June 2008 TIME journal

WELCOME to PARAGUAY!
June 3, 2008

May 25^th we welcomed our first TIME (Training in Medical Evangelism) interns. God has truly blessed us with a great group of five girls. Four are from various states in the US and one is from Canada. They are all pre-med majors and have an interested in medical missions. I want desperately for these five girls to have a wonderful experience in Paraguay, bond with their host families, brush up on their Spanish and feel as if they saw and did some cool medical things during the next five weeks.

Our schedule was thrown out on day one when one of the girls didn’t make her connection in Miami and we had to stay in Asuncion a day later than planned. The evening of the 25^th we took the girls that were in town to a fun restaurant called the Paulista (which is what you call someone from Sao Paulo) where servers bring huge skewers of meat to the table. The following morning one of our missionaries in Asuncion talked about the history of SIM and what SIM is doing in Paraguay. Jeff and I wanted the girls to see how an agency and mission team fit together. That evening we left for Escobar after the fifth girl arrived.

In Escobar we were welcomed by Andy and Lizet Bowen, missionaries with World Gospel Mission. They have just finished building a beautiful house in the hills. Andy is our former Guarani teacher. We stayed with them 3 nights. Lizet and I planned the food menu weeks before. I made all the desserts and snacks. Lizet and I made breakfast together and she either hired out or cooked lunch and dinner. The first full day, Bob Givens, our “senior” missionary, came to Escobar to speak on expectations. After lunch the girls hiked to a waterfall on Andy’s property. Then Andy gave a three hour Guarani crash course. That night after dinner we watched The Mission since it is about the Jesuits in Paraguay. We will be traveling as a group to the Jesuit ruins in a couple weeks. The movie has awesome film-footage of Iguazu Falls where we will also go. The morning of the second day Andy gave part two of his Guarani lesson and in the afternoon Jeff and Andy talked about Paraguayan history and culture. The girls really enjoyed the time in Escobar. I think it was a great transition between the US and Paraguayan culture. The girls were very nervous about entering into San Francisco, so the last night we had a time of worship (yeah, songs in English!) and prayer. They asked for prayers about language, being a servant, not being so timid, and showing Christ in all they do.

Andy and Lizet Bowen with the interns



I got stuck

ENTERING SAN FRANCISCO

The next day was chilly and drizzling so unfortunately we weren’t able to do the ropes course we had planned. We left Andy’s at 10:00 in two cars – Jeff driving a car belonging to missionaries on furlough and me driving our Suburban. It didn’t make it 2 miles from Andy’s house when I slid off the road and was completely stuck. The bottom of the car was actually resting on a bed of big rocks and the two back wheels weren’t touching the ground! Jeff, Andy, Greg (SIM missionary in language school now), plus two Paraguayan passer-byers pulled the car out but not after several failed attempts and a lot of digging. Once the car was out we noticed one of the tires had a huge laceration. After it was changed, about 12:00, we set out again. Right from the start the group had a taste of mission life – unexpected circumstances and being flexible. At 1:30 we arrived in Villarrica, ate lunch, bought a new tire (which took an hour!), and then bought the girls scrub tops (we ordered them a month ago but they never came in). We stopped in Caazapa a minute to drop off a computer at the Hough’s house and then we hit the red dirt road. After about 30 minutes of rickety bridges, bumpy roads, and no signs of life one of the girls asked, “Where are you taking us!”

On the way to San Francisco



Our house with the mobile clinic on the right

FIRST DAY

We finally reached San Francisco at 6:00 (after dark). It was cold too. We regrouped at our house first, prayed as a team and then Jeff and I took the girls to their new homes. I know from my experience 13 years ago in Guatemala that staying in a home is a scary thing because you have no idea what to expect. Jeff and I prayed so much over the families that we selected. We purposely chose families who had never showed interest in coming to a prayer service. We pray that these families will see Jesus through these girls and that we will develop more of a relationship with them through this experience.

The following day, Friday, we met at our house at 9:00. The girls survived their first night and already had tons to talk about – the power going out, the water that was currently off, the cows outside their windows, staying warm in non-insulated houses, going to bed at 8:00pm and getting up at 5:00am, eating different foods and drinking mate, ect. Tony and Jean, our team mates in San Francisco, shared about the ministry and how the medical ministry fit in with church planting. At 10:30 we switched gears and Jeff taught the girls how to give injections. They practiced on bananas and oranges. (This is how Jeff and I learned on our MET trip in Guatemala.)

Stephanie giving an injection to an orange

MOBILE CLINIC

The girls are divided in two groups. Group A saw patients with Jeff here at the house. We were thankful that people actually showed up since the weather was cold. I taught the girls to do blood draws and how to use the centrifuge. That night the girls went to an outdoor bible study despite the cold weather.

Na Mami, 64 year old believer (and mother of 17!) was one of the patients Jeff saw that afternoon. She came with severe abdominal pain. She has off the charts hypertension and uncontrolled diabetes. Jeff did an ultrasound and saw that her gall bladder was infected which is cause for immediate surgery. The family (with Jean and one of the TIME students driving them) took her to the nearest hospital (Caazapa, 45 minutes away). The doctor said that they needed to go to Asuncion (5 hours away), but there was no ambulance to take them. Jean and Stephanie drove to the next biggest town, Villaricca (45 minutes from Caaazapa), in hopes of finding an ambulance, but they had no luck. Next they went to Oviedo (30 minutes from Villaricca) and thankfully there was an ambulance available.

Saturday was a bitter cold day but we decided to go to Jaitaity for the mobile clinic anyway. We had two patients all day (but Jeff said they were good ones). We half expected this because folks do not get out when it is cold. Also, we heard that people were afraid to come. There is a new “cult” in San Francisco that makes its people scream and cry and act very emotional. The people in Jaitaity were afraid that we were that group! We got home from the clinic about 3:00 – just in time for me to bake and clean and prepare for a girls movie night.


Mobile clinic in Jataity

MOVIE NIGHT

At 6:00 I was amazed that 20 girls showed up at my house (Paraguayans plus the Americans) to watch Mas Barato Por Docena (Cheaper By The Dozen). My house is not that big, so we were squished. But it was fun. The girls laughed all the way through it. I was able to meet some new girls which was nice.

Movie night at my house



Movie night

ÑA MAMI’S FUNERAL

Sunday we met at Tony’s house for prayer service. Alisa (one of the TIME students) brought her host sister which was wonderful because she hasn’t come to any of our meetings. At 5:00 we met at our house to discuss our language, culture and spiritual learnings for the week. It was a sweet time of singing and prayer. At 8:00 we received a call from Ña Mami’s family saying that she had died in Asuncion and her body would arrive at 3am along with several children and brothers and sisters from Asuncion and Buenos Aires. We watched Jean and Tony’s kids (and put them to bed at our place) while they went to visit the family. When they came back they watched the kids so Jeff and I could visit the family.

Most of her life, Ña Mami has been as strong as an ox. She has been a widow for the past 12 years and is still raising many of her children as well as ‘adopting’ many others. Her oldest son is a leader in our church. I don’t know how long Ña Mami has been a believer but I do know that she enjoyed fellowshipping with other believers and loved singing to Jesus. This is the first death of a believer and Christian funeral in this town.

The Latin American tradition is to have a wake. As soon as the family heard the news they began cleaning the house preparing for the body to be laid in the living room and for a multitude of visitors to arrive. When we arrived the mourning and wailing had already begun. Irmalinda, one of Ña Mami’s daughters was especially loud. She was moaning and screaming and hanging on everyone that came to visit. We stayed a couple hours and then left. It was 11:00 when we got in bed. The night was very short night. David, the Floyd’s 3 year old, cried all night long and Jeff woke at 4:00am to be with the family when the body arrived. Jean relieved me at 7:00am and I joined Jeff.

Ña Mami’s body was in an open coffin set on top of a table in her house. Friends, relatives, neighbors came in waves all morning. The men sat outside (discussing politics Jeff said) and the women sat around the coffin indoors. Several of her daughters stayed by the coffin yelling and wailing and touching the body. Usually an appointed person from the community would lead the group in prayers for the dead and in the rosary, but at this wake, Jeff and Tony were asked to lead worship songs.

The wake continued all day (Monday) and all night. Today (Tuesday) we went to the house at 1:00. About 200 people were gathered, the majority non-believers. Again we sang loud as to be heard over the crying and yelling. It got pretty intense at times. Our American funeral traditions seem so cold to people here. They cannot imagine set visiting hour at a funeral parlor! I cannot say I blame them. After about 30 minutes several men quickly put the casket lid on, carried it outside and place it in the back of a truck. As they walked several women touched the casket all the way and were practically throwing themselves on it. We made a processing to the cemetery – some walking and some in cars. A mausoleum was built just yesterday (I saw the guy come in while she was on the table and measure her!). They put the coffin just barely under the ground and right then and there used cement to close her in. We sang more songs at the grave side. I think an instant peace fell over the group once the guitar began playing.

