August 24, 2009

Good Evening! We are fast approaching spring and many flowers and trees blooming including my orchids and the national Tayu trees which display their flowers in purple, white and the breath-taking yellow.

When the children are not in school and when they have free time and are not playing soccer, they love to fly kites in our windy spring weather. Many do not have store-bought kites, so they look for anything that can they can use to make kites. Often they use garbage bags for the kite and gather short pieces of strings and tie them all together to make the string long enough for flying.

These past two weeks, the children and staff have been finishing the second trimester of this school year. During the month of August, they also spent time studying the culture of Paraguay including the typical dances which especially fun for the younger children. Afterwards, the children enjoyed typical Paraguayan foods such as mbeju served by their moms.

This past week, we hosted the 3rd and 4th grade camp. The theme of the camp was Obedience as the children studied in depth the life of Joseph and how he remained obedient to God even in the midst of trails and trying circumstances. Besides the chapel times, the children had several workshops to discuss in small groups with the staff. We also had a prayer time and many children came forward. Please pray for these children as many were touched and pray that in the next two weeks, the camp will have a significant impact on our 5th through 8th graders.

As I close, I have a number of pray requests for:

1. Your continued prayers for Tom and Mable (our Stateside Sponsorship Coordinator).
2. Mark and Johanna Waltz during their mission trip to Africa.
3. Guidance and direction for our school and church leaders.
4. Funding for our school expenses and for current and future construction projects in the church and school.
5. For a favorable decision on a pending proposal which could help with school funding.

May God be with you.

Love,
Sue