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January/February/March/April 2004
Volume 5 Issue 1

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

In Matthew 28:19, Jesus said "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit." We are witnessing lives being changed by the power of God. For example, there is Carlito (left) a school dropout. We have prayed numerous times for him and his family, as his sister is the mother of two girls in the school. He had been involved in drugs, a gang, and robbed many neighborhood homes. His family had been involved with the occult. He has accepted Jesus into His heart and his old life of drugs and crime are behind him. Now he is participating in Bible studies, has re-entered school, has a part-time job and is now sharing Jesus with many of his family and friends. Several members of his family are now attending our church.

Then there is Eduardo and Eleana. He had heard a little about Jesus and then started working with the school construction team. Several of their children attend Sunday School. He began walking with the Lord…but his wife who now admits she was a cruel, vicious neighbor and wife slowly came to the Lord; as God answered the many prayers of her husband and neighbors. In the picture (right), their neighbor's daughter when she presented her daughter in the church; asked them to serve as "godparents". Please pray for all three families.

Meet the Canete children! Well, not all of them…but the five youngest plus their little niece. There are five additional older children. This family has been instrumental in our school from all ten attending different classes offered at different times; three of the older boys and their father worked on the school construction crew; this year the four middle children in the photo attend classes in our school and currently they all have sponsors unlike over fifty other children who are not sponsored at this time.

We live in a poor barrio outside the capital of Paraguay. Currently most of the families in our school's monthly income is less than $160 a month.. Although we are seeing some positive economic changes in the living conditions of some of the families thanks to a special housing project undewritten by Asian governments; many families still can not afford rent so they live under power lines, in crowded extended family homes; or as squatters on uninhabiated land.

Yes, there is public education but the quality of education is seriously substandard as the teachers have very little or no teaching materials, textbooks, and often not even chalk. The classrooms often are equipped with only a few chairs of which many are broken. Classes in Lambaré can have 40 to 60 children in each classroom plus many children are not even in school because of lack of space, transportation, money, shoes, official birth certificates, or lack of family interest. Most schools do not have telephones, running waters, toilets that flush, yet alone computers. Over half the population of Paraguay is 21 year old and under and the government cannot keep up with the rapid population growth of children.

For $30 a month ($360 a year) a person, church, class or group can sponsor a child for one year in the school. By giving to the Samaritan Hands Fund, the child receives a quality education, books, materials; and the youngest children receive mid-day snacks. But more important than a quality education in a nation that is second in the world in corruption; the top industry is pirating and black-marketing items; and where 41% of the population is functionally illiterate, our school Nuevo Horizonte (New Horizons) is teaching the children about Jesus and how to live well-disciplined and Godly lives. The future of Paraguay depends on the youth of today. Help us help share Christ and raise up a generation of well-educated moral leaders. We still need 52 sponsors for 2004.

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

On February 16th it was raining again for the second day but that did not dampen the Dedication Celebration we had at the "Escuela Nuevo Horizonte" (New Horizons School) in a poor barrio in Lambaré, Paraguay. Even though the salon for performances can seat about 150 comfortably, we estimate we had between 500 and 600 people in attendance.

The evening was filled with laughter, songs, dance, and expressions of gratitude to God for His many blessings. Also, receiving special thanks were Mark and Johanna Waltz who allowed God to use them to turn a dream into a reality. Special thanks was also extended to Dr. Pastor Jerry Russell and his church, Fairview UMC, for organizing and handling the Samaritan Hands Paraguay School Fund, which provides our school 100% of the funds donated plus the Fairview members willingness to sponsor many of the children. Mable Love-Brown received special applauses for all her long volunteer hours to serve as the Stateside Coordinator for our Sponsorship program and we saluted her church, Middlesettlements for their tremendous support. Also, we thanked Christian Dickson (another missionary) who helped Mark supervisor the final year of construction; the National Paraguayan Church President Pastor Pablo and his wife Claudette; and Pastor Andres and Felicia of the local Lambaré church.

With over 41% of the population in Paraguay considered functionally illiterate or not having sufficient reading and math skills to manage their personal affairs effectively, is it any wonder our Youth and Adult Literacy Program has grown from 20 last year to 74 students this year.

