Passion for Paraguay

This past March 14th Marcos turned 21. He has grown into a young man. We celebrated with cake at home. We sang happy birthday in spanish, english and german and half the song in guarani. Marcos is usually more quiet and reserved, not one that likes to be noise or loud. He lost his dad when he was 11 years old. His dad was a heroe whom Marcos admired. His father with whom he had learned to drive the tractor and play ball was suddenly gone - thats ten years ago. His life changed in one afternoon when his father Esteban lost his life in a work accident. Four years later, I came into the picture and for some reason, God wanted me in Marcos story and my story to be affected by Marcos. I know healing takes differently in each one of us. Our boy has come a long way. Turning 21 is a major stepping stone into the adult world.  We all are always looking up to heroes and people that inspire us. In a small way, I want to be Marcos hero. And we will continue celebrating and finding new markers ...

Anahi is turning seven this week. She is finishing first grade this November. Her reading level is excellent. She has added a few inches to her height this year, but growth has happened in many other respects as well. She continues to bring joy and hope into our lives. She loves playing with her little brother and gets excited in being the big sister. One of Anahi's favorite moments in the day is reading stories at night before going to bed. I love these moments, since they provide a chance to debrief and hear what is going on in her heart. Anahi is always asking questions. Her mind is very inquisitive and sharp. Our daily prayer is that God continues to fulfill His purpose in her life. Happy birthday Anahi. We love you..

I want to thank you for hanging out with us this past month. Every day was different. Sometimes I wish I had more of a routine. But in my missionary role, routine is not something I experience very often. Here are a few September highlights. We traveled to Asuncion, to get some paperwork done. The trip to Asuncion generally takes six hours on a two lane road, with crazy traffic. We avoid these trips as much as possible.  I was part of a Baptism ceremony in the Parana River. 28 people made a public commitment. The Parana Rive is the second one in size after the Amazon River. I had a chance to continue my bible teaching at our local church on Tuesday evenings. I fill in various classes and find teaching very rewarding. We celebrated Anahi’s 6th birthday with our immediate family. Anahi is finishing her preschool and will start first great next year We celebrated Dominick’s 4th month. He also got his shots last week. Dominick has occupied the cen...

September is a wonderful month for our family. Anahi was born on a day like today. Nancy and I started dating on a September day. It’s the beginning of spring in South America. The weather has been incredible over the past days. As you live a little longer on this earth you learn to treasure the season you are in. You realized nothing will last forever and how important it is to flavor the moment. Today we are enjoying the birthday of Anahi. Nancy is making something so we will share this evening as a family. I look forward to dinner tonight as I finish my work in the office today. Over this past year, Anahi has learned to write, read and roller blade, among many other new skills. Every day I wake up I take a moment to thank God for the gift of my little girl. I love you Anahi. Happy Birthday!

Education, education, education I went back to school last year thanks to a friend who encouraged me to consider some formal training again. I graduated in 2002 from seminary. Nancy has been very supportive of this decision as well. What motivates me? First, to better understand higher education in the context of Paraguay. Second, is to better be equipped for the ministry I am involved.  Last year according to records of the ministry of Education, only 14,520 Paraguayans graduated from 60 university’s in the country. This represents 0,22 % of the population. This country is experiencing and awakening in many fronts and higher education is just one of the many fronts to be pioneered.  This lack of education translates into a lack in many areas of leadership for society. This country’s resources and its hidden potential are starving for leadership. Churches and any type of Christian or secular organization has work cut out. As the saying goes, when there is a ...

Happy Birthday, Anahi: Part Three Anahi continues to grow and mature into an incredible girl. She is learning to read and write. She actually knows all her letters and reads easy words. She has also been taking violin classes for the past few months. She loves to jump with the music; at church she claps and follows along with the singing with great rhythm. Anahi also makes friends very quickly. I often find myself staring at her and wondering what God has in mind for my girl. Why has God chosen me, this family, this home, to be her community of love and support? At night when I put her to bed, I thank God for his love and mercy and for bringing Anahi first into my life, and now into Nancy's life. Anahi is finding her way in our new family. Although she struggles with the normal sibling rivalry, as time passes her connection with Nicole and Mark and Nancy is growing stronger. God is the only one that can truly bond our lives together. This morning I looked at some p...

