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I Never Thought I'd Be Here

Yeah!  It's Paraguay day in the Candle in the Corner Event.  We are gratful for your interest, prayers and investment in God's work around the globe.  I'm going to tell you a secret...I never considered being a missionary.  I knew that I wanted to be a CEO of a large corporation when I was 15.  I double majored in college (marketing and finance) and was on a fast track to making big bucks.  I would donate to God's work, of course; I just didn't want to get dirty myself.  Until...

I went on a college mission trip, then two, then six.  I just loved serving cross-culturally and I knew that God was doing something inside of me.  My junior year I changed  my focus and finally admitted that God had other plans for me.  It was at the same time, God was preparing me for something amazing...my latin lover

God brought to Smalltown, Indiana the most incredible man, who grew up on the mission field.  He lived in the jungles of Paraguay and went without electricity and running water for most of his youth.  I fell in love with his MacGuyver style (that dates me, I know) and his passion for life and for God.

We married in 2000 and after finishing seminary together in 2002, we started our missionary adventure by driving to Paraguay in a 1988 Surburban called, "Blue Cruiser."  That adventure through 13 countries took us 70 days.  Let's just say our rear ends took on new form after we finally arrived in Paraguay to start our missionary service.

For seven years, we've had the privilege of serving southeastern Paraguay, only about 30 minutes from Argentina.  I direct a children sponsorship program and Norberto is transitioning from serving as director of Radio Alternativa, one of the few Christian radio stations in the country, to starting a leadership training school to teach Bible and vocational skills.

We love young people and that's a good thing since 70% of the population here is under the age of 30.  Paraguay is one of two land-locked South American nations and one of the poorest.  It has the land mass roughly of California, with a population of 6,500,000.

We now have one beautiful son named Timothy and we are hoping to adopt a Paraguayan orphan in the near future.

What else would you want to know?  We almost always have red toes (from the red clay), we drink terere every day, we laugh a lot, could eat a whole jar of pickles in five minutes and we avoid housework whenever possible.  We also love God and want to him Him the best years of our lives.  We are passionate about what we do and I am sure glad we both decided to take the risk of pursuing God's plans for us to get involved and get dirty.  We gladly accept prayers, since they fuel all that we do here.

We want to highlight some exquisite handiwork of Paraguayan women for our giveaway prizes:

Nandutí is a traditional Paraguayan embroidered lace, introduced by the Spaniards. The name means, "spider web" in Guaraní, the official indigenous language of Paraguay. This beautiful, hand-made lace is woven on a flat, wooden loom of pins.  It is sold world-wide in vibrant colors and distinct patterns.

Encaje ju is a Guaraní word meaning, "needle."  It is commonly called "needle lace" and the cotton threads are embroidered into intricate designs such as birds, plants and animals.  I am giving away a lovely table runner.

Interested in finding out more about little candles all over the world?  Go here and visit Heidi.  Take a minute to thank her for putting this great event together and check out the prizes you could win for donating just $5.00 for missions!

"I don't think the way you think.
   The way you work isn't the way I work."
         God's Decree.
"For as the sky soars high above earth,
   so the way I work surpasses the way you work,
   and the way I think is beyond the way you think."  -Isaiah 55:8


One more thing:  Your plans may not include missions, but it's amazing what might happen when you let God take you to places you'd never thought you'd go!

Comments

  1. Really enjoyed visiting your blog and getting to know you and your ministry! We're next door in Argentina, so HI! neighbor :-)

    One of our good friends is from Paraguay and he's always trying to teach us words in Guarani. My husband does a fairly decent job learning them. I'm struggling just to learn the Spanish! lol

    I love reading about what God is doing in other places so I'll be back often to visit!

    ReplyDelete

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