The Catholic tradition is to gather every night for nine nights to pray for the dead. Some of the family has asked us to be there to sing and read the Bible. This is an opportunity like never before. The group of believers has already gotten lots of questions. I pray that God will give them great wisdom to answer questions and that they will have opportunity to explain clearly about salvation and the hope that we have in Jesus.

Na Mami's wake in her house

ULTRASOUNDS

Friday June 6, 2008

The girls have worked with Jeff a couple mornings at the health clinic and a couple afternoons at the clinic here at our house. They talked about cyst removals, toe incisions, ear infections, and high blood sugars. They have gone out twice so far to a neighboring town giving door-to-door vaccinations. In the afternoons the girls have had medical lectures over at our house on the diseases that hey are vaccinating against.

The students had two opportunities to do two ultrasounds on pregnant ladies. The first lady, Ester, was two months pregnant but had started bleeding the day before. They saw the baby clearly but there was no heartbeat or movement. The lady was visibly upset when Jeff told her that she had miscarried. Jeff was able to pray with her and hopefully minister peace into her life (she is not a Christian). Two days later Ester went to Caazapa for a D&C. She was to be married in July but was only engaged after founding out she was pregnant. Since she isn’t pregnant now Ester doesn’t know if she wants to marry him.

The second ultrasound was done on a very poor lady, Zulma, who comes by often with mandioca or oranges and I give her clothes in exchange. Zulma is 29 years old and is pregnant with her 7^th baby. Her oldest is 14 years old (which means she was 15 when she delivered her first baby!) but lives with another family member (this is pretty common). Zulma was still nursing Anibal when she got pregnant so she didn’t know how far along she was. Jeff was able to give her an approximate due date and tell her that she was having a girl. She had mentioned before that she didn’t want another child. I explained that she needed to be on birth control (free from the health clinic) and Jean even gave her 3 packs of pills she had. No matter what neither Jean nor I said Zulma insisted that she could not get pregnant because she was nursing. She here she is barely able to feed the 7 of them and she’s pregnant again.

Since Ña Mami’s death, the family has gathered each night to sing. We went tonight and Jeff played the piano. The people love the piano. They also love to sing, requesting one after the other. I wonder how many hours they would go for. Unfortunately no one else plays musical instruments and it hard for them to sing acapella so singing only takes place if Tony or Jeff are there.

Me and Sulma

CONFIRMATION

Saturday June 7, 2008

I didn’t plan for it to happen this way but 4 families (out of the 5 we placed students with) had kids being confirmed today. About 100 (from San Francisco and surrounding communities) 15 years olds gathered at the church with their family and god-parents, recited prayers, were blessed by and received the Holy Spirit by the priest and had their first communion.

Virginia at her confirmation

VISITORS

This weekend has been crazy with all our visitors. I feel like I have been cooking around the clock! Vonni and Greg, SIM missionaries in Guarani language class right now, have been staying with us the past couple nights. Then this afternoon we briefly entertained Steve Hardy who came South Africa to see what SIM was doing in rural Paraguay (he was here last year and wanted to do some follow-up work). We ate lunch with him and then he hung around as we began class with the students (3:00-7:00). Vonni, who is a dietitian, gave two lectures for the girls. The first was on the Paraguayan diet and the second was on diabetes. In between sessions Jeff did an ultrasound on her (she’s 7 months pregnant).

Gayna is the aunt of one of our TIME students and is a missionary in Asuncion. She and her son, Jonathan, came to San Francisco today to visit Rachel. They ate lunch with Rachel’s host family and dinner with us (plus Steve Hardy and the Camerons). I’m getting good at cooking for a crowd since we always seem to have company. It is fun, though. I was very thankful to Jeff and Ginny who did all the dishes!

ENCUENTRO

Sunday June 8, 2008

About 40 of us met outside today for church. The weather was beautiful – not too hot and not too cold. After church Rachel, her Aunt and cousin, plus the Camerons are lunch with us. Both sets of company left around 1:30. In the afternoon our family picked green beans together from our garden. It was exciting because we all had helped plant and water them. After picking them we sat in the living room and snapped them. I boiled them in salt water and froze them in bags. It will be nice to have green beans because we cannot get them here and we miss them very much. At 5:00 we had a devotional time with the girls. I challenged them to make the most of every opportunity to tell about Jesus. They have been teaching Jeff and I new worship songs since we are way behind the times.

Jeff teaching Psalm 1 during Sundays encuentro

VACCINATION CAMPAIGNS

Monday June 9, 2008

Today the girls went to San Ignacio to give vaccinations. They are really enjoying doing that. The weather has turned and it is cold again. It rained off and on all day. We watched our piece-of-junk car get towed today. It was in the shop several days while we were in Asuncion being worked on, but since getting it back it has had trouble starting and it finally died. The engine won’t even turn over now. So it is on its way to Asuncion. Hopefully it will be fixed quickly and Jeff will be able to take a bus to Asuncion and drive it back.

This afternoon Jeff taught a class on Catholicism. It generated a great discussion. During the month we have each girl scheduled to spend the night with us. Last week Kim spent the night and today Whitney is spending the night. It was our way of giving them a break from culture, feeding them familiar food, and getting to know them better one-on-one.

Rachel giving a vaccine

TAKING CARE OF THE SICK

Wednesday June 11, 2006

Tuesday some of the girls went to the health out post with Jeff and the others went to visit Na Tunia with me, an elderly shut in. In the afternoon we had a class on missions – the origin of it and our part in it. It was a great discussion. Jeff and put together several articles, had them bound in a spiral book, and give one to each of the girls. The book has four categories: missiology, Paraguay culture, language learning, and medical-missions. Before our missions discussion Jeff had the girls read a couple articles.

Today vaccination campaigns were kind of a bust. The nurses didn’t have enough vaccines and didn’t have the foresight to order more. People here do not seem to think ahead and plan for the future. For example, saving money is not heard of (there is no bank or safe place to save it even if you had extra) and talking with kids about plans after high school is futile (they have no clue).

This afternoon was clinic at our house. I again oversaw the lab work with one student while the others shadowed Jeff in the van. They did a sonogram on a pregnant lady and saw some cool cases – a guy with thorns in his arm that had to be cut out (one of the students got to sew it back up!) and a guy who had a piece of metal fly in his eye while welding (they haven’t heard of safety glasses here). I love watching Jeff as he teaches the students. You can tell that he loves sharing his knowledge. One of the students commented that he was the best teaching doctor she had seen. I am sure it is true. He is patient, shows pictures, and explains difficult concepts slowly and in non-“medicalese”.

Stephanie drawing blood in our living room

HOW CAN I BE SAVED?

PRAISE THE LORD! We just heard that one of Ña Mami’s sons prayed to receive Christ in light of all the singing and preaching that went on after her death! He went to his believing sister-in-law and without even greeting her (VERY uncommon here!), just blurted out, “How can I be saved?” She had the amazing privilege of sharing the gospel with him and he accepted Christ as his savior! Pray for Cesar in his new-found faith. He lives several hours away and we pray that he will be able to get plugging into a solid Christian group and grow in the Lord. We continue to pray for the other 15 siblings. About half of them are not believers. They have heard the Word of God now and are at a very vulnerable time in their lives.

THE GIRLS

The girls are enjoying their experience with host families and are learning cultural things that Jeff and I never had the opportunity to do. Whitney is staying with our round-the-corner neighbors, Mari and Ishmael Pena. In fact, the Priest is over there for dinner every night he is in town (Thursday through Sunday). He consumes an entire liter of wine and gets a little “sillier” as the bottle becomes emptier. We have been told by one of our believers that he tells very inappropriate jokes during mass, but the people laugh and love him. Very sad. I am praying that Whitney’s host sister will do something with us. We’ve had a couple opportunities for the girls to hang out at my house and she was the only host sister that didn’t come. I wonder if her parents won’t let her come around because we are evangelicals

Whitney with her host mom and sister

Alisa is staying with Lila and Claudio. They have a store at their house and he is the administrator of the health out post (even though he has a 6^th grade education; he knew someone in he political circle). Alisa and her host sister, Marlene, have been reading the Bible together! Marlene is the one that came to prayer meeting for the first time last Sunday.

Alisa with her host mom and dad


Stephanie is staying with our front door neighbors, Oscar and Gladys (Stephanie is staying at our house tonight). Oscar is a teacher and Stephanie has plans to sit in his classroom sometime next week. She has been developing a relationship with Gladys who is a bit shy. Gladys is teaching her today to make a traditional bread called chipa.


