wonderful words from Paraguay

Surprising, wonderful words from the southern hemisphere! The team in Paraguay was pleasantly surprised to get some internet access. This email arrived this morning, written by one of Katie's teammates. It helps me picture how they are and what they're doing! Here we go ...

Today is day five in Chupapou. This week has been busy with construction work on the the bathrooms, VBS with the kids, and night services with the community. We have all been connecting with the kids and attempting to learn some Aché so that we can talk to them. Most of us run around speaking a combination of English, Spanish, Aché, and giggles, which the kids seem to understand pretty well. On the downside, we have met a lot of large insects and frogs…

Before we arrived in our village, we spent a few days in Naranjal, at the house of Victor, our host missionary. There we made plans for our time in the village, got to know the family and the Argentinian translators who are working with us, and spent a day at Iguazu Falls (which was way bigger than Niagara!). It was a good time to bond as a team and get accustomed to the culture so we could better serve in in our village.

We also had an opportunity to visit two other Aché villages, Puerta Bara and Ypetimi, to prepare us for our time in Chupapou. We went to a church service in Ypetimi and had the privilege of worshiping with the people and taking communion with them. I think I can speak for all of us when I say that their prayer for us was one of the most moving things things I have ever experienced. We could not understand the words, but their passion for the Lord and joy that we were going to serve their brothers and sisters in Christ in Chupapou was evident to all of us. It was really a beautiful moment, and we were so thankful to have experienced it.

We have about ten days left in our village, and are excited to continue to serve and build relationships with the people as we encourage them in their walk with Jesus. Please pray for continued patience with the language barrier, health and safety for our team, and hearts focused solely on serving the Lord and following where He leads us.