Days 3 & 4

Well, the birthday party was fun, and a very special time for the birthday girl and her family. Her family normally does not go to church, but they came because her 15th birthday party was in this little church. Maximo, the pastor for this small annex church, shared the gospel in a powerful way tonight at the party. The girls mother was deeply moved and prayed to receive Christ!!! It was so exciting. God really does work in mysterious and amazing ways.

DAY 3:

This was the first very cold day down here in San Lorenzo. Day 3 of us working was Friday, the 13th. It was also the first time any of us got some real rest from working so hard, which was a very quick answer to prayer.

We started the morning by going back to our classrooms if we were asked to. I went back to my 2nd graders. I was not sure how they would react when I told them we were going to make "wordless book" bracelets with the same colors and meaning as Carlito t he worm, but they LOVED it. This time, I had a translator, which made things run a lot more smoothly. They were so sweet and a joy to work with.

Our childrens program continued during that morning in the main room where all the events take place. For our last time with them, we opened up with the song "Father Abraham." They had no idea what we were singing, but they caught on to the motions really fast. We did another puppet show, played a couple songs, and finally Tracy taught them a lesson with help from translator, Alex. The highlight of this program was the sports time at the end. We all went down with various activities to their red dirt yard and played soccer (football), parachute, volleyball, made bracelets, and did much more. These kids are amazingly good at soccer for their age, by the way. Patrick did a very good job as the sports leader and coordinator, giving people jobs we would be doing during the sports time.

Thankfully, instead of going door to door witnessing straight away, we had a lunch and about 2 hours of free time to relax and recoop. If anyone prayed for that for us, thank you, we needed it so much, and God answered that prayer.

When we regrouped, we continued going door to door, but this time back to peoples houses who had prayed to receive Christ. I went out with Pastor Matt and translator Sessy. We went to disciple a woman who had received Christ as her Lord the day before, but an even more amazing thing happened! Her husband prayed to receive Christ after about an hour of talking with them. It was so amazing. God is so spectacular in the way he works! And this is not the only experience we had like this, I had similar experiences with my other translators, and I know the rest of the team has seen the fruit of thier words.
At least 40 people have prayed to receive Christ in the past 3 days!!! The great thing about this ministry though is that there is follow up and discipleship. We make sure that these people who had accepted Christ know what they are talking about, and know the Gospel. The team, as well as the translators, have had absolutely amazing and life changing experiences here so far.

Friday night was pretty relaxed too. A few of us went down from the church and had some Paraguayan barbeque that they are so well known for. It was as amazing as they say it is. This night was also a concert hosted by the senior class from Heavens Kingdom to raise money for their senior trip to Argentina. This time was not wasted either, the Gospel was presented to the audience by translator Carlos, and worship songs were sung over the course of the night.

God has answered prayer, and continues to challenge us daily, teach us more about himself, and grow in fellowship with fellow Christians from down here in Paraguay :).


DAY 4:

Today we did not go door to door, but instead went out to learn about New Tribes Mission, a global mission outreach to different tribes. The one we went to visit was the Maka Tribe. They have their own distinct language and culture. We visited missionaries who are in thier 70s and have lived in Paraguay for most thier life. For the past decade or so, probably more, they have been translating the Bible into the Maka language, which is no small feat to take on.
Translating a Bible into such a complicated language takes years, and Steve Johnson, someone who works down here for New Tribes, was saying the good missionaries usually only complete 1 translation in their lifetime. Matt and Rosemary have completed 3 and are working on thier 4th translation of the Bible for the Maka people. It is just amazing to see and hear the story of these two servants of the Lord. Their greatest concern in life is to reach these people in thier language and that they are able to live long enough to complete some of their work. They are truly an inspiration to all of us on what a servants heart really looks like, and how to obey God. Their story of how they met is amazing, and thier stories of service over the past decades is awe inspiring.
They even gave us their translation of the Bible in the Maka language. How cool is that.

They took us to the Maka village, where the native Maka danced their traditional dance in traditional garb for us. There are striking similarities between them and some North American Indian tribes, although still very different in language and way of life. It was a very memorable experience for all of us though.

We had the opportunity to go back to Asuncion later and learn more about New Tribes Mission, and hear an overview on the strategies and things to consider when thinking about being a missionary to a tribal people who are 100% different from us. It was just awesome to see and hear about what God is doing in even the smallest and most forgotten tribes on His earth. He was not kidding when He said every tongue and every nation will be reached... they are being reached as we speak. Its so exciting!

Even though we have been so busy so far, this whole trip experience has been enlightening, exciting, and a breath of fresh air into all of our lives.

Probably the most hilarious thing that happened today though was when Marc decided to try and make Paraguayan kool-aid with sparkling water. We were sitting in the bus, and the powder reacted to the water and created a similar reaction as mentos in coke would have done. So... it got all over Marc, the bus, whatever was outside the window when they sent the spray outside, Portias hair, and the bus roof. It was ok though, because we had baby wipes to clean the bus with :)

Prayer Request:

For Matt and Rosemary, faithful missionaries and servants of the Lord to the Maka tribe through translation. Pray that their ministry would still flourish and they would accomplish great things through God until He calls them home or returns.

Thanks for your time and prayers!!

- Victoria