Passion for Paraguay

The Week in Pictures

2012-01-23T10:48:00.000-08:00

I thought it was time to get a few new pics up of the kids.... They are bonding so well and really love each other. Timmy was just pushing Anahi in the swing Norb rigged up in the living room.

Getting ready to go on a home visit...

Trying to beat the heat, it's SOOOO hot right now.

Our princess eating a little snack.

Our geothermal continues to slowly progress. Norberto is working with some young boys from the area to do the hard digging that's required.

Hopefully our home (currently 85 degrees inside) will cool down soon!!

Random Tidbits

2012-01-14T10:49:00.000-08:00

This week we had some missionary friends visiting from near Asuncion. It's always fun to have friends come over. We went to the new beach in Bella Vista and had a summer cookout.

We purchased our tickets for our furlough this summer!! We'll be traveling through and spending time in Florida, Virginia, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and possibly Colorado and a few other stops. Phew. Looking so, so, SO forward to being with family and friends. If we're heading your way and you'd like us to visit, give us a holler!

Norberto is attending the annual youth camp in Santa Rita. There are 250 youth present from Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. Please pray for the youth and their passion for God.

My mom is here visiting us and we will be privileged that she is staying two months to spend time with the kids and help with several projects.

We saw a toucan in our avocado tree twice this week. Hopefully she's here to stay...I can't seem to get a pic to prove she's legit.

We're working on our geothermal system. We started it three years ago and are now trying to finish it before summer is over. We currently don't have a cooling system and it's been over 100 degrees almost every day this week. This will be a huge help for our family when it's finished.

The Kiss from Heaven

2012-01-05T11:17:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I spent a good part of the day weeping. One of our most loved supporters died on Christmas day and we just got the news. She had been battling cancer for over ten years. She came to visit us for the first time in 2007 on a CMA trip and we became instant friends after that.

She would write us on a weekly basis with an encouraging word. She would send us 3-4 care packs a year, she would mail cards on our birthdays. She would pray for us consistently. She arranged for us to have a vehicle while we were on our last furlough and drove it from Perry, GA to Orlando, FL to deliver it to us. Seriously, who does that? There are very few people like Anita in our lives. Although we rejoice that she is no longer suffering, we mourn this great loss and wonder, "Who will fill the void that she left?" She not only was our cheerleader, she sent packages overseas to our soldiers (she served in the U.S. Air Force for 24 years) and she was very active in her church and her local CMA chapter.

Just today I picked up the package she had sent us in November. It was the only package we received the whole year. I couldn't help but tell the customs clerk about the loving sender of the package. When she got really ill, she couldn't send packages any more. I told the clerk she probably wouldn't see me again, because Anita was the only person who ever sent us anything. The clerk responded, "It seems like she sent this last package as a kiss from heaven." Yes, it felt like that.

When the customs agent opened the package, the tears started to flow again. She sent a little something for everyone, even Esther Anahi's first ornament, a motorcycle toy for Timmy, cashews for Norberto and a devotional book for me. It was a treasure, not because of the contents, but because it was in a sense, sent from heaven with so much love.

When I was telling my mom through tears about this great loss of a servant, she said, "Pray that God would raise up more people like Anita to be a part of your team. It might take five people to do what she did, but God will provide." We are praying that very prayer.

She wanted to come on this year's CMA trip and had even signed up, but had to back out because of her health. We were hoping to see her on furlough this coming summer, but we'll look forward to laughing with her in heaven. We thank God for Anita's full life, love, giving heart and her tremendous legacy.

Good News and an Adoption Giveaway

2012-01-04T09:36:00.000-08:00

Want some good news? On Dec. 30 we received the news from our lawyer that Esther Anahi is officially OUR baby girl!! The adoption here in Paraguay is finalized!!! We now have to wait for the month long legal holiday to finish so we can get her new birth certificate and start the Paraguayan ID process. We can't say THANK YOU enough for your prayers for this very long process. PRAISE GOD from whom all blessings flow. She was worth every minute!

Now the giveaway. Interestingly, this week a blogger pressed the "next blog" button and stumbled upon our blog. That person named Jane, is an artist in the UK. She also happens to be an advocate for Reeces' Rainbow, orphan ministry. The incredible connection is that she is doing a giveaway of an amazing piece of art for Ryan. He's the little boy that God allowed us to be a very small part of his story.

Jane, is giving away her stunning, original piece of art called, "Becoming Butterflies" for Ryan's benefit.

The Art For Hearts Giveaway for Ryan.
Closing date: Feb 14th 2012

All you have to do to enter, is just donate $5 into Ryan's Reece's Rainbow adoption fund by

CLICKING HERE TO DONATE

and you will be entered!

Then go HERE to tell Jane you donated.

Visit Ryan at Reece's Rainbow to find out more about this little four year old, abandoned in an adult mental institution because he has Noonan Sndrome, but is loved by so many. Wont you please help add to his adoption fund to enable this lovely family to save him?

And most importantly, please pray that Ryan would come home soon, and each orphan still longing for a home would find his/her forever family.

Oh, last thing...go here to watch ABC's recent coverage of a very heartwarming story of a orphan finding her home.

2011 Reflections in Pictures

2012-01-01T17:57:00.000-08:00

"Great is Thy faithfulness!" "Great is Thy faithfulness!"
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
"Great is Thy faithfulness," Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Merry Christmas From our Family to Yours!

2011-12-24T07:49:00.000-08:00

Yeah, it's Christmastime! Our 2011 Christmas letter is below. May you enjoy this Christmas season and have a blessed New Year. We will be taking some time off from blogging this year end, so we'll see you in 2012!!

Christmas Letter 2011

The Positive Side of Social Networking

2011-12-13T03:04:00.000-08:00

I got an email this week from my college roommate, Julie. She and her husband are serving as missionaries in Mexico. They have adopted 18 children (and counting) and have a ministry called Refuge Ranch. Julie told me that she saw a logo on my sidebar that sparked her curiosity that read, "Orphan No More" and clicked on it. It took her to Reece's Rainbow, an orphan advocacy ministry which gives grants for children with special needs. The site shows dozens of beautiful children from over 25 countries over the world that need loving families. I am a prayer warrior for two precious children Timmy's age, Lance and Sarah, and I would love to have you join me in prayer for their forever families.

To continue the story, my friend Julie put a link on her facebook status about the ministry and her high school friend, another Julie from Ohio, read her status and felt led to investigate the ministry. They prayed about it and are now in the process of adopting sweet little Ryan.

You can read and pray about their adoption journey here!

Isn't that amazing? Isn't God amazing?? Connecting three Julies in three countries to help rescue the life of a child. Julie (in Mexico) blogged about our love for orphans back in August and it continues to thrill my heart to see God joining us together in this "secret mission." I say secret because we had no idea how just bringing about awareness on social media could be used in such a powerful way!

Party Hardy!

2011-12-10T05:26:00.000-08:00

This Thursday was our annual Children of Promise Christmas party. This is one of the favorite activities of the kids and they have to wait the WHOLE year for the day to arrive!

What beautiful children God has created! Some of these children have gone through so much....from abuse to abandonment. This boy, R,'s mom committed suicide this week. Please pray for him and his two year old sister, that were left behind.

We played, "How low can you go?"

Tug of war is a COP tradition. Thankfully the weather was beautiful this year, so we could go outside and have a ton of fun.

We had a raffle and each child took home a gift and a fruit cake. One of the favorite items was this space shuttle, won by little Mauricio.

Special thanks to the CMA group for donating some of the prizes!! Muchas gracias to our new director, Sandra, for all her work in coordinating the fiesta. And mostly, thank God for each of the sponsors of these 80 children. May we continue to grow and raise up healthy children that will change the fabric of Paraguay's society!

If you would like information on sponsoring a child in Paraguay or another country, visit Children of Promise.

Special Prayer/Need

2011-12-09T04:51:00.000-08:00

First the personal one:

We would ask you to pray for our daughter's papers. Since there was a strike in the judicial system last month, all documents have been delayed for weeks. Our family Christmas is in Argentina this year and if Anahi's birth certificate does not arrive, we will not be able to celebrate with our family.

This certificate is necessary for us to get her passport, which we need for travel for our furlough next summer.

We know that prayers can change this situation and we thank you in advance for praying.

Second, this request is for our ministry.

This year-end we have an immediate need. ICCI (Instituto Cristiano de Capacitacion Integral) will need to pay $4,000 (for various documents and to help pay an intermediary) to become a legal tertiary institution recognized by the MEC (department of education) Paraguayan government. Unfortunately, this important expense will really knock off of our budget for next year. If you would like to help us get our legal status or support one of our students next year with a scholarship, please click the “donate now” button to the right or go here and preference your support under special (other): Paraguay Projects. All your gifts are tax deductible.

We are so very thankful for the way you have supported us this year. If it weren’t for your prayers and support, ICCI would have never been launched. We have been able to identify and train new Christian leaders for practical, ministry service as well as help students learn micro-enterprise skills. We are already receiving calls from students who are on board to come next year. Thank you for allowing us to share with you these needs. We just can’t stop thanking God for His faithfulness and for the privilege it is to serve Him with you!

Bountiful Harvest

2011-12-07T22:30:00.000-08:00

Despite the heat and lack of rain (thank the Lord for the rain that just arrived) this month has brought a huge harvest! Here's a sampling:

green beans

black beans have been peeled and packaged and ready to sell

One of our many squash...

cucumbers (from just one picking)...we've harvested over 50 lbs so far

Our harvest has kept us busy canning pickles...

shelling nuts at lightning speed with the new nut sheller!!

and making peanut products. Here's the wonderful production team... The more we can process our produce, the better the revenue for the institute. Our students have been harvesting and processing agro products this week so we can still have products to sell while they are on summer break. This Saturday is our closing ceremony and Sunday is our last service and the students will go home for the summer, so they have been working hard to get everything harvested before they leave.

We want to share with you about an immediate need we have for ICCI. Please stay tuned tomorrow!

Graduation Week

2011-12-06T03:01:00.000-08:00

Someone from the U.S. told me this week we should steal some time away before Christmas. However, this is truly our most activity-intensive month of the year. It is not only Christmastime but it is also the end of the school year, so it's like packing December and May into one month. This week we had several year-end activities:

This is Tio Enrique's graduation. He is now a licensed pharmacist!!! We are so proud of our Tio (Priscila's husband) and we wish him the best with his new pharmacy.

Timmy also graduated from kindergarten. Here he is on his last day of school at Sonnenschein, Bi-lingual (German and Spanish) School. He is sitting by his teacher and she is inviting the graduating students to come back and visit next year.

Can you tell Timmy loved his teacher? She is a wonderful person and we will miss her so much!

Graduation was on Friday. Timmy's getting fitted for his cap and gown.

During the program the kids did a skit about chocolate chip cookies. It was adorable.

He received "The most analytical student" award!

We are so proud, of our son! It's the start of a great educational career.

Thanksgiving Hangover

2011-12-01T12:29:00.000-08:00

We had a lovely celebration last Sunday and we are still eating the leftovers! Even though it was so hot (105 degrees on our thermometer), we had wonderful food and time of worship and giving thanks to God for all that He has done this year. We are especially grateful for our family and our newest addition, Esther Anahi!!

Here Nila, Norberto's youngest sister, is teaching him how to roll the dough to make perfect biscuits. Norberto made German Zwieback rolls and boy were they great!

It was a minor miracle, but we were able to find turkey and it was delicious! Please don't ask me about last year's turkey fiasco.

We also celebrated Timmy's 6th birthday with cake and pumpkin pie. Yes, those are votive candles on his cake. I couldn't find the birthday candles anywhere.

Then that evening, our church ended the national forgiveness campaign "Perdona." We had a time of testimonies and one son asked forgiveness to his father right there. They hadn't spoken in years. Everyone was in tears. These are some of the people that completed the program and chose to forgive and eliminate bitterness from their lives.

We are thanking God for all these blessings and especially for His forgiveness for our sins. The great thing about giving thanks is that we can do it every day of the year!

First Steps!

2011-11-28T16:04:00.000-08:00

Just tonight...

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There is so much excitement in our house! Yes, we have a toddler :)

What a Week!

2011-11-28T11:11:00.000-08:00

Usually we are so busy translating or driving or making logistical decisions, we don't have time to take some shots during a team trip. I am adding some great pics that the group gave us...so you can see things from their perspective.