Stephanie with her host family

Kim is the shiest in the bunch and she was place with the most bubbly family of the bunch (we picked families before we knew them) but it has turned out to be really good. Kim is Canadian and learned French in school not Spanish so she is struggling to communicate but desperately wants to have meaningful Christ centered discussions with them. They love her like their own family member. They wait outside at the hour she said she’d be back and rush to the car to help her out.

Kim with her host mom

Rachel is staying with Jose Maria (have you ever met a man named Maria?) and Florentina. Rachel was born and raised in Nepal as a missionary kid. She has been the most studious of Guarani, bringing new words that she has heard and asking for sentences to communicate better (even though her Spanish is pretty good). She too has been reading the Bible with her host mom and sister. Florentina came once to a prayer meeting months ago but was told that if she did anything else with us her daughter could not be confirmed. Many folks here have been threatened that way. Her daughter was confirmed last Sunday and I am praying that she will come to studies again.

These girls are opening up doors in the community and I am so excited to see the fruit in years to come (maybe even sooner!).

Rachel with her host sister and mom

HOLIDAY

Thursday June 12, 2008

All plans were cancelled (working at the health clinic) for today because it is a holiday – memorial of the Chaco War. Our team mates from Caazapa came down for lunch with us and at 2:00 when the girls arrived they gave their testimonies. Next we discussed motives for missions and what it means to be called of God.

101 WAYS TO USE PIG SKIN

Friday June 13, 2008

Being a missionary is a good lesson in being flexible! Today it was raining and so vaccination campaigns were called off. Instead the girls came over to our house for a lesson on suturing. Jeff demonstrated suturing and knot tying and let them practice on pig skin!

Jeff teaching me to suture on pig skin

GAME NIGHT

Saturday June 14, 2008

Today we were supposed to go to Maria Auxiliadora for a mobile clinic but it was raining this morning. Instead a couple of the girls came over to hang out. Jeff had a few patients come to the door that they helped with (pneumonia and a cyst removal). At 1:30 the girls and I went to visit one of the girls’ host moms. She was kind and served us mate and sopa Paraguaya. At 3:30 our family went to a birthday party and sat back while the kids got hyped up on sugar. At 5:00 I had about 15 girls over to play the card game Uno. We played until 8:00. Now I am packing for our trip to Encarnacion tomorrow.

Game night at my house

TRIP TO ENCARNATION

Tuesday June 17, 2008

Sunday we went to prayer service. As soon at it was over a patient came by Tony’s house. He had fallen off his motorcycle and had dislocated his shoulder. Jeff and Tony tied sheets around their waists and the patient in order to slowly pull the arm back into socket (the guy was in so much pain) but it didn’t work. Jeff finally had to give up and urge him to seek care and an x ray in the next town. We ate a quick lunch prepared by a lady in town and then piled in the car to head to Hotel Tirol near Encarnacion. It has been a constantly changing plan as to exactly how we were going to get to the hotel (Remember we only have one borrowed car at t his time because the Suburban is in Asuncion). First Jeff was going to take a mid-night bus to Asuncion and drive it back to San Francisco but that would have cheated the medical interns out of a clinic day and he didn’t feel right about that. Next, it was a possibility that a new SIM family would drive it out to us and bus back but that fell through. Third, Tony said that he would drive a second car (his car) and stay at the hotel with us. In the end, the Floyds offered to keep out 3 oldest children allowing all of us to ride in one car.

Jeff fixing a dislocated shoulder

We arrived at Tirol around 4:00 (we made great timing). The girls hiked one set of trails before dark. Between 5 and 7 we played word games – boggle and take two. At 7:00 we had a wonderful dinner (the food is really good here).

Monday we went to visit two sets of Jesuit ruins - Trinidad and Jesus. It was nice that we had watched The Mission at Andy’s house and had some historical context. We came back to the hotel for lunch and then headed out again for the big city of Encarnacion. I did some grocery shopping and the girls were happy to spend time at the Cyber Café. We ate another wonderful meal at 7:00 then after Micah and Tyler were in bed we played more games with the girls. We played Balderdash and we all laughed so hard!

This morning we ate breakfast at 8:30. There is another trail the girls wanted to hike. The plan is to be packed and ready to go before we eat lunch at noon. We’ll leave right after lunch, getting back mid-afternoon to San Francisco. They girls had said that they appreciated this mini-vacation away from Spanish, unpredictable shower water temperatures, Paraguayan food and being a guest in someone else’s house (that is exactly why we planned this in the middle of the TIME trip).

Jesusit ruins at Jesus

Church at the Jesuit ruins at Jesus


It was a long day!

CLINIC DAY

Wednesday June 19, 2008

Yesterday the group went to Kuarahy Rese for vaccination campaigns. This afternoon they came for clinic at the house. While at the house they got called away to an emergency. A man fell off the top of his big (wood hauling) truck. He lacerated his scalp and may have broken his back. Praise God he could move his legs but he did have a huge painful bulge in his lower back. Rachel is staying the night with us tonight.

Today the clinic was busting at the seams with patients. During this afternoon class time they presented cases – an infected foot, young girl requiring oxygen, pneumonia. Jeff discussed mission strategies and what other medical missionaries are involved in – rural outposts, hospitals in cities, mobile ministries, etc. Alisa stayed to spend the night.

SAN JUAN FESTIVAL

Friday June 20, 2008

Vaccination campaigns were canceled due to bad weather (are you seeing a pattern of bad weather and canceled events? When it rains or if it is too cold people do not leave the house and shops close down.) Instead, Jeff gave a medical lecture at our house. 2:00-6:00 was clinic at our place. A severely malnourished 18 month baby was brought by concerned neighbors. The child was abandoned and left with a grandmother who does not have the resources to provide adequate nutrition (especially protein). The baby had a distended belly, swollen face and hands, dry cracked and bleeding skin, a rash over its entire body, discolored hair and fussiness.

Tonight there was a San Juan Day fiesta (a fundraiser for the Catholic Church) at the school. It was one of the most bizarre things I have attended. About 300 people (I got the impression that more people would have been there but it was cold) were eating empanadas, twirling caburre over open fires, and participating in the events. The “events” of the evening were definitely the focus. About 20 high school guys were dressed in white poncho type shirts, sheets/rags wrapped around their legs and their head and face covered with material (holes were made for the eyes and mouth). They reminded me of the KKK. They are called “kambas” which means a black or dark person. Because they were unrecognizable in their costumes, they basically had a license to act crazy and talk in high pitched voices. Not just anyone can be a kamba. If someone wanted to dress up on the day of San Juan he approaches a designated guy earlier in the week and submits his name. That person decides if he is “worthy” enough to be a kamba. If you had been rowdy in the past then you cannot do it again. The chosen will receive a secret paper with instructions.

The first game was “pelota tata” (fire ball). A kerosene drenched ball was set on fire and thrown onto the field. The kambas played silly soccer and occasionally kicked the flaming ball into the crowd. Those that weren’t playing fire-soccer tried to climb a pole that was covered with soap. No one got to the top to knock down the bottle of whisky.

Next we watched the kambas perform in a “dance till you drop” contest (which in my opinion went way too long). There was even a guy dressed as a girl (stuffed bra and all). When the last dancer was left standing a bell was rung and a phony wedding ceremony was performed. One youth impersonated Atilano, our town Justice of the Peace and another guy impersonated the local priest (the REAL priest was actually the MC for the night and quite possibly laughing the hardest during this sacreligious event). The couple (two kambas) was kneeling in front of an altar waving a whiskey bottle and acting drunk. I didn’t catch all that was said because there were so many play on words and the crowd was rolling with laughter. The fake priest performed a fake mass. He made the sign of the cross saying in Guarani, “here, there, over there and over yonder”. Then he doused everyone with “holy water” (using a toilet bowl scrubber).

After our blessing, the “toro kandil” (flaming bull) made an appearance. A kamba with tent-like structure over him chased other kambas. Protruding from the tent was a pole with horns. The horns were on fire. Kambas took turn chasing other kambas. Two or three more pelota tatas were thrown into the action.

The final event was the burning of Judas (a stuffed scarecrow hung from a pole). The fire set off firecrackers inside of him and the people cheered. About 10:00pm people staggered home (some literally because of all the whiskey they consumed). Like I said earlier, this was a bizarre event and I really wasn’t sure how to act in response to it. I do not know the history of San Juan and why they celebrate the day like that. It had a very pagan/sacreligious feel to it. One thing it did remind me of was the fact that these people need Jesus. They are lost, sinful and full of wickedness. But God wants to redeem the people of San Francisco to Him!

