WHILE IN ASUNCION...

It had only been 6 weeks since we were last in Asuncion, but I was really ready for a break…a break from the heat (there’s airconditioners in our room), from ministry (does that sound bad?), from cooking (we’ve had a constant flow of visitors since November) and cleaning up red dirt (it has been incredibly dry and dusty).

We had a packed car as we carried 4 extra adults with us.

We arrived Sunday in time to order pizza and watch the Super Bowl! 

 

 The guys crowded around the computer watching streamed U.S. Superbowl commercials

The reason we came into Asuncion is not because I needed a break or because of the Super Bowl, butbecause of Jeff. He (and 3 other team mates) were asked to speak at a conference in Bolivia. They are sharing with Bolivian pastors and SIM missionaries about oral methods of teaching the Bible, about the Timothy Training program for rural farmers, and about different learning styles.

What did we do while Jeff was away? We managed to stay pretty busy at times despite the fact that our car wasn’t running.

We got caught up on homeschooling.

I got my hair cut twice….once by a lady who refused to cut it theway I wanted and once by a hairdresser downstairs who actually listened toher client.

We went to a team mate’s going away party.

Ginny’s been taking harp lessons.

We played cards late into a couple nights with Asuncion team mates.

We went to the zoo. Pretty sure the monkeys weren't supposed to be out of their cage...but then again, what can you expect from a zoo that costs just $1 to get in. The monkey was so cute and made me want one…until I watched Planet of the Apes the following evening.

 

PPJ assembly line

 

Jeff was so encouraged by the time in Bolivia.  The men and women he spoke to were very complimentary and really began to get a vision of what their ministry could look like of they began using the method Jeff presented.  Praise God!

And Jeff and I go to out on a (late) Valentine’s and (early) birthday dinner date.  We cannot even remember the last time we did that...maybe a year ago

EARLY FEBRUARY VISITORS

We were blessed with two sets of visitors the first week of February. 

The first guest was Jocky, a short termer from Scotland who will be in Paraguay for 6 months.  His passion and profession is film.  His goal is to film various SIM ministries in hopes of doing several promotional videos.  He had only been in country a few days when he was sent (by non-air-conditioned bus) to meet us.  Although there was a bit of culture shock (the intense heat, bugs, the rather laidback lifestyle here, not being able to communicate), he was super tranquilo while with us.  Terere became his best friend and he was very complimentary of and excited about our ministries.  He will have to come back out another time to film more as he wasn’t able to capture it all in just a week (imagine that).  

Jocky was great with our kids (and the Paraguayan kids too), letting them use his camera to film a bit.  He was also a great sport when Tyler kept asking him to record various “shows” they were putting on (the Sword Fight show, the Falling Out of the Tree show, and the Sliding Down the Slide show).

At the same time, we hosted  Daneille and her parents.  Daneille is just finishing up 6 months in Paraguay and her parents came for the last 10 days of it.  Daneille had a whirl-wind tour set up for them to see all the sites…and we were on it.  They too were very easy going and tagged along with us to English class, mobile clinic, terere with friends, and Bible study.  They were able to spend an afternoon killing chickens, preparing mandioca, pulling up madioca, trapsing through a field, munching on sugar cane, and learning to laso cows.

 

 

I tried to lasso and I am afraid that I let the whole state of Texas down.

Thanks Jockey, Daneillel and Tracy for some of the pictures.

18 MONTHS OLD!

February 5, 2012

 

I love watching Julia interact with her siblings.  She studies them and copies their movements.  She entertains them and tags along beside wherever they go.

She seeks them out in a crowd, she wants them when she’s hurt, and she cuddles up next to them to sleep at night.

If they all are reading, she finds a book and flips through it too.

If they are sitting on the floor playing a game, she squats next to them.

The feeling is pretty mutual.  Her brothers and sister adore her.  They are always finding her to play school (she’s always the teacher) or pet store (they dress her up as a dog or another animal).

Loves terere and will join us each time we drink

Loves her pacifier and lollipops (we live in a country where there is an abundance of candy give to babies), and just about any food put on her plate

Loves to “talk” and when she does, were all left to guess what’s been said.

Let’s talk about meal time…..she wants to use a fork and spoon because the others use on and she will not be left out.  She doesn’t like drinking out of a sippy cup because she sees her siblings drinking from a regular cup.  She isn’t a picky eater and we haven’t found anything that she won’t eat.  She is rather messy and if we don’t watch her closely, she’ll dump her bowl on her head when she’s done.

Loves water…a turned on the hose, our pool, the bath, or sitting in the dog’s water bowl

Loves dirt….licking it, eating it by the handful, making dirt angels

She especially loves when the two above mentioned elements come together to create MUD! 

Loves animals and the outdoors

Love to climb on chairs, tables, up slides and rope ladders, up metal ladders and on beds and bookshelves….

Loves giving kisses and will stop anything she’s doing to lean in to one

Loves Jelly (her baby doll), loves to get her a pillow and blanket and put her to bed

RABBITS and DUCKLINGS and CHICKENS, oh my!

We had 13 baby ducks recently hatch and a number of chicks.  For about a week, every couple of hours, the kids would race outside to see if anything was hatching.  If they saw a duckling or chick beginning to peck the shell, they would help it out.

Last week our rabbit gave birth to twins - our first rabbit litter.

NEEDING RAIN

I recently went out to one of my friend’s field and was shocked at how dry and barren it was compared to previous trips.  It has been unbearably hot and dry these last 2 months.  It hasn’t really rained since Christmas and the local farmers are hurting.  The soy plants have been turned into animal food instead of sold for crop.  The corn, sweet potatoes, and beans are all dried up.  My friends talk of watering holes drying up and of killing cows because there is not enough water to sustain their herd.  We are praying for rain.      

ENGLISH CLASS

All of January and into February I offered English classes – 2 days a week in the neighboring town of Jataity and 3 days a week here in San Francisco.  I ended up having a bunch of students – 50 in all.

Teaching at my home in San Francisco.

 

Giving out certificates on the last day of class.

 

My students in Jataity.

 

Daneille, a short termer who stayed with us through January, was a great help to me.  Since the classes were so big, it was nice to be able to divide the groups in order for them to get more practice.

 

Thanks Daneille and Tracy for some of the pictures!