The group with the Ache

blessing a motorcycle in Naranjal

blessing a tricycle in Jesus

blessing a motorcycle in Triunfo 43

blessing a motorcycle in Hohenau

CMA Paraguay with the team

visiting the Jesuit Ruins in Trinidad

visiting a school in Cerro Cora

a monkey in the town of Jesus

animal life at the falls

We were blessed in 2011 by the CMA group. We can't thank you enough for all you did here and we pray that God will continue to use you to spread the vision for evangelism worldwide!

Happy, Happy Thanksgiving!!

2011-11-24T06:54:00.000-08:00

OVERFLOWING with thankfulness for all that God has done for us this year! Our hope is that you too are giving thanks to our Father for His many blessings on your lives today.

Welcome CMA!

2011-11-17T11:15:00.000-08:00

This week we have some of the greatest folks on earth visiting us. They have two things in common...they love Jesus and they love to ride. Yes, our long-awaited CMA team has arrived.

They arrived 9 hours late due to their flight being cancelled and having to take a 6 hour bus ride instead. However, they still got to dedicate the motorcycle that is destined to the Bible translation project for the Ache people.

Then they headed down south to help us with painting the radio station.

As you can see, the radio desperately needed some paint. The "after" results are amazing!

We had a really nice time of food and fellowship with the CMA Paraguay chapter, which invited several interested people to attend.

They showed pictures of their bikes and made jokes about each other's motorcycle model, all in good fun of course.

They even fixed a motorcycle owned by the radio that was broken! I guess we shouldn't be surprised by the many talents this awesome group holds in their hands. We will be heading to bless another bike tomorrow, visit a school and children's ministry and doing a special service before to going to the Falls this weekend...so look for another update sometime next week!

Shelled Peanuts Coming Right Up!

2011-11-15T10:30:00.000-08:00

This week the dynamic duo, Michael, (the expert bee guy) and Alfredo, (the Bible student) put the UNS nut sheller together!! Here they are reading the bi-lingual manual. For more pictures of the machine and its results, look here.

This machine will help us shell our 1000 + lb peanut inventory in no time at all (It shells 50 kilos an hour)!!

Thanks again to our friends who helped us purchase the machine and our buddies from Butler, PA that brought it here!! We are so incredibly thankful for everyone's help.

Reflecting on that Day Nine Years Ago

2011-11-09T04:46:00.000-08:00

Nine years ago today we pulled into Paraguay. This is what we (and our poor truck) looked like the day before arriving to the Paraguayan border. After being on the Pan American highway for over 70 days (we left Anderson, Indiana on Sept. 6) we were so elated (and exhausted) when we finally arrived that we both wept when we saw the "Bienvenidos a Paraguay" sign.

As we reflect back on these past nine years in South America, they've been some of the best and yet toughest years of our lives. I look at myself then and I see myself as a kid, a whipper snapper of sixteen years or so (I was much older than that!). I feel like I've matured decades since arriving here; the Paraguayans are so gracious and have taught me so much. Yet, I still feel in a way like a kid cross-culturally. I'm still making language blunders and I'm still missing social cues and I definitely still (and perhaps always will) feel like an outsider.

I can't imagine what I would be like if I hadn't said, "Yes" to this call. I'm not gonna lie, this is hard work and I have finally gotten to the point of admitting that I'm simply too weak to go at it alone. I have been humbled and broken so many times and my need for the Lord is much greater than when I arrived. Without a doubt I can say that one life has been changed in Paraguay and it would be mine.

I could pull out a laundry list of really tough things I've been through here, and I'd like to tell you that I can accept the hard stuff as graciously as I accept the easy and fun times. I believe I've grown up since that day nine years ago...I hope and pray that nine years from now I will tell you how much I've matured since 2011. I'm pray that I won't ever get too comfy in this wonderful host culture that we are privileged to live life in. I hope I will still count the cost and be willing to do whatever it takes to love; whatever He asks me to do.I'd like to share something I read that was especially meaningful to me this week. It's a post by a missionary family in Haiti, called The Cost and I just have to warn you, it's tough to read and even tougher to live.

I'd like to end by thanking God for his complete faithfulness during these precious nine years! He has become so much more to me than I can ever come close to explaining. He has been the only one to understand me some days. He's been my provider, healer, protector, my comfort, my rock, and he's sheltered me under his wings more times than I can count. I also can't say thank you enough to our friends and family that have supported God's call in our lives. This is a shared journey and we hope you're on the road trip as long as we are. My personal prayer is that with each passing year my love for Christ grows and I would count it ALL joy as I take up my cross.

Orphan No More (Orphan Sunday)

2011-11-06T12:57:00.000-08:00

Since today is Orphan Sunday, we thought we'd post a new picture of our little princess. She is such a happy, delightful baby and we thank God every day for her! It's hard to believe she's only been home a little over two months. She is fitting in so well...sleeping and eating well and she just loves people.

Two and a half years ago Norberto joined me in the call to adopt at the Expolit radio conference in Miami when he saw a session called, "The Miracle of Adoption" with Rebeca and Brian Knowles. The speakers at that session dispelled the myths that many people have regarding the adoption process. Norberto broke down at that conference and knew that God was telling Him he needed to take a step of faith. When we returned home from our furlough we immediately started the adoption process. Now, two weeks ago at the COICOM conference in Asuncion, the same speakers were present and he was able to share as a testimony how God used them to touch Norb's heart towards adoption! He showed them pictures of our beautiful Esther Anahi and thanked them for their ministry...now there is one orphan less in this world.

Two nights ago Rebeca was on the radio and shared our story on air all around Latin America!! Different people heard the story and called us to tell us to tune in.

Keeping the Passion Hot

2011-10-31T10:03:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the closing ceremony for the Fire Proof Love Dare (Prueba de Fuego) study that has been going on for the past seven weeks in our church. They asked us to share with all the couples (five of the six are not from our church) a message about commitment in marriage. We mentioned the importance of forgiveness and viewing marriage as a covenant, not a contract as a few of the most important components to an enduring relationship.

After we spoke, the couples were given an opportunity to renew their vows publicly. Some couples even bought rings to symbolize this new stage. As couples recommitted to each other, some got very emotional. One couple is trying to survive marital infidelity, another couple is facing the challenges of the empty nest and a few more the stress of having very young children to attend. We celebrate with them this new chapter and pray God's blessings and strength on them.

After the ceremony, we had a lovely dinner (tables for two) with a romantic love videos playing in the background.

Still in love after all these years...

We are grateful to God for His faithfulness to restore and renew marriages on the verge of separation. We are well aware that it takes intentional effort to keep the marriage flames burning. In the midst of ministry, we continually ask the Lord to keep our own passion hot, our laughter plentiful and that we always learn and grow together in this wonderful adventure we share called life.

Check-Up Time!

2011-10-27T06:12:00.000-07:00

We have been with the wonderful people of Children of Promise this week as they check on all the kiddos in the program. This year, they brought Dr. Bob, who gave a health check-up to every child (and a few more) being served by the ministry. He discovered the severe state of oral hygiene among the Paraguayan children. The great majority have cavities and since cavities in Paraguay are not filled, dentists just typically pull teeth. So, there is a great need for dental work. He also mentioned how important it is that we are providing fluoride for the children, since it is not present in our water. Since he also specializes in tropical diseases, he is giving us information on the best deworming meds to administer on the kids.

Sandra, the new director, is doing such a great job with the children (now 80 are in the program)! Sandra's goal is to continue growing. We are grateful for all the sponsors, for the staff at Children of Promise and for the love that you show to the beautiful little ones here in Paraguay. Please pray for the increased health of the children and their families.

Sometimes You Just Have to Get Away

2011-10-25T05:56:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I (Julie) went to a retreat for missionary women, called Women of the Harvest. The retreat is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I'm so grateful that I was able to participate.

We were spoken to as real women without any expectations or pressures put upon us. We were pampered with sweet gifts (like chocolate chips, candy and maple extract) and we were able to share in small groups (this was my wonderful group) about the issues we face and receive encouragement and prayer. We worshiped in English and heard powerful reminders that who we are in Christ is not determined by our roles or relationships.

Each day we were allowed to choose different pampering sessions. I got a pedicure to get all the red dirt off my feet. I told them these are probably the dirtiest feet they've ever worked on. They said they've seen everything, but she was scrubbing my toes for an entire hour!!!

I got a hair cut and makeover done and saw what I looked like with makeup on! I hardly recognized myself.

I came home refreshed and renewed with a smile on my face and a song in my heart. I am so thankful for this retreat, for the opportunity to laugh and cry with other missionaries (especially my friends serving with me in Paraguay) and I feel ready to tackle the rest of the year with new energy! Sometimes, it's just good to get away and breathe new air. If you have a missionary friend, definitely recommend one of these retreats to her. She won't be the same!

For the First Time...

2011-10-18T16:59:00.000-07:00

For the first time ever COICOM is being held in Paraguay! I love how this little nation is finally coming onto the radar!

What is COICOM? It stands for La Confederacion Iberomericana de Comunicadores, Pastores, Lideres y Medios Masivos Cristianos. (The Iberamerican Confederation of Communicators, Pastors, Leaders and Christian Mass Media. It began in 1992.

It is a movement which serves to train, motivate and mobilize the Church for the evangelism of Hispanics across the globe. Think of it as a Catalyst conference in Spanish. Every year, the best Latin American leaders are present as speakers in the sessions and services until Saturday night. This year singer Steve Green, who was raised in South America, is closing out the program with a special concert.

Norberto is at the opening session right now with four youth from the radio and ICCI! Stay tuned for more on this big event.

The Beauty of Harvest

2011-10-16T15:59:00.000-07:00

Sometimes life gets so crazy that we have little time to talk in adult language. So, almost every day sometime before dusk (about 30 minutes before classes begin) we stroll through the wheat fields and let the boy and the dogs prance like dear in the wheat while we push the stroller, wax philosophic all while drinking our yerba mate tea. This is what keeps me sane some days.

This is the picture we took from our window this week. I will miss the golden wheat fields that greet me every morning, but there is something so beautiful in watching the harvest. It's the same joy I get when I see that one of my orchids finally has a bloom and the anticipation of waiting for it to open. It's the growth process that builds my excitement in both cases. We've been watching the wheat grow for months and the harvest represents that the time is come for the wheat to be used. The harvest is a celebration of hard work and of the time that is needed for growth.

It's like the joy of watching people growing in Christ and becoming who God intended them to be. It takes hard work and patience but seeing them being used by God is an indescribable joy. In the next few weeks we'll be sharing with you some stories of people who have been growing and are now ready to serve!

Just Like Him...

2011-10-13T11:15:00.000-07:00

Timmy came out of our room with his "papi's" commander shirt on. He asked if he could put on his hat and belt too. We started to laugh at him giving orders like Norberto does every Saturday in the Explorer's Club. Then Timmy said,

"I want to be a Commander when I grow up, just like Papi."

Timmy loves his dad and he copies everything he does.

He walks like him.
Talks like him.
He eats the same foods (especially too much dulce de leche on his bread)
He wants to help him with every project.
He even pees outside on the trees, just like dad. (I'm not saying I like it though).

and he told us just yesterday that he was Papi's best son and he showed me his little thumb that matches His Papi's unique thumb. Yes, Timmy. You are your Papi's best son.

So, Timmy made me think....

"I wonder how I'm doing at copying everything my heavenly "Papi" does?"

Do I walk like He does?
Do I talk like He does?
Do I want to serve others like He did?
Is there any question whose child I am when I look at my thumbprint?

Sometimes I wonder if I do as good a job imitating my Father as a five year old does.

Results are In...

2011-10-08T13:23:00.000-07:00

We shared here about the surprising news that our daughter may have Down Syndrome. Well, we got a call back this week saying the results are negative! Thanks so much for your prayers; we are thrilled with this news.

Stay tuned as we will share more about what's happening in our ministry in the next few days.

Thirteen dollars for Rita’s 13th birthday

2011-10-03T12:25:00.000-07:00

Our neighbor and friend came to me last week asking if I could spare 13 dollars for Rita, on his daughter 13^th birthday. It was 9:00 am. He wanted to do something special for lunch. I gave him the money, (which he promised to return) and he went rejoicing, bought some sausages which he grilled and celebrated Ritas birthday.

I don’t know about your idea of a birthday celebration. But this is the reality for the Campanas family. Their daily wages are only enough for putting food on the table. They wake up thinking about getting enough for the next meal. With longing they remember when times were better while working with the construction of the power plant, 10 years ago. We were able to afford meat, Mr Campanas remembers.

This is what ABC, the economic section our national paper published last Sunday: “from every 100 people that live in Paraguay, 35 are in a situation of poverty. From a population of 6.300.000, inhabitants, 2.200.000 are poor, and 1.230.000 is extremely poor. The gap between rich and poor continues to be a challenge for the government and the non-for profit agencies.

