Sunday afternoon, we hosted the first weekly meeting of the young ladies of Carapeguá, where we are studying the book, Lies Young Women Believe (And the Truth that Sets Them Free). Girls from the age of 13 to their late 20’s attended. We started with a little quiz that clues you into the lies you may already be believing about yourself, your life, or God, and then talked about how believing the lies causes us to change our behavior and live according to the lie. The purpose of the study is to expose the truth in God’s Word about each of the common lies young ladies live with, and to open their eyes to where and how a lie can slip in. I have to admit that it’s a bit intimidating to teach totally in Spanish, but thanks to my friend Rhonda, I have this book in both English and Spanish, and that’s helped me a TON! The girls responded appropriately, so I guess I was understood, for the most part….

This is Paola, my little helper. She is practically an orphan, who lives across the street with a family who basically took her in. I just ADORE her. She stops by all the time to help me in whatever I’m doing, and she had come over as I was preparing the room. You’ll see in the “before shot” below that she’d been playing all day. She asked why I was putting out candles and napkins and such, and I told her some young ladies were coming to learn about God. She said, “Oh, I’ve got to go bathe!” and ran off. It’s nothing strange for kids to bathe in the middle of the day, so I didn’t think anything of it, until in the middle of the meeting, she stuck her head in the door and peeked around at me. She’d pulled out her best clothes, slathered her face with some glitter, and did her best to brush her hair out. How could I say no? I gave her a notebook like the others had, and she quietly sat beside. Then afterward, she taught her own class on the porch with a couple little friends.

We are painting the youth center this week, trying to add a more youthful feel to the pale yellow walls and dark green doors/windows. I’ve been calling it a Sprite can. We ended up going with one dark orange orange wall and the others in different shades of gray, and it’s made a huge difference. Our painting has been the talk of the neighborhood, with folks dropping by each day to check it out.

Deisy (pronounced Daisy) is one of the youth here in Carapeguá. She invited us to her 15th birthday party, which is a huge celebration a lot like a wedding reception. She was formally presented as a young lady, and her attendants each took a turn handing her a flower and a scripture verse of wisdom for her future. The parents and the birthday girl said a little something each, and then the pastor prayed for her. After the ceremony part, everyone had a meal together.

A huge wedding-style cake was the center of attention after the meal, as all the single young ladies gathered around to pull ribbons that were baked into the bottom layer of the cake. Each ribbon had a little “charm” on the end of it, such as an eagle to symbolize strength, or a heart to symbolize love. This Quince Party (KEEN say) is something the girls look forward to all their childhood, much like we imagine our wedding. It was great to take part in Deisy’s big day.

I know I’ve already blogged about Camille’s birthday, but I wanted to let you know about some of the cool things that turned out that day. First of all, we had a nice family lunch, with homemade pizza for all. That meant first thing, we started on the dough and the sauce. Saúl is taking a class on broadcasting, and he had asked all his classmates to announce birthday greetings on their radio programs. So throughout the day, we heard Camille’s name on the radio, and an occassional birthday song.

Being the concrete thinker that she is, she replied a little strangely every time someone asked her how it felt to be 13. She kept saying that she really only felt 12. Then at 7:27 PM precisely, she turned around to me and said, “NOW I’m 13.” She wasn’t going to call it done until she reached the time of her birth. That girl!

When we got to youth service that night, the leader called Camille up front and the pastor came forward to read a scripture just for her (Psalm 119:13). We were called up to stand beside her and the pastor prayed over the three of us as the congregation joined in. Several people at church had gifts for her, which completely surprised our birthday girl. Then a few others came to the house after church to share cake with us and hang out until just before midnight. It really was a day full of celebrating!

Today our wonderful firstborn turns THIRTEEN! 13! Trece! AAAAAA! It's hard to believe time has flown this quickly, but here we are. She's been a fun child to have around, so we're excited about watching her grow into a young lady.

She's very thoughtful--not just in that "I'm a nice person" sort of way, but in the way that she THINKS a lot. She LOVES to read and spend time alone, but she's also very sociable with folks of all ages, and she enjoys being in the middle of a crowd.

Camille has always had a great spirit of hospitality, happy to serve and careful that all are comfortable. She is often called "guapa" here. In some cultures that means pretty, but in Paraguay, it's what folks call you if you are a hardworker. Well, we think she fits both definitions of that word!!