Dance-till-you-drop contest with the Kambas


The firecracker filled Judas


Kamba kicking the fire ball


Women cooking caburre

ONE LESS PIG

Saturday June 21, 2008

Whitney and I got up before 7:00am this morning and went to a pig slaughtering at Na Justina’s house. When we arrived she cooked cocido (burnt sugar and yerba with more sugar and milk poured over…good but VERY sweet) on a brasero (reminds me of a camping stove with coals) for us to drink. Na Justina and her family found it amusing that we did not know the pig killing process and that we came all the way from across town (5 minute drive) to see it happen. The pig was 150kg (330lb). Na Justina bought it from our neighbor for 700gs ($175) two days before. A rope was initially tied around one of the pig’s legs. She was too strong to fall so they tied a rope around the second leg. She fell with a thud. The husband left at this point to work in his field and left the women (his wife, a teenaged daughter, a neighbor lady, and an 11 year old granddaughter) to do the work. The pig was squealing horrible cries and thrashing about. It took all the girls weight to hold it on one side while the mother stuck a foot long blade into the neck of the pig. She placed a basin under the wound to catch the draining blood. In a 10 minute period she stabbed three times in the same place but each time going deeper. Finally the pig became still and silent and the blood stopped flowing.

The women lugged the dead weight (some pushed and some pulled) onto a plank on the ground. They poured scalding kettles of water over the skin. Using a knife they shaved the pigmented black skin off until he was white in color. They worked hard on one side and then would use all their might to turn the pig over and start on the other side. Next they brought out a razor and shaved the all remaining pig hairs. Once the pig was whisker free they washed him with soap and hot water. They did such a thorough job. I was impressed by all the hard work. A man came from next door to do the cutting. First he cut off the feet and then skinned the pig, removing the thick fatty layer. When the pig was “nude”, it was rolled on its back, sternum cut with a saw and opened up in order to remove the organs which were placed in a bowl. Once that was done the rest of the pig was cut up and the meat chunks were placed on a wooden table inside the house. The whole process took over 2 hours.

Everything is either sold or used – nothing is discarded. Na Justina said that she will make a 150gs profit on this pig ($37). The pig fat is used to make many Paraguayan traditional dishes like mbeju, sopa and chipa. They also make shisharon which is fried fat (Can’t you feel your arteries clogging?). Whitney and I were offered some to eat and we very politely said how interesting it was (notice we didn’t say “good”). The head is sold for its tongue and cheeks. We often see people walking with just the animal head on their shoulders – tongue sticking out. One of the girls was given a pig’s ear to gnaw on for dinner (very chewy) by her host mom. Another girl was offered duck liver and heart one night (tastes like chicken???). The hooves are cleaned (thankfully) and put whole in stews. Now here’s the good part (that was written very sarcastically), from the fat and blood and intestines they make morcillo (blood sausage). When I left the pig slaughter, the 11 year old was carefully emptying out the yellowish-brown contents of the intestine. Fat and blood will next be mixed together and stuffed into the intestine. It will be cooked and served for dinner. Jeff and I recently ate morcillo. Surprisingly enough I think it would have tasted decent IF I hadn’t known what it was and how it was made. Jeff and I choked it down while the host and hostess watched our faces to see if we liked their daughters cooking.

I bought several pounds of pig meat: the lomito (the meat above the spine and in my opinion, the best cut) and a back leg. My total was 110gs ($27) for 11kg (24lbs). What I consider to be old fashion scales are used to weigh the meat. Various weights are used on one side to balance the meat on the other side. To weigh the lomito I bought, Na Justina had to use a 2kg bag of yerba and add smaller weighs on top of that. I brought my sack of meat home and Jeff and I began cutting the meat off the bone. We cut the meat from the leg in chunks to be used in stir-fry or shish-ka-bobs. The lomito we left whole to put on the grill some day.

Women killing the pig


Weighing my meat


Pig head, anyone?

PIZZA NIGHT

Changing gears, at 10:00 the girls and I went to visit Alisa’s host family. I know her family the least so I was thankful to be able to spend some time with them. At 5:00 the girls and Floyds came over for game and pizza night. Pizza night here isn’t as easy as pizza night in the states. We cannot call Dominos, place an order and wait for it to arrive. I spent the afternoon making dough and preparing the toppings. I made 4 pizzas: (1) meat lovers with ham, pepperoni, ground beef, and onions, (2) pepperoni, (3) tomatoes, onions and chicken, (4) and a vegetarian pizza (one of the students doesn’t eat meat back home) with tomatoes, onions and broccoli. We played Balderdash. Our goal was to upset the current “hog-wash” champion, Whitney, but she won again!

Pizza night

Sunday June 22, 2008

9:30 was worship service at Tony’s house. Tonight at 5:00 is devotional time at our house. Jeff and Ryan are currently on the road to Asuncion. Jeff drove the Reiches car there, will pick up our fixed Suburban in the morning and drive it out here for afternoon classes tomorrow.

Monday June 23, 2008

Today’s vaccination campaigns were cancelled today due to lack of transportation. Stephanie and Alisa came over to interview my house help. In order to get credit at their schools for this trip they need to complete a paper. They have chosen to focus on psychosomatic disorders of Paraguayan women. They’ve collected information from Jeff (through patients he has seen), and have experienced first hand some interesting cases, and have interviewed various people.

Stephanie and Whitney went to school today with Ginny to observe. They were shocked at how little the kids did while in class. School begins at 12:40 with a ringing of a hand-held bell. The kinder through 6^th graders line up outside arms length a part. The director says, “Buenas tardes” and the students shout in unison, “Buenas tardes profesora.” Then they are dismissed. Kids began taking their desks out of their class room and setting them up outside. The students began cleaning the room, sweeping and collecting trash. After 20 minutes, the students brought their desks back in to begin class but waited another 10 minutes while the teacher wrote on the chalk board. During this time the kids were out of seats, leaving the class room and playing with each other. The kids spent the next 30 minutes copying it down in their notebooks. Finally at 1:40 the teacher was ready to teach. They focused on the letter N and did two math problems before it was break time. Stephanie and Whitney commented that there were no books or visual aids, bare walls, and lack of order in the class. Our kids enjoy going to Paraguayan school. They have made friends and have picked up on a lot of Spanish and Guarani, for which we are thankful. It has also expanded my circle of friends to include the teachers. Because there is a definite lack in the system we also home school the kids in the morning. It has fun and challenging to be creative and teach to their individual learning styles.

Jeff got back from Asuncion at 1:30 (25 hours after he left), drank a quick cup of coffee and was ready to talk about missiology with the girls during class time at our house. Before the team came Jeff and I put together a collection of articles and had them bound. The book is divided into four sections: culture, language, medical evangelism and missiology. Most of our class times have been spent discussing various articles that Jeff assigned ahead of time.

Something the girls have said over and over is that they love their host family and feel that God placed them with the perfect family for their needs. They have really bonded, are having spiritual conversations and are even cooking for their families! Stephanie tried pancakes and found it extremely difficult to flip them in a pot. She next tried omelets with onion, peppers, and cheese. Paraguayan cheese is different though and doesn’t melt well, nor does it have much flavor. The family commented that our American food must be healthier for you because it doesn’t have salt (we wondered if he meant “taste” too). Alisa cooked pancakes for lunch for her family but they didn’t have any baking soda, so her pancakes were more like crepes. The family took one look at them and decided to wait until dinner to eat them. Alisa wasn’t home for dinner that evening and the next morning they were still sitting out. They never said a word about them. Rachel cooked spaghetti for her family and it turned out well (according to Rachel it was a “taste from home”) but the family found it quite interesting. They didn’t finish their plates and didn’t have many compliments. The host sister said that her throat was hurting so she couldn’t swallow the food. Later the girl said to me, “Rachel cooked for our family and used 8 (small) cans of tomato paste. That’s expensive!”

Rachel singing the hairs off a chicken

MOOOOO!

Tuesday June 24, 2008

Whitney said that she wanted to milk a cow while she was here so we found a tame cow. This morning at 7:00 we walked to the Na Adelida’s house and received a lesson on cow milking. After the four of us had a turn and thinking that we had exhausted the poor cows milk supply, Na Adelida squatted down to “get to business”. We realized that we were way too gentle. Man, Na Adelida pulled and pulled and got out more milk in 30 seconds than the 4 of us did in 30 minutes!

Milking a cow

Sunday one of the believers came up to me and asked if they could have a going away party for the team. I mentioned that I wanted to do something to thank and recognize the host families and maybe we could do something together. Another motive was to get the believers and the non-believers to interact together. At 5:00 (after class this afternoon) we went to the Floyd’s house. Tony grilled pork and the believers brought drinks, rice salad and mandioca. Each host families was there, even a few host fathers came. It was a wonderful evening of fellowship. The team publicly thanked the church and their host families for welcoming them and allowing them to share in fellowship. Each family spoke praise over the student and welcomed them back any time. The families also kept thanking Jeff and me for trusting them to take care of our friends.

Alisa and her host family went to another San Juan fiesta (apparently events go on all week to celebrate). Tonight was a fund-raiser for the high school. It included all the same silly events but with different Kambas.