When I read these statistics, I thought of Mr Campanas and his dauthers birthday. Although these statistics are nothing new, they do reflect the ongoing struggle of nations that even with established democracies and great natural resources, can’t manage to help an important segment of their population live with more dignity.

These numbers sadden me, but at the same time make me very thankful everyday for the chance to serve in this country with so much potential. But there is another reality in the spiritual economy, not so distant in numbers. Paraguay continues to be a country with a small percentage of born again Christians.

From my local (district) point of view, I can say this for a fact about our spiritual reality. In an area with a population of almost 50,000, there are approximately, 25 churches (evangelical and catholic combined). Maybe one or two have more than 100 people in their gatherings. The largest Catholic Church maybe gathers 80 people during a regular service. On any weekend, no more than 1,000 people will make their way to one of these churches. That’s, 2% of our community.

Our Wednesday night prayer group began intentionally praying for this community. Join us in prayer to narrow the gap of spiritual poverty and plead God for it to affect the economic reality somehow as well. Pray for a deep hunger and thirst of God’s presence in Colonias Unidas (our region) and the country Paraguay.

Anahi's First Birthday

2011-09-23T07:18:00.000-07:00

We just got back from Asuncion where we had a birthday party/farewell/thank you party for Anahi's foster family and all the friends and neighbors that poured out love on our little girl during her first year. They have been so gracious and loving to us. They hosted me for three days while we were visiting Anahi and wouldn't let me pay for any expenses. They set up the entire birthday party and it was was far beyond what we could have imagined! They even bought her a fancy birthday dress and shoes. Wow, what an example of loving kindness! We pray God's richest blessings on this precious family and we hope to maintain periodic contact with them.

Here we are with the loving foster family that doted on Anahi for nine months. She was with two other families for her first three months.

They contracted a moon walk for the party for the bigger kids.

We filled a balloon pinata with candy and trinkets and all the kids were underneath waiting for the goodies to rain down!

Here's the birthday girl attempting to blow out her candle, with a little help from her big brother; she did it!

Marcos, Cris, and the kids came to celebrate with us as well! Here are the two cousins (Anahi and Alheli together).

We love you sweet princess!

One Week Ago

2011-09-12T17:02:00.000-07:00

One week ago this evening we brought our little girl home! We're all adjusting to life as a family of four...well more when you include the pets. We're not yet sleeping through the night and we've had a few midnight vomit spells and many prayers for understanding, but we're taking it all in stride and are so blessed with our little princess. Here are a few pics of our first few days with Anahi.

The animals are absolutely amused with the baby!

Hiking down to the pond with the pup in the corner and a terere tea in hand (of course).

Playing ball with big brother.

One of our daily walks through the wheat fields.

Snack time!

Tuckered out after a long day of play.

Meeting "Abuela" Tabita for the first time. Mom Kurrle went with us to pick up Anahi from Asuncion and it was love at first sight.

We look forward to introducing her to more of our loved ones in the next few weeks (even via skype) and we continue to extend our gratitude for your prayers as we transition and fall into a steady rhythm with the children.

Life Has Changed!

2011-09-08T06:35:00.000-07:00

Sorry we haven't written for a few days. On our way to Asuncion on Friday we got a call that one of the social workers couldn't make it to the meeting and we'd have to sign all the papers on Monday. So, that meant that we had to spend the weekend in the capital city again. That was such a bummer since for us it seems like each day lasted an eternity to wait. The good news is that we got to have Anahi the whole weekend!!

Here is a picture of us signing the documents with the lawyer and social workers from the adoption agency. I will post pictures of our first week together soon. Life as we know it has changed forever (more on that later, now I've gotta get some work done)!

She's Ours!!! (with pictures)

2011-08-31T12:01:00.000-07:00

We just got a call from our lawyer saying that the judge has signed the resolution for our guardianship and we can bring our little girl home!!! Since we have to teach today and tomorrow, we will be traveling most likely on Friday morning to Asuncion to get Anahi. We are so excited!!! This long process is finally coming to an end and it's such a joyous time in our lives.

I can finally post pictures too!

This is when we first met her in July for the first time ( 9 months old).

This is one of our visits to Asuncion when we went to a children's festival and she bounced in the globo loco (moonwalk). (10 months)

Anahi at 11 months. Look at those big brown eyes!

Feeding our little girl.

Hanging out with big brother

Peek-a-boo with Papi.

Pray for our transition as Anahi adjusts to our life and rhythm, different foods and craziness!! We can't God enough for this indescribable gift and we also continue to thank you for lifting us up in your prayers.

Heart of Stone

2011-08-31T07:30:00.000-07:00

When we walked into the judge's office yesterday the judge had a look on her face that could kill. She did not greet us or smile. She simply told us to have a seat. I gulped and said a quick "Oh Lord, help us" type of prayer. This was the judge that everyone warned us about. The one that throws young children out of her courtroom. We had been praying for weeks that we would be salt and light to this woman and when we walked into our office I knew we would need a miracle.

She started asking the normal questions...our age, our nationality... Then she asked why we wanted to adopt. We explained that we had always wanted a big family, but due to infertility problems, things hadn't gone as planned. We told her that we have been praying for a child for years and that we truly believed that Anahi is the answer to our prayer.

In that moment, something happened to the judge's face.

She smiled, then she looked down and started to weep. She broke down and shared with us that she also suffered from infertility. She told us that Anahi came to her office when she was just a few days old and that she herself gave Anahi her name and that she slept with her in bed until the paperwork and vehicle were ready to ship her off to Asuncion. She asked our occupation and while we were hesitant to tell her our *real* work, we told her that we work with the church. She asked if we were pastors and we said, "yes." She was delighted to see the family that Anahi would be in and she told us that she would do her best to get the papers finalized within the week. The judge wept two more times as we were conversing and sharing about our visits with our daughter and the way God was building our family.

We encouraged her that God has plans for her family as well and that although many times we don't understand His ways, they are for our good.

When we walked out of the courthouse our lawyer looked at us and said, "I've known this judge for 15 years and I have never, EVER seen what just occurred. It is obvious that God was at work due to the prayers of His people. I am absolutely shocked."

This is what God does to a judge that always takes her time, is critical, cold, and didn't seem to have a heart for children. Ezequiel reminds us of this promise, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." -36:26.

We were overjoyed to see your prayers made such a huge difference in the heart of the judge. Thank you for interceding! Will you continue to pray for Judge Evelyn that she would seek God's face and that HE would answer her prayers as well?

The Big Day!

2011-08-29T14:21:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. in Encarnacion is our big interview with the judge for the adoption of Anahi!!! Thanks for your prayers that we can be salt and light and that God would show us favor.

Walking by Faith is a Tough Road

2011-08-27T02:59:00.000-07:00

The last three days have been some of the most difficult and exhilirating of my entire adult life. They were full of joy, fear, sadness, doubt to name just a few of the emotions that gripped my heart while I was with our daughter in Asuncion.

I took an overnight bus to be with her when she got up in the morning. In order to see her beautiful morning smile I needed to face my fears of walking in the same terminal where I was assaulted in 2008- my purse knifed by three thugs. I arrived safely and I walked into her foster caregivers home at 6:00 a.m. and saw her there sleeping and in perfect peace. Thank you God for this amazing gift!

I spent the next days learning about our daughter's daily life and routine with the family that so graciously cared for her and helped her to understand the love of a family, a real home. I was so humbled by their hospitality. They are a modest family yet they gave me their bed, and their bedroom while the children slept in the living room. They would not let me pay them for the food I consumed, I was their guest and I as Anahi's mother am the most important person to them, they told me. Such loving people.

I learned so much about my daughter in the past few days. She loves music, she loves nature and children. She greets everyone who walks in the door with sweet coos and ahs. She needs her time after waking up to just breathe in life. She knows what she wants and what she doesn't want and she knows how to communicate through grunting which toy she wants to play with. Her skin is ultra sensitive and even the slightest wind chaps her little cheeks. Totally focused time with her was God's grace to me.

When I went to her 11 month doctor's check up is when I broke down. The doctor told me that when she was little she wouldn't keep her tongue inside of her mouth. They checked her thyroid and ruled out an issue there. She suspected she could have a mild case of Down Syndrome. I froze inside. I was paralyzed and I wanted to burst into tears, to scream. NO. There is no way that the beautiful little child that God brought into our lives has a special condition. I couldn't sleep that night. Every time I felt her breath on mine in the bed we shared, I let the fear of a possible diagnosis paralyze my thoughts. The "what if" questions that took hold of my night were endless. All I wanted to do was call off the adoption and take the next bus home. I wasn't ready for the implications of a special needs child in a nation where there is NO infrastructure for children who have DS.

God, what are you doing?? I asked him as I held her in my arms. I began to doubt my capacity to care for her, to love her, to give her the future that God wanted for her abundant living. I called Norberto and had him research DS and what type of mental and emotional delays she might have. I called our lawyer and told her I was thinking to cancel our interview on Tuesday that took so long for us to get. I called the doctor and had her order me the Trisomy 21 chromosome test. I told myself we were crazy to even think of adopting in the first place.

Walk by faith, and not by sight.

That's what I heard Him whisper into my heart.

Just an hour before leaving on the bus to the capital, our Bible study talked about the 12 spies of Israel. Remember, the ones that were to bring back a report on Canaan (the Promised Land) to Israel. Regardless of the bounty that they discovered there...including grapes so large that three men had to carry the clusters... they couldn't get over the size of the giants. Having forgotten how God had always provided for them and always delivered them from their enemies to that point, they let the possibilities of defeat control what they knew all along.

God is bigger than the giants.

For 24 hours I dealt with a fear so crippling and so real that I was THAT close to throwing in the towel on our adoption process. There was a very intense battle going on in my mind and I am quite sure that my Enemy wanted to see me walk away from Anahi during those dark hours. I am convinced that those fears and doubts did not come from the God who answered our prayers of many years to build our family, to allow us to love and raise children who call Him by name. They weren't from the One who chose this beauty for us from a long list of 90 waiting families. They weren't from the Father who loves the orphan and who has grafted us in as His own in spite of our flawed genetic material.

I prayed and cried out to God and asked Him to renew my faith and guide me through the desert. I know that God's plans for us are to prosper us and to give us HOPE and a FUTURE. After that long night, I opened up to Anahi's foster mom and told her that I was more than a little scared to hear the doctor's words. Without my knowing, she called the social worker and she came to talk to me and show me all the rigorous testing that our little girl has already endured and she helped put my mind at ease. She ordered the Trisomy 21 test to be done and she listened and told me my fears were normal. I am grateful for those listening, non-judgmental ears.

I hate to admit how fragile I am. It shocks me to admit how one person's possible diagnosis could strike a blow to bring me crashing to the ground. I scared me to see how I cower at the giants instead of seeing the abundant fruit right in front of me. I am grateful for the prayers of those around me that were interceding while I was battling my own fears and inadequacies and lack of trust.

Yesterday as I looked into her eyes and saw her joy and her innocence, I knew God was growing my faith in Him. As I got into the taxi and waved yet another painful goodbye, I felt physically ill. The truth is I can't live without her.

I don't know the results of her test, but we are going into Promised Land, dear friends. We are going forward because this is what God has called us to. He has called us to rest in Him and walk in faith. It's a harder road than I anticipated, with many bumps and detours, but He's going before us and we're not going to let someone else enjoy the delicious grapes that were meant for us.

Worth It All

2011-08-23T10:52:00.000-07:00

We had the BEST time with our little girl this weekend!! We bonded with her so much and she just kept giving us sweet little kisses. Leaving her behind was just the PITS. Thankfully, we won't have many more goodbyes. However, we have to continue the relating process with her so the social worker can give a report to the judge on how Anahi is dealing with her new family (that would be us). So, I (Julie) am leaving on an overnight bus for Asuncion and will be with her until Friday night. Norb is holding the fort down here (and teaching my classes) while I'm gone.

Our big interview with the judge is in one week, on August 30. If all goes well, we will be named Anahi's legal guardians until the adoption process is complete. We aren't sure when ~~this long process will end~~ the adoption will be complete, but we're grateful to God for our little girl and recognize that all these sacrifices are totally worth having her in our arms.

The Judge Signed!!!

2011-08-20T04:39:00.000-07:00

Those were the happiest words we heard all week when our lawyer called on Wednesday. That means we now have the opportunity to make contact with our daughter in her foster home!

Thursday night we made the trip to Asuncion and yesterday we spent six hours with Anahi! We got to feed her, change her diaper, play with her and put her down for a nap. We were supervised the entire time by a government social worker. Thankfully, we had a great day and unbelievably she didn't cry even once!