She is an active part of our ministry here and seeking God each morning for how He'd like her day to go. We're very proud of her, and thrilled that God saw fit to send her to our care.

This past weekend was spent at Paraguay National Youth Camp 2010, held in Arazaty. Saúl, Camille, Hollie, and I attended (Ken stayed home with Caroline, who is one year too young still). I managed to squeeze in as the “computer girl,” even though I’m technically too old. (Read this whole blogpost and you get a bonus at the end….)

Several things jumped out at me as different in camp here, compared to what we’re used to. For one, the youth leaders were the workers at camp. This is just how it goes, you’re expected to be there, so the camp is staffed instantly. Not only does this mean the camp director didn’t have to be on the phone digging up workers for months before camp, but it also means that the workers have a heart for youth, are mature enough for the job (they’re already working with youth in their local churches), and understand what goes into planning and carrying out a big event.

Another difference was the amount of days camp takes place. It’s a bit shorter than we have in SC, but the schedule meant more were able to come because it works well with a job. The campers arrived Thursday evening and had service and dinner. Friday and Saturday were the full days/nights, and then Sunday started with the service, lunch, and then the closing ceremonies. After the closing, everyone pitched in to clean the camp, and that evening, the buses returned to take the campers home. So even though Sunday’s schedule was different than that of Fri/Sat, it felt like you got three full days.

One more thing that I thought was a good idea was transportation. Depending on where you were coming from, there was a slight difference in your tuition. Those from FAR away paid less because they had to buy a bus ticket to get here. Those from a couple hours away paid a bit more because a bus was chartered and they all rode together. Those from nearby paid a little less than that because they were expected to find their own way here. The chartered buses made the difference for many who would have had a difficult time otherwise.

Friday and Saturday mornings were full of classes on finding God’s purpose, and the afternoons--despite the heat—were spent in organized games and activities. I was thrilled that I didn’t have to participate in the running, jumping, crawling, soccer, and other “fun” things they did in the trillion degree sun, and could just be an innocent bystander this time.

The services were super, with dynamic praise and worship and pertinent messages. The youth really responded and the altar time was very special. Afterwards, I enjoyed watching talent time (yep, just like at home), where “whosoever will” was allowed to take the mic and share their skills—well, in some cases, share their lack of shyness to come forward. It was a GREAT weekend!

BONUS: I can’t let this close without telling you the funniest part. Saturday night was REALLY late, with everyone wanting to participate in talent time after the service. We got to sleep around 3 AM. It had been a hot day, and I’d drunk a TON of water and juice. Well, around 4 AM, I woke up knowing I should have visited the ladies’ room before going to sleep, after all that water. I used my cell phone to light the way to the door, which I found LOCKED! I started walking bed to bed trying to find the one lady with the key, but to no avail. All this time, I just HAVE TO GO! So finally, I found a partially opened window. Yep, you guessed it. I crawled over the sill and jumped out onto the ground. Not a long way down, but I knew I’d have to jump to reach it and climb back in. I jogged to the restroom, found there was no paper, and began a mad search for the hidden stash somewhere in the building, not believing how hard it was just to go potty. After finally finding a roll of paper and taking care of my business, I made the jog back to the open window. There was a shiny moon and a few streetlights outside, and inside was total darkness, so I was taking a “leap of faith” to get back in. About the time I hike one leg over the windowsill, the lady with the key woke up and saw a shadow coming in the window. She started yelling, and I hollered in a whisper (you know what I mean), “Wait! It’s me, Christie!” over and over in Spanish. I just knew I’d have a shoe—or worse—to the head before it was over. Thankfully, she recognized me in time to save me a whopping. Next time, I’ll potty BEFORE bed…

We are moving along in the drama concerning our vehicle. This week, we visited the lawyer in Asuncion again to find out her opinions in the “To Repair, or Not To Repair” question. She suggested we repair, expecting that we will win and have the title eventually. We’re praying “eventually” comes sooner than later.

Of course, without the truck, we were at the mercy of the bus system for the day. There were several errands to run while in the capital, so we started out early and broke Hollie into the world of the colectivos. Before the day was over, we’d walked through a rainstorm, hiked a whole lot of city blocks, and met a few interesting folks.