Paraguayan women milking a cow

LAST DAY IN SAN FRANCISCO

Wednesday June 25, 2008

Today is the last full day in San Francisco. At 7:00 the girls headed out for the last vaccination campaign. At 2:00 we had clinic at our house. Alisa went to high school with her host sister. She was surprised at how little time was spent in the classroom and how little of that time was actually spent teaching. She was there 4 hours. The first hour was spent counting the money that was raised the night before. They had chemistry class where the teacher spent 30 minutes writing on the board and the students spent the next 45 minutes copying the board. The teacher went over the two word problems for 15 minutes. Then it was time for a break.

ROAD TRIP TO BRAZIL

Thursday June 26, 2008

Between 7:15 and 8:00 we picked up the students, drove by the Floyds house to say good-bye and headed out of town. All the host families were sad to see the students leave (some were crying). All the students received gifts from their host family - yerba, hats, a small pitcher.

We entered Brazil at 1:00 and went to McDonalds for lunch. We spent two hours this afternoon at the waterfalls on the Brazil side. I have been to this side numerous times yet it still is amazing. I know the girls were blown away by its power. Along the path is a plaque embedded into the rock that says in English, “Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the Lord on high is mighty. Psalm 93:4” Yes, praise the Lord, our God is so mighty!

For dinner we ate at the hotel and had a great buffet to choose from.

Brazil waterfalls

ARGENTINA

Friday June 27, 2008

We ate from the hotel breakfast buffet and then headed out at 9:15. We spent all day on the Argentina side of the waterfalls, walking the trails, up and down the rock stairs. My legs and feet are sore now! It rained off and on all day actually making the hike pleasant (Jeff and I have done the trail in 100 degree weather so we welcomed the sprinkles of today). The Brazil side and Argentina side have very different views of the waterfalls. On the Brazil side you see the big picture and you can really grasp the size of Iguazu falls. On the Argentina side you get up close to the waterfalls, seeing them from above and below. You get a feel for the power and volume of water. On the Argentina side you see up close the most impressive part of the Falls - The Devil’s Throat.

We ate at Pizza Hut for dinner and the girls walked to an ice cream shop afterwards.

Devils Throat, Argentina waterfalls


Our group at the Falls


Tyler and mom


Waiting for the boat


Ryan


Tyler

ASUNCION

Saturday June 28, 2008

We left the hotel at 9:30 and headed for Asuncion. We made a few stops in between. First stop was in Caacupe to see the Catholic basilica there. Caacupe is a Mecca for Paraguayans and every December 8^th Paraguayans make a pilgrimage to visit the Virgin. The more they suffer along the way, the better, so they think. Some will walk or even crawl all the way there. They go to thank Mary for answering their prayers and also to petition her for things concerning the coming year. It is a very beautiful church.

The next stop was in Aregua which is know for its pottery. The girls did some shopping there. Next, we stopped in Luque, famous for their silver filigree jewelry. The girls found some nice earrings, rings, and bracelets.

We stopped in Asuncion to pick up dinner and arrived at the SIM guest house at 7:30pm.

Church in Caacupe


To honor Mary

Sunday June 29, 2008

We went to church just up the street in the morning. In the afternoon we went to a grocery store for the girls to buy cappuccino mugs, dulce de leche, and yerba. They went to the mall to for ice cream and to find maps of Paraguay. In the evening we had a time of worship (led by Tom Stout) and debriefing. We discussed frustrations and highlights of the trip, as well as what God had been teaching them about missions and medical missions. The girls had given Jeff and me a thank you card with some money in it. They told us that they would watch the kids while we went on a date. So, we took them up on the offer and headed to the mall for a movie and then ice cream.

Monday June 30, 2008

Today we shopped until we dropped. At 9:30 we went downtown to Colon street where there are several shops selling leather, nanduti lace work, guampas, and other typical Paraguayan things. We next went to Palmas street where the girls found soccer jerseys. We stopped at the government buildings and walked to the water. Finally we gave into our hunger pains and went to the mall for lunch. We stopped at two grocery stores for flip flops, notebooks, and for last minute gifts. We arrived back at the SIM guest house tired at 4:30!

Capitol building

Tonight we had a wonderful evening at Arpa Roga. Paraguayan friends of ours built a cultural event center behind their house (where the husband’s carpentry shop used to be). We ate a wonderful asado (BBQ) with meat and sausage, plus a buffet with every typical Paraguayan dish. We were serenaded by three different harpists. One of the harpists played as his father sang and played the guitar.

Tuesday July 1, 2008

This morning I drove the girls to the airport. Jeff and I will hang out in Asuncion until our annual SIM spiritual life conference starting Sunday.

MAY 2008

TEAM MEETING

May 1, 2008

It’s become tradition to have a team meeting every May1st in Villarrica and this year was no exception. It is always nice to have an excuse to get together.

Our SIM Paraguay team

SLUMBER PARTIES

The night before Ginny was invited to a slumber party for all the MK girls by one of our team mates. They had a blast dressing up, getting make-up and nails done, learning a Paraguayan dance, watching movies and staying up late.

MK girls slumber party (Ginny is the smallest one)

DEATH OF A PIG

Unfortunately while we were gone the weather became unbearably cold and our poor little piggy froze. We came home and Ginny immediately went to check on Wilbur. She ran to Jeff and said, “Daddy, I’ve been trying to poke Wilbur to wake him up but I think he is dead!”

Ginny with her piggy, Wilbur

OVER THESE THREE YEARS….

May 4, 2008

It is hard to believe that three years ago we were packing up all the possessions worthy enough to come in our 12 bags, saying good-bye to family and beloved friends and feeling an array of emotions as we left our country behind and jumped into the great unknown. Three years ago today we stepped off the airplane in Asuncion, Paraguay and were welcomed by hot weather and friendly faces. I remember thinking this is now our home and these people are now our family. I had no idea what our life was going to look like but I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God had called us here for such a time as this.

Over the last three years we have moved three times, studied two languages, traveled to 4 different countries, have had 6 different visits from friends and family, have welcomed new team mates as well as said sad good-byes to other team mates. Over these three years God has given us a heart for Paraguayan people and an excitement in learning a new culture and language. Over these three years as we have laughed and cried together, our team mates have become our best friends. God is so good and has blessed us beyond what I could have asked.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSHUA!

May 16, 2008

Joshua requested a camping party this year for his 5^th birthday. Our team mates three boys came over. We set a tent up in our back yard (where the kids slept) and roasted hot dogs and made s’mores over a ground fire. I made a cake in the shape of a 5, frosted it green and put camping themed Legos on top.

Do these kids look ready to sleep?


Joshua with his number 5 cake

VET TRIP

May 17-18, 2008

Linda George is one of my dearest friends here in Paraguay. God currently has the George family living in Asuncion; praying about their next step in ministry. Linda is a veterinarian and has talked for months about bringing students to San Francisco. We were excited when that day finally came.

Saturday morning David and Linda George with their three kids: Savannah, Rebecca and Seth (Micah’s age) plus two Paraguayan vet students and another young man David is mentoring pulled up in front of our house. After breakfast they hit the streets of San Francisco. They were gone all day with a short stop back at our house for lunch. They vaccinated about 60 dogs and cats. That night we showed a Christian film outdoors on a big screen and several people came.

Sunday morning the group attended prayer meeting with us. Then we ate lunch and left for Asuncion. Since our car is not drivable (AGAIN!) we caught a ride to Asuncion with the Georges. We’ll be up here until the TIME students fly in on May 25th.

Vet group that came to San Francisco

ANNIVERSARY

May 23, 2008

Jeff and I celebrated our 10^th year anniversary. A teammate (thanks, Kelly) watched the kids while Jeff and I went to a movie (Indiana Jones) and out for a wonderful dinner (Thanks Vicki for the recommendation). I ate salmon mushroom and shrimp sauce and Jeff ate kurubi (fish) with crab sauce. Yum!

APRIL 2008

My kids walking to school

Physicals

Jeff and I went to Maria Auxiliadora to take blood pressures and listen to the hearts of 30 7^th and 8^th graders so they could participate in PE. My observations:

When we arrived the 7^th and 8^th graders were outside raking up fallen leaves, hoeing weeds the lawn, taking a machete to bushes and laying rocks around trees. Paraguayans are such hard workers. You’d be hard pressed to find a group of young kids doing this kind of work in the states (community service assigned by a judge doesn’t count).

The PE teacher wasn’t there yet so we sat outside between the pre-school and first grade classroom. The entire 30 minutes we were there, no teacher stood p to teach. In fact, the preschool teacher spent the entire time in the first grade room gabbing. The first grade teacher was on the phone, out of the room, and talking to other teachers. The kids in both classes were staying in their seats but talking amongst themselves. It never ceases to amaze me when I walk past my kid’s school that the teachers are always outside gabbing with each other. I was asked to take pictures of Ginny’s class. One sunny day I walk her to school with my camera in hand. As I lead the kids under a tree to take their individual pictures four other teachers leave their classrooms and come to see what is going on (including Pearla, Joshua’s teacher). I glance at my watch. After I take the pictures, the teachers and I talk for awhile and I am offered terere. 45 minutes have passed when I decide to leave. That means that Pearla’s class of 30 pre-schoolers was 45 minutes without a teacher in the room!