Today and tomorrow we will spend the day with her again (unsupervised) and then we will wait for our interview with the judge on Tuesday, Aug 30. If all goes well with our interview, we will be named legal guardians of Anahi and we will be able to bring our little girl home. Then, we'll post all the pictures that we're dying to show you of our little princess.

A Day Late and a Dollar Short: Guest Post by Ken Hagerman

2011-08-18T06:03:00.000-07:00

Usually we shy away from those things that look a little too self-serving. For this reason, we don’t often talk of finances or of needs, especially the physical ones. However, recent events in the financial climate as well as our first-hand knowledge of how these events are dramatically affecting ministries operating here, have necessitated my writing this informative piece. Many times we Americans don’t know a whole lot about how the world functions outside of our borders. Even if we are seasoned business travelers or vacationers we only experience the other countries we visit from the small window of opportunity those things offer. Today, I wanted to take the time to tell you a little about exchange rates.

Many of you may support ministries outside of the United States and if so I want to share a little bit of how those financial blessings operate once they leave the good ole U.S. of A. While there are several countries outside the USA that use the U.S. dollar for their official currency (Panama, Ecuador, El Salvador etc.) and while there are many places that accept the dollar for payment, the majority of countries require the exchange of that dollar to the local currency in the event you care to make a purchase. The United States is a world power economically. Being such, when the economy is poor or shaky in the States it filters down throughout the world. Locally you may experience higher gas prices or a slight bump in food cost. Pay raises may be slower and smaller. Interest rates will be higher or the requirements to get a loan will become more stringent. All these things as well as the general “doomsday” morale being perpetrated by the media lead to a general “woe is me, we can’t make it” feeling.

Now let’s think about the missionaries and ministry organizations you support. They have to take that dollar you give to the local exchange house and turn it into whatever currency they need to operate. I will give you the specifics of Paraguay since we live here and I know it best. The Paraguayans as a rule aren’t bothered with the fluctuating dollar. It does cause some prices to climb on imported goods but their general life and livelihood are hardly inconvenienced by it. The missionaries and ministry organizations that operate here who have funding coming into Paraguay from the USA are bothered by it. In fact many are downright harmed by it. For instance, in October 2010 the rate of exchange here was Gs(Guaranies)5000 to $1. That meant when someone exchanged $1000 dollars they received 5 million Guaranies. Way cool huh?! This also meant when a ministry went to the local market and bought a kilo(2.2 lbs) of ground beef for the kids in their children’s home for 25,000 guaranies, it was the same as paying $5 for that meat. Or let’s say that a ministry went to fill the gas tank on the mobile medical office they use as a tool to enter communities and share Christ, and they bought 40 liters of gas at 6500 guaranies per liter (260,000 Gs total) . That’s $1.30 per liter, $52 for 10 ½ gallons. Yep, we are paying a little over 5 bucks a gallon for gas here.

Today we were in town and I saw a sign for an exchange location that boasted a rate of 3900 **guaranies to one dollar. In less than 6 months, the dollar has lost 22% of its purchasing power here. Let’s take the two examples above and rework them with the new rate. First the children’s home ministry buys 1 kilo of ground beef for the same Gs25,000 but now they have to use $6.41 to buy it instead of $5 dollars like before. Next the medical missionaries fill their van’s gas tank. The same 40 liters of fuel that was $52 now costs them $67. These changes occurred over less than 6 months.

The point to this exercise is to point out that while we are all feeling the pinch of the downturn in the economy what would it feel like for you if everything you bought suddenly went up 22-25%? I bring this up not to “drum up business” for the Hagermans in Paraguay but to mention to the good people, the world-wide donors, who support ministry in foreign lands to take notice. If the ministry you support is something that is close to your heart then ask them how things are going for them financially. I don’t know the state of exchange rates in all the countries where God’s people are working, but I suspect that their purchasing power has been dramatically affected of late. It may be a time in your life that giving more is just not an option for you, but you may be able to lead a campaign to raise finances for that children’s home or those medical missionaries or whatever other ministry God has put on your heart to partner with. I know firsthand that the missionaries we have met in the field think of the word partner as more than a check. They regularly lift their partners to the Lord in prayer, they think of each person as a vital part of the ministry, and they love when those people can come to see the work with their own eyes. If you are partnered with a particular ministry, engage them and pray that God blesses their work and ask HIM to show you your part in their work.

**Editor's Note: Since the writing of this post, the exchange rate lowered to 3600 and is now slightly up to 3800.

Ken shares his thoughts on his blog "Rambling with the Barba." He along with his beautiful wife Christie and their two dynamic daughters live and serve as missionaries in Itaugua, Paraguay. You can learn more about their ministry on their family blog.

Our Signs of Spring

2011-08-15T09:06:00.000-07:00

The flowers are blooming! (magnolias)

(yucca flower)

The garden is growing...

The orchids are flowering... This delicate orchid in our yard is called a "micro orchid" as the flowers that are blooming are best seen under a microscope.

The puppies are playing... (.thank God that they all sold, but they're so cute who couldn't resist!)

and her clothes are hanging!!.. in the anticipated arrival of our daughter. We are expecting to be able to bring her home in the next 2-3 weeks.

We rejoice at the signs of spring in our home and family. God is so good!! He makes all things beautiful in His time. What are some signs of spring in your life right now?

CMA Paraguay Aids International Rally

2011-08-13T15:21:00.000-07:00

This weekend is the International Viajeros Motocycle Rally. It is being held in our town and our CMA chapter is heavily involved with the event. Bikers have come from neighboring countries Brazil, Argentina, Chile and as far as Europe.

There was a biker parade today and Norberto registered the bikers and was asked to give the opening prayer. I handed out flags and Timmy was the cute biker kid.

These events are ALWAYS interesting to meet people!! There were over 250 bikers present for the parade.

That guy in front of the caravan is from Germany and is biking from Argentina to Alaska!!

Right before the caravan has about to start, a drunk guy's bike tipped over on ours. Then two bikes down, a guy jumps off his bike as it goes up in flames. Thankfully, we were able to put out the fire. Never a dull moment with bikers!

We're hoping to have more opportunities to talk with them tomorrow and use opportunities to share about our faith journey.

August is the Month of the Child!

2011-08-10T11:26:00.000-07:00

Here in Paraguay we celebrate Mother's Day (May 15), Father's Day (second Sunday in June) and Children's Day (August 16)! However, the entire month is full of children's events.

This past week some local churches and businesses sponsored a special concert with Biper, a Christian children's group from Argentina. The stadium that was rented was packed with 4,000 children/adults!!

Timmy still can't stop talking about the concert. He was especially happy to have a dream come true and eat cotton candy!

On Saturday, Aug 20 our church is sponsoring a big party with a moonwalk inflatable, and an afternoon of fun and games in a poor neighborhood about 10 minutes outside of town. We are looking forward to serving the children and telling them about God's love.

We continue to pray that August will be the month that we bring home our sweet daughter as well. We still don't have any news from the judge. Our attorney says that she hasn't signed the papers yet and to keep praying. Thanks so much for praying for our daughter and for all the children of Paraguay!

Puppies for Sale...or Creative Ways to Pay for Adoption

2011-08-07T04:23:00.000-07:00

Our lab pups are almost 45 days old; aren't they adorable! We have eight pure bred pups and we will be selling them to help pay our attorney fees for the adoption. This extra income (pray that they sell) could not have come at a better time because our budget could not handle the added expense of the attorney/court fees for the adoption. Three weeks ago we had no idea that a precious little girl would be added to our family soon, so we didn't have time to save up. Not to mention that the dollar is so low here, it really makes prayer an integral part of our existence!

So, if you know of anyone living in Paraguay that wants the best all-around dog that's fantastic with kids, send 'em our way!

All Good Things Come to Those that Wait...and Pray!

2011-08-04T07:03:00.000-07:00

I just talked with our attorney (we were not at the meeting) and she said that the judge wanted to review our case and will give us an answer on Monday. Ah, Monday seems so far off! There are two judges for the children's sector in our state and the one assigned to our case happens to be the more difficult (as in takes her time, is critical, and skeptical).

However, that does not intimidate us. We know that so many folks are praying and we believe that God can even change the heart of a judge who doesn't have any children and doesn't understand the heart of a mother. I am asking God for patience and the trust in Him that His timing his perfect and His ways are perfect.

After Monday when we receive a favorable response, we will need to present ourselves in front of the judge and she will interview us on why we want to adopt. We want to be salt and light to this woman. Would you please be in prayer for her (Evelyn) and for us? We really, truly appreciate your intercession. We are convinced that adoption is at the heart of God and the Enemy does not want to see orphans put into loving, God-fearing families. So, difficult judges are just part of the process and we look forward to sharing with you our victory soon!

Going Before the Judge Today!

2011-08-03T06:12:00.000-07:00

Today is the day that our lawyer will represent us before the judge in our state to present the "juicio de adopcion" or to legally consider us as Anahi's parents!

Will you please pray with us that the judge will sign our little girl over without a flinch or a glitch? If everything goes smoothly, we will be able to start our visitation with our daughter this weekend! The agency requires 3-5 visits to build trust and a relationship with her before bringing her home.

He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. -Deut. 10:18

Celebrate Friendship!

2011-07-30T13:21:00.000-07:00

Today is a wonderful day in Paraguay. It is "Dia de la Amistad" or Friendship Day. Everyone greets each other in a warm and special way. People exchange small gifts, have parties and send each other lots of text messages to express how much they appreciate each other.

Here are the flower arrangements that we made for our friends with a special verse: "Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves" Romans 12:10

While we can't send you flowers today, we want to tell you how much you mean to us. Your friendship has strengthened and encouraged us. You sharpen us and make us more loving, more giving, more trusting and better listeners. As Emily Dickinson said, "My friends are my estate." You are a rich inheritance and we don't want to ever take you for granted. We love you, dear friends and thank God that He's placed you in our lives!!

Is Anything Too Hard for the Lord?

2011-07-27T23:47:00.000-07:00

This last week has been a whirlwind of activity. We turned in our paperwork to the adoption agency and lawyer on Tuesday and now we do what we have learned to do well in Paraguay.

We wait.

There is a chance that we could be named Anahi's guardians before the adoption is complete. Please pray for the Lord's will to be done. Now that we know our sweet girl, we can't stand living without her. She is a precious gift from the Lord.

I was looking back in my journal last night to see if I had written anything on the day of her birth. ( I only write about once a week or so.) But indeed, I did write something...

September 21, 2010

"Is anything too hard for the Lord? That's the verse I studied today in my Patriarch's lesson. No, Lord nothing is too difficult for you! I believe in your divine power and your ways. I am praying for my miracle and entrusting the details to you, sweet Jesus."

I got teary-eyed as I read what I wrote. Little did I know that God was at work in mighty ways on that day. He was preparing the way for a beautiful baby to join our family. We continue to confirm seeing God's guiding hand in this incredible journey. The story continues...

Meeting our Little Girl for the First Time

2011-07-21T12:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was one of the best days of our lives. It all still feels surreal and while we don't have time to tell the whole story right now (we're running around town doing paperwork), we'll tell you that she is God's gift to our family.

We met our little girl yesterday morning and she is beautiful. Shé s 10 months old today (Sept. 21, 2010). She's got big brown eyes, is very happy and active and crawling a LOT. She has two little teeth on the bottom and what was the biggest surprise is that she's blond! Even the social worker says that doesn't happen in Paraguay. She immediately opened her arms to Norberto and gave him a kiss, as if she knew she was in her daddy's arms.

We can't take her home until we do paperwork and the judge signs her over to us. That's why we didn't write earlier, we've been all over Asuncion trying to get everything done. We hired a lawyer and are hoping that we can get her w/i the month, but it could take longer. Please pray that the judge signs the papers ASAP.

We see God's hand in this step of faith at every single turn. God has worked so many amazing, tiny details out. Our daughter's name is Anahi (Anna EE), which is a Guarani name for a flower. We can't change her name, but we can add to it if we want. We love her so much already and are so grateful for God's perfect timing.

Sweet friends, we can't post pictures here or on FB until she's officially ours, but if you're curious, email us and we'll send you a pic when we get home. Thanks so much for your prayers, God is answering in mighty ways.

AMAZING NEWS!

2011-07-18T11:22:00.000-07:00

Friends, after almost giving up hope on hearing from the adoption agency (you may recall that we've been waiting to adopt a Paraguayan orphan since Nov 09), they called last week and told us that of 90 families on the waiting list, they've narrowed it down to 29. They said that we would most likely be parents to another child by the end of 2011.