So much has happened since that day. Anahi came to live with us only about one month after we met her. She loved Timothy from the beginning. Julie was an incredible mother; a dream had come true in her life. God had given her a little girl, whom she named Esther because she had arrived in our home for such a time as this. Esther became part of our family. We went on our first family vacation a few months later. We had popcorn and movie nights. The kids and I played after work in the afternoons. Julie was able to see God answering her prayers and satisfying her deepest longings to have a baby girl. Between September 2011 and April 2012, we had such wonderful times. We were very busy, living life and doing ministry together in Paraguay. Anahi learned to walk with Timothy. Julie and I got to enjoy not only the Latin American spring, which officially begins September 21st, but also a spring season in our marriage and our ministry. We had been married for almost 12 years. The y...

Happy Birthday, Anahi Anahi turned five this week. She arrived in our lives after a long wait and a season of challenges, in ministry and personally. On a personal level, we had struggled with infertility for many years. In ministry, we were pioneering the ICCI Bible school and walking alongside a struggling church as interim pastors, as well as shouldering other ministry responsibilities. The adoption process we'd begun as a result of our infertility was going nowhere, to the point that we were ready to give up. The paperwork seemed endless. Stamps, copies, legalizations, interviews, background checks, and so forth. We were getting tired of the countless trips lasting 10 to 12 hours to the capital city for meetings and interviews. We were stretched emotionally and financially to the max. But one phone call brought a new season into our lives. It came on a Monday morning at 10 a.m., on July 18th, when the director of the adoption agency called us with probably the best ne...

My mother turned 70 years old last week. Born Tabitha Mary Meier, she grew up as a missionary kid in Brazil. She speaks four languages and plays the accordion, flute, piano, guitar, and clarinet. She attended college at Anderson University in Indiana and later earned her master's degree at Purdue University. She returned to Brazil to continue the missionary   work that her parents started in 1935, and it was there, at a youth convention in 1968, that she met my dad, Martin Kurrle, a young man who had just returned from Germany and was initiating his ministry as a single pastor. They were meant for each other and were married a year later. Today, after 45 years, four countries (the U.S., Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay), five kids, and several grandkids, they continue loving each other and serving as missionaries in southern Paraguay. Together they have been involved, directly and indirectly, in starting 12 congregations, a school, and a radio station, which until recently was ...

Hi Julie Today  we would party because its your birthday. You always made sure we had fun on family birthdays. You started the tradition of making breakfast in bed for the birthday person in our family. You made sure there was a present and a moment to celebrate. Today was quiet. I was on the road traveling. Life has changed dramatically since you went to be with Jesus last year in April. Its been actually hard to celebrate. I have been looking at pictures this evening, hoping to savior some of those birthday occasions. I treasure the wonderful moments I had with you. There were so many. You had party written all over you. You are turning 37 in heaven. You actually have stepped into timelessness. You are no longer aging. I know deep inside my heart that you are more alive now than ever. I am a little jealous. I send you my love and hugs. My prayer is that today you and Timothy had a moment together with probably angels and a great choir. Your legacy on this earth continues...

Anahi’s Second Birthday Anahi turned two on September 21. To celebrate, my sister Nila helped me organize a little party at our house. Anahi and I had a great time with all of our friends. We had a cake, finger food, candy, and a piñata. The kids also got to play for a while in the Globo Loco (bouncy house), and my sisters put on a puppet show. After a time of singing with the kids, I tried to share a few words, but I soon realized that I can’t say too much without breaking down. Anahi is my connection to Julie and Timi. Since I lost them, she has become my sunshine and a ray of hope in my life. But even as she has given me a reason to keep going forward, when I start to reflect I can't help but think about what she meant to my two loves. I know that Julie would have written so much more about Anahi by now. About how she likes to entertain and interact, and about how easily she smiles when someone asks her to pose for a picture. About how she loves her clothing...

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 1.230.00...