Top 10 List

After my last post, a friend asked me, "What exactly is your Top 10 List of Reasons to Live in Paraguay?"  At first, I just laughed, then I realized--that was a pretty good question.  Many people over the past five years have asked why Paraguay, and I generally recount how I heard about missions in Paraguay and how I ended up here.  But now, finally, here it is.....

Top 10 List of Reasons to Live in Paraguay

10. Painting Classes: for only $18.60 per month (for 8 hours of classes.)  

This painting isn't finished yet.

 9. Ground Beef: See all the grease and fat in that pan?  

Exactly--this ground beef taste like ground-up steak.  And, it tastes amazing!

8.  Mangoes:  My neighbors brought this mango back from their house in the country. 

 It is sitting on a standard dinner plate--huge and tasty!

7.  Packages: It's always fun to get a package from home!

 6. Welcoming Group: A group from my church met me at the airport.  

I discovered later that some of them wanted to sing "Carrie" by Europe, but were told not to. :-)

5. Jovenes: The youth from church love getting together and hanging out--usually around food!

4. Small Groups: The ladies from church get together each Tuesday night, and the 20-something girls get together on Saturday afternoons.  These are great opportunities to learn what the ladies are thinking and how they are doing in their walk with the Lord.

 3.  Friends, or Family?: In a mere 7 months, God has given me some great friendships.  They include me in family get-togethers, holidays, moving houses, and celebrations.  

Sergio, Hilda, and Ale working in the Chaco at their grandma's farm

I spend about 4-6 hours each week with Grachi, a lady from church.  She taught me how to sew curves a couple of weeks ago, and let me use her machine to sew my curtains.  I mentioned to her once that my birthday meal is Brasilian rice & beans--and last week she invited me over for lunch for just that meal!  It was a fantastic surprise.

2. Tribal Missions: There are six tribes in Paraguay that need evangelical missionaries.  

I'm hoping to be a part of a team to one of those tribes. 

1. LIVING WATER: Okay, so this picture doesn't quite represent the Living Water of Christ--but He is the number one reason I am here.  Whether or not I am a part of a tribal church planting team, whether or not the friendships I have been gifted here remain, whether or not Paraguay continues to have steak-like ground beef or mangoes the size of my head--the love of Christ compels me, to study Spanish better, to love my friends and new family more each day with His love and in His strength, and to walk in His word daily.  Thank you for your prayers as I celebrate 7 months here in Paraguay!

7?... 7x70?... 490?... or even...

 7,777,777,777,777,777,777,777,777,777,777,777,777,777,777,777,777,777,777,777,777,777,777,777?

I read that last one in a Bible study a few months ago--that it's possible that in Matthew 18:22 Jesus was saying "7, 70 times."  Really, I don't know Greek or Hebrew, but I do know that Jesus was demanding forgiveness without condition--or limit.

Many times while traveling around the U.S., I was presented with the idea that missionaries are super-human.  No one physically gave me a cape, or made a bronze statue of me (thankfully), but many did put me on a pedestal.  (And I am the last person that belongs up there!)  It was usually inferred by little phrases, meant to be compliments:

"I always wanted to be a missionary, but  _(fill in the blank)_."

"I could never leave my family."

"I don't like bugs and I really  don't like snakes."

"I could never do what you're doing."

"You're so selfless for doing what you're doing."

One side of a missionary scoffs at this--each one of us has a "but" that could have held us back in our home country; I don't enjoy not being a regular part of my family members lives; bugs--yea, if you've been following me a while, you know how I feel about those--and snakes, not currently an issue, but not on my Top 10 List of Reasons to Live in Paraguay; I can't do what I'm doing either; and lastly--here's the kicker--MISSIONARIES ARE NOT SELFLESS.

Not naturally.

Naturally, we are just other humans.  And what drives all of mankind?  Self.  My comfort, my desires, my goals, my dreams.  In every culture around the world, mankind is driven by self-preservation.  When I take a look at the last time I was in an argument, or the last time I was offended--too often it is because I am insisting on my way and want everyone else to do what I want.  Not really Christ's example, is it? 

What sets Christians apart, ought to be the desire to be like a glove.  A glove, laying on the shelf in the garage, is completely useless.  It's just sitting there, collecting dust.  Yet, when put on a hand, it can be an aid to raking leaves, shoveling snow, catching a baseball, or driving a car.  It's nothing without the life that gives it purpose.  Just like that glove, the actions of a Christian are nothing without the Life that flows through us (2 Corinthians 5:14.) 

Since Christmas, I have had the opportunity to go on three weekend trips with friends to visit their family members.  It was so humbling to have friends that I've known for less than five months say, "Come be a part of my family for one of our two most important holidays of the year" and "We're going on vacation, come with us."  And yet, on two of those trips, I made it painfully clear to my friends that I have a natural, fleshy side--that I am not a super-human.  Thankfully, I have been able to go back to those friends, to apologize and explain that I was in the wrong.  

Missionaries and Christians are not super-humans.  But, more importantly, we are "more than conquerors" (Romans 8:37) because Jesus Christ has fought the ultimate battle for us.  He has forgiven us of all our sins.

Read that again.

He has forgiven me of ALL my sins.

 This battle we think we're fighting has already been won.  Because of Jesus Christ's death on the cross, mankind has a way back to a whole relationship with God.  The ultimate forgiveness has already occurred.  My task now, is to walk daily in that forgiveness, to continue to forgive others, and to be quick to ask forgiveness as well.  I pray that last one gets a break for a long time.  

All Roads May Lead to Rome...

...but all pipes lead to the sewer.  I'm convinced of it.  Growing up in the '80s & '90s scarred me from things that come out of pipes--think Gremlins & Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (though, really, that second option was soo  bad, just a little gross!)  Oh, and then there was Ghostbusters, too!

When we moved to Louisiana (I was 11), I learned a new talent--how to kill cockroaches.  Only six months before on a visit to Florida I met my first cockroach, and I'm still recovering.  Those first 10 1/2 years were fantastic.  Every once in a while, a roach would be crawling around my teenage-clothing-covered room, and I'd have to try to find it ::aka, kill it:: in order to sleep peacefully.  Occasionally my brother and I would run to each others rooms at 2am--"Get up!  Help, I can't find it--and it's BIG this time!"  (They're always bigger when you've just woken up!)  Some of our best teamwork was searching through each others rooms to kill bugs and get back to sleep as soon as possible.

But.  I have been to the other side (no, I didn't go down in a sewer!)  I am now south of the Equator.  I have a two-sink kitchen, which is AWESOME.  But, both drain pipes, and the drain pipe from the washer empty into an uncovered hole in the floor. 

UNTIL TONIGHT.

Some good friends here have had worse issues, and covered a MASSIVE hole in their bathroom with a layer (or five) of duct tape.  I'd thought of this and various other solutions, but always assumed they brought the Magic Tape with them from the US.  Today I discovered that I'd been wrong--they bought it here!  I quickly went to visit the hardware store again, and after describing "really strong tape with fibers that's silver colored" the man said "Do you want to fix a pool?"  "Something like that..."  And he handed me multiple colors of duct tape!!  So, after 19,000 guaranies ($4.22) I headed home with a thin roll of duct tape.

And, since it started to rain some today (I learned in LA that rain means the roaches are coming out sooner!), I decided now was the perfect time to tape up the hole.  

I washed the dishes, poured a ridiculous amount of bleach down the drain, and turned out the lights.  We'll see how the kitchen looks in the morning!  I'm hoping I'm done finding cockroaches on my dishes (clean and dirty), in my sink, and just plain where they don't need to be! :-)

Here's hoping I don't have to call the plumber any time soon!

FAQs #1

F.requently A.sked Q.uestions #1.

What's the weather like?

Answer: Currently, hot.  Like, nearing or passing 100* every day, humid, no rain kind of hot.  In December we began our official summer season, though I'm not sure the weather has been any hotter since November.  So far it appears that there is less rain, since I can't remember the last time it rained (maybe I'll start marking rain on the calendar?)  I think technically we are in "rainy-er" season, but like I said, not sure when it rained last.  (Thinking back, I think it was Christmas Eve...18 days now.) [Well, that was true when I first wrote this.  Thankfully we got rain a week ago.]

Along with the heat, comes the need to drink a lot of water.  But there comes a point where water just doesn't seem to cut it.  You have sweat beading and rolling off your eyebrows, you can feel the greasy sweat coming out of your pores, and sometimes you just wonder, "Will I ever drink enough water?"  The answer is:

Tereré

  I succombed.  Yesterday, on a nearly 100* day, I walked (yea, I didn't take the bus, and walked uphill the whole way, I was pretty proud of myself!) about 8 blocks to the open market.  I mainly walked because I wanted to be able to check prices for kitchen tables & chairs.  I got into the open market and started searching around and finally found leather-covered thermoses like I was look for.  But I found one even prettier than I expected!

 

Don't tell anyone, but my real reason for buying this is ICE COLD WATER.  It's sitting next to me right now, making cold water colder and waiting for me to drink it.  But, on the flip side, it's also a social expectation to have a thermos, or at least the cup and straw for tereré.  So, when I'm out and about on my own, it will probably be ice cold water.  But when I go to church or out with Paraguayan friends, it will become ice cold water for tereré. 

I'm just excited it's pretty!  Off to read in the A/C for an hour to cool off, then back to Spanish!

Numbers...

I've got numbers on the brain--it's tax season again!  While we're all starting to think about numbers for the next few months, here is a video with some equally scary numbers:


Statistics - Think Missions from Grant Wright on Vimeo.