Then, they called us back today......and our hearts almost stopped.

We are to report in Asuncion at the adoption agency on Wed. at 9:00 to meet our little girl!!! We don't know any other details at this time, but will certainly keep you posted.

We are excited beyond belief. God has answered our prayers. We will post (hopefully with pics) after we meet our sweet princess.

Drumroll, Please!

2011-07-08T05:15:00.000-07:00

And the new name for our peanut products is.....

Maní Guaraní (it rhymes)

Thanks so much to everyone who gave some GREAT (and hilarious) marketing ideas. We chose Suzy,'s brainstorm. She's a college friend, a fellow MK (missionary kid) and a mother of quadruplets. You can read her blog here. We will be debuting our new product label in the next week or so.

P.S. Please, PLEASE continue to pray that our nut sheller gets "unstuck" from Cleveland, TN so we can continue forward with our micro-enterprise project!

We Make Turning 40 Fun!

2011-07-05T11:58:00.000-07:00

I know I'm a little behind on posting, but I have an excuse, which I'll tell you about soon. But first, you can't live in Paraguay and not have a party spirit! Here's our celebration for Norberto's 40th birthday last week. We made his favorite food, which is gnocchi's (noquis in Spanish) for lunch. It's an Italian potato pasta, and while it's a little laborious, it's so worth the effort.

Here Timmy's using the special wooden gnocchi maker, but you can get the same look using a fork.

We planned a backyard BBQ with friends, but since the forecast called for freezing weather and storms, we had our little shindig at the local restaurant. Since it was so stormy, we had the whole place to ourselves!

We had some games, led by Norberto's brother Marcos, followed by some entertainment.

The Kurrle Quartet made their appearance with some great songs, including one humorous song dedicated especially to Norberto.

This is one of the games we played. It's a potato peeling contest with men who are over forty! We joked about what you need and what you lack when you reach 40. We also did a questionnaire to see who knows Norberto best. What do you think his favorite snack is?:

a. chipas

b. potato chips

c. Nestle's crunch bar

d. popcorn (see answer below)

Yes, I dusted off the ol' trumpet and we did a medley. I only did it because Norb ~~begged~~, asked me nicely and I love my husband VERY much. Musical talent is strong on the Kurrle side of the family, ahem, not mine.

See what I mean; here's a really superb duo, Nila and Priscila (Norberto's beautiful sisters). They did an upbeat song in Portuguese. Like I said, mucho talento.

Not only were we among great friends, the whole family was present from all over Paraguay! We are so thankful that we could be together for this fun fiesta and celebrate God's goodness to Norberto over the past four decades. Here's looking toward the next forty!

P.S. The answer is C. Norberto LOVES Nestle's crunch bars!

"PEANUTS, Get your Fresh Roasted Peanuts!"

2011-06-29T06:35:00.000-07:00

This week has been soooo cold. What better way to warm up than being in the kitchen. The students have been working hard for four weeks now with our micro-enterprise peanut project.

With our peanut harvest we have been shelling nuts by hand and elaborating delicious roasted peanuts and candied peanuts (beer nuts). We think we've got a really good recipe too! Last week we bought an electric scale and a sealer machine, so our product is presentable and weights what we say it weighs!

We've been distributing to five local mini-markets here in town. On Thursdays we replenish the stock. So far, sales have been very good! We're now working on designing our label, which will be ready next week. Then we will reveal our new product name!

We are grateful that the students are so excited about this endeavor and that people love eating peanuts with yerba mate tea in the winer.

Please pray with us that our nut sheller molds arrive (long, complicated story) in July so we can continue to process our peanuts at a faster rate. The bottle neck in the process is definitely due to shelling by hand.

So, what do you prefer...salty or sweet peanuts?

Frost, Kindle, and Milestones

2011-06-27T06:13:00.000-07:00

Someone in our home had a milestone birthday this week. He's entering a new decade and we're pretty excited here to celebrate his life and all that God has done to bless him. More pics to come.

While we didn't win the Kindle contest a while back, some friends are sending us one they don't use. Isn't that fantastic!

Last night was the first frost of the season and a cold front is blowing in. I am reminded how seasons in our lives are so important. There is beauty in each season and there are challenges that come as well. Here's a pic of Timmy and Norb early this morning using spatulas to scrape the car window so Timmy could get to school!

Last night we gave thanks to God for a roof over our heads, a warm fireplace and food. We prayed for Paraguayans that live in poverty without the basics to stay healthy.

What are you thankful for right now? What season are you in?

Happy Father's Day...Feliz Día Papá

2011-06-19T15:26:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads and especially to the best "Papi" ever!

Timmy was so excited to put on the same traditional Ao Po'i Paraguayan dress shirt as his hero.

Can you tell he wants to be just like his dad?

What did you do to celebrate the special father-figure in your life?

The Empty Dish

2011-06-17T06:58:00.000-07:00

The first time our neighbor Roberto brought over some food, I looked into the pan and thought I was going to vomit. It was a cow's hoof. All I could think of was the amount of manure that was under that toenail and after saying a prayer to God for strength, I just barely get it down.

That was nine years ago and he still continues to bring us over food about once a month and while I still don't like cow's hoof, the level of Paraguayan hospitality is the best we've ever encountered. This family doesn't even have electricity, (no fridge or stove) yet they want to share with us what they have.

This past week, when Roberto handed over some warm tortillas (like a salty pancake) to Norberto he whispered....don't return the dish empty. A little confused, Norberto asked for clarification.

Roberto chuckled and said that true Paraguayan culture requires that when a neighbor brings you food, you, in turn, should fill it with something you've made to share as well.

Norberto said, "You mean for NINE years you accepted the dish back empty from us and you never said anything!!"

We were so embarrassed and apologetic. We immediately filled it with what we were cooking for lunch. We're STILL learning Paraguayan customs and habits and we are grateful for patient and forgiving friends.

Advocating for the Orphan

2011-06-14T07:10:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, we are in the LOOONG process of adopting a Paraguayan orphan. While we feel that God is calling us to adopt, we know that it is not for everyone. Yet, we do believe that God is clear that caring for orphans and widows is something Christ followers should take seriously.

Recently, we became familiar with the Reese Rainbow, an international orphan ministry. They just turned five years old. Since their inception, more than 500 orphaned children with Down syndrome and other special needs, who were hidden away in orphanages and mental institutions around the world, have now found "forever families" in the United States and Canada!

For their anniversary, they launched the 5/5/5 Warrior Project to bring greater awareness and grant funds to all of their 5-year old children, both with Down syndrome, HIV or other Angels. These kids are facing life-long institutionalization, instead of preparing for kindergarten like they should!

Folks, Timmy is five and when we look at him and think of what his life would be like in an institution we just want to weep. Our hearts break for these young ones whose entire lives have been without a home and their greatest desire is to have a real family.

We ask you to pray with us for these little children that are suffering!!

We have become prayer warriors for this sweet princess, named Sarah. She is almost exactly the same age as our little guy. Isn't she just a doll!!

She is described as "a lively child, cheerful character, always in good spirits. Accurate, loves beautiful clothes and playing dress-up. .She loves to draw and is very artistic. Her drawings often depict a house, a mom and a dad. She hopes that her dream will come true.The only health information available about Sarah at this time is that she has a "serious incurable disease"." Sarah only has $5.00 in her adoption fund.

Please pray with us for her healing, for her adoption funds and for her forever family!

We are so excited to have become 5/5/5 warriors for Lance! He just turned five in May and is living with HIV. Doesn't he just have the greatest smile! Currently, Lance has no funds in his adoption fund.

Our job as warriors for him, is to ask people to pray him home and raise funds for his adoption. Even $10 is a HUGE help offset adoption costs that might scare potential families away.

"Jesus, thank you that you love these little ones and that you are wrapping your arms around them, giving them protection and peace to their spirits even in the midst of pain and suffering."

If you would like to donate, you can do that securely by clicking on their names. There are more five year olds that need prayer warriors too! Go here for more details.

Please leave us a comment letting us know that you are joining us in prayer for Sarah and Lance!

Reaching Out Through Sports

2011-06-11T12:47:00.000-07:00

Giving sports balls is one of the best (and cheapest) projects available to bless lives through

Missionary Ventures' Gift Catalog. This year we were able to purchase 8 balls.

The five balls on the left are thread bare and the five new balls on the right put smiles on all the kids' faces.

This soccer club meets every Saturday morning in Asuncion.

The 70 participants practice two hours and end it out with a devotional every week.

These kids come to the Hora Feliz in Cerro Cora every Saturday afternoon.

The boys got a soccer ball...

and the girls got a volleyball (of course)!

The last ball went to the Explorers' Club. That is the local ministry that Norberto serves in.

Wanna reach out to kids through sports?
You can help a children's ministry by giving a soccer/volley ball here.

Lessons on First Fruits

2011-06-07T05:59:00.000-07:00

This is a three year old fruit tree in our back yard. At the top of this tree you can see the first tangerines it has ever produced. You can imagine how excited we were after watching that tree grow for three years to finally try those juicy, little treats! However, while we were waiting for the tangerines to fully ripen, we had some people stay in our home while we were gone and they ate ALL our fruits and we didn't even get to enjoy them.

After getting over our initial frustration, we realized that there seems to be a lesson in this somewhere. We decided we had "unwillingly" given our first fruits offering! We gave of the best that we had.

Proverbs 3 says it like this, "Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the first fruits of all your increase; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine."

The neat thing about first fruits is that you know that there is more to come. You give up something now in faith that your sacrifice will bring greater rewards. Now, admittedly, we didn't generously give away our fruit, we were so ready to scarf them all down ourselves. We hadn't even considered sharing from the small harvest we had reaped and we are learning what it means to honor the Lord with all our possessions.

With this little incident we're reminded to keep an open hand to others and believe by faith that God will bless us when we give with joyful hearts.

What about you? Do you give first fruits offerings to the Lord? Have you seen the increase that comes with it?

147 Million Minus One

2011-05-31T18:12:00.000-07:00

We're feeling so burdened for the orphan. We prayed for them as a family this evening and prayed for the child that God is preparing for our family through adoption. No, we don't have any new news. In fact, all we hear is that the wait is really, really long. Like 90 families long (with only 10 adoptions finalized last year) and very, very few children under two years of age. God's timing is perfect and we continue to wait and hope.

I was looking through an adoption ministry for children with special needs that are longing for a forever home and my heart just broke for them. God please answer their prayers for a family!

Have you ever wondered how you can help? I sure do. I pray for orphans a lot, but sometimes I want to do something more... tangible.

Well, you and I have the opportunity to help families who are raising funds necessary to adopt a child with special needs, like little Albina, or little Sarah who's just the same age as Timmy but has never known a mother's hug. and little Ricky who has HIV. You can donate, just even a small $10 gift helps, to bring them home to a family that will love and care for her show her the love of Jesus. If you donate to Albina, go here and let them know...they are so, so, so close to their goal!!

I know that not all are in a condition to give financially, but please pray. Lift up the 2,500 orphans in Paraguay and 147 million across the globe. Pray for healing for their emotional and physical wounds and that God would touch more families to look after the orphans as James 1:27 tells us to do.

Anyone who sets himself up as "religious" by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world. (The Message) James 1:27

One of the Finalists!!!

2011-05-29T16:03:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends, thank you so much for commenting in the missionary blog contest!. Although we did not win the kindle (a missionary from Ukraine won), we are so happy to know that you are reading and feel so blessed to have your loving support.

Well, would you like another chance to help us win?? We just found out we were chosen as one of 11 finalists for the Mocha Dad Father's Day photo contest!

Would you go there and vote for our photo. You can vote once/day until June 2. It's this one:

Isn't that sweet? Timmy continues to be the joy of Norb's life.

The winning photo will receive an external hard drive (perfect for a Father's day present, don't ya think?)

Peanut Harvest is Finished

2011-05-25T03:40:00.000-07:00

Peanut harvest is over! We've just finished drying and bagging the peanuts for storage (until our nut sheller arrives).

Tears of Sorrow and Rejoicing

2011-05-23T06:29:00.000-07:00

In the midst of a jam packed weekend with the Explorer's campout, hosting a group of Volleyball players from Florida, speaking at a women's breakfast and preparing to teach children's church at night, the unexpected happened.

We got a call. It was another one of those dreaded calls. The family that asked us for help two weeks ago with the birth of their teenage daughter's baby named Abagail called again to tell us that the baby had died.

I had so much to do, but I knew I needed to ask God for strength and drop everything and go to be with the family.

