April 2004 Adventures

In the beginning of April, we had the pleasure of hosting Larry Williams who is the Director of Agrimissions.  Agrimissions has bought 20 acres and we are in the process of building a 1,300 square foot facility which will be an educational center to introduce new farming techniques to our locals.  While Larry was here, we finalized the construction plans, and now things are progressing rapidly.  We are excited to see this Center being constructed in our District, near the church in Quinta Linea.  This is a photo of the purchased acreage and our local pastors who look forward to participating in the program. 

Our next activity for April was back at Yrybucua where the church held a 4 day revival.  At the final night, nearly 500 people attended and 30 people received Jesus into their hearts.  Our first night attending, we passed the Pastor and his family from Quinta Linea.  They had been walking for 2 hours to attend the revival with 4 children under 5 years old!  We loaded them into the truck and off we went.  The next night, we drove to Quinta Linea to pick them up and then drove them home.  We also had a record number of people in our truck from the Guaraní reservation – nearly 40 folks crammed into the cabin and stood in the back for a ride to the revival.  What a blessing it was for everyone.

Living in an agricultural community during Easter has been very different.  Instead of lilies blooming, we are in our fall, with conversations revolving around prices of cotton, sugar cane, and sesame.  This is harvest time in Paraguay, and the folks now have money to spend.  Every small town has had a fair visit, complete with a Ferris wheel.  One of our pastors is buying a refrigerator with his cotton money.  This family has never had a refrigerator before!  Street scenes are as you see below – the left is sugar cane going to market, and the right is a truck loaded with cotton.

Many people are making carbon and getting it ready for market.  Carbon (charcoal) is used for cooking as well as heating the house.  Here are some pictures of how carbon is made.

What has been the greatest blessing for us this month has been the completion of the well at Ara Pyahú.  We finished wiring the pump, and marveled at how God has blessed us to be a part of this tremendous project.  We located spigots at the church and near the road.  Here is a photo of the newly installed water tank and the pastor’s family new clothes washing sink.  For this family, this is a great improvement over what they previously had.

Our next well will be at our new Seminary.  This project begins May 1^st, as a team from Alpharetta UMC in Georgia, comes to help with the well and general construction.  We will report back how this project progresses.