November 26, 2005

Good Afternoon! This past week has been like a yo-yo with the temperature bouncing back and forth from extreme heat to severe storms with one taking down one of my new trees early Thanksgiving morning. That particular storm was a welcome relief from the heat as almost forty of us gathered to celebrate Thanksgiving together. Our group consisted of missionaries, their families, visiting family members from the states and a few US military personnel. Everyone had a great time of sharing and learning about one another. The children, more daring than the adults, turned blue in the cooler air as they spent much of the afternoon in the pool.

Even though I have been in Paraguay just over five years, it was my seventh consecutive Thanksgiving here and I must say we had a spectacular feast. We had a turkey (that probably cost 2 to 3 times what one would cost in the states) so each person got a piece or two before it was devoured. We had a ham, the first whole ham I have seen since being here; greenish purple sweet potato soufflé (batatas), pumpkin pies (made from some Paraguayan squash), and a variety of other dishes.

Last Saturday morning several of us left at 4 AM to head to Yrybucuá for the National Women’s Congress. The theme for the weekend retreat was how we can expand our territories for Christ. There were around 130 women in attendance many from the San Pedro region. It is a remote rural area and the leaders had decided to take a bus load of women from the greater Asuncion and Chaco region to the conference. It proved to be a bigger challenge than anticipated as it began raining Friday as the women were leaving Asuncion. Thankfully there is now a paved road within 10 miles or so of the town; before it was almost 2 hours on dirt roads. Well, the ladies were within a few miles of the guest quarters when their bus got stuck in the sandy mud. It was early in the evening but quite dark…thankfully after a short time, the locals discovered them and it just happened to be one of the few locals who had a tractor…most still use oxen for their farm work.

The Friday and Saturday sessions were outstanding but the heat was unbearable for this gringo…I must have eaten something bad the night before because I was sicker than a dog and couldn’t eat or drink anything all day. By the afternoon, I developed a severe headache from not eating, being dehydrated and the sun. I was so glad when I finally got home that night to a cool shower and finally was able to drink water.

The ladies had another adventure on the bus as they returned…one of the pastors followed the bus out to the paved road then thinking they were okay, he sped off for Asuncion. Less than 200 meters after he past, there bus broke down and the ladies and their two drivers were stranded along a deserted stretch. Even though some had cell phones none were able to get a signal. Several people including a police car stopped but none resulted in help. After many hours of singing, praying, leading the two drivers to the Lord; the one driver hiked out. Finally about 9 hours after they broke down, they were on the road again in another bus… arriving home around 6 to 9 AM in the morning. All reported it was a trying time but it gave them a marvelous practical application of what they had heard at the conference. I have teased many of the ladies in our church that should pay for an extra conference day but none agree with my logic.

Sunday night our youth hosted their evangelistic program in the park with dancing, songs and a time of sharing. There were many in attendance and when they had a time of accepting Jesus, many prayed but they did not ask for a specific altar call so we do not know how many gave their lives to the Lord. We did give out tracts and one of our two Lambaré churches is just two blocks away. We will be praying that new people will come this Sunday. Also, this Sunday we are going to have a baptism service for 8 to 10 persons.

The container of equipment and supplies for the water well program has not been released from customs yet. We are anxiously awaiting its release as we also have stuff for the school and for our local Lambaré fire department. I am hoping we will have the items so we can present the firemen’s’ uniforms to the fire department before the children’s last official day of school Wednesday. Also, we are preparing a small gift bag for each of the children. We are going to present it hopefully Tuesday to them as a gift from each of their sponsors.

Monday and Tuesday we completed our play-based assessments for the prospective children for our four year old class, then Wednesday we spent over 4 hours looking at test results and selecting students based on several factors…does the family live in the barrio, family interest, economic needs, and assessment results. We still have several hours of work to do in this area. Please pray that God guides us every step of the way as to who He desires in the school. With only 54 positions in our “jardin” class selection process, it is challenging.

Wednesday night we have an awards evening planned for the community computer students ranging from about 8 years old through adulthood. Over 50 some of the more than 125 participants will be receiving certificates of completion of various computer classes. Thursday night will be our closing ceremony for Early Childhood and we will give our 54 certificates for completion of pre-school (the equivalent to kindergarten). Then Friday night is our closing for the Elementary children, please pray as we have very full week planned. Last night we had a special closing program for all the school children for their special classes such as Christian Education, Music, Physical Education, English and Drama. I appreciated everyone’s hard work and the children enthusiasm to share a glimpse of what they learned in all their areas but it ended up being a very long day. In the afternoon for over the three hours each classroom was decorated with samples of the children’s work throughout the year; then the evening program began at 6:30 PM. We had so many special events the program did not end until 9:45 PM. Our playground area was packed with over a thousand people anxious to see their child, grandchild, sibling, niece, nephew, or neighbor perform. I am always surprised at how much the children are progressing. It was such a treat to watch them. During one short transition period between acts, one first grader got up and shared 30 Bible verses that she had learned during the year; another time a four year old recited the entire 23 Psalm.

Friday morning I had to go to the main Educational Supervisor’s office in Lambaré for his signature on our computer certificates. This gentleman three years ago gave our school such a hard time. He had never visited our school and since I had a car, he asked if he could quickly visit our school. His quick visit lasted almost an hour as he toured all the class room and chatted with the staff. He was amazed at the library, the computer lab and the quality of education each child was receiving at the different grade and the then as he was questioning the teachers, he learned that we not only do we pay the staff a fair wage but have all them insurance. Such a contrast to the public school system where the teachers go months at times without pay and have little or no supplies and usually no equipment in the schools…just broken furniture and windows. He has requested our help in training his staff on how to use computers. Lambaré has over 17,000 students and almost all the recordkeeping is handled by hand.

I have several prayer requests again this week:

• My friend, Kathy, from Ohio passed away last Sunday. Please remember her family.
• Several friends in Paraguay have learned that they have medical problems…Claudia (a pastor’s wife in the Chaco) has learned she has cancer of the uterus in the beginning stages; her husband is dealing with a serious heart condition. One of my teachers is going to have surgery for throat infections (I think it is for her tonsils) and Celesa, the sister of Felicia has been diagnosed with the same heart and blood pressure problems that their Mother had.
• Carduz, a young pastoral candidate helping in the Lambaré church graduated this past week and then left for a six hour bus trip to his home town to be with his mother who has had three heart attacks in the last few weeks.
• Also, I want to send birthday greetings to my brother Dan in Alaska who shares his birth date with one of my teachers in the school, Aurelia.

I pray you had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and that Lord may be a source of strength and joy for you and your family.

Love,
Sue

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

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

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

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Phil. 4:13.