Friday, January 29, 2010

Right before Christmas we were able to host an end of year cookout here at our house for the church leaders. Paraguayans love their beef and it is suggested that one provide at least a kilo of meat (2.2lbs) per person when hosting and asado. Here are a few pictures from our time of fellowship together with our friends from church

What is in your purse?

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

I did not take this picture, but I often see sights like this, beauty nestled in among simple homes. I admire the Paraguayan people who manage to beautify something which otherwise might not be much to look upon.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

It was Easter week. I will never forget it. We had only been in the village for about a year. I had made friends with one indian lady, Linda, as she was one of two women in the village that spoke a little Spanish. Her husband , Antonio, was the school teacher in the village. He had been born and raised in the village of Acanaña and had been trained by missionaries there. He had also been sent to town to receive a high school education. He was, perhaps, one of the most educated indians of the tribe at the time.

They had flown out to town a couple of months earlier so that Linda could be near a hospital to give birth to her fourth child. She had only just returned to the village a few days before with her three week old son. Her first son, as her other children were girls. Her only son, as they had performed a tubal ligation on her at the hospital. She came to the house and proudly showed him to us. Antonio would be flying back in on a separate flight the following week.

On Saturday, she came to us in the morning, on her way to her garden. She said the baby had been fussing a lot the night before. My husband checked him out, but all seemed fine. Clear lungs, no mucus, no fever, good heart rate! He was a cutie who was beginning to smile!

She continued on with the baby to her garden to get food for the family. That evening she arrived back at the house. It had rained that day, she and the children were soaking wet. The baby was feverish. When Clint listened to his lungs, I knew we were in trouble just by the look on his face. His temperature was at 104.

We began to do all we could for the baby with the limited tools available to us. He had developed double pneumonia in about 12 hours. Unfortunately, we had no oxygen in the village. We had penicillin, but not the fast acting, injectable which is the preferred treatment.

As the evening wore on, the baby began to struggle to breathe. We had called out by radio to have the plane ready to fly out for the patient first thing in the morning, if he was able to make it through the night. The missionaries in town had found the father, Antonio, and he was prepared to receive his son. The missionaries had arranged for an ambulance to be at the airport. IF the baby survived the night.

Around mid-night, we almost lost him! Clint began CPR, and was able to get him to breathe again. But...about an hour later, he stopped breathing and we repeated the process again. He had a weak pulse but once again began to breathe on his own.

This happened more times than I can remember. My husband wore himself out trying to breathe for the small baby. We had to take turns breathing the breath of life into the child. We did this for hours.

Any doctor will tell you, you should not do this! CPR is meant to be used for a short time only until medical help can be reached or the paramedics arrive. BUT...there was no medial help and we were the paramedics!

Around 4 am, Clint was breathing for the child and I felt the babies pulse, slowly falter, lighter and lighter, until...nothing. Clint's eyes were on my face as he also felt the life slip away.

Linda also realized the exact moment her son died. She did not understand what Clint and I were saying to one another, but she knew!

She stood and began to cry out, "My son! My son, my only son!" I went to her , to try and comfort her. She sobbed all night in my arms. "My little son!"

Clint had laid the baby down and asked for someone to help him. But the indians are terrified of dead bodies and at that time would not touch a corpse.

The Ye'kwana often would take a dying person out into the jungle so that they would die there alone and away from the village. If someone dies in a house, no one would live in the house afterwards. They would hire the Sanema tribe to bury the body for them so that they would not know where it was. This is due to their fear of the spirits.

Antonio and Linda were Christians though. Once we realized no one would help with the baby, Clint went out and built a tiny casket all by himself. He only had a battery powered flashlight and hand tools. I wrapped the baby in a soft cloth and comforted Linda and my own small children who had watched and heard it all.

The other indians all sat around and wailed the death chant ...all night. They were very concerned that we had the body in the house with us. But where should we put him? It was a dark, rainy night in the jungle.

The next morning we informed the pilots by radio that we had lost the patient but to please fly the father out to the village anyway. The men in the village had begun to dig the grave. We were only waiting for the father to arrive for the burial.

When Antonio came in on the flight, they left immediately for the grave sight. Antonio and Linda had become Christians through the ministry of the missionaries in their village. They wanted a christian burial for their son.

Remember, now, it is Easter Sunday morning. As he placed the small casket into the cold, dark, muddy hole he began to preach!

He told them all that he was very sad to lose his only son. His heart hurt! But...he would see his child again!" Yes," he said. "I know that the Son of God, Jesuquiriitu, has taken my son to be with Him in heaven! His body is here in the ground but his true person is with God! And I know that when I die, I also will go to the place of God and I will see my son again!"

He told the old, old story of a Savior who came in the form of a babe and laid down His life upon a cross. The Son of Wanaadi (God) had died to take away the sins of the world so that all who believe might be saved! But Jesuquiriitu did not stay dead! No, He rose again!!!! He defeated death on the third day and rose again. Jesuquidiitu, was seen alive by many witnesses after that and had promised to go to the place of His Father, Wanaadi, to prepare a home for all who believe! A place where the houses are not made of mud, nor cement blocks but had streets of gold! And Antonio, and Linda, had put their faith in that. They would see their small son again and be with him!

