In Part 1, I shared
how my first move to Paraguay was at age 5. At that time I was a minor, following
my parents around. But my second move to Paraguay was at age 25 when after
college, I—or better said, we—decided to move back to Paraguay. This time, the
Genesis was a letter inviting us to help pioneer a new radio station there.
At the time I had just
gotten married to my college sweetheart Julie. We were both enrolled in
seminary, enjoying just being married and going to school. Among our hobbies at
the time was traveling the U.S. and to any country that we had the funds to go
to. During those days, we began running seriously and trained for our first marathons
and adventure race. Our first marathon was the Flying Pig marathon in Cincinnati,
Ohio. Julie and I finished together in what I thought was a pretty good time of
4 hours, 12 minutes.
One day, a letter in
our mailbox got us thinking about plans beyond graduation. The letter was from
Walter Franz, inviting us to help establish the only Christian station in
southern Paraguay. After about a month of thinking it over, weighing the pros
and cons, and praying, we responded. We will go, we said, but we wanted to
finish seminary first. From that day on, our thoughts began focusing on
Paraguay again.
Julie and I both
enjoyed living in the U.S. We were considering pastoring a church or serving in
a church-related organization. At the time I was part of the CBH (Christian
Brotherhood Hour), taking care of the bilingual correspondence the office
managed.
Graduating was so much
fun. Dreaming about going back to Paraguay, this time with Julie, was something
I was excited about. Saying goodbye to family, friends, and a sense of
financial stability was scary but exciting for two young, naïve missionaries.
Because traveling and
seeing the world firsthand was something Julie and I both loved, we decided to
travel to Paraguay by land. It would become a two-month trip through 13
countries and across some 12,000 miles in a 1988 Chevy Suburban. It was all we
could afford back then. Our car budget for a vehicle was $4,500. I believe the
Suburban is still running these days somewhere in Peru.
Thus began the journey.
We left Anderson, Indiana, on September 5, 2002, and arrived in Obligado,
Paraguay, on November 14 on a hot and humid afternoon. As we crossed the border
into Paraguay, we both just cried. I think it was a mix of so many emotions that
we had both experienced over the previous months. We were so thankful; God had
protected us from accidents and thieves. We had lived together in very tight
quarters for 70 days. The uncertainty of the new assignment was looming, and
just the fact of sleeping in one place for more than one night was
overwhelming.
I often compare this
moment to the moment the Hebrews crossed the Jordan River into their promised
land. As the years have gone by, I have often realized that I am still on a
journey that is constantly unfolding.
In Part 3 when I will
share about the beginning and development of some very cool things in our new
home country of Paraguay.
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