The first was a man and his helper (son maybe?) who jumped on at one of the bus stops… well, I say “stops,” but the truth is that they just kinda slow down and the folks jump on or off really quickly. Usually, random folks with baskets of chipa (bread), fruit, or a cooler of drinks jump on at one stop, make a few sales, and then jump off at the next one. This time, a saxophone player hopped on with his friend carrying a large (battery-operated?) speaker. The music started, and Mr. Cool goes to town on his shiny saxophone. I was impressed. Saúl says there was a time when evangelists would ride the buses in that way, giving a mini-sermon, taking up an offering, then getting off the catch the next bus. I tried to get one of our crew to sing or preach or something after that, but no luck….

A few colectivos later, an older gentleman scooted over to offer Hollie and me space to sit. We hesitated because we didn’t want him to be inconvenienced, but he took our hesistation for mistrust, I think, because he stood up and offered his seat (right beside us) to Ken. I tried to explain to him that Ken was fine to stand, but he shook his head and started making motions with his hands. I didn’t understand, so he pulled out a laminated card from the government that certified him as a deaf-mute (I guess many folks “fake” this to try to get money, so he was showing that he’s a card-carrying member of the group). The front of the card showed his pertinent information (town, number of children, whether or not he can work, etc.). It was then explained that he survives on donations, so I gave him one. This seemed to take him by surprise, and he reached into his backpack and pulled out a Bible, one exactly like the comic-book-style Bibles we want to use for youth ministry. (They have lots of pictures and for folks who can’t read or don’t read well, you get the general idea of the story with less words.) I didn’t understand all of what the man was trying to communicate, but he was trying to give me the Bible and witness to us about believing in God. How cool was that?!?! I did my best to tell him we were believers, too, and that we had Bibles, so that he could give his to someone who really needed it. Meeting him made walking in the rainstorm worth every drop.

I've been at camp all weekend (details later), so I slept a bit late this morning and haven't seen the news. But I have heard that Fidel, the rancher who was kidnapped here in Paraguay by a rebel group, was just released, and is back safe with his family. The story of their demands, what their family did, and how the community reacted is really incredible. The word is that the community's reaction to what the family was asked to do was quite probably the straw that broke the camel's back and led to his release.

My friend Rita wrote about it, including pictures and a video, and I think you'd find it interesting. Check it out here and tell her I sent you....
http://jungle-hut.blogspot.com/2010/01/poor-with-dignity.html

I'm feeling a little wordy again. Stick with me.... Something the Lord has impressed on me the last couple of months is for my prayer time concerning our family and ministry to be more specific. I've been re-reading a few books along those lines, and trying to put more attention to detail in my prayers. One of the scriptures that jumped out at me is from Psalm 67:1-2, and I want to tell you why. First, a little background info.

I have to confess that there are some things missionaries just don't put on our blogs for public consumption. For example, there's no need writing something that will put unnecessary worry or stress on our parents or close friends, who diligently follow our posts.

We also tend to leave out things that we think might be misunderstood by someone who hasn't "been there, done that." On this example, I can only speak for myself, but I can attest that I've heard other missionaries say similar things. What I mean is, sometimes I make decisions here that I'd never make at home, prayerfully considering each thing I can, and doing our best. No examples come to mind, and if they did, I guess by the nature of the beast, I couldn't share them anyway. HAHA!

Other things we don't always share are those that may make us seem culturally insensitive, or ungrateful. In my mind, I may be thinking, "What in the world is my neighbor doing?!" but I won't blog that, nor will I go into details that would embarrass someone who might one day read this and realize that I aired their spiritual laundry under the guise of a prayer request.

I'm not sure I can write this in a way that makes sense, but one of the other things that is usually an "unmentionable," is the struggle we sometimes face within ourselves as ministers. This time, I'm speaking directly about pride. It's nothing unique to the mission field, but it presents itself in a sly way here. In some countries, I imagine there is much discrimination and maltreatment of foreigners, but I have to admit that most people are more than nice to us. They tend to sometimes put us on a pedestal and want to hear our opinions on everything, and how it's done in our country. We have to be careful on things that are cultural and not spiritual, that we don't come across as superior, and that we explain that just because we do things differently doesn't mean our way is better. But something we've been made aware of in various ways over the past several years, is the ability of pride to creep gradually--ever so slowly--into the heart of those put in such a position, until the feeling of superiority replaces that of humility and servanthood. No longer is the minister then here to serve, but to build a kingdom and make a name for himself/herself.

