The people in Makxawáya church put the section of roof blown off back on, in August, just a day or two after I went in with David Orrit and Rev Peter Hunter. They have done a very temporary sort of repair, with bits of sky visible from the inside of the church, and some of the wall near the roof missing some bits! The wedding on Sunday August 10th went ahead and none of the guests mentioned the roof!
 
Chris Hawksbee has been in Mak today with Caroline Gilmore-White and a couple from one of Chris’s supporting churches. I think they were probably going to look at the church and see what needed doing. The people in Mak keep asking me when proper repairs are going to be done!
 
I shall be in Mak this weekend, taking young folk / musicians to a couple of weddings in El Estribo, weather permitting. Rain is forecast.

Read more…

Claire has sent her latest Prayer news from Concepcion.

FEISA, The teacher training college in Asuncion has released their latest news for August.

Praise the Lord for a very good and refreshing winter break for all our staff and students in July. Estela’s health has improved and we are all very grateful for the wonderful, spring-like weather we were able to enjoy.

This month, there are several visits to the Chaco; please pray for safety in the journeys and fruitful training sessions with the indigenous communities:

Nursery project visits to Yatnata; 1st-2nd and 22nd-23rd

Pre-school teacher training visit to El Estribo; 8th -9th

There are also 8 mobile play sessions planned, including two special ones on 14th and 16th celebrating Children’s Day (16th Aug). Please pray for safety as our team travels to poor areas and for the children to experience God’s love through this ministry.

Read more…

David Orrit, the man behind Mission Paraguay 2008, has sent us an update. He leaves on the 30th June to make preparation for the teams that arrive in July and August.

David writes, “A new venture this year is to provide training workshops in the use of sewing machines, which were sent from the UK a few months ago, to enable mothers to make simple children’s clothes and develop this as a self sustaining cottage industry. ”

“The second August group will be based in Concepción a town of about 40,000 people where motor cycles, horses and carts abound, pigs and other animals wander the earth roads. Unemployment and social problems are high. The work here includes home improvements, extending facilities for the work of the church and a range of child based activities arranged through Claire Holmes who for many years Claire has worked tirelessly amongst the children in Concepción and the surrounding area. ”

You can read his full artlicle here.

Some prayer letters came into the SAMS office over the weekend.

• Beryl Baker - Health worker in the Paraguayan Chaco.
• The Barr Johnstons - in Salta, Argentina.
• Tim Curtis - Bible translator in the Paraguayan Chaco.
• The Meldrum’s - in Olinda Brazil, working with young people.
• The Rowes - Seminary teachers in Madrid, Spain.
• Linn Tedman - a teacher in St. Andrew’s College, Asuncion, Paraguay.
• The Testers - in Lima Peru.
• Sue Woodcock - in Sabadell Spain.

Some prayer letters recently came into the SAMS office:

• The Brices and Butlers in Asuncion, Paraguay.
• Prayer points from the Diocese of Northern Argentina.

Several prayer letters from SAMS mission partners have recently come into the office:

• Nicky and Ronny Irene in La Paz, Bolivia.
• The Barr Johnstons in Northern Argentina.
• Pat Blanchard in Lima, Peru.
• Tim Curtis in the Chaco in Paraguay.

I can hardly believe I’m sitting down to write what will be my last prayer letter. This year has flow by, and God has taught me so much during the year.

A sad piece of news to begin with. Many will remember Romina from my last prayer letter. Indeed a lot of people will have been among those who raised the money for her operations and subsequent treatment. Romina received her second operation during holy week. She had recovered well, and had returned home. Unfortunately she took ill about a week after the operation. She was brought straight to hospital but despite the best efforts of her medical team she was unable to pull through. Romina was a very special little girl and anyone who met her immediately sensed her fighting spirit.

We can only thank God for the opportunity of getting to know her that little bit during her lifetime, and for the chance to show God’s love to her.

In school the term has been action packed. The staff all started back with a service on the first day, to get us all ready for a new year. The kids came back about 10 days later and there was a joint assembly with primary and secondary together. It is very uplifting to be in a school where God is given the first focus of new year, and seeing the kids really respond to that.
So far each year in secondary has already taken a camp. Some were survival camps and others were more practical community based projects. The first set of school exams began last week, and continue until the end of May. This is a difficult time for the students. Since they are only permitted by the education authorities to have one exam per day, the exams stretch for a long time. Please pray for strength and perseverance on their behalf, so they do the best they can.

At Easter time I had a visit from my parents, and was able to take a few days back at the Iguazú waterfalls in Brazil. It was a good break from school, and a good time was spent catching up from things at home. Their visit also served to start to prepare me mentally for the return home. I have to say this is not a journey I’m particularly looking forward to! I very much enjoy Paraguay and feel very at home here. The people are friendly and returning home will not be terribly easy, as there are at least some people who it is unlikely I’ll ever see again, for various reasons. Please pray that over the next few weeks God would begin to prepare me spiritually and mentally for the challenges I will face once I return home. Pray for strength and that he would give me a peace that comes from knowing that his will is being done, even if mine isn’t!

The most exciting times for me at the minute are ever fortnight on Saturday mornings. This is when the church has its kids club for children from the “Chacarita”. This is the name given to the shanty town area not far from where we live. The kids are so happy with so very little. We start the day by giving them a shower, which they badly need! They leave their clothes which get washed before the next time for them. At the start of the year they were all given new clothes. Nothing flash, but they were so happy to get them! My parents go photos of the kids while they were here, so I had those printed for them. I made a poster of all the photos, cutting them out to form a heart shape. When I looked the kids were picking the photos off the poster. It turns out they’d never had their photos taken, least of all had the chance to take a photo of themselves home to keep, so they were all picking off their photos to take home! It was so humbling to think something so normal like a photograph could mean so much to someone.

Over the next two months school will resume normality after exams. I plan to take a final visit to Concepción in June to visit Clare Holmes. The majority of the time will however be inevitably spent getting ready to leave.

Please pray for that, and all the goodbyes, and I’ll see most of you quite soon!

“Winter has arrived in Peru which means the weather is getting colder and Lima is often covered in a wet mist. Clothes don’t dry and people often suffer ailments during this time. Pat Blanchard is one such person. Winter does not appear to suit her metabolism and she is “down” with a heavy cold and is generally very run down. Please pray that God gives her physical strength firstly to get better, and secondly to enable her to fulfill all her commitments at Jesus el Nazareno and in the local community.”

Read more in Pat’s Blog

Are you interested in serving the Lord in South America? Several opportunities are available for committed Christians to work as teachers or with the disabled.

• St. Andrew’s School Asunción is looking for nursery, primary and secondary teachers. Teachers of English as a second language are required at all levels and teachers of GCSE and A Level subjects are also required in Secondary. No Spanish is required as language training is provided. You can view a video of St. Andrew’s in the multimedia pages. Please contact SAMS Ireland for more details.
• St. Paul’s School in Vina del Mar, Chile is looking for English assistants. More details in this PDF document or on their website.
• A three month placement is available for someone interested in working with disabled children in Lima, Peru. More details.