Who are the students? All are our neighbors. Some are friends, members of our church, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, brothers or sisters of the children in the school; older children in our Sunday School programs; and even three of our support staff in the school.

What are their backgrounds? We have many who did not have the opportunity to study because there were no schools (especially for many of the grandparents or parents); some of the others could not afford to study or they had to work full time to help put food on their families' table; others are school drop-outs or ex-drug addicts trying to get a new start on life; and then there are some who never learned to read in their early years and after repeating first or second grade so many times either quit in frustration or were asked to leave.

As part of their academic studies, the students will be able to achieve first through eight grade equivalencies in one to three years. We are also teaching a "New Life" class sharing the Word of God so their education is not just for this lifetime but hopefully it will be beneficial for all eternity.

Praise God after much hassling with the Ministerial of Education, we were finally given permission to extend our Youth and Adult Literacy Program which is referred to as the "Alphabetizacion" Project.

Easter is always special as we reflect on the sacrifice Jesus made for each of us. We have a church Evangelism class of about 30 members and we have been sharing with many in the community, the school, and in an area hospital.

The first thing we say to all our groups is that we do not want to share religion; we want to share about how to have a personal relationship with Jesus. We ask do they know where they will go if they die tomorrow? Many say no. We share how we all have sinned (Romans 3:23) and that the penalty is death (Romans 6:23). But the good news is God loved us so much (John 3:16) that he sent His son, Jesus. Then we shared with the children and others that if we repent, and ask God to forgive us, and confess Jesus as Lord (Romans 10:9-10) and then we ask Jesus into our hearts (Revelations 3:20). He will write our name in the Book of Life. Many have accepted the invitation to pray the "Prayer of Salvation". Praise God. We emphasize it is not enough just to pray the prayer but then we need to follow Him.

For many of the children this Easter Season has taken on new meaning for them and for many of their families. We have had several special events including the school programs, a special service for the parents, our special evening service at the church, our Sunday School programs, and our Easter Sunrise Service. Surprisingly the movie "The Passion" has been available on DVD but in a country where the number one industry is pirating, why should I be surprised? However, with the help of borrowed equipment, we have shown it to our church youth, our congregation, and then after our special Easter program (where we had over 400 in attendance). As in the states, many have been impacted about how much Jesus suffered for all of our sins.

Latin America Mission doubled their missionaries serving in Paraguay when Janette Smith joined Sue Givens. She has joined the school staff to teach English for the children.

So much has exciting things have happened or changed since last year in the school besides adding over 60 new children (giving us now 244 children) and having many children grow 2 to 3 inches over our summer vacation (December through mid-February).

It wasn't the boys who returned to school after summer vacation with broken arms; it was three little girls like Rebeca.

We now have a librarian and our library is in a new location now housing over 2200 books for children, youth, and adults.

We now to have our chapel services in the school as we have too many children to fit in our small church.

Our school cafeteria/cantina has expanded their services this year with a new supervisor.

We now have a certified music teacher, the talented Rebeca Mora; she was born in Brazil but has dual citizenship, as her father, Pastor Pablo, is Paraguayan.

Manual, from Peru, is coordinating our computer program this year. Again, we are offering training to the children in the school and to many in the community.

I would like to present to you a few of Paraguay's Christian leaders: well educated, honest,etc……

Well, maybe I am a little pre-mature but thanks to the Lord and to everyone who is helping our school, we are molding lives to help Paraguay have a brighter future.

I took a group of Paraguayans to visit Tapy and we hosted a weekend Evangelistic program. We led programs and services for children and adults and visited some homes, including the tribe's "priest/medicine man". Both he and his wife (pictured above) accepted the Lord. The other photo is their home. As we visited the school , they literally had nothing. We are encouraging the members of our church to help them while our school children will be helping another school about 20 kilometers from the village. Praise God for how He is touching hearts to receive and share!!!

If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution to help me stay on the mission field and to cover my mission expenses, donations may be earmarked on a separate sheet of paper for Sue Givens and checks should be made out to:

Email Sue: sgivens@sce.cnc.una.py

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