Over the next week, I hope to put together a few snapshots of the trip to Paraguay.  These will be brief posts that tell the story of one aspect of the trip, or of one person.  I have found it challenging to condense the whole trip into a single train of thought.  By posting snapshots, I can talk about specific aspects of the trip, rather trying to talk about the whole thing at once.  I have found this useful as a way of telling people about the trip.  When I don’t have much time to chat, I give one snapshot.  For those with a little more time, I try to give two or three snapshots.  For my wife, well, she got the whole photo album.

Expect the first snapshot to be up tomorrow.  Until then, keep Paraguay in your prayers.  Today was their national election.  The party that has been in power for 60 years is about to give way to new leadership in August.  Pray for a peaceful transition, and pray that the new leadership will be good for the country.  Some of the people that I spoke with in Paraguay were concerned about Fernando Lugo, who has been elected president today.  They seem him as leaning toward socialism, in the mold of Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.  They don’t want their country to go too far down that path, as they don’t think that it will be good for the country in the long run.

Years ago, I had a friend who was house sitting for a wealthy family while he went to seminary. He made a comment that has stuck with me for a long time. He said that he was learning not to want so much stuff, because you eventually reach a point where your stuff owns you, instead of the other way around. He used his situation as an example. The family needed someone to stay in the nice house to keep an eye on it and protect it. If they did not have as much, then they would have no need to hire someone to stay at their house while they were away.

One thing I have noticed when I travel overseas, is that those who seem to have very little, always seem to have the biggest smiles. In this picture is Joel. I met him on my recent trip to Paraguay. The first time I met him, we were walking along the sidewalk, he was singing along to the radio inside the one room house behind him. As he finished the song, singing at the top of his lungs, he saw us on the sidewalk outside his gate, and cracked up in laughter that he had been “caught” singing. Continue Reading »

Josh and I arrived safely home yesterday afternoon.  My parents picked us up at the airport.  They also made dinner for us.

Tonight, Lynn and the girls fly back from Texas, where they have been helping friends pack to move.  I can’t wait to see them again.

There is a lot that I have not had a chance to write about on the blog.  I hope that over the next couple weeks, I will have a chance to fill in some of the gaps, as well as adding a few pictures.  I also expect to upload some more pictures to the flickr account.  So, please check back again to see some more details of the trip

Today was the last day of visiting with our new friends in the barrio.  It was fun to sit and talk with new friends like Jorge and the Valiente family.  I really like how social the people are here.  When you show up unannouced and say hi, the pull up a chair and ask you to come sit down.  If they are drinking terrerria or mate, they offer you the guampa.  It is a wonderful culture for relationships.

Tonight, there was a special service.  It was a time to celebrate the formation of a new church, but also a time for goodbye.  Two of the women that I have met with all week got up to speak about meeting Christ, and how happy they are that we came.  It was very emotional.

I spent a long time with Alé  and Jorge.  Jorge was telling us about how he used to be addicted to drugs, but that once he had his son, he new that he had to change.  He described all of the violence near the neighborhood where we have been working.  He said that he is glad that we have come, and that he hopes that the church will help change the neighborhood.  He has invited me back to visit.  I hope that I am able to return some day.

Tomorrow, we will not be in the barrio.  We get to sleep in a little more.  We will go shopping in the morning.  In the evening, we will have dinner with Pastor Alcides and the translators.  Josh and I leave on Saturday.  I am sad to be leaving behind all of the friends that I have made, but I am looking forward to being home and catching up on some sleep.

One of the concerns that Josh and I spoke about at length before coming on this trip was the language barrier.  In Paraguay, they have two official languages: Spanish and Guaraní.  Josh was concerned because he doesn´t speak either.  I had some concern because, while I once was fairly good at Spanish, I had not used the language much in a long time.

Happily, both Josh and I have been able to communicate.  On our first morning here, Josh learned that sports is a great language to communicate.  Marcelo, who has become Josh´s friend and personal translator, got Josh playing soccer with some of the boys.  Since then, he has had friends with him regularly.  He is frequently seen laughing and playing with other boys, some his age, some younger and some older.  He has done incredibly well at learning some basic phrases to communicate, and at using Marcelo to help him speak to others.  He has also been great at blending into the group dynamics of our team.

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