The 7^th and 8^th graders were asked to fill out a form before we did their physicals. The form had “tough” questions on it such as name, date of birth, and today’s date. The kids had so much trouble filling them out. They had to be walked through it step by step by step and even then they were so confused and put things in the wrong spot. Some of the kids didn’t even know their birth date. The teacher reminded them to check their cedulas (i.d’s) to find their b-day.

Each kid had to pay 500gs for the photocopying of the physical form. Each time Ryan has exams in school he has to bring money to cover the paper and photocopying.

A NUMBER OF PIQUES

The McKissick family has set a new record this week for the number of piques (burrowing flee) found in a 12 day period. The total was…..29. Lots of needles, tears, and band-aids. As a result we have heavily sprayed our yard and dipped our dog’s feet in gasoline to kill their piques.

Ryan – eight on his toes

Joshua – two big ones on the top of his foot, two on his toe, three on his finger

Jeff – three under toe nails, one on bridge of foot

Amy – two under toe nail, one on bridge of foot

Tyler – one on finger, one on toe

Micah – one on toe, two on finger

Ginny – two on toes

Ginny with a pique on her elbow

Paraguayan Supper

Tonight was the first time Jeff and I had Paraguayans over for dinner. I tried to make the meal and atmosphere more Paraguayan and less American. Here’s what it looked like:

1. In the morning we killed one of our ducks. It was the first for Jeff and me and luckily our house help was willing to show us how. Actually Jeff did the killing and most of the plucking. Jeff chopped off the head and legs and Nilsa helped me gut it and get it ready for the oven. The whole event took about 3 hours. My friend Ceserina just had baby number 6. She told me that she kills a chicken everyday for their noon meal. I cannot imagine doing that everyday!

2. In the afternoon I squeezed about 40 oranges. We had been given several sacks full by neighbors and patients. Paraguayans often offer fruit juice when you go to visit them. They like their juice very sweet and therefore put in a lot of sugar. Citrus season is just beginning and already we have had a plethora of oranges, lemons, and tangerines given to us. I am sure that this year will be no different than the last; by the time the season was over we didn’t want to see another orange! Paraguayans don’t drink anything with their meals. They will drink afterwards. This was the case with our guests. Each one refused a drink when offered. Many people here have frequent headaches, dizzy spells, and weakness. People here are dehydrated all the time. They admit to only drinking water with their terere (terere is a dieretic). Summers here are hot and people work hard and walk long distances, yet they don’t consume liquid.

3. Paraguayans eat mandioca with every meal (with the exception of breakfast) so of course I had to serve it. Mandioca is a root, longer and wider than a potato. It is tougher than a potato and the inside is stringy instead of soft. It doesn’t have much taste. I like mine with salt. Ryan will only eat his with ketchup. There is no shortage of the stuff. Most Paraguayan men grow it in their field and bring bags and bags home. They also feed it to their animals. Our neighbor gave me a sack with the biggest mandioca I have ever seen. I spend a good hour peeling and cutting it.

4. At 4:30 I put the duck in and at 6:00 I boiled the mandioca. I also made rice and a dessert of fruit. Paraguayans would never eat fruit with the main meal. They don’t mix sweet and salty tastes (meat being salty and the fruit sweet). They believe that you would get sick and could die from eating these things together. There are also many things such as mango, milk, and spicy foods that you cannot eat or drink before drinking terere. When they see us Americans doing it they say it is because we are foreigners that we don’t get sick or that we are use to it so if doesn’t affect us.

5. I swept the front and side porch and made sure the house looked nice from the outside. Paraguayans like things to look nice. They say “pura pinta” which means picture perfect. It is important that the outside looks nice even if the inside doesn’t (hmmmm, is there a spiritual lesson here?). For example, it is more important for school reports to look nice (nice cover page, multicolored headlines, ect) than the actual content (this was told to me by a Paraguayan student!). You can really see this in Asuncion. The “look” is everything – flashy clothes, shoes, hair and jewelry. When I would go to the mall in jeans and a t-shirt I would always feel so underdressed.

6. Paraguayans always use a table cloth. Although we never do, I had one just for this occasion. And actually Florentina brought me a table cloth as a gift. Our family uses plastic plates because of the kids handling them but this night I got out my clear blue glass plates which are typical here (usually seen in brown) and my 8 not matching glass cups.

7. Late afternoon I changed my clothes. Paraguayans taken a shower around 4:00 and change clothes. I have been told that people who don’t change their clothes all day are either lazy or very poor. Also, Paraguayans dress up a little bit when they leave the house. Once when I went to picked girls up unexpectedly for a movie night all 7 girls said they had to change first. The “new” outfit wasn’t any nicer or cleaner than the first.

8. Paraguayans would prefer to eat around 9:00 but we asked our guests to come at 7:00. I was surprised when they showed up at 6:30. We fed the kids earlier and gave them instructions to come out and visit for a while before starting a movie. Paraguayans would have included their kids but for us it was easier this way. Paraguayans are so good with children and very excusing of bad behavior (which isn’t always a good thing). Greetings are very important here so I made sure the kids knew to shake everyone’s hand and greet them individually. They made me proud!

9. We ate outside where we eat all our meals. It is very Paraguayan to eat outside. The weather was beautiful. The duck was delicious. The teenaged daughter washed all the dishes even though I told her not to do them and that I could do them in the morning (I didn’t want her to see all the things in my kitchen). It is in their nature to help. I am very impressed by their initiative and helpfulness.

10. At 9:30 when all was eaten and good-byes were said I felt pretty good about the evening. I picked up the rest of the things and put the table cloth aside to be washed (Paraguayans use the table cloth for a napkin).

Albert the duck just before death


Burning the hairs off the duck


Dinner

Politics

If I lived her 30 years I would still not understand completely the political situation here and how it has affected the country and the Paraguayan people. The Paraguayan government is known throughout the world for being very corrupt. The Colorado party has ruled for 60 plus years. The way I understand it, if you vote for the “right” party certain favors will come your way (jobs). For example, our district is known for being very Colorado (I guess like some US states as known for being Republican). ALL the teachers in this area have to vote for the Colorado party r they loose their job! We asked our house help if this way true (she is currently studying to get her teachers certificate) and she said confirmed it saying that she too was threatened – if she didn’t vote Colorado in the election, she would have no job when she finished. The nurses at the health center also must vote for the Colorado party or fear loosing their jobs. The director of the health center has his job due to politics – how else can someone with just a 6^th grade education have such a high job! One family that we have spend a couple nights with before the elections were scared of what will happened to their own jobs if Colorado didn’t win. The wife works as a janitor in the health out post but only because her husband agreed to be a key person in our community promoting the Colorado party (there are about 5 of these men who act kind of like spies for the party). They have two daughters who work jobs in another town “because the family votes Colorado). Voting isn’t secretive here like it is in the states either. After voting you give your paper to men sitting at a long table. They look at it and do as they wish.

Last week the elections took place and the Colorado party did not win. The new president, Lugo, will take office in August. We are in for change although I am not sure how much or what kind.

Here’s a blog entry for a fellow missionary serving in Paraguay:

There's a new hope in the air after last weekend's elections. Many could hardly believe that the reign of the Colorado Party was finally over. The atmosphere at work on Monday was reminiscent of the 1997 defeat of the Conservative Party by Labour in the general elections. Everyone was smiling and no-one talked about anything else. Newspapers are calling the 20th April 2008 the second most important date in recent history (after the 3rd of February 1989, when the dictator Stroessner died). It is the first time ever that power has passed from one party to another without bloodshed. According to one commentator, Lugo's win has brought back the desire to live in this country where so many have known nothing but disappointment, broken promises and corruption for so long. Many Paraguayans who have gone abroad in search of work are now considering returning because of this change. No-one knows just what Lugo will do once he takes control of the country, but people obviously have faith in him; he inspires confidence in a way the Colorados had not done for a long time.

Leftist ex-bishop ends 61-year conservative rule in Paraguay

By Laurence Thomann AFP - Monday, April 21 08:38 am

ASUNCION, (AFP) - A leftist ex-bishop Monday celebrated his historic electoral triumph in Paraguay's presidential election after defeating the ruling party candidate and ending 61 years of conservative rule.

Fernando Lugo was declared the winner by the Electoral Tribunal with nearly 41 percent of the vote compared to almost 31 percent for Blanca Ovelar of the ruling Colorado Party, crushing her dream of becoming the South American country's first woman president.

