June 20-22nd
Wednesday half the group saw patients with
Jeff. Everyone met up at our house at
3. Our team mates (who live an hour
away) shared their testimony of God’s calling into missions. We also spent time worshipping, with a
devotional thought and in prayer.
Thursday half the group was with Jeff while
the other went on a couple visits with me. For lunch we went to Jataity. A friend of mine invited us to an empanada
and milanesa lunch. After lunch, one
group saw patients in Jataity while the others went visiting in town with me.
Lunch in Jataity
As we were eating lunch at a
friend’s house in Jataity, a lady from another town (who had seen Jeff as a
patient a few times in our town, San Francisco) was passing through and saw our
car. She stopped and said to us, “I
didn’t know that you associated with lowly people. I have wanted to have you over for a meal,
but was afraid. Now that I know this, I
will invite you for chicken.”
Friday half the group was
with Jeff and the other went out with me to Liz’s house to pick cotton. The
group, plus the Houghs and Camerons and Vonnie’s visiting family came over for
empanadas and milanesa. After lunch
Vonnie gave a talk on nutrition. In the
evening, the group played air-soft.
HOST FAMILIES
The students have had some
great experiences this week from weddings, to milking cows, bringing the cows
to pasture on bicycle to attending a funeral.
Some students cooked dinner for their host family and others helped with
the family chores. Liz and Tara each spent a night with us this
week.
MEDICINE THIS WEEK
In
clinic the students saw a man in cardiac arrest, twin on ultrasound, a cool
thorn removal
POLITICS in PARAGUAY
Today our friends were glued
to the TV and politics dominated conversations.
Soccer games were suspended and our local San Juan party was cancelled.
This is
what USA Today said:
After
a quick, five-hour trial, 39 senators voted to dismiss Lugo, while four
senators
voted
against and two were absent. Based on the decision, Lugo is to be replaced by
Vice
President Federico Franco of the Authentic Radical Liberal Party.
The
impoverished, landlocked nation has a long history of political instability.
Lugo was elected four years ago on promises of helping the South American
country's poor, but his more moderate government allies have increasingly
turned against him in recent years.
Lugo's
impeachment trial was triggered in part by an attempt by police to evict about
150 farmers from a remote, 4,900-acre (2,000-hectare) forest reserve, which is
part of a huge estate owned by a Colorado Party politician.
Advocates for the farmers say the landowner used political influence to get the
land from the state decades ago, and say it should have been put to use for
land reform.
Six police
officers, including the brother of Lugo's chief of security, and 11 farmers
died in the clash last week. Lugo's political opponents blamed the president.
Lugo has
expressed sorrow at the confrontation and accepted the resignations of his
interior minister and his chief of police.
The
president also was tried on four other accusations. They include that he
improperly allowed for leftist parties to hold a political meeting in an army
base in 2009; that he allowed about 3,000 squatters to illegally invade a large
Brazilian-owned soybean farm; that his government failed to capture members of
a guerrilla group, the Paraguayan People's Army, which carries out extortion
kidnappings and occasional attacks on police; and that he signed an
international protocol without properly submitting it to Congress for approval.
Since Lugo was “the poor man’s
president”, many of our friends here in San Francisco are devastated to see him
leave office. When there are changes in
government, everyone is affected. People
lose jobs and business customers and friends.
Politics are complicated in our own country and even harder to
understand in a foreign country, so we aren’t sure exactly what to pray...but
praying we are.
