First day of many

After hours of safe travelling, we arrived in Paraguay at 12:30am... this morning haha. After waking up around 10am, we went to Colegio Presbyteriano Cerritos to collect our books and meet with the elementary school coordinator, Yolanda. As we were walking, Joe turned and said to me, "Man, we are such newbs..." I laughed but inside, I knew it was true. As we were talking with Yolanda we were both struggling to comprehend all the information she was pouring into our brains. I just kept nodding and looking at Joe to interpret, but at one point, he looked back at me and we were both stumped. That's when we knew that it was going