September 2007 Adventures

September 2007 Adventures

September began just as dry as August, it’s been a difficult time for the farmers here in Paraguay. We haven’t had any measurable rain since June. A lot of the hand dug wells are now dry, and many folks are drinking and using creek water.

To make matters worse, spring is when the country burns all of the fields. The smoke has been so bad that the President declared a state of emergency. We heard that he obtained a Russian water plane from Venezuela to fly over the country to help douse some of the flames. We can’t see that it helped up in our region. There have been a couple of reports of real tragedies; a farm manager was burning his field, and accidentally his truck, with him inside, exploded. Going outside we would find that it was literally raining ashes. In the evening, the sun is a strange orange color as the smoke covers the sky. Driving over hills at night is spooky, as we turn a bend and a tall tree is on fire, with all the brush around it burning. We’re just hoping the road bends and doesn’t go through the flames. We’ll have a personal story posted on the web site under Stories to Tell, “Heavenly Chuckle” that will recount some of our own personal issues with no water. It should be ready to read by October 15^th.

During September, we had a great team work with us from Ed’s father’s church, The Memorial UMC in Fernandina Beach, FL. This is the group that began the footings at the Susannah Wesley School in Quinta Linea 2 years ago. They were back at the site again doing various catch up projects. This project has had to take a hiatus for several months due to lack of funds. We’ve started back up again, and hopefully will finish the original 6 classroom portion by the end of the year. We have also started the revamping of the old building, to incorporate it with the new construction.

It was a small team of only 7 folks, but mighty workers they were. We were also joined for part of the week by Christian, Angelica, Camilla, and AnnaBelen Dickson. It was fun to have them share the “team experience” with us.

What we always enjoy is when a team is exposed to some really local culture. This group had the opportunity to share a 1^st birthday with a precious local Paraguayan girl. The 1^st and 15^th birthdays, for girls, are the most important here. The family prepared a meal for each of us including grilled meat, local cornbread, and a rice dish. The team enjoyed being part of the local community.

On the left is little Jessica, take a look at her cake – it was made in the above oven!

In the district where we are currently working, the government is about to give out land for homesteaders. But in order to receive the land, a person must be “waiting in line” when the land announcements are made. How long? Nobody really knows, so the locals camp out at the entrance to the new property until “things” are decided. We have young men from 3 of our local church families waiting in line. They take turns sleeping in the tents they bring, not wanting to loose their places. They have been waiting for 3 months now, and hope to receive about 20 acres of land in 2 or 3 months more. Keep praying for them and their diligence.

Thank you again for all your prayers and support. All things can be accomplished together as one body in Christ.