missionaries in Porto Alegre, Brazil. She married an American and has been working for the Lord ever since.

This is Me, Rocio, and Brittnea with Georgia Frietas, from Continent of Great Cities. We got to spend a lot of time talking with this sweet woman .
On our way out of town our team got to stop by some other waterfalls. They were beautiful as well! The second picture is of Chris and Vicky Fry, one of the families on our team. The last picture is of me and their precious daughter Emma about to put our feet in the cold water :)



The conference was refreshing and rejuvenating for all the people there, and a good kickstart to our time too. Now it is time to begin our work here in Asuncion! Thank you for all the continued encouragement and prayers! I am beginning with 5 hours of Spanish training a day (only for this first week), so please pray that my lessons will go well so I can learn quickly! Blessings to all!

We're finally here!

After our 17 hour flight, Rocio and I arrived at the airport in Asuncion where we were greeted by Brittnea (one of the team members) and Elena (one of the youth from the church). Brittnea is who we are living with and she is just as sweet as can be. Our apartment is in a really safe neighborhood (mom) and has a beautiful view of the city! It's so pretty and green here! After we stopped by the apartment to drop off our bags, we went up to the church for a devo with the youth. I forgot how much I love singing in Spanish. I think I love it because it reminds me that even though we have different languages and different cultures, we’re all the same because we’re all praising God and we’re all one family. The group was very welcoming and excited to have us there. After that we all went to Enoch’s house, another missionary, and grilled hamburgers and played games. Interesting fact- In Paraguay people don’t eat dinner until 9 or 10 at night, and they seem to be night owls…so I think I’ll fit right in. They are also obsessed with soccer. Here's Rocio and I in the kitchen with Brittnea and a group of the girls from church.


Although we just arrived yesterday evening, we left today with the team for a South American missions conference in Brazil. It should be an amazing experience, and I’ll tell you all about it when we return. We will be there for 6 days (until Saturday), and then we will come back and jump right into our roles as interns. We will know more or what we are doing once we’ve had time to talk this week with the team, but some of the things we understand we will be doing are: organizing a university group (as of now anyone below the age of 30 or so makes up the “youth”), reaching out and building relationships with people on college campuses, and doing activities to encourage the youth and university students. We will also be having Bible studies for people that are interested, and possibly working with an orphanage that the church has connections with. It’s all very exciting and I know God is going to work in ways that I can’t even imagine! Please keep the youth, the team, and our time at the missions conference in your prayers!! And thank you all so much for your prayers and encouraging emails!! I love you all!

Good-bye Texas!

I have the greatest friends in the world!! Here are a few of them at my going away party!!