Caleb doing something in the pool, not sure what

dusting off the blog

As we head back to PY in a few weeks we are dusting off the blog. Its been a great year in the states. We have had some great times with friends and family. I was able to see both my sports teams win national titles; Duke and Alabama. Sarah bought me tickets to Duke for my birthday and my missionary friend Charles got me into the Mississippi St./Alamaba game. We also had a chance to see NYC for the first time. (I also went to NJ)
-Forest

We have also enjoyed being on the campas of Toccoa Falls College. We loved getting to know the students in a personal way. I was also able to get some amazing babysitters through the college; ones that the kids loved and we will continue to be in contact with. This year Forest and I celebrated our 10th year anniversary, so we took a trip to St. Lucia. We took advantage of having some amazing grandparents near by to watch the kids. We really have been blessed this year in many ways. Continue to pray for us as we get our stuff ready to head back to Paraguay.
We leave July 15th.

New Arrivals
As most of you probably know, March 2, 2009 was a very special day for us. Our two beautiful daughters were born, Katherine Grace and Lauren Rae. We have had to change a few things since the amount of you children has doubled overnight. We no longer can all fit in the same car. We have to take two vehicles where ever we go. Double diapers to change, double hungry stomachs to feed, and double hearts to hold, we have been blessed. Thank you very much for your prayers for our family during the pregnancy. The girls were born at 37 weeks and very healthy. We know it’s because you lifted us up in prayer. Thank you!!

As we transition back into the US, many things are quite new for the boys. Caleb was a year old when we left for language school in Costa Rica. The boys have enjoyed many new things. One being the “transformer bed”, most of you know it by its other name, a fold out bed. While most would complain about its poorly placed bars, the boys are content in its transforming comfort.

Along with the “transformer bed” comes the “transformer chair” aka Lazyboy chair.
Josiah loves the automatic dispensers in the bathrooms. The motion sensor dispenses water, soap, and paper towels. He often washes more than once (which is not a bad thing).

With all these changes brings fear as-well. Our fearless Josiah has shown moments of fear. Remember to keep both Josiah and Caleb in pray this year as they experience American life.

Josiah

Josiah is now a big two years old. He will be heading off to school next week, this will be a big surprise for his teachers, those who know sweet Caleb. Josiah spends his days killing big ants, saying "mio" mine, sitting in time-out, and trying to say "I love you". He squints his eyes to say, "Eye luoboa you". Last night we at with the Sappias, we were all in the other room, when we hear their son, who is Josiah’s age, crying. Josiah walks into the room with wooden sword and a smile of delight. Like all good friends they share sippy cups, hugs, and taking turns hitting each other.

Just can't make it to the next reststop?

Under an overpass here in Asuncion.

Summer camp

This we had another good turn out for summer camp. Over 140 Alliance students came out. Marcos, the national pastor who is working with me in the Church Plant, lead the youth camp, while I headed up the College camp. After a tiring week, everyone left excited, in good spirits, and exhausted.

Don't ask how much it cost!

One of our local grocery stores got the shipment of American products. In past years, I have been able to resist myself, but this year I gave in, even if it was more than double the cost. I understand Esau (who sold his inheritance for some bean soup), Hormel Tamales are worth a week’s salary. We got the loot home and I fixed up the Tamales, they were accompanied with some Jumex Tamarind juice, by anyone’s standards, a truly authentic Mexican meal. As for the juice, what a trip it had, leaving Mexico up to the US, and then down to Brazil and finally over to Paraguay. Contrary to brief, Paraguayans don’t speak Mexican or eat their food.

Sarah and I also had “southern culture day” in which we ate Corned Beef Hash and Grits. Although the boys did not participate in the meal, they will need to go to “How to be southern” boot camp when we get back.