I got there and saw their 18 year old daughter, still recuperating after her emergency c-section two weeks before. It seems like just yesterday we helped sponsor her quinceaños party. She was sitting outside staring at the wind. She looked too young and innocent to have just lost a child.

I went to her and touched her shoulder. She grabbed me and started to heave as she clung to me. "Why, why, why did I lose my baby?" At times like those, words just don't come. I held her and cried with her. Then when her mom came out, face toward the ground, I hugged her and we cried all together.

We sat out in front of their shack with the afternoon sun on our faces, and I listened to them share of the little one who's life was so short and so precious. I heard stories of God's provision and the grace He gave for this young mother to allow the doctors to pull the plug on her daughter's respirator. Then they had to bring the body home on a seven hour bus ride without anyone knowing, since carrying a corpse outside of an ambulance or herse is illegal here. The night of the burial the mother dreamed that her little girl was in heaven and had a smile on her face as she was held by a beautiful angel.

We prayed for God's comfort and peace and as I drove away the sun was going down through the beautiful valley where they live, I felt the tears running down my cheeks and I thanked God that little Abagail no longer suffered, that she was with the Lord. There will be a time when there will be no more pain and no more sorrow. I whispered the words to the old song,

"When we all get to heaven,
what a day of rejoicing that will be,
when we all see Jesus
we'll sing and shout the victory"

Do you Like to Win Stuff?

2011-05-17T10:31:00.000-07:00

We do too!

So, if you help us we'll help you win a prize too. Let's explain...Remember last year how we were really ~~trying to feed our addiction to books~~ hankering to win a kindle in the missionary blog contest? Well, some dude from Togo, Africa won it.

This year, Missionary-Blogs is hosting the contest again and we thinks that the prize needs to go to some folks in Paraguay (wink, wink).

Here's why we think we should win the kindle:

1. shipping books to Paraguay is super expensive and takes months.
2. we don't have any more room on the bookshelves
3. we want to help save the planet and trees
4. we want to actually have a gadget that came out later than the 90s. (yes we still use a VCR and analog tv)

Here’s what you need to do to help us win:

Leave a comment on a missionary blogger’s blog (ahem, that would be Passion for Paraguay). The comment must be relevant… not just Hi I love your blog. Comment on what the post is about. Also, you must comment on a blog that is not in the country you’re in.
Then, fill out the form here.
Winners will be picked at random using random.org. You will win the cool Entrant prize, and the missionary on whose blog you commented will win the Missionary prize (the Kindle!!).
The Constant Comment Contest closes on the May 23, 2011 at 11:59 UTC. Winners will be announced later that week.....so hurry up, you don't have much time!!

Thanks for helping a missionary in need ;)

Mother's Day

2011-05-13T11:11:00.000-07:00

This Sunday (May 15) is Mother's Day in Paraguay! Since it is also the bicentennial celebration, we've been in constant activites. Last Saturday at church I was able to speak about honoring our mothers (Exodus 20:12).

On Monday our small group had a Mother's Day celebration. The men made us steak BBQ!!

On Tuesday Timmy's kindergarten sang Mother's Day songs for the local "Club de Abuelas" (Grandmother's Club).

In school Timmy drew a picture of his mama. He knows me well; my favorite color is blue and this tropical climate does weird things with my hair!

Today was Timmy's fiesta at school. They sang beautiful songs in German and Spanish for the moms.

They served us appetizers and made us a book of their art. What a special week.
I am so blessed to be a mother!

Praying for Run for the Son

2011-05-06T05:21:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the annual CMA Run for the Son fundraiser to send motorcycles and bikes all over the world. Last year we received 10 motorcycles that were distributed to pastors/evangelists all over Paraguay.

Asuncion G. has planted two more churches since he received his motorcycle last year!

Here's a letter we recently received from pastor Justo D.:

April 8, 2011
Bella Vista, Itapua

Greetings in Jesus’ name. I am so thankful for my motorcycle, KH 200 BR. It has been used for evangelism and various meetings. Also, we are using it for our services on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday that I drive to 10 km each way. The motorcycle has been such a blessing. It’s my work companion and my ministry partner. With her, I’ve been able to win souls for the Lord and encourage the saints.

Only God can repay you. I care for my motorcycle like a baby and I am the only one who drives it. Brothers, I want you to know that we are praying for you.

Blessings to you dear biker brothers,

Pastor Justo

Let's remember the bikers in prayer as they ride a 100 mile route in their distinctive states and raise money and awareness of God's love and mercy globally.

Choosing Not to Help

2011-05-04T07:20:00.000-07:00

We were in bed when we heard the clap at the gate. This has happened before and it's never good. We've experienced nights when someone clapped after dark to tell of an accident, domestic violence, and even a suicide. So, last night when the clap came late, we peeked out the window and saw who it was.

That's when we made the decision.

It was the family who we've helped many times. Their teenage daughter got pregnant and was due this week. They were hoping that she wouldn't need a C-section, because the local health center charges for the surgery. We've been telling them for the past seven months that they need to save for the unexpected and prepare for the birth.

A pregnancy is not an emergency crisis. It is a planned expense.

So, when the clap came late it was because they needed money for her C-section.

It wasn't easy to ignore the claps and the cell phone calls, but there are times when we have to choose not to help, for our good and for theirs so as not to create an unhealthy dependency.

Paraguay's Bicentennial

2011-05-02T14:47:00.000-07:00

Paraguay celebrates 200 years as an independent nation on May 14-15!

We were honored to participate in the opening bicentennial activities this Saturday in the Jesus ruins, just a few minutes from our house!

The National Symphonic Orchestra held a spectacular concert with the nation's best voices (Jorge Castro, the Lopez Simon trio, Emilia Recalde) and two pieces even included a ballerina!

We were all given flags and during the concert several patriotic songs told of Paraguay's struggle to survive and thrive.

One song "Himno de la Bandera" told of the colors of the flag...the red is for justice, white is for peace, and blue is for liberty.

There was a firework display like we've never witnessed here.

We couldn't figure out why there were so many armed guards, until it was announced that Paraguay's President, Fernando Lugo was present and was seated just a few rows ahead of us. I got a blurry picture of him.

Since we live six hours from the capital of Paraguay (Asuncion), this will probably be the only bicentennial activity we will attend, but it sure was excellent!! Look for more posts on Paraguay's history coming soon!

Trip to Ñeembucú -Rich with History (Part 2)

2011-04-28T22:21:00.000-07:00

This is part two of our trip to Ñeembucú. Since we are fascinated by history (Norberto's masters is in History and Intercultural studies) we took the opportunity to visit four different museums in this historical part of the country, where the bulk of the Triple Alliance War was fought and where Jesuit ruins are preserved.

These are the Humaitá ruins. This Catholic church was bombed for six months during the Triple Alliance War because it was thought to have held Paraguay's weapons.

From inside the ruins you can see the beautiful Paraguay river.

This is in front of the museum of Isla Umbu, where General Lopez had his military base.

A new monument is being inaugurated for Paraguay's bicentennial on May 14-15 in Paso de Patria. Along with the battle scene of the Triple Alliance War are General Mariscal Fransisco Lopez's famous words "Defeat or Die"

This is at the war museum of Paso de Patria. We spent two hours in this tiny museum reading about the war stories of Paraguay's heroes. The director of the museum actively visits battle sights to scour for relics with his metal detector. He has practically found all the museum pieces himself!

Being the adventure thrill-seekers that we are, we ventured off the beaten path to the battlesight of Tuyutí Paraguay's offensive attack against the Triple Alliance (Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay). Paraguay was ultimately defeated by the three most powerful South American nations, and sadly lost 60-70% of its population.

(Scene of the Battle of Tuyutí)

Although armed with only a spoon, knife and screwdriver, we started playing in the dirt a bit and much to our surprise, we actually dug up some war relics dating from 1864-1870!

These are our treasures: two belt buckles, a metal holder that goes on a jacket, a grenade top, a partial ring for a bridle and everyone's favorite treasure, an intact perfume bottle. It has a figure of what appears to be the queen of England on the bottom. Not bad, aye?

Stay tuned for Part 3 where we quit our day jobs and become full-time treasure archaeologists.

Lost and Found

2011-04-27T05:42:00.000-07:00

We have really good news today!!! Just wanted to let you know what we're thrilled about:

I got a text message saying that Jorge has been found! Thank you so much for your prayers. We know that the Lord cares so much for little Jorge and he always looks for his lost sheep. We believe the prayers brought him home. I wish I knew more information about his case, but all I know is that he is staying with some relatives in another city until his situation can be evaluated. We are not sure if there is abuse involved, but something is obviously is not right and I hope to know more this weekend. Continue to keep him in your prayers.

We have received the money we need for the Universal Nut Sheller and we purchased it yesterday!!! We are so thankful to the folks that are supporting this micro-enterprise project. Now, we just need a way to get it here. We have a possible lead with other missionaries who have a group coming next month, but it is not confirmed. Please pray that God will make a way for it to arrive in time for our production process to begin. God has brought us this far and is faithful.

Trip to Ñeembucú -Scenic Views (Part One)

2011-04-26T11:20:00.000-07:00

We took a short trip to visit a region unfamiliar to us here in Paraguay. This is the scenic drive west into the department of Ñeembucú. It is characterized by swampy wetland, beautiful birds and wildlife. Here are a few of our pics from our trip last week.

This is a milanesa napolitana (breaded beef cutlet with white and red sauce). It happens to be one of Norberto's favorite meals. We enjoyed lots of fresh fish and great hospitality from the Paraguayans residing in Pilar and its surroundings.

The yata'i palm is the one common in this region. It's in the center and looks spikey.

The hybiscus grows so well in this part of the world. The flowers are vibrant and so big.

Drinking mate in front of the yerba mate momument in Pilar.

Some vultures are feeding off a carcass.

A garza blanca (white goose) in the wetlands.

Timmy loves the camera and he took over 700 photos on this trip ...and that is not an exaggeration. Here's one he took of he and his papi. It's one of my faves.

This is the southwestern most point in Paraguay, where the Paraguay and Paraná rivers converge. It is called "Paso de Patria" and is famous for its excellent fishing. We did a little fishing from the coast but didn't catch a thing.

A pair of owls sitting together at lunchtime...guess they are more morning birds than night owls.

A horse grazing with a yellow canary on his back.

This crested caracara searches for food.

A local hunter with his catch!

The view of the Paraguay River from the Humaitá plaza.

We hope you enjoyed a small sampling of the beauty of this region. Part 2 of this series will show you the historic side of the region of Ñeembucú and the Triple Alliance War including some actual war relics that we found!

Jorge Needs our Prayer

2011-04-19T12:28:00.000-07:00

Norma came to me in tears. She collapsed in my arms as she told me that her son Jorge has been missing for over two weeks. My heart stopped for a second. He's only eleven, but so small that he looks more like an eight year old. She has no idea where he could be and she's very, very worried. You see, this is the second time that Jorge has run away. The first time was in February when he wanted to visit Carnaval in Encarnacion, which is certainly no place for a child. He was found on the street of the big city seven days after leaving home, filthy and hungry. This week the local radio has been announcing the physical features of Jorge and asking for any information and so far there have been no clues to his whereabouts.

This little boy weighs so heavy on my heart. He has been in our Children of Promise ministry for five years. He was diagnosed with learning disabilities and ADHD a few years ago after troubles focusing in class. Unfortunately, despite numerous attempts for him to attend a private school with special education, he had to leave the program last month because he kept skipping class.

Please pray with us that Jorge will be found, that God protects him and that we can help him and his family get the help they need. Thank you so much for your prayers, we will keep you up to date with any new information.

Helping Poor, Rural Farmers Increase their Profit Is Easier than You Think. (You can Help!)

2011-04-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

Let us give you a little background. Ever since we learned that peanuts originate from Paraguay (and surrounding nations), we wanted to plant them. This marks our fourth year planting peanuts. Our first year we were ecstatic to harvest about 28 lbs of nuts. Here's little Timmy helping spreading our first nuts to dry in the sun.

In the early years, we shelled our own peanuts. Later, we paid our neighbor children and teens to help us. However, each year our production has steadily increased. This year we are hoping to harvest over 1500 lbs (700 kilos) of peanuts. We've discovered that on average, a person can shell 3.3 lbs (1.5 kilos) of peanuts per hour.

This is 1.5 kilo of peanuts that takes one hour to shell by hand.

This would represent 466 hours of shelling. At a minimum wage cost of $1.71/hour (6875 G using current exchange rate of 4,000) we will spend $800 on shelling alone.

We quickly discovered how inefficient and costly this process will be to our micro-industry. We desperately need a machine to help us.

While researching, we found the Universal Nut Sheller (UNS) and our spirits soared. It is exactly what we need.

