October 23, 2005
Good evening and Greetings from Paraguay!
In our Intercessory Prayer classes we are focusing on forgiveness and reconciliation. Whenever God wants to teach us things, we always get lots of practical experience. I would like to share about Zuni who works in the school and is a member of my class. Her father, a man very opposed to those “evangelios” (Christians), suddenly got sick. She had not seen him in over two years. She spent several days in the hospital and one evening the Lord was really speaking to her heart that she had to explain the plan of salvation “YA”…now. She said she silently protested that he was not ready yet to hear and again she was told “YA”. She shared briefly with her Dad and he asked her to pray for him. This was in the presence of a witness. He repented of his many sins and asked Jesus into his heart. Ten to fifteen minutes later, his condition turned for the worse and he was rushed to intensive care where he was put on a respirator and never regained full consciousness and he died a few days later.
God is so gracious in His love and He responded to Zuni’s years of prayers for her Dad. This man had eight children from four different women; he had badmouthed and cursed his daughter and her “religion”; and yet in the end God allowed Zuni to reconcile with her Dad and was able to lead him to a personal relationship with Jesus through the salvation prayer. But that’s not the end of the story….
What was so interesting was God’s grace even after he died, the stepmother had told Zuni she was forbidden to bring a Bible into the house. Her Dad’s body was placed in the living room and for 2.5 days the family received visiting loved ones and neighbors.
Remember, I mentioned there was a witness…it was a sister. When I went to the hospital, the siblings all insisted I see their Dad in intensive care and they permitted me to pray for them in the corridor. Well, God was touching even the hardest hearts and I did not know we “evangelios” were forbidden at the home by Zuni’s stepmother. When I entered the home just a few hours after her dad had died, her mother was wailing and I began praying silently for her. Then as I approached her, we began talking and the Holy Spirit began revealing things to her and she allowed me to pray for her. Then I was able to pray with others including her Aunt. All Zuni’s family has changed so much towards her. Yesterday, Zuni’s stepmother did not want her to leave her home….after years of not being welcomed there. Zuni and Raul spent many days with the family sharing their faith and trying to explain how Jesus is the only way to eternal life. They shared we can’t pray to others or for the deceased… and that the only way to eternal life is through Jesus Christ because he was, is, and will forever be our Messiah….the perfect Lamb slain for all our sins.
Many of the children in the school wrote sympathy cards to Zuni and I was so touched to see the deep of their faith already as second, third, and fourth graders. Our prayer is that they will continue to grow in wisdom, truth and love for one another and that God will use them mightily as future leaders of Paraguay.
Through Zuni’s example and by all the friends, church family, and co-workers who visited Zuni’s family even though it was a distance to travel, her family is now asking many questions and their misconceptions of what a Christian is and isn’t are being clarified. God can use any situation to bring about good for His glory and for those who love Him. Zuni had such a peace even with the pain of losing her father that her family is now seeking that peace. Please pray as we continue to minister to Zuni and her family. Also, it is interesting that our church is now starting a new evangelistic campaign in a new area. Guess where? In Luque, this is the hometown of Zuni’s family.
Another area we are studying in our Intercessory class is on the topic of Spiritual Warfare and Demon possession. Often, the American Christian denies the existence of demons and satan. Also, many believe there is no such thing as hell. God is a loving God and even it there was such a thing as hell no one would ever be sent there because God is so loving and kind. We have been studying how this is another example of satan’s powerful lies of deception. I was shocked when I tried to do an internet search and found not just a few articles addressing the topic of “demons” but over 24,000,000 different items and the majority are not written to expose satan but to seduce people into his kingdom. I pray as Christians everywhere we will see with spiritual eyes what the enemy of this world is trying to do and we will begin fighting the fight. Acknowledging the presence of satan and demons is not to glorify them as many warn; but it to expose them as the enemy of God and to alert us of their presence and destructive nature.
The top news story in Paraguay this week was where a gal 21 years old stabbed repeatedly her two young children until they were dead then she tried to commit suicide in a well but it was only a few feet deep. The gal’s brother committed suicide after he was told to do so by demons. These same demons commanded her to kill her children and herself. Satan is real and so are demons. We need to pray and be on the alert as this “lion” is trying to devour the souls of our young children, teenagers and whoever he can deceive. As the world enters the last week of October pray that we will wake up and realize that satan is a thief…here to rob, kill, and destroy.
As I close this week, I have several prayer requests:
It is now Monday morning, and as I was trying to finish this, I received a call from a local merchant and parent of one of our children. One of our pre-schoolers was being brought to school by her older sister (maybe 10 to 13 years old). A man approached them and exposed himself; the girls fortunately screamed and ran for help in her store. The man claimed he was innocent and begged the family not to report him. He offered to buy all kinds of things for the girls and to pay for their schooling. If he was so innocent why was he a different part of town on a Monday morning? We have no shops that would lure him to our area and why did the act occur in a area close to the beginning area of several major bus routes leading to all parts of Asuncion and surrounding suburbs? I am so thankful the girls screamed and ran for help. Also, I am so thankful, people took the girls seriously. We have prayed for the girls and their family and plan to advise all the children and the parents to be more careful. Please pray for our children’s safety.
May God bless you.
Love,
Sue
Mailing address:
Sue Givens
C.C. No. 24078
Lambaré, Paraguay, 2420
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:
Earmarked on an attached piece of paper for:
Latin America Mission
The Paraguayan Outreach/Sue Givens
P.O. Box 52-7900
Miami Florida 33152-7900
Or
High Mill Church of the Resurrection
Earmarked for: The Paraguayan Outreach
1920 Schneider St. NE
North Canton, Ohio 44721
Mable Love Brown Phone #: (865)984-4111 Email address: mclovebrown@charter.net Samaritan Hands Paraguay School % Fairview United Methodist Church 2508 Old Niles Ferry Rd. Maryville, TN 37803
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Phil. 4:13.
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