Somewhere between nervous and excited

That’s what I felt as the National Police told me to get into the back of the police pick-up truck as I was being carted off to the local police station. I had been on my way to Awana (our ministry to kids) on Saturday afternoon. It is close to where we live so I take a bus each week. I did not take my wallet (which has my ID in it) in case I get robbed. The bus I got on was completely full which is rare for Saturday afternoon, so I had to stand next to the driver. Three blocks down the road there was a police check point, in which they enter the bus asking for IDs, I was the first one they came to and did not have my ID. I then got off the bus and sat under the overpass with the rest of those who dare to leave their homes without ID. I was able to call Sarah to meet me at the police station with my ID.
We boarded the pick-ups in groups of 5. The officer, who sat guard over us, yelled at us a good bit in Guarani, I don’t speak Guarani, but I’m sure he was not asking us if we were comfortable. The “clown” next to me is throwing “shout outs” to his friends in the street, I’m sure he received so police brutality late that day. We were told we would be held for 5 hours there at the station, even after our IDs are dropped off. I knew I did not want to spend the next 5 hours there, especially after I saw the holding cell.
We sat in a courtyard while they took down our information. From where I was sitting I had a good view of our future cell mate. He had woken up with all the commotion, and was very interested in why we were there, he then when on to freshen up his cell and himself with some Glade. His cell was all of 4x6ft so I was pretty sure that we would not be with him.
I was counting on Sarah’s very pregnant stomach, two kids and good behavior for an early release with time served. But she sent our Field Director, who is less charming and not pregnant. But it all worked just find, before they had time to put into action their devious 5 hour plan, I was walking out the doors. Thanks Bob!
So lesson learned, always have your ID on you when in Paraguay.

Hot Water

Josiah did not want to get a bath the other day, it was too hot for him. Just out of curiosity I checked to see how hot it was..... it was 103.4 out of the tap. This is cold water right out of the ground. The ground gets so hot durning the day that it heats up the pipes and thus the water. After a hot day there is nothing like a warm shower. :)

Just what the dr. ordered.

Having a hard time getting rid of that cold or virus? We may have the cure. According to a Paraguayan home remedy the cure for a respiratory infection is a mixture of… the fat from a carpincho (capybara) and honey. I have not had the chance to take this home remedy just yet. (IF YOU ARE EATING WHILE READING YOU MAY WANT TO STOP READING AT THIS POINT) I have heard that after eating carpincho, that the smell of the carpincho will seep from your sweat glands!
They are the largest living rodent in the world, weighing in at 140 lbs. Kapiÿva in Guarani means “master of the grasses”. They can eat up to 8lbs of grass a day.
So next time you’re sick, go out and get you a fat carpincho!

New Building

We are moving into the new building! A few weeks ago we began renting a new building near where we have been working. It is in a good location and has space to grow. This past week we have begun the work of building an extra room onto what will be Marcos’ new house. Later we will begin working on the rest of the building, which was formally a warehouse. The landlord will continue to use the front of the building, while we will use the warehouse in the back.

Missed call

Don’t you hate missed calls; or when the call will not go thru because there is no service. The other day a national holiday fell on a Monday, which is the day our small group meets (which is across the street from children’s ministry, Awana). I had forgotten to tell Marcos not to come because the people were not expecting to have the bible study. So I called him before the Bible study to let him know. Well, he did not get the call, and came anyways. I was across the street, when he came, he told me that he had missed my call and asked if there was anything I had needed. I explained to him that the bible study had been canceled. We agreed but at least he could make a social visit to the family.
Because it was a holiday Juana’s son Cesar was home (the bible study is usually at Juana’s house). Cesar and his wife, Eva, had recently moved into Juana’s house. Marcos was able to present the message of salvation to both Cesar and Eva. At the end of their time together, they both accepted Jesus as Savior! Last week they were both at small group last week. Pray that Cesar and Eva will be strong in their new faith. They are excited that the church building will be close to where they live. (Photo: Eva, far left) Pray for Danny(in green), a new believer, that he will understand the meaning of salvation.

Back to the Future

I few months ago I was in traffic with one of the more interesting cars I've seen in Asuncion. I was kicking myself because I did not have my camera with me. As fate had it, we were to reconnect again. I was just pulling out from the airport after dropping my dad off when I saw the “DeLorean”, looking just as good as ever. Yes, the travel-top stays permanently in place. If I could go back into the future, I would like to bring back Mountain Dew with me (it comes to Paraguay in 2035 by the way).

Poptarts

Forest brought a few things back with him from the States that we can not get here in Paraguay. One of those things being, Poptarts. This morning our 4 year old son Caleb, had his very first poptart! I made only one to make them last. As soon as he saw it his eyes lit up. Then he asked if I had made this for his birthday. His birthday is in May. He said “It even has sprinkles, wow!” We have 11 more poptarts left, let’s see how long we can spread them out.

Sound Equipment!