The UNS was invented by Canadian Jock Brandis to help a women's coop in Mali. This simple machine is made of cement and after receiving the fiberglass molds, can be made locally. Here's the kicker...

It can shell 110 lbs (50 kilos) of peanuts an hour (pictured here)! That is a 3,233 percent increase in efficiency!

We talked to the director at The Fully Belly Project yesterday, whose mission is to improve the economic development of people in rural communities by training them to manufacture appropriate technologies.

They will sell us the fiberglass molds and a kit with all the parts to make 4 machines. We have to find someone to bring us the kits (in 2, fifty pound boxes). We can make our machines and help other small-scale farmers shell their peanuts as well!

The cost of the kit is only $350, with shipping (2 excess baggage fees of $100 plus ground shipping), it will run us around $600. This will provide us everything we need to make four machines. Not to mention that once we have the molds, we can mass produce this machine to help our neighbors increase the value of their crops (it also shells coffee, shea, and jatropha). The price of an unshelled peanut per kilo is only 3,000 G. The price increases to 8,500 G for a shelled kilo, that's almost three times higher!

The thing is, we need the Universal Nut Sheller as soon as possible. If you would like to help us buy the molds to make our own UNS and help others become more efficient farmers and gather a larger profit for their families, we could really use your help!

Please send support to Missionary Ventures, preferenced for the Kurrle PEANUT project (listed under "other"). You can click on the green button to the right or click HERE to donate safely online.

THANKS for helping us meet this URGENT need for the ICCI institute and the farmers we work with!!!

Home life

2011-04-12T13:59:00.000-07:00

Lest you think our lives are consumed by ministry (since most of our posts revolve around our ministry), we wanted to dispel that myth and give you a few random pics from our home life this week.

We try to do a big, leisurely Sunday breakfast. For the past few weeks, we're on a pancake roll and since we had some yummy marshmallows sent to us, Timmy decided his pancakes needed a little decoration!! What could be better than Dulce de leche and mini marshmallows for a topping?

We are reading through the Bible with Timmy with our favorite children's Bible (not pictured). Right now we're reading about King David and we're comparing him with King Saul.

We've been spending our afternoons (since we teach at night) outdoors. We've been hiking, biking, running, gardening and doing whatever we can outside to take advantage of the beautiful weather we've been having the past few weeks. We know that winter is coming, so we're soaking up all we can now.

We are learning new dishes (today's dish was marinera) due to our spectacular students. This is mandioca plant with cheese passed through a meat grinder. It is then formed into balls with chopped up chorizo and fried and these "croquetas de mandioca" are super yummy.

We'll try to update you with more "Home life" pics every once in a while, so you get the "rest of the story"on what goes on in our lives.

Peanut Harvest

2011-04-11T11:39:00.000-07:00

Today we started harvesting our peanuts (almost an acre) that we planted 7 months ago.

Look at the soil, loaded with peanuts!

Here is Sonia, one of our students with me during harvest.

Our plan is to process the peanuts into peanut butter and elaborate other peanut-based products for our institute, so that ICCI can be self-supporting and the students can learn about micro-enterprise. We'll be posting more on our mini-industry. Our next step is to dry and store the peanuts.

If you have any suggestions of names for our peanut butter brand, we're looking for ideas!

How to make Rosella (Roselle) Juice and Tea

2011-04-08T04:08:00.000-07:00

This is rosella (not to be confused with grosella, which is gooseberry). Rosella is from the hibiscus family.

It's harvest time here, and we use the rosella to make juice and tea. It's properties are absolutely tremendous. It helps sooth colds, coughs, helps digestion, promotes healthy kidney function, is a treatment for cancer, and reduces a fever and that's just a few of its benefits!

To make rosella juice, first de-pit the fruit and wash the skin thoroughly.

Put the fruit into boiling water until the water is bright red (about 15 minutes). The color is so vibrant, Roselle is sold to make dyes. Strain the fruit (which can be used to make a delicious jam) and refrigerate the juice. Add a few squirts of Stevia for a healthy drink.

The finished product looks exactly like red Kool-aid, but is entirely full of nutrients. We can't get enough of it.

We dehydrated the petals for hot tea. All you need is two dried flowers to infuse in hot water to make a wonderful hot tea on a cool day. If you don't have access to Rosella, run, don't walk to get some rico hibiscus tea at a specialty store near you.

Children of Promise Keeps Growing

2011-04-04T12:12:00.000-07:00

Children of Promise child sponsorship started up in Itapaso! We teamed up with Light for the Nations Christian school to help the needy children in this depressed area.

After seven years of serving the ministry, I no longer am the director for this fantastic program. A wonderful young lady named Sandra (pictured left) is the new leader and she is doing a great job! Here she is meeting with the new site coordinator for Itapaso, Diana.

The difference between Light for the Nations and the other public school in the community is night and day. The desks are broken and there are not enough for every student, the windows are broken, the fans don't work. While students here receive TOP NOTCH education.

There are 25 children currently attending the school and currently, five still need sponsors. Sponsorship gives each child a wonderful education and a snack and lunch every day. The cost is only $25/month to change a life. Click HERE to take one of these little ones under your wing.

Hold On!

2011-03-31T18:40:00.000-07:00

Mike the missionary* felt the pace of his life was picking up speed.

*Any resemblance to real missionaries is purely coincidental.
Mike was inspired by this great 365 day series.

Classes Begin!

2011-03-30T07:16:00.000-07:00

We are so excited to share that the ICCI (Christian Institute for Integral Training) classes began last night! We had 8 students for English class and 12 students for spiritual formation! This is our teaching classroom, which we've been working steadily to prepare.

We are so grateful to God for this beginning and we pray that ICCI continues to grow and impact lives.

Bulgarian Biker Ends Up at Our House

2011-03-24T12:03:00.000-07:00

Only God could orchestrate that. Plamen came to know the Lord in an underground church during the communist regime. Shortly after the fall of communism, he founded this church in Bulgaria (which is one of the largest in the nation). He is passionate about God and motorcycles. His dream was to bike through South America and he made it happen after months of planning and preparation. However at the last minute his two riding partners backed out and he did the trip solo!

He started in Texas and arrived at our house yesterday after 45 days on the open road. He found us through the CMA website and we are so honored to have him stay with us! Last night he spoke at our CMA meeting about his amazing adventures.

Today he, Roland (CMA Paraguay president) and Norberto are out on a day ride to show him the beautiful region of the country in which we live.

Plamen flies to the US tomorrow and back to Bulgaria later in the week. What crazy and absolute adventures Plamen has shared with us about God's protection and the goodness of the people he met along the way. We love being a part of the CMA family and are grateful for the cool people we've met who love Jesus and love bikes.

Giving Tools for Life Change!

2011-03-21T06:43:00.000-07:00

E and V are two men that are being helped through your support of the MV Gift Catalog. They are living at CECI institute in San Lorenzo. Through Missionary Ventures' Catalog projects, the institute received wheelbarrows, tools, seeds, and help in building chicken coops for their community vision to help change lives in despair.

These men are learning how to live their lives without the use of alcohol. They are being discipled in God's word and using their skills productively to aid their own community.

Please pray for CECI as it reaches out to more hurting people in the community and shows them a healthy way to recovery and fulfillment. Their next project is to start a Christian daycare for poor families that need a safe and loving place to send their children while they work.

Thank you for your help with the Gift Catalog this past year! There are many more ways you can bless a life with this year's gifts, so check out all the ways you can help make a difference HERE!

A la carte

2011-03-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

Here are a few random things from this week...

We can't stop watching the videos from Japan. Timmy was watching and said, "Mom, why is there a house floating down the street?" We're praying for all affected and we loved this miracle rescue story from the rubble. A-MAZING!!!

We loved hosting a myriad of different folks this week for meals and counseling in our new living room. After four years of building, we never thought we'd finish, but we are so grateful that we are wrapping up the details and are now able to show hospitality to more people, something we love to do. A big thanks to special people who helped us finish.

We cleaned the classroom and office for ICCI this week, pictures to come. It was a disaster.

We took out four piques (sand fleas) from timmy’s pinky toe. Um, no pics of that. He’s getting so good at this, he is the surgeon’s assistant!

Here is a great post on the harms short term missions teams can do if they are not wise to culture and heed cues of their hosts.

We are just a few days away from the beginning of ICCI leadership institute. Please pray for the new students as they arrive on campus.

We are slowly moving into fall and are grateful for a break in the hot, hot weather. March is our favorite month of the year for temperatures in Paraguay.

Off to Ciudad del Este for business/pastoral meetings this weekend. Have a great one yourself!

Travel and Activity

2011-03-14T10:22:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks have been filled with travel and activity. Paraguay hosted the CIID conference (Interamerican Conference of the Church of God). There were representatives from over 13 countries in Latin America!

Here are the Paraguayan representatives in their typical dress.

It was a five day conference packed with workshops, networking, worship services, good food and fellowship. We led a session on "Integral Mission." The next CIID conference will be held in Nicaragua in 2013.

On the tails of the CIID conference was our South American missionary conference in Montecarlo, Argentina. Sometimes you get so used to serving others, that you're not accustomed to being served. The local church treated us so well with local food (can you say BBQ). The missionaries came from Haiti, Colombia, Bolivia and Belize and the Ecuadorian group missed their flight. We had some meetings and time for site seeing as well. After being to the Iguazu Falls 89 times (not really, but at least 20 times) we finally got to see them from the Argentinian side and were we ever impressed!

They even had a little train ride that Timmy loved! The conference was a good mix of fun and business and we were able to get better acquainted with other missionaries serving in the western hemisphere.

"The Future of the Global Church May Not be Western-led...

2011-03-09T03:16:00.000-08:00

and that's OK. Let the mantle pass." -Miriam Adeney. I'm reading Kingdom Without Borders, which I definitely recommend. The author, Miriam Adeney, argues that today we must partner globally in missions and that the West will need to learn to follow. She says that even though most of the money, power, training institutions, publishing houses and international organizations are based in the western hemisphere, God is doing something new in our time that involves a shift from the West to the East and South. (p.40)

There is much to say about this issue, but I'd like to hear from you. What do you think? Should the west move over? How important is it for you to be "linked" to believers in other parts of the world?

My Hallmarks of a Missionary

2011-02-28T13:41:00.000-08:00

Hey, thanks for sharing your ideas on the characteristics of a missionary! Feel free to keep commenting....

These are my hallmarks right now, or what I view as really important to keep us sane:

Prayer warrior- Our first weapon when we are without a clue and without strength (which is pretty much every day).

Resilience -or just being really thick-skulled and not quitting even when things are very tough.

Major Flexibility- and I’m not talking ability to do the splits (thankfully). I’m talking about the ability to go to the bathroom in really gross conditions. The ability to change plans at a moment's notice and welcome in an uninvited guest for lunch.

A deep love for people of different cultures, beliefs and perspectives.

MacGuyverish -That's being ingenuous and creative with few resources, for those of you who are too young to have watched the show.

Light for the Nations

2011-02-21T11:51:00.000-08:00

Remember when the group came to help build the school last month? Well, "Luz para las Naciones" (Light for the Nations) school was inaugurated this weekend and classes start today!

The church rallied around the project and different people donated their services to make the tables, sew the curtain and smocks, paint the walls and decorate. Doesn't it look fantastic!

The school will start with kindergarten and the goal is to add a classroom each year.

Norberto shared a few words at the dedication service.

Here's the ribbon cutting. This is a very exciting time for us, because we believe it is crucial to invest in the lives of children and youth if we want to see any lasting change in Paraguay. ICCI leadership school for youth is set to open next month and our hope is to open another Christian school in San Lorenzo next year. Keep praying with us that we will be light to the nations!!

Top 5 Hallmarks of a Missionary

2011-02-19T09:13:00.000-08:00

***As a missionary friend noted... "It seems like the guy on the right is showing Jesus' love to the stone-faced man on the left"

So, we were just asked by a leader in the church what we would consider to be the top five "hallmarks of a missionary."

Honestly, I didn't really know what a hallmark was.*blush*

Our trusty dictionary.com told me a hallmark is "any distinguishing feature or characteristic."

Hmm, sounds sophisticated.

Okay, I just got my top five.... BUTTT, before I share mine, I'd like to hear yours!

Go on, don't be shy... and certainly don't be stone-faced like the guy on the left!

If You're Poor and Get Sick, You're Screwed.

2011-02-15T16:57:00.000-08:00

I just got back from the Public Health Center and am feeling sick to my stomach. It's not that I had some bad meat for lunch, I'm sickened about health care for the poor in Paraguay. Our neighbor had a varicose vein hemorrhage which was squirting out blood like a hose. Her daughter and husband ran to our house for help and I told her husband that I'd take her to a private clinic.