I'm sure it's something you, as I, have witnessed in everyday life, or seen in televangelists, or watched in politicians. Good things can still be done under this umbrella of kingdom building, but for all the wrong reasons. The sad thing is that most people don't realize it's creeping in on them, and they continue to build on this faulty foundation.

After thinking about the dangers of this, I began praying specifically that God would not allow that to become part of our ministry here in even the slightest form. That this blog, or your opinions of me, or how the nationals feel about us, or WHATEVER, would never take the place of God's opinion of us, nor that anyone who looked at our ministry would see US, but HIM.

The night I began praying this, I ran across the scripture I mentioned above.

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, Selah, that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. Psalm 67:1-2

What jumped out at me was the motive for God's grace and blessings. Of course, we want God's anointing on HIS ministry, which He's entrusted to us. We want to minister to lots of youth, and we want to reach each one in a REAL way. We want to meet all our goals for the mission work. But why? The writer of verse 2 sums it up well to point out that the motive is that people all over the world in all nations will know God's ways and His salvation. Lord, help us to always keep that as the focus.

Some things I already knew but was reminded of, and some are fresh revelations.

1. Although I prefer not to share my home with ants, spiders, flying cricket, lizards, ___ (insert random creepy-crawly), I can survive doing so.

2. It is one thing to believe what I believe, another to REALLY live what I believe, and entirely another to explain what I believe to someone who finds it “foreign.”

3. Before using a towel, I should take the time to closely examine both sides of it. The same goes for pulling back the covers before crawling into bed.

4. Learning a new language is fun. Learning two new languages at the same time is confusing, but also fun.

5. It’s not just a saying, that “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Getting involved in everyday needs goes a long way.

6. The same holds true for “No man is an island.” I’ve always considered myself independent, and I still think I’d follow this calling if I were alone in it, BUT encouragement and support from those who believe in the vision is invaluable. Getting a little note in the email box or a comment on facebook or a card in the snail mail just sends us through the roof. To think that people are praying for us is quite humbling and amazing.

7. People are the same at the core, no matter where you go. We all have a God-shaped hole, and some try to fill it with classic “sins,” others with religion. Neither will ever quite fit.

8. My children are amazing. Okay, I knew that before, but I’ve seen it daily since getting here. It’s incredible to watch them minister, to hear them speaking Spanish, to listen to their prayers for the work here. Sure, they bicker and complain about chores and are still typical tweens, but they’ve weathered this remarkably.

9. Just because I've always done it that way (or you've always done it that way), it's not necessarily the right way or even the easiest, just the most comfortable.

10. God really is enough.

Hollie has had plenty of opportunity to get to know the community of Carapegua, as our car officially died the second day she was here. She never quite got the benefit of the mission-mobile because she was napping while we ran in for her recovered luggage (it only came one day late), and the motor self-destructed on the trip back home. So this week, we've adjusted the schedule a bit and explored Carapegua by foot.

We signed the girls up for a summer day-camp on the other side of town, in which they chose to focus on drama classes. They've enjoyed getting to meet lots of new kids, and we've had the opportunity to introduce ourselves to several of the teachers and parents. Thankfully, we've not been rained on, although we carry the umbrella for sun protection.

Tomorrow, Hollie, Camille, and Saul will be attending national youth camp nearby, for the weekend. They are excited that recent rains have dropped the temperature a bit and they won't be on fire physically as they get fired up spiritually.

We enjoyed a time of fellowship and Bible study with the Morton family and their mission intern, Heather, today. Heather arrived on the same flight as Hollie, so I think they enjoyed getting to catch up on how their first week is going. For us, it's always good to hear the Word in English and be able to discuss and learn in our native language. I was reminded, in particular, of how important it is to keep my own cup full, so to speak, so I can spill over onto other people. If I am spiritually dry or thirsty, it's hard to give the living water to others who need it so desperately. Thank God for the chance to study together and "refill" my cup.