"Today we can dream of a different country," Lugo, 56, told reporters late Sunday. "Paraguay will simply not be remembered for its corruption and poverty, but for its honesty."

Ovelar, whose party has been in power since 1947, conceded defeat before the final results were released.

"I recognize the triumph of Fernando Lugo," she said. "We acknowledge with dignity that the results of the presidential contest are at this point irreversible."

Another candidate, Lino Oviedo, 64, a retired army chief who helped stage a coup that ended the 35-year military dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner (1954-1989), trailed far behind in third place with 22 percent of the vote.

Lugo earlier addressed jubilant supporters of his leftist Patriotic Alliance for Change coalition at his campaign headquarters, saying the election showed that "the little people can also win."

"You are responsible for the happiness of the majority of the Paraguayan people today," he said as supporters chanted his name.

"This is the Paraguay I dream about, with many colors, many faces, the Paraguay of everyone," said Lugo, who was suspended from his religious order by the Vatican in late 2006 for his entry into politics.

His supporters began celebrating their anticipated victory setting off fireworks even before polls closed.

The Colorado Party has been in power for 61 years, including Stroessner's rule. Paraguay chose its first democratically elected president in 1993.

There is no runoff vote in Paraguay. Outgoing President Nicanor Duarte constitutionally could not seek re-election after serving a five-year term.

Turnout was a high 65 percent among Paraguay's 2.9 elegible voters, said Electoral Tribunal vice president Juan Manuel Morales, who announced the final results of the elections when 92 percent of precincts had reported.

Lugo's Patriotic Alliance for Change coalition earlier had feared fraud would mar Sunday's vote, but as 70 observers from the Organization of American States monitored ballot stations, electoral court chief Rafael Dendia said voting went smoothly.

Transparency International, an organization monitoring for voter fraud, reported some cases of corruption.

"We've seen voting cards being bought and money going around in some polling booths," one of the group's observers, Pilar Callizo, told Channel 4.

"We also saw Colorado Party teams inside and outside some polling stations creating an atmosphere of intimidation," she added.

Lugo's opponents have said he is in line with leftwing presidents Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Evo Morales of Bolivia.

But Lugo, while championing the rights of the poor, says he is more centrist as he seeks to overhaul a country with a per-capita income of just 1,900 dollars.

While Paraguay's formal economy relies on agriculture, corruption is pervasive.

Duarte made little headway in stamping out graft, which also sullied his own administration. Paraguay is a prime source of contraband electronics and cigarettes, most smuggled into neighboring Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia.

After election results were announced, Duarte vowed to help Lugo make a smooth and peaceful transition.

"Today we suffered an electoral defeat," Duarte told his Colorado Party, but added: "I want to stress that for the first time in Paraguay's political history, there will be a party-to-party transition without bloodshed, coup d'etat, without violence."

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NO WATER!

Saturday we had a mobile clinic. Jeff saw about 25 patients and I helped with the labs. I am thankful that our children enjoy playing outside because they have no trouble entertaining themselves during the clinic days. They climb trees, collect bugs, play soccer and have races. At this last clinic spot, there was a big pile of dirt which was irresistible for the kids. They jumped in it, slid down, rolled it in, buried their arms, and pretended to be sandman. Once I astonished to see Joshua (who is most prone to dirtiness) buried to his neck in the dirt I said, “Why are you getting so dirty?” His answer was simple, “You said we could take a bath when we got home.”

At 4:00 we arrived home and I, being the keep of the house, had my agenda:

1. Bath kids

2. Start laundry

3. Do dishes.

4. Bath myself.

Only it didn’t work out that way because we had no water! I brushed the kids off out side as much as I could but they were still dirty. The laundry baskets were overflowing but they too had to wait. My kitchen was a mess. We had a family of 5 stay with us the night before and we had put off doing the dinner and breakfast dishes. My sink and counters were piled with dirt dishes. For me, it is hard to do anything else if my kitchen isn’t in order. It kind of stresses me out. However, I was very optimistic that the water would come back on shortly. Afterall, we go without water all the time but only a couple hours at a time.

Bedtime for the kids came and still no water. My bed time came and still no water. I raced to the sink first thing Sunday morning and still no water. By now almost all the 2 liter bottles that I keep for an emergency water supply were used up. Monday, since there was still no water, I went to our neighbors to ask if they’d heard anything on the radio. She looked at her watched and said, “Right now it will come on but only for a little while.” I raced in the house and put water in every container I could. I filled sinks and buckets, I turned on the shower in hopes to get wet (by now I was so over due for a bath) but water never came out. Finally Tuesday morning the water returned.

Here’s the spiritual application: during those days with no water I kept thinking, “If I only had known, I would have filled up buckets ahead of time and been ready.” How many people when Christ comes will say the same thing? “I wish I would have known. I would have made my life ready. I would have prepared for his coming.” On Monday I had that opportunity. I knew it was on but going off soon. I rushed and I prepared. I did the dishes and watered the animals all in a short amount of time. We do know that Christ will come although we do not know when. We need to live our lives like those 15 minutes when the water was on. We need to do all we can to get ready for his coming. Part of our responsibility is to tell others about his return.

Bath time!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEFF!

To celebrate Jeff’s 32^nd birthday we went to our team mates house for dinner. The Stout family also joined us.

Jeff's birthday dinner

APRIL 2008

Gladys cooking dinner

Dinner

NEVER ASSUME about CHICKEN

6:00am I am awaken to someone clapping at our gate (People who get up at 4am to milk cows have a hard time thinking that someone would want to sleep in till 7:00). I quickly don appropriate clothing and head outside yawning. There stood our neighbor from up the hill smiling and chattering a mile a minute in a foreign language (am I suppose to speak Guarani this early in the morning?) She eagerly hands me bag over the fence and I ASSUME it contains mandioca because I could make out a brown outline. I do a courtesy glance at the contents (I can barely see because I don’t have my contacts in) and am surprised to see a……..it took me awhile to register…….a chicken. Was it dead or alive? I opened the bag again. I couldn’t tell. It was dead I was sure….but then it moved…..or did it? The lady noticed my confusion and a remark. The only word I could make out was “kill”. I looked in the bag one last time. The eyes are closed and the neck cocked in an odd position and it wasn’t moving. I ASSUMED it was dead.

I came inside and threw the sack on the kitchen table and went back to bed (I’ll let our house help deal with that when she arrives, I thought). An hour later I wake up to Joshua asking why there is a chicken on the table. I tell him that our neighbor had given us dinner and not to touch the dead animal. I decide to move the chicken before a kid pulls it down and to my horrification the “dead” chicken jumped up and began squawking! Luckily my scream did not wake up the entire house.

NEVER ASSUME about SCHOOL REPORTS

I have become a Kinko’s lately. Last week about 12 students needed passport type photos taken and printed. It is easy for me to do and it saves them time and money not having to travel to Caazapa (45 minutes away) to get it done. One girl came at 10:00 and needed a photo before school time (1:00). I told her that I was schooling my kids and was leaving to visit someone at 11:00 and I would try to have it done at 1:00 but I made no promises. She left but then came back at 11:00 to ask for her photo. I was out and Jeff let her know to try back at 1:00. She came back at 12:00. Jeff was a little put out and told her to come back at 1:00. He said, “This isn’t my wife’s job, you know, to take pictures of people.” She walked away surprised.

A teenager came to the house and I ASSUMED he also needed a photo taken. It took a while to understand what he was really asking. He had a report written on lined paper broken up by various headings. He wanted me to type the 10 headings on a separate paper and later he would handwrite the rest of the contents. I verified over and over……just the headings, not the entire paper…..just the headings, not the entire paper. I agreed. It didn’t take long and by the next day he picked up his work pleased. I charged him 5 mil for ink.

Thursday a girl comes to the gate with a folder in hand. I ASSUME the word had gotten out about my computer work and she too wants help. She has a report written on lined paper broken up by various headings. Now here’s where the conversation got tricky. I ASSUMED she just wanted the headers typed. And I am sure I even asked her if I just needed to do the headers. I agree and tell her to come back Friday. I also upped the price to 10 mil because I do not want to make a habit of this.

Friday I show her the finished project (headers only) and she asks why I just did the headers. She wanted me to do her whole paper! I don’t know what to say. I feel sorry for her and stupid at myself. In the end, being the passive person that I am, I agree to type the rest of the paper but I tell her that I am busy today and can get to it tomorrow, Saturday. Well, wouldn’t you believe it but the paper is due tomorrow, Saturday. Thankfully God gave me a few quiet moments and I was able to lock myself in our bedroom and type the paper. I even delivered it to her house.