He insisted that I take her to the public health center. With the years of (bad) experiences I have had with public health centers, I knew that it would be a waste of time, because they have few supplies and very rarely is the doctor in. Nonetheless, he wanted to go there because it's very cheap. I complied and just as was expected, no doctor and no supplies.

We ran her into the emergency room and the nurses sat her on the operating table and just looked at each other. They didn't even have bandages! They applied pressure to her gushing vein with her own dirty towel and then they wrote down her name and document number and released her. I said to the two nurses on duty, "That's it! You can't even give her some gauze???" They said they didn't have any supplies to offer us. While I cleaned her bloody flip flops they wheeled her out to my car. At least they had a wheelchair. Sheesh. Good thing I knew this was coming, or I'd be fuming.

I quickly took my bleeding neighbor to a private clinic and they applied clean bandages and made her lie down for about an hour before we went home. They charged me $3.00.

I just got more medical supplies from the last work camp than the center has that serves the medical needs of the poor for our entire town.

Pathetic.

I continue to ask God what I should do about this, it grieves me to no end to think that if you're poor and you get sick in Paraguay you will just die.

Big Boy Goes to School

2011-02-15T10:09:00.000-08:00

We can hardly believe the day arrived... Our little guy is growing up and yesterday was his first day of kindergarten! He's been asking us for WEEKS when school would start and yesterday was the BIG day.

School here starts at 7:00 a.m.! We got him to bed earlier and told him he'd have to get up extra early for school. He informed us there were three ways we could wake him up:

1. By gently saying, "Wake up" in his ear
2. Pulling his big toe
3. Doing a combination of yelling "Wake up!" and pulling his toes.

What a comic. Thankfully, he jumped right up after we did number 1.

Here's the family rallying around our champion to give him hugs (and licks) and send him off!

He's not excited or anything. Hopefully he still has that same smile at the end of the week!

Young Heroes

2011-02-14T11:30:00.000-08:00

Yesterday wrapped up our national Youth Convention Weekend here at our church.

The theme was "Heroes in 3D". Every session dealt with Heroes of the faith and what it takes to be a hero in today's culture (our testimony, our decisions, our willingness to be set part and be courageous and prepare for what's next).

Our speaker was Youth Specialties Paraguay director, Paulo Lacota

Here is our youth ministry leadership team

The worship team was incredible!

Praising with all their hearts

Games at the river

Norberto was in charge of rappelling Sat. afternoon. So much fun!

Terere time!

Concert with Christian rock band "Extremo" on Sat. night

These are the young people who feel that God is calling them into ministry! We talked to them about ICCI and pray that they continue to take steps of obedience toward preparing for their calling. These are the young heroes that will change Paraguay!

Finally, some Pictures

2011-02-11T02:23:00.000-08:00

Here are more pics from our second week and the third team that arrived on site Saturday. They came in two days later than planned due to the ice and snow delays from O'Hare airport.

Here's the floor team grouting....

It's a very clean job where no one gets dirty at all.

Last Sunday we had a church service outside and Pastor Demetrius preached.

The group presented the church with beautiful puppets and did a special workshop on the facets of puppet ministry.

The landscaping team...

Painting, painting, painting...

This has been our home since Jan 23. Did I mention how much it rained? We thought we were living in Noah's ark!

Isn't is just beautiful? Here we are cleaning and preparing for the dedication.

Here's the church set up for the service... and then it started to pour and pour and we wondered if anyone would come.

Despite the bad weather on Tuesday afternoon, there were at least 250 people present for the celebration! Pastor Bob Confer preached on Psalm 127:1 "Unless the Lord builds the house, the workers labor in vain." and shared how the real church is the people, not the building and we need to be about building up the real church one person at a time.

The worship team was a mix of Paraguayans, Brazilians and Americans.

Timmy was a champion during the entire work camp, but his batteries ran out during the service!

Here's the entire team in front of the new church!

Pastor Silas and Pastor Nancy will carry the big responsibility of leading the congregation forward. The team brought encouragement, hope and new life to Katuete and we are so very thankful for our partnership with you. You blessed our socks off. There's nothing that comes close to the joy of experiencing the body of Christ working together.

The BIG day has arrived!

2011-02-08T09:03:00.000-08:00

Tonight is the dedication service for the new church sanctuary! We have worked extremely hard the past 17 days and we today we are wrapping up the last minute details and cleaning up and packing up the tools for our departure tomorrow around 7 a.m.

The service starts at 7:30 p.m. and already many pastors and leaders from around the country are arriving for the huge celebration, which will include all kinds of special music and fanfare. Please pray that God be glorified in the service this evening.

Again, we apologize for the lack of photos, since the internet connection is so bad here. We will hope to post some pics of the dedication service and the group when we arrive home on Thursday afternoon.

Mucho Progreso!

2011-02-05T12:24:00.000-08:00

Sorry it has taken us so long to get more pictures up. Internet service is very limited and extremely slow here (it takes 20 min to upload a photo). We are progressing very well and looking forward to the team that arrives this evening! Here are some pics of the last week...just look and see all that has been accomplished.

When Hearts Unite

2011-01-31T14:55:00.000-08:00

This weekend was our Children of Promise reunion. Several sponsors are here on a work camp and their sponsored child made the long trek north to spend time together.

There is nothing more special than sponsors being able to meet or reunite with their sponsor child. Mike has three sponsor boys: Oscar, Alex and Diego. He writes them and encourages them in their studies and in their walk with the Lord. None of these boys have a father and Mike's love and affection means more to them than anything.

Our plan once we arrived in Katuete was to spend the afternoon at a beautiful park with pools and waterfalls, but because of a heavy rain right when we arrived, the dirt roads were impassable and we had to change plans. In fact, one of our vans got stuck and the sponsors had to get out and push!

We had an excellent BBQ at a church member's farm. He pulled out all the stops and slaughtered a lamb for us. We barely made it there because of the very muddy roads, be we had a memorable time, mud and all. Here's a pic of all the kids having fun at the farm.

And here we are washing the mud off our shoes so we don't get kicked out of our hotel!

Joe has been sponsoring Heidy since 2006. He met her when his church went on a work camp to her town in Bella Vista. Now he came back to work on the Katuete church building and he brought his son with him. They got to see how Heidy has been growing and maturing as a young woman. They brought her a small gift and prayed with her. She was glowing the whole day.

After we had a wonderful time in fellowship together, we said tearful goodbyes to our sponsors and headed back home.

On the way, we did a few special outings...like the zoo!

I'm not sure what the kids liked more, the trip to the Itaipu zoo or the lunch at McDonalds (both a first for all the kids), complete with happy meal "cajita feliz" and a toy!

Thanks so much to the sponsors for making this unforgettable experience a dream-come-true. The kids love you and talked all the way home about how special you are to them.

Group has Arrived Safely

2011-01-28T16:17:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to let you know that our wonderful work campers arrived safely yesterday. After a three hour bus ride to Katuete we checked into their hotel rooms, had a nice dinner and even nicer shower and they headed to bed. Today they started bright and early on the site. The block walls are up, but have to be plastered. They were all put to good use on the job. Tomorrow is the Children of Promise party for all the families that sponsor a child in Paraguay!

Sorry, no pictures today because I'm south getting ready to pick up the kids and the camera is north! We'll try to get lots of shots of the party tomorrow.Thanks so much for your prayers!

One Group, Two Projects

2011-01-26T02:15:00.000-08:00

Right now there are two simultaneous work projects going on with our great friends from First Church. The biggest project is the sanctuary construction in Katuete in Canindeyu. This is how it looked on day one:

On day two, they already had the trusses up and half the south and west wall.

This is the school project in Itapaso, Itapua, seven hours south of the Katuete project.

They are working on building the two upper classrooms so that the school can begin next month for the kindergarten class.

Thanks for your prayers for the safety of the seventy-some people that are on site and for our strength as we translate and help out wherever needed.

We Reached the Goal!

2011-01-16T14:28:00.000-08:00

There is NO WAY on earth this could have been done without you. Thank you friends for your help with the Matching Grant Challenge for the ICCI Leadership Institute! We received word that we arrived $10,041on December 30. Any gift that came in Dec 31 or after has not yet counted toward our total goal. We will keep you posted as we hear more information on the final total.

We are jumping up and down and are so thankful for your prayers and participation to help us reach this HUGE landmark!

Paraguay's Cement Crisis

2011-01-14T03:50:00.000-08:00

Paraguay is facing its severest cement crisis in history. This comes at the worst time possible for us. We are on the brink of building a church with a work camp and the prices of cement have more than doubled. Cement is extremely difficult to come by and we will need more than 500 bags.

Lugo, the president of the Republic, blames the shortage on distributors. Of course, he'll defend the nationally held cement company (INC). The real problem is that INC is only producing 56,000-60,000 bags a day and the nation's demand requires 90,000. This shortage drives the price of cement sky high. We bought cement for $4.00 a bag just three years ago. Now, we're paying between $14-18 a bag. Since the soy crops are doing very well, more people will be constructing in the next year and the demand will continue increasing.

The church building needs to go up between January 24- February 9. Local leadership is waiting and praying that the price will go down in the next few days. We would like to invite you to pray with us and/or help buy a bag of cement for the Katuete church building project.

One, Two or three bags of cement will be a big help for the church in Katuete. Click here (and preference for PARAGUAY PROJECTS) to help purchase a bag of cement for the church.

The Latest at our Ranch

2011-01-10T03:51:00.000-08:00

2011 is off to a running start in our home. Here's a glimpse of what's been going on:

We rang in the new year by visiting our dear friend in the hospital, Susana, who's husband almost beat her to death with a crow bar. She had several gashes to her head which required many stitches, was battered and terribly bruised on her chest and back, but thank God no permanent damage was done to her brain. Domestic violence is a huge problem here in Paraguay. Three years ago at this very time of the year we housed a battered woman who needed a safe place to sleep. Please pray with us for peace in Paraguayan homes.

We made a trek to Katuete this week to bring supplies to the work site where we will be translating for a work team. Who needs a truck when you've got a white fish (Timmy's nickname for our car).

First Church will build a church in two weeks later in the month! Here's the "before" shot of the church building. We'll keep you updated on the progress of construction when the team arrives.

While many of you are bundling up with layers and heavy jackets, we're stripping off our wears to stay cool in this very muggy season. We got a little pool so our champion can cool off on these long summer days.

So, what's the latest at your ranch? Hope you have a great week whatever your plans!

CMA on the Move Part 2

2011-01-04T14:24:00.000-08:00

As we mentioned a few months ago, this has been a record year for us! We have been able to give away TEN motorcycles to different pastors/evangelists serving in Paraguay. Here we highlighted the first five ministries. Now, here are the rest of the 2010 motorcycles recipients:

Pastor Asuncion serving in General Delgado and surrounding towns, two hours southwest.

Pastor Carlos serving in Hohenau, the next town over.

Pastor Pedro in Ita. His motorcycle was stolen last year so he received a new one this year.

Bi-vocational minister Mario in Jesus, twenty minutes west.

Chaplain Abdo ministering in Guaira, eight hours north. (Sorry, this picture is absolutely horrible.)

Thanks again to CMA for the incredible gift you have given each of these pastors! You have given them wheels to move the Gospel forward and we are so grateful.

Last Day on Air

2010-12-31T06:01:00.000-08:00

Today is Norberto's last morning show at Radio Alternativa. After five years of conducting his radio show 7:00 a.m. daily, it's time for a shift in focus. While his upbeat, informative mix of local news and music was very popular, it was getting routine. As we like to say, "We've shot our best bullets" and we're loading our gun for the explosion of the leadership institute. He's not saying goodbye to radio forever... He's even contemplating a weekly talk show with the students second semester.

We're looking forward to exciting, new endeavors in 2011. We're thankful for what God taught us in 2010 and ready to conquer new terrain in the coming months.

Have you realized, like us, that you can't do it all? Do you have any shift in focus this year, anything that you need to let go in order to embrace something else?

Happy New Year!!

Only 4 More Days!

2010-12-27T09:41:00.000-08:00

Only 4 Days Left...

The December 31st deadline is fast approaching! There's still a wee bit of time to help us meet the $5,000 Matching Grant Challenge for the ICCI Leadership Institute. This exciting endeavor will train up young Paraguayans in a marketable trade and help them become leaders in the church and community.

We need your help!
You can donate now by clicking HERE.

Preference your donation for special project: "Paraguay Bible School"

Thank you so much for helping us reach our goal!