Please help us pray for our truck. We are awaiting the estimate for the rebuilding or replacement of the motor, but we still are unsure of what to do about that. You may remember the story of how we purchased it and never received the proper paperwork, being lied to over and over about what was delaying it. As it turned out, the original owner still has debts owed on it, and the title isn't clear. The car lot owner sold it to us, issued us a barely legal bill of sale, and walked away with our money. We did everything we knew to do before finally hiring a lawyer a couple months ago, but she hasn't made any end-roads yet, either. The owner is currently in contempt of court for refusing to show up for the hearing, and we are at the point now of needing to continue the proceedings to fix this mess. Of course, every step has a price. And now we need to decide if we want to invest any more money in repairs (which have been fairly constant on this vehicle from the start), knowing we don't have the legal paperwork. For now, we walk. And we ask the Lord for wisdom as to what He'd have us do next concerning this situation.

We've retrieved Hollie from the airport and she's taking a much-needed nap. This is just a quick post to let those who might be wondering, know that she's here and in good shape. Well, SHE is, but all her luggage was "misplaced" somewhere along the way. Hopefully it'll turn up soon... Until then, we've got her covered, and she's clean and fed and resting. She'll be with us for 6 months, learning all she can about missions and Paraguay and ox-carts and tatakuas and, well, you get it. I'm sure she'd appreciate your prayers. (I almost posted a picture of her napping for her family's peace of mind, but since it's her first day, we'll go easy on her... hehe) For the rest of you who might be interested in coming as a student/intern of Tapé Mission Experience, check out the webpage or get in contact with us.

Jamie and Marion are a couple of cool kids from across the big pond who live in Ciudad del Este. One part of their ministry in Paraguay is painting beautiful art boards and donating them to schools, children's homes, public buildings, and other ministries. We were so thrilled to be the recipient of some of this artwork, each of which depicts a Bible scene, with an encouraging portion of the scripture it was based on.



We hung the first board in our youth center, and the second we took to the nearby Children's Home.


We have a couple more picked out for the health post and the elementary school we visit, but since school was closing for summer vacation, we were asked to hang on to these until they start up again. So we have them stacked around the youth center, and everyone who enters can't resist going over to check them out. I can't imagine the hours that went into designing and painting each of these huge boards. What a tremendous idea to share this talent, and may God bless Jamie and Marion for sharing it with Carapegua!

Remember the home I told you about, that was destroyed in a recent storm? The home of a single mother and her four young children? Well, your donations to our ministry bought the material to put the roof on the new house, and Mom insisted I take this photo with her inside. She was so proud!

And the congregation a few small towns away from us, that is constructing their first-ever church building. For many years, they've been meeting in the front yard of a member's home, and they are now in the process of getting the walls up. A special donation from a ministry partner helped buy some of the material. Their workers all backed out, so if any of you know how to lay brick, the weather's warm!

This is a hodge-podge post of recent happenings. Before the pictures begin, thanks for the prayers for our New Year's Eve party. It went well, and we even had a couple new people come by from the community that heard the music/saw the lights/watched our fireworks, and wanted to join the fun. All in all, a successful night! (For those of our readers who have dial-up, I've included the photos as an add-on after the click.)

One of the Project Puente penpals sent handmade bead bracelets for each girl in the nearby Children's Home, and here's Liz showing hers off.



As you know, I'm a chocaholic, and I was thrilled to find box mixes of brownies in Asuncion. However, this is two hours away, and I was embarrassed to buy more than a couple of boxes at a time. However, since I can't cook empanadas or chipa, I'd resolved to just bring a batch of brownies to whatever "bring your own dish" event we attended, and I was getting to be known as "the lady who makes that chocolate cakey stuff." No one believed me that they weren't homemade. I asked the manager of the local grocery store if he could start to carry the mix here, and explained that people really liked the product. I even made a batch and took them to share with the grocery store employees. WELL, last week, they all greeted me with a smile, and one employee led me to the display of brownies on the shelf. Since then, I've had numerous offers to come teach the ladies how to cook them, since the recipe on the box doesn't really turn out well. Who'd have thought that the ticket in the door to these homes could be brownies? The Lord does work in mysterious ways. I consider it a personal success to have procured for the fine ladies of the rural area access to my favorite food!



Christmas Eve, we walked to the plaza to see the town's pesebre (manger scene). How excited I was to find that the traditional breads (hard doughnut shaped chipas) were hanging beside the bulbs and lights, over the manger scene!



And afterward, we enjoyed a cup of ice cream, because, isn't that what you're supposed to do for Christmas? Hope your week has included some surprises, too!