John Simons

Paraguay 2009 - Prayer Calendar

Despite my best intentions to post about the mission trip, time has been very limited.  For each trip that they sponsor, e3 Partners puts out a prayer calendar.  I have slightly modified the calendar, and am posting it here, both as text, and as a pdf version that you can download and print.

Sun. June 14

Satan begins his attacks long before the trip.
Start praying against him now!
Col. 2:13-15
CLAIM GOD’S VICTORY

Mon. June 15

Pray that the team will prepare themselves spiritually all week
Eph. 6:15-21
FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT

Tues. June 16

Pray all week that God will open many doors for the gospel and draw many to Jesus!
Col. 4:3
PRAY FOR LOST

Wed. June 17

Pray for campaign preparation, both for us and the nationals.
Eph. 3:16-19
PREPARE

Thurs. June 18

Pray for last-minute details.
Pray for focus and vision and that God will be glorified.
Eph. 1:15-20
FOCUS AND PASSION

Fri. June 19

Depart for Paraguay
Pray for travel safety and good connections
Acts 4:31
SAFE TRAVEL

Sat. June 20

Arrive in Paraguay.  In-country orientation.
Preparation to work with nationals
Eph. 3:15-21
FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT

Sun. June 21

Worship with local church.
Eph 4:1-6
UNITY WITH CHURCH

Mon. June 22

Morning & afternoon: door-to-door evangelism
Eph. 6-19
BOLDNESS

Tues. June 23

Morning & afternoon: evangelism & discipleship.
Eph. 6:10-20
PERSEVERE IN WARFARE

Wed. June 24

Morning & afternoon: evangelism & discipleship.
Rom. 15:5-6
ENDURANCE AND UNITY

Thurs. June 25

Morning & afternoon: evangelism & discipleship.
Commissioning service for new church.
1 Tim. 2:8
HEART FOR OTHERS

Fri. June 26

Fellowship with new friends and sightseeing.
1 Thes. 5:16
REJOICE

Sat. June 27

Depart Paraguay.
Psalm 91
SAFE TRAVEL

Sun. June 28

Arrive home.
Pray for us to process all that God has done.
Psalm 91
SAFE TRAVEL

Mon. June 29

Pray that God will radically change lives of new Christians as they are integrated into new churches.
Eph. 4:17-32
GROWTH IN CHRIST

Tues. June 30

Continue to pray for new believers, their churches and leaders, and the USA team.
Eph. 5:1-14
GODLINESS

Wed. July 1

Pray for leaders and workers at new churches as they disciple new believers.
Eph. 4:11-16
EFFECTIVE LEADERS

Thurs. July 2

Give thanks for all that God has done both in and through those who shared Christ in Paraguay
Psalm 91
REJOICE

Fri. July 3

Ask God if He would have YOU go on a campaign!
Matt. 9:38
WORKERS FOR THE HARVEST

Thank you for your prayers!

e3 Partners
(214) 440-1101
(800) 542-2646
http://www.e3partners.org/

Tags: Church Planting, mission trip, Missions, Paraguay

Back to Paraguay

EvangeCube

It has been a little over a year since Josh and I went to Paraguay. In a month, I will be going back to Paraguay. This time, I will be traveling with Josh, my daughter Abby, and my pastor.

Abby is particularly excited about going. She has been reviewing the materials in close detail. She has also been practicing with the evangecube, so that she will be able to share her faith. It is very encouraging to see her so excited about the trip.

More details to come.

Tags: Faith, Family, Missions, Paraguay

Snapshot 4 - Growth as a Man

One of the things that was most exciting for me on the trip, was watching Josh interact with the rest of the team and with our friends in Paraguay.  It was a great unknown for me as we went into the trip: how would Josh handling being in a different culture, where he doesn’t know the language, and is expected to interact with adults throughout the week.

The first night that we were there, we met with a group of pastors and elders to talk about the plans for the week.  At that first meeting, one of the pastors referred to Josh as the “pequeño missionario.”  That became a nickname for Josh during much of the week.

Throughout the week, Josh impressed me with how he handled himself.  When he was with the Paraguayan youth, he was just another teenager interacting with friends.  He played soccer, shot baskets into a bucket, juggled, listened to music, and just talked.  When he was with adults, he carried himself with maturity and poise.  When it was time to speak publicly, he did a great job talking about what his faith means to him.  From what I am told, he handled himself very well doing the evangelism.   During the week, he worked side by side with everything from teenagers to pastors, and he handled himself like a champ.

Since we have been home, he has been staying in touch through the internet with some of the people that we got to know.  He has talked about a desire to practice his Spanish.  He definitely wants to go back to Paraguay.  Our hope is that we will be able to go back again next year.  We also hope that we will be able to put together a small team from our church to go with us.  It would be great for our church to develop a relationship with some of the churches in Paraguay.

At the end of the trip, Josh was talking with the same pastor who had called him the “pequeño missionario.”  I commented that I thought he had proven himself to not be the “pequeño missionario” anymore, just the missionario.  The pastor corrected me.  He said that Josh had proven himself to be a “gran missionario.”

I think that I agree.

Tags: Family, Missions, Paraguay

Images of Paraguay

I have put most of my pictures from Paraguay up on Flickr. I have continued to add pictures after we got back. There are still a few more pictures that I need to upload, so check back in another week or two. If you want to look at the set, here is the link.

Tags: Church Planting, Flickr, Missions, Paraguay

Snapshot 3 - Translators

I can’t say how important the translators were on this trip.  Yes, there language skills did come in very handy.  I am saying that as one of the members of the group that was able to survive in Spanish.  I was very proud of being able to have a short conversation without a translator, even if it did make my brain hurt.  I was also able to jump in and help as a makeshift translator once or twice when the “real” translators were busy elsewhere.

› Continue reading

Tags: Church Planting, Missions, Paraguay