MY TIME IS NOT MY OWN

Today started like any normal day (although I am beginning to question what normal looks like) as I cooked breakfast for my family plus one (Romy, an MK Ginny’s age, is staying with us for three days). Jeff rushed off to work, the younger kids began playing outside, and I sat down to home school Ryan. I didn’t have grand plans for the day but the everyday plans of keeping my family fed, clean, and occupied is a full time job (no mom would contest that). I had high hopes getting Ryan started with home school and then teaching Romy, Ginny and Joshua. Of course, I would be doing all this while tending Micah, cooking lunch, and cleaning the house. I got ½ through Ryan’s spelling words when the phone rang. My time is not my own……

It was Jean, “Barciliza miscarried and is upset, would you go with me to minister to her?” Yes. Nilsa, my house help watched the kids. As Jean and I set off we pondered what to say and what to do in a situation like this. Barciliza is 16 years old. She and her 13 siblings were abandoned by their parent’s years ago. She now lives with her 14 year old sister. Two other sisters live close by. She was three months pregnant when she began to bleed. As we arrived, we were immediately shown the baby. There in a cup was a perfectly formed baby 2 inches long. Barciliza was lying on the bed, tears in her eyes. Her neighbors were gathered around trying to decide what to do.

A neighbor, Sulma mentioned that when she lost a baby in the womb she didn’t know what to do so she just buried it in the ground. She said she had nightmares after that the baby was calling out that it was hungry and cold. Jean and I thought it might help to have a service to burry the little baby and bring closure to the situation. Barciliza liked the idea and we agreed to meet at 2:00.

I got home at 11:30 and saw Valeria waiting on my front porch. Valeria just graduated high school; she is smart and easy to talk with. I have enjoyed getting to know her over the last year and it was sweet that she came to visit but in the back of my mind I kept thinking that I needed to be getting lunch ready. My time is not my own…..

12:15 I start on lunch and rush the kids to dress for Paraguayan school.

1:05 we arrive at school. The teacher kindly reminds me that school begins at 12:40 now. How can we be so late all the time when we live so close!

1:30 I arrive home after visiting with teachers and going to the store for school supplies.

Between 1:30 and 2:00 I spent time praying for Barciliza. She is so young to be having sex and so young to be getting pregnant. Is it better that the baby didn’t make it instead of being born into this endless cycle of poverty and teen aged mothers? How can we expect Barciliza’s life to turn out any different when there is no example of purity among her sisters and neighbors? Many suspected Barciliza used herbs to abort the baby, but no one wanted to ask. If this is true, Barciliza may also be feeling guilt or remorse or relief. How do I feel offering my sympathy when she deliberately killed her baby? What I should be doing is challenging her to live her life not for men but for God (How do you say that in Guarani?).

2:00 I head back to Barciliza’s house for the burial. Tony dug a little grave, read Psalm 139, and then we all sang. Barciliza decided to name the baby Alcide after the father. Her boyfriend knew that she was pregnant but didn’t know about the miscarriage. She said she would have to tell him on Sunday because he only comes around once a week to visit. Jean asked, “He doesn’t live in San Francisco?” With a surprised tone, Barciliza answered, “Yes. He lives just over there,” as she pointed to visible houses. After the service Jean and I stayed to visit with the ladies and I was glad to get to know them better. The conversation turned to light and fun and even Barciliza was smiling again. Driving home I begin to plan the next hour….clean up lunch, start dinner, prepare for 6:00 bible study, talk to kids about their day at school….

5:00 I arrive home and see Austeria waiting for me on my porch. My time is not my own…..I haven’t talked with her in a while so I am glad that she has come. Ginny and her grand-daughter played while Austeria and I chat about our gardens, her children, and the weather.

5:45 she leaves just in time for Jeff and I to get in the car, drive the kids to the Floyd’s house, spend 10 minutes in prayer, and get to our neighbors house for bible study.

7:30 the study ended and we drive to the Floyd’s to pick up the kids. We spend some time with our team mates recapping the day’s events and rejoicing in what God is doing in San Francisco.

8:30 we arrive home. The kids are hungry (there was no time for dinner) and tired. We rush to feed and dress them for bed.

9:15 kids are in bed and I finally have time to myself. I think I fell asleep after reading the first paragraph of my book. My time is not mine own and I don’t want it to be. I want my time to be Gods and my agenda to be His.

Barcilia with cousin Diosnel

BIBLE STUDY

I never knew there were so many questions to ask about a culture before beginning a bible study. One thing that our SIM team has been researching and trying to answer is: How can we BEST minister to rural, illiterate Paraguayans and make it reproducible in order for the Paraguayan to teach someone else. In light of this, Jeff has written a 6 weeks bible study highlighting the different covenants of the bible (Noah, Abraham, David, Jesus and us). The believers that can read have recorded the study onto CD. The idea is that even those who cannot read will be able to lead a study. The study is full of repeating themes and scripture memory. Jeff made a picture time line to be hung up representing the different covenants.

Each of the believers is encouraged to start their own bible study using these materials. For some it is intimidating and they have been slow to start. For some it is exciting and they have already heard the participants ask, “How can we be saved?” Praise God! Jeff and I decided that we would also invite our neighbors for a study.

We talked with Karaî Cansio and Nã Nenita before Easter and asked them to consider having a study at their home. All last week I was suppose to go over and get their response. All last week I found excuses not to go. It rained. My maid didn’t come. No one could watch the kids. Ryan needed home school help. I haven’t spent time with the family. On and on my excuses went for not visiting this couple. I don’t really know why I was so afraid to visit. I do know that it is easier to stay within my comfort zone and not venture out (my comfort zone is my home and speaking English).

On Saturday I told Jeff that I was going to go for terere time (about 10:00am). I finally mustered my courage to visit at 11:45. We talked about children, the fruit trees in season, and then I turned the conversation to spiritual things. When I talked about studying the bible she seems to have many excuses: people here are very Catholic and set in their ways, she doesn’t like to be out when it is dark, sometimes she goes to a friend’s house so she cannot commit to a weekly study. But I noticed when I said talk about the Bible she responded that she doesn’t understand the bible completely and she would like to talk about Biblical things. Her husband came in the room and we set a date – every Tuesday night at 6:00 at their home.

After my encouraging time with Nã Nenita I was kicking myself for not going over there sooner. God blessed the result despite of my timidity! I praise Him that He is a God of grace and second chances.

Jeff leading an outdoor bible study

Adios!

When you cross someone in the street or when someone walks by the house they tell, “Adios!” Because “s” isn’t pronounced the word becomes “Adio”. And to shorten it even more, most people just say, “O”. I don’t know if I will get use to saying “good-bye” when greeting.

Paulina

Paulina was 14 years old when she gave birth for the first time (she was 13 when she conceived!). She delivered at house in San Francisco with the help of a lay mid-wife. What a surprise when she delivered not one but two healthy baby girls. Now she is 19 years old and has four children. She is still with the man who got her pregnant (not married, of course). He is at least 10 years older than she. How can one respect him at all when he got a 13 year old pregnant?

Repeating Prayers

Because the Catholic way of praying is engrained in their heads, often when we pray for someone they will try to repeat what we say. They feel that they cannot pray on their own, only prayers that they have memorized (usually the Lord’s Prayer).

Praying Man

A lady found Jeff over at the Floyd’s house and asked if he was the praying man. She said that her brother was in the hospital in Asuncion and someone had told her that the doctor in San Francisco prayed. So she came. Jeff explained that it is not him but who he prays too. He told her that she too can offer prayers to the Lord.

Motorcycle Accidents

In the short time we have been here, Jeff has seen many people who have been injured in motorcycle accidents. It is no wonder when 10 year olds are allowed to drive around town, when teen-agers speed around corners, and when families of 5 or 6 ride together (all without helmets, of course).

Saturday we had a crowd form outside our house. A 16 year old was lying in the back of a truck writhing in pain. Jeff assessed him as having broken ribs and a broken arm. He was riding a motorcycle too fast around a curve and couldn’t stop in time when he saw a crowd of people standing in front of an almacen. He hit them.

One lady that was hit needed stitches above her eye. Her arm was bruised and bleeding and her writs badly hurt. Her baby was knocked to the ground in the commotion and we were sure if he was injured or not. Another lady had a huge black and swollen eye, plus some blood forming on her sclera. Her 5 year old was thrown out of the way and was a little bruised and limping a bit. Jeff sent them all to Caazapa for x-rays and other tests.

Earlier just that week Jeff stitched a man’s face that had started his motorcycle and pulled onto the street just as a semi was coming. Luckily neither was going very fast and the motorcyclist just collided with the truck’s side.

Baby Blues

You should have heard the gasps from the 4 Paraguayan women I was sitting with when I turned Micah upside down to kiss his tummy. I forgot that to Paraguayans turning a kids upside down is a horrible thing to do and will make there inside twist around and they will be sick.

You know that stage in toddlerhood when the kid plants his feet and touches his head to the ground to look through his legs? Paraguayans say that it means he wants a sibling.

Jeff and Micah