Public Education in Paraguay

Timmy's first day of school.  Our big guy started first grade on Thursday. 

 We are doing something completely different this year.  We are homeschooling him in the morning (primarily Bible, English and Reading) and in the afternoon he attends 8 de Diciembre Elementary School.  It is three blocks from our home and it is a national school.

 

This is their formation where they salute the flag before the children head to their classrooms. There are 14 first graders, which is an unusually small class.  It is shocking how few resources government schools have.  After two days of school from 1:00-5:00 p.m. the only thing they have done is read two stories and color two pictures.  The books have not yet arrived for the teachers and won't be expected for another month.  The state of education in Paraguay leaves so much to be desired. 

Nonetheless, we feel like it is good socialization for Timmy to be in school, and he will get a better grasp of the Spanish and Guarani languages, which are both required subjects.

We also feel it is a great opportunity for us to reach out to the school.  It is in major need of painting, a fan and playground equipment.  All the young kids just sit and watch the older boys play soccer, since the school only has one soccer ball and field.  We are hoping that we can help channel support to this humble school this year, so if you'd like to help, you can click the "donate now" button and give to "Paraguay projects." And as always we invite you to join us in prayer for the director, the teachers and that Timmy is a good example to his classmates. 

Thanks so much.  We're looking forward to a great school year!

Here's a video to give you a better idea of what a typical classroom likes like (and what it lacks!).

Losing a Loved One While Overseas

While we were traveling last week I got a text message from another Paraguayan missionary sending condolences for my loss. I had no idea what that message referred to, so I told my husband I better find a place where we could check our email.

Sure enough, we had gotten several messages from family informing us that grandpa Beam had passed away and his funeral had occurred that morning.  Even though Grandpa's health was declining for a few years now, I was so sad that I was unreachable and felt such guilt that I wasn't there. These are the times when the call to serve the Lord overseas gets tough.

I knew that when I signed on to be a missionary this would be part of the package.  I count myself extremely fortunate that after almost 10 years on the field, this is the first family member I've lost. Still, I felt so helpless, so hurt. I didn't get to say goodbye.

I also missed the celebration of his life; I wanted to laugh and cry with family as they shared funny stories.  I wish I could have been there to comfort Grandma and my Dad.  I was so excited to introduce Grandpa to his great-granddaughter in May and tell him first hand of God's faithfulness to bless us with such a treasure.  I wanted to hold his hand and tell him that I love him one more time.  I wanted to thank him for giving me such a legacy of steadfastness.  My comfort is that my grandfather loved the Lord and this won't be my final farewell.  I will see him again some day.

Grandpa was quite the drinker before he knew the Lord.  One day when he was in his early thirties he was watching television and was flipping through the channels.  He came across a televised Billy Graham crusade, and listened to Billy preach.  When he gave an altar call, Grandpa got on his knees in front of the tv in his living room and turned his life over to Christ.  He was transformed.  He began taking his wife and children to church and fell in love with the Word of God.

He was a Sunday School teacher and a Gideon.  He had no greater joy than distributing Bibles to prisons and schools.  He always had a Bible on him to be prepared to hand it out to someone who needed hope.  When I worked full-time in Michigan I would come and stop by on the weekends and just walk in without knocking.  Many times I would see him in his favorite lazy boy chair reading the Bible.

He and Grandma owned a cottage and he loved going fishing with his grandkids.  I have fond memories of playing cards with him while eating popcorn.  He had a sly kind of smile and loved to tease.  In their home they had unique relics from their years living in India.  Grandpa would tell me wild stories about their adventures overseas which helped opened my eyes toward world travel.

Two of his sons began serving the Lord through international ministry and two of his granddaughters are serving overseas as missionaries. I am so blessed to have a grandfather like I did.  He lived with Parkinson's disease for 22 years and I never once heard him complain about it. 

Our last time together August, 2009.

Personally, I pray that the family understand that I love them and care even though I am far away.  I ask God to comfort Grandma in a special and peaceful way.  I pray that God give me the strength and grace to handle loss in the distance.  Finally, I thank God for such a wonderful grandfather and I hope that I can be that kind of example to the generations that follow me.

Photo Highlights of Recent Days

Where did the summer go?  As we're packing up Timmy's backpack for him to start school tomorrow, I look back and am stunned to think how fast these past few months flew by.  Although we haven't been blogging much we've been so busy with visitors, preaching, teaching, visiting the sick and needy and traveling.

Here are a few highlights of the past few weeks:

Last week Norberto went to visit a family about 20 minutes south of us and they all  (four people) wanted to make a life change and start living for the Lord!  Someone from the church will visit them twice a month to follow up.

We went on a road trip to beat the heat (it's almost 90 degrees INSIDE our home) and visited beautiful Cordillera Paraguay.  Here are a few pics:

 Watching the boats on the Ypacarai Lake

 Mommy and Me

 Enjoying the falls in Piribebuy

 The big catch!

National Historic Reserve Vapor Cue

Our two treasures

We made Valentine's day cookies with Grammy (Julie's mom) who's here visiting and helping in SO many areas.  We will miss her incredibly when she flies back home next week.

We finished up our three weekend soccer/volley tournament.  Here are some highlights, photos taken from one of the youth in the church:

 fierce competition

 Anahi loves to watch "futbol"

 Volleyball tourney in full swing

The champions!  

We held a short service and awards ceremony and the place was packed out.  It was such a success, we've already set the dates for our next fall tournament.

Visitors from Asuncion

This weekend we enjoyed the visit of Anahi's foster family from Asuncion!  We are so honored that they would make an 8.5 hour trip here on a bus with no a/c to visit us.  Here are a few pics from our nice time together. 

 Hiking

 Fishing in the pond while the dogs scare the fish away!

 At the beach in Bella Vista

Our precious flower...Anahi.