I remember that night and how we had done all in our power to stop Death. We could not stop Death.. We are only human. BUT ...I remember that Easter morning in the rainy jungle! I saw the power of the resurrected Christ work in the hearts and lives of a forsaken people in a forsaken land.

John 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

Upon a life I did not live,upon a death I did not die;anothers life, anothers death,I stake my whole eternity.-Horatius Bonar

Friday, January 15, 2010

Here in Paraguay we are all concerned with the kidnapping situation in the Chaco area of the country. One of the most recent kidnappings, which has served to unify the Paraguayan people, was that of a rancher, Fidel Zavala, a few months ago.

The people have reacted with the sentiment of ,"Enough is Enough". We all have plastered our cars with white ribbons or the slogan,"WE ARE ALL FIDEL" and placed banners around the city in support of Fidel and his family.

Last week the Marxist rebel group, the EPP, responsible for his kidnapping, put out a a statement that Fidel's family must give away many of their cattle to the surrounding villages and towns in order to save the life of their son, Fidel. This is an obvious attempt to buy the support of the poor locals by providing them with free meat, redistribution of wealth is a tenet of Marxism.

In desperation the Zavala family did deliver the meat to the small, poor Guarani village near their ranch as they had been ordered to do by the EPP.

These people live in conditions of extreme poverty, completely forgotten by the state with their closest water supply being 2 kilometers away. (1mile) In spite of all of this, two days ago, they gave the country of Paraguay, and the world, a lesson in dignity. They also taught the guerrillas of EPP a lesson of their own.

With an amazing dignity and moral integrity, they refused to accept the meat which had been sent to them as part of the bribery required by the EPP of the family of Fidel, saying they did not wish to benefit from the pain of another. When word of their denial of the meat was reported by the media, the villagers were surprised at the reaction brought about by their action. The Chief, humbly, said, " We only did what is our custom which does not allow us to accept the fruit of evil." Words which only raise the esteem we feel for these valiant people.

This simple act of refusing to accept the meat has since spread to other poor, rural, non- indian communities which were also to be given meat as part of the bribery package required by the EPP. This morning as I watched the local news I saw the people carrying their bags of free meat to the doors of the police head quarters and throwing it down on the sidewalks in a defiant act against the EPP. They also are refusing to eat the fruit of evil.

Viva Paraguay!

The following is a short video of the community and lifestyle of those who said, " NO!"

Sunday, January 10, 2010

First we must understand the truth of the human condition before we can understand the need for the death of Christ. Why would God sacrifice his innocent Son for the sins of the human race?

We can all look at the world around us today, at the past history of mankind, and see that something is terribly wrong. Also, on an individual basis we see sin in our daily life. Sins of compromising, sins of neglect, sins of betrayal, and on and on. We find ourselves excusing these in ourselves, but rarely in others! In this way we do not acknowledge our part in the evils of the world. Our sins are minimized and considered 'human' and we do not see our own complicity in the world's evil.

Christ's death on the Cross forces us to confront the ugly reality of our individual sins. If my sins are so small and insignificant, why did the very Son of God have need to die upon the cross to provide forgiveness for ME??? This is the real 'Inconvenient Truth' of this world.

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23

By comprehending the Cross, we are faced with the knowledge that we are judged by a higher standard than ourselves or even of others. The Scripture tells us we are measured by our Creator. God, being just, can not excuse our sin. Sin requires a payment and that payment was paid on the Cross by the Son of God. He is our atonement. The death of Christ on the Cross shows us the severity and seriousness of our personal sin.

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

If we refuse to see our sins for what they are, that God requires this atonement of us, we are saying that we can personally make things right in our own way. We need to remember the need of redemption. Today many people have forgotten that redemption is about sin and guilt. It is not about feeling good about ourselves.

The death of Christ on the Cross shows us that we are not in any way able to provide our own redemption. Christ as the Lamb of God was the only one capable of paying this sin debt as he was the only one sinless. He had to take our place. THE INNOCENT DIED FOR THE GUILTY. He alone could redeem humankind from our sin debt.

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name (Jesus) under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Act 4:12) And he (Jesus) is the propitiation (payment) for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (1John 2:2)

Thus, the Cross is God's reminder to us of our sin condition. We are offended by it in today's culture, but it was just as offensive when it happened! 2000 years ago, they knew that crucifixion was a terrible way to die, made even more so by the death of an innocent man.

The truth... our sin was judged, we could not make it right ourselves, God provided the substitute for our atonement, His only begotten Son! Because he loved us.

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

And that is the inconvenient truth of the matter! But for the love of God, we would all be condemned. Because of his great love for us, we all have a way of escape from the eternal consequences of our sins.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (Eph 2:8)

And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Act 16:31)

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9)

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Recently I was able to meet up with two friends. We met each other through blogging. Kathy comments often and reisdes in Curacao but comes to Paraguay every year to visit family. Christie arrived in Paraguay about the same time that I did but lives a few hours away and we do not often see each other.

My husband refers to my online friends as my imaginary friends, well, we three amigas recently met each other for lunch at the mall here in Asuncion, which proves we are not imaginary friends at all, but rather, friends in deed!

Here we have the three little amigas enjoying a piece of America at Burger King!