We finally bought sound equipment for the church plant! For some time Marcos (my national co-pastor) and I have been checking prices for equipment here in Asuncion. Trying to stretch the money as much as we could, we set off on a 5 hour trip to Ciudad del Este, a city that borders with Brazil. There, you can find better deals on almost anything. Marcos and I took with another guy that knows a lot about sound systems and sound quality. We left Thursday afternoon and had planned on stopping and getting ice cream at a German dairy market, but we just missed getting in before closing time. (I think it is the best ice cream in the country) We spent the night in Ciudad del Este, at the house of a Chilean missionary that also works with the C&MA.
The next morning we got up early and started shopping, after a few hours we found one shop that had just about everything we needed. It took longer than we expected to get everything to the car; the little store where we bought the equipment had to go get it from their warehouse. We had hoped again to stop and get ice cream at the market that is outside of Ciudad del Este, but we did not make it again. We finally made it back Friday night at 10pm.
In all we purchased two speakers, a monitor, amplifier, mixer, keyboard and stand, and some mic wires. We returned content with what we bought, feeling that it we had purchased as much as we could. We are happy to have a sound system that we can do more public events in the neighborhood. Please pray that with the sound equipment we are able to reach many people.

Fun times in the DMV

PROBLEM: 8 missionaries need driver’s licenses. One DMV would not give them to us because we do not have our permanent residence.


SOLUCION: Go to a different DMV with a contact person to help us out.


WHAT HAPPENED?
9:45 All eight missionaries met at our house for prayer and to travel together.
10:00 Meet our contact person Guido.
10:05 Found out that this DMV would give us our licenses but needed to take a blood test, vision test, hearing test, driving test and a written test.
10: 15 We were all getting blood tests done to see what time of blood we have.
11:00 Went and got our vision test. We couldn’t figure out where to go for the hearing test. We had paid for it but weren’t sure where to go. Later found out that the hearing test is included in the vision test. We had to be able to hear the instructor for the directions. We all passed!
11:30 Driving test began. But soon found out that three of us could not take the test because we were wearing sandals. Forest ran back to the house to get a pair of tennis shoes. We just passed the shoes from person to person. It is illegal to drive in Paraguay with sandals. If we get in an accident, and we are wearing sandals, insurance will not pay for the damages. We all passed the driving test!
12:15 Written test begins. We all have been driving for at least 15 years. We know the road rules. But in Spanish? Different story. It was a pretty difficult test. Every 2 minutes one of us would ask the proctor for help.
1:15 Got the news that 7 out of 8 missionaries FAILED the test! The only one to pass was Bruce Harmon, a missionary who spent 25 years in the Philippines!

THE FOLLOWING DAY we all returned to retake the test. However, this time we came in prepared and all studied up. WE ALL PASSED! At the end of the day, we all had our Paraguayan licenses in hand and ready to hit the road (in toe covered shoes that is)

New President takes office

Fernando Lugo, ex-bishop of the catholic church took office yesterday, bringing an end to 61 years of rule by the Colorado party. He enters into office to govern a country with many needs, needs that he has promised to fix. He is seen as a “man of the people”, humble, kind and more honest than most. On a fashion note, Lugo will not be wearing suits or dress shoes, but rather the classic hand woven Paraguayan shirt and leather sandals. Pray that Lugo would yield to God's will and serve Paraguay well.

What he's up against.
-31% (2.1 million people) live in poverty.
-family violence rose by 50% this past year.
-27 agents in the law enforcement were fired for corruption.
-10 children die each day, 7 of those 10 of causes avoidable.
-4% of children born each year don’t complete one year

of life.
-5% of children suffer from extreme malnutrition.
-2 out of 10 students make it into high school (3 of 10 reach

middle school)
-53% of elementary schools don’t have libraries.

News link

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080816/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/paraguay_inauguration;_ylt=AmczLmqFdoiNxta_f.tAAnVvaA8F

How much would you pay to get out of a ticket? $10, $20, 20 liters of milk?

Last Tuesday, down the street from our CM&A church in San Lorenzo, a traffic cop stopped a young man, who was getting onto his motorcycle, and asked him to show his registration. The young man did not have his papers, so the cop asked him for a bribe in order to get out of the ticket. Usually a person can get out of a ticket here in Paraguay for $12, and usually the cop would rather take a bribe rather than write a ticket. In this case, the young man had only 10,000 guaranies ($2.50) on him to pay. The cop told him that this was too little, so the young man told him that he worked at a milk packaging plant, and that he could “pay” the bribe in milk. So the next day the young man returned with the predetermined amount of milk, 20 liters, and the cop returned the young man’s ID. But unbeknownst to the cop the man had brought the local TV station’s cameraman to film everything. Busted. A little while later, the cop with his 20 liters of milk scurried onto a public bus’ rear entrance to take advantage of a free ride.