May 2004 Adventures

Nearly all of May has been rainy & cold!  We brought an electric blanket with us from the States.  We can run this off a transformer, which we carry with us from place to place.  It has been a warmth of a blessing!

We said “Good-by” to some dear friends, Mark & Johanna Waltz.  They have been serving in Paraguay for the past 9 years as head of the Mobil Medical Clinic as well as founders of the Methodist school in Lambare.  They have decided to enter a new phase of their life, full time grandparents!  We will miss them, but wish them all the best.

We also said “Hello” to a new family member – a 1992 Toyota Land Cruiser II, with 300,000 miles.  This will enable us to take teams into the interior.  Up till now, it has not been possible for teams of more than 3 or 4 people to work with us in our Northern District.  This “new” vehicle will be a great addition for the church.  We put it right to work taking fence posts up to the Agrimissions work site.  The Land Cruiser has pulled over 2 ½ tons of materials to the job site.  During June, July, & August, we have several teams we would like to come with us to visit “our” churches. 

 As we mentioned in April, a team from Alpharetta, Georgia, arrived May 1st to help us drill the well at our Methodist Seminary.  We drilled, and then we collapsed – literally – the hole collapsed on top of the bit!  This was after the team left, so the team only experienced the fun part of drilling – when it’s successful.  Ed even wrote a “Stories to Tell” for our web site titled “The Bit’s Stuck!”.  We ended up renting a tractor to pull the bit out.  We got the rods & bit out, but this was only part of the story!

Before the stuck bit, while on our way to buy the PVC pipe for the well, we had a hurling experience!  We had 180’ of PVC pipe on top of the trailer, tied down “a new way”.  We were in 5:00 PM traffic on a busy street, at a busy intersection.  As we were coming to a stop light, Linda mentioned to Ed, “I think the pipe is moving”.  As we stopped for the light, the pipe flew off the trailer and into the intersection as Ed was saying, “Yes, I think it is loose.”  We managed to stop traffic flow in all directions for the 5 minutes or so it took to get everything off the street.  Linda looked at the truck and noticed the side mirror on the driver’s side missing.  Just as Linda was asking “where is the mirror”, we heard a big crunch as Ed said, “it’s there, all over the street”.  We both got a big laugh, we were able to save most of the pipe, and no one was injured with the flying PVC!  We also had a minor injury on the job site, a mashed toe!  This well has been a “well spring” of experiences for us.  We pulled all the pipe out of the ground, had to leave to take care of other projects, but will return to the Seminary in June to drill again.

Most of the remainder of May we spent in Quinta Linea at the Agrimissions site.  As you can see from the Land Cruiser photo above, we located fence posts.  You may think this would be an easy endeavor, but working in “the interior”, materials of all kinds are difficult to find and then get delivered.  The fencing is coming along smoothly.  We had a storage shed built (deposito), and a sign painted designating the site to be part of the Methodist church as well as Agrimissions. 

We also had our usual share of driving people to different places for different purposes.  The grandfather of the girl who helps us at our home passed away.  Since folks here are no embalmed, funerals are within 24 hours of death.  The man died during one of our many heavy down pours.  We never managed to get her and her family to the grandfather’s house, but we did drive through water nearly up to our doors, at night!  Someone had to walk in front of the truck in our headlights so we could see how deep the water was.  We finally turned back as we approached a flooded bridge with a very swiftly flowing, full river.  We didn’t attempt to cross the river.

Our next emergency was a gun shot wound.  The son of one of the church members in Yrybucua was shot through the calf of his right leg.  The bullet entered the top of the calf and exited just above the ankle.  We took him to a clinic here in Santaní where they patched him up and kept him overnight for observation.

We ended the month with Ed preaching at Tacuapí, sharing communion with the congregation, and dedicating 2 children. We had a successful month despite the problems with the well.

Please pray for a successful well at our Seminary as we head toward Ñembý one more time in early June.  We’ll let you know how things progress.