June 2007 Adventures

It seems we begin each month telling you what a wonderful month we have had.  Well, June was no exception!  It was one of our best!

First, as mentioned in our May report, Snellville First UMC from Snellville, GA brought a work team to Paraguay.  This is the third year that many of these folks have come to Paraguay.  The team also included 2 members from our home church at Cannon UMC.  We divided the team into 3 different groups.  We had 2 nurses who teamed up with our in-country team nurse, Joy Varga.  This group did basic physical exams on the children at the Susannah Wesley School.  Possible problems were advised to visit the mobile medical clinic when it comes to the Yrybucua region in August.  Linda helped this group with driving and translating.

After 3 days and seeing over 163 kids, the nurses joined the VBS group.  These gals worked with Ed, and were able to visit all 9 of our churches – yes, they were on the move!  Since this is only the 2^nd time our churches have had such an activity, it was a blessing for all!  What is always fun is to see how involved the adults are with the VBS programs.  We never had a shortage of volunteers from each church to help with the children.

The third group worked construction at the Agricultural Missions Center.  Another missionary, Christian Dickson is in charge of this project, so he led this group.  They installed plumbing, laid bricks, and helped with the stucco. Agrimissions Center looking good!   We don’t work the team ALL the time, here we are having a picnic at the Ag Center   We returned to the US on the heels of the Snellville team.  We spent a few days in Atlanta, but the highlight of our visit was attending the marriage of our older daughter, Rhian, to James Gracey.  They were wed at the Headlands Center for the Arts at Fort Barry in Sausalito, CA, on June 30, 2007.  You have met James in our December, 2006 report.  We are so proud of the 2 of them as they begin their life together.      Mr. & Mrs. James Dwight Gracey Ed did a homily at the wedding, talking about commitment.  He used Ruth 1:16, 17; which was the passage selected by Rhian & James.  He also added Joshua 24:14, 15 and Proverbs 22:6.  Our prayer is that these 2 continue their commitment to each other, to God, and to their future family.  We have been very blessed by the union of these 2 wonderful people!