April 22, 2005

Good Evening! Last Saturday I was pressed for time as I was writing my weekly prayer letter and I forgot to mention and ask for prayer for the “Impacto” Concert the Graham Esperanzana team was hosting that night for the Christian Youth of Paraguay. The organizers were expecting 2000 to maybe 4000 youth and one of the country’s soccer teams donated their stadium. They did not get the 4000 hoped for; they had more than 25,000 people…yes more than 25,000 people. Some estimate as many as 35,000 to 40,000 persons flooded into the stadium. Since the organizers weren’t expecting such a big crowd there was only one entrance and people were pushing to get in the gates from about 4 PM until after 8 PM. The outpouring of people and the fact that there was no crime, no drugs, no fights, and no alcohol shocked the police and other local officials I would guess about 70 to 80 % of those in attendance were youth and when the groups played praise and worship songs, the crowd erupted with cheers and I couldn’t see anyone sitting for over an hour. Our group of some 30 youth had to leave around 9 PM so we could catch one the last buses going across town to our barrio but as we were leaving they gave an invitation to accept Jesus and thousands stood. Praise God for such an awesome event and for all the lives that were “impacted”.

Today in the newspaper, the planners are now projecting some 102,000 people will be in attendance over the three evenings of the Esperanzana program May 12th-14th. The church members and the school staff are planning to visit homes to invite families plus we will be sending invitations to all the families for these events. It is our desire that many parents and neighbors will go at least one night and that their hearts will be open to receive Jesus as their personal savior and messiah. Please pray as we prepare for this opportunity to share Jesus with thousands of Paraguayans who we believe are ready to receive the good news.

Why do I particularly believe that? Everywhere I turn, people are asking questions about Jesus and what we believe.

• The other day another gentleman from the Municipal building came to finalize the plans for the speed bumps they are putting at the school. He started talking about the evangelistic movement in Paraguay and how many churches are growing. He asked some interesting questions.
• Today in the Lambaré Ministerial of Education Director’s meeting the area Supervisor shared with about 30 school leaders for almost an hour how desperate Paraguay is and how we are all need “an inner spiritual peace”. His solution is to cancel school next Friday in honor of Teacher’s Day and Labor Day. This year both fall on the weekend so they will not result in an official holiday for schools). He wants all schools to participate with all their teachers, secretaries, custodians, parents, and students in a “Walk for Seeking Spiritual Peace”. This walk is to petition the Virgin of Caacupé to give peace to each person and their families then others. Please pray that God will give me an opportunity to share with him in the near future.
• Saturday when I went to visit homes to sign up children, no one refused to sign permission slips to all their children to participate in the “Festiniños” or Festival of Children for children about 6 to 12 years old. As of today we have 130 children signed up and we anticipate many more for Sunday. Many of the children from the school were begging to enroll for this particular event but because of the number of chaperones needed and most of school staff are already committed to helping that day with their respective churches, we advised the children that we were just enrolling children during the Sunday School hour.
• Right now the people don’t know where to turn. Since I have been here almost 5 years now, the bus fare has doubled in price; food has doubled or tripled; diesel fuel has tripled and with the government’s announcement to raise the minimum wage (to approximately $169 a month…three years ago due to the value of the dollar minimum wage was $169 so the people have really gained nothing). Since the announcement many have lost their jobs because the employers can’t pay. Some people, especially women are working fulltime jobs only make 400 to 500 guaranies a month (the equivalent of $64 to $80). People are looking for help, for a solution.
• Recently a judge released the older owner of the Supermarket chain that burned last August due to several health problems. He went to his home, which is an apartment above one of the stores. Within a short time there were scores of people demonstrating outside his home then the mob turned violent wanting revenge. Many threaten to kill him and one man I heard on the news was particularly angry. He said he lost his parents, brothers, and sisters and he had nothing more to loose. Hate and bitterness has filled many hearts.

Please pray that God’s spirit of peace and love can touch these desperate hearts and souls and that they many will respond to accept Jesus so that with His help they can face life’s daily challenges.

I would like to ask for your prayers for this Festiniños activity. When we went with the youth it was hard for us to keep eyes on everyone so we did no get lost in the massive crowd. We are anticipating even more children (maybe 50,000 to be at the stadium so please pray that:

• We get sufficient chaperones to help (we need approximately one adult for ever 4 or 5 children).
• We praise God for the short term team that came and donated monies so we could rent additional buses and for funds from the Graham fund that are also helping…we pay 12 % for the buses and they donated the other 88%. We have rented 3 buses for each of the three evenings and four buses for thechildren’s event.
• We can raise enough funds (about $300 to $400) in the next two weeks though selling hamburgers and donations to provide food for the children in our care (breakfast, snack and lunch) as we will have them from about 6 AM until 2PM and that we can purchase pennies (tunics to cover the children’s shirts) so we can keep track of our entire group. We hoping to get these tunics in our school colors and put the church name on them then we can use them for both school and church events.
• That we get enough volunteers to help prepare the snacks and that we can be organized in our communications with the parents, chaperones, and children. (This is a difficult task in Paraguay…the two coordinators from our church are open to my ideas of how to coordinate outings for groups since neither have ever had an experience). Please pray with can think of all the “what ifs” and that we can trust God for His protection and safety of all those participating.
• That our children’s lives will be touched and blessed.

This week at the school the children have been busy with taking their first tri-semester exams. Most are doing quite well. I would ask for your prayers for our fourth graders, their teacher, and their parents. All are trying but this year has been quite challenging with the children having additional classes and the teacher is new. We are thankful the parents are working along side their children in their studies but the downside the parents aren’t very forgiving when the teacher makes a mistake. We are working with the teacher on improving her lessons and classroom management. Please pray for her.

Last week when the work team from the US was visiting, they brought in their luggage three computers that had been donated by The Mission Society. This week the computer department is adapting them for Spanish users and getting them ready to be used in our computer lab. Also, this week, our missionary, Janette, went home for a wedding and when she returned Thursday she brought two more computers from The Mission Society. I have one person trying to adapt them but we want this to be a surprise as they are laptops. We want to make these available for the teachers to borrow so they can work more effectively planning their classes, preparing their study sheets, exams, and ministerial reports. We are so thankful for The Mission Society’s generous donations.

We understand at least four more computers are coming in the future. Also, I just got word, another missionary couple; Ed and Linda Baker are having a container sent to Paraguay. The container will be shipped from Houston. We would like to get more computers to replace our current 486’s. Please pray we can find a person in Houston who can serve as our contact person for receiving the computers and please pray we can find donations of computers and possible programs in Spanish.

We are so thankful for these gifts as our current computers are getting pretty old and outdated. However, they are not ready for the junk heap, we plan to pass these on to many pastors as they still can be used for many purposes. Right now I have four pastors on the waiting list and I am sure more will be asking. I also, would like to give our area supervisor in education one or two computers plus pass on computers to the two Indian Schools and the Susana Wesley School in the interior that we are helping.

Also, in the shipment we received an almost new zip drive. We are looking for the special disks for this. If you know of any one who would like to donate some to our school, we could have them sent to a US address then a short term team member could bring them to us.

Last evening I went to the Civil Wedding of missionary, Christian Dickson to our school’s first computer teacher, Angelica and tomorrow night they will have their official Christian wedding. They are such a special couple that loves the Lord. Please pray for them and for their upcoming furlough to the states for one year as they seek to raise support to continue their ministries here in Paraguay.

Also, please pray for the Parada family…as they finish their plans to become missionaries in Paraguay and are waiting for all the final details to be completed.

Also, please pray for Carol and Ginny as they celebrate their birthdays and a special salute to all secretaries, teachers, and the common labors of Paraguay as days are set aside to honor each of them for their services.

Finally, please pray for me as I finalize plans for visiting the US. Currently, I am scheduling to visit churches and various groups. I am going to ask Christy to post my tentative schedule on our website.

We serve an awesome God and I thank him daily for my opportunity to serve Him and share His love in Paraguay. I also am thankful for the many people in the states who weekly are praying for all the needs in Paraguay and around the world. Thank you. Wherever you are, you are living on the mission field. God desires for everyone to know his Son who died as a substitute for all of our sins.

Peace and Love,
Sue

Mailing address:
Sue Givens
C.C. No. 24078
Lambaré, Paraguay, 2420

Check out our web page that is on the web. Every few weeks, we will be posting to new pictures of the school progress and of our various programs and activities. http://paraguaynewhorizons.lam.org/

We are partnering and assisting the local Paraguayan churches in all we are doing in Paraguay. Friends and churches that are praying for God to work through us are making this Paraguay Outreach possible. All of our programs are made possible by donations that we use to cover different expenses.

Tax-deductible donations can be made to help cover my living expenses, my auto which is used for the church and the school, newsletters, and for helping with other mission expenses such as buying food, medicine, clothing, or helping in other ways can be sent to either and need to be specifically earmarked:

Latin America Mission
Earmarked on an attached piece of paper for:
The Paraguayan Outreach/Sue Givens
P.O. Box 52-7900
Miami Florida 33152-7900

High Mill Church of the Resurrection
Earmarked for: The Paraguayan Outreach
1920 Schneider St. NE
North Canton, Ohio 44721

If you would like to help our school or sponsor a child for 2005, please contact Mable Love Brown 865-984-4111 or Email address: mclovebrown@charter.net
It costs $30.00 a month or to make donations to our school new multipurpose building construction fund, please contact:

Samaritan Hands Paraguay School
% Fairview United Methodist Church
2508 Old Niles Ferry Rd.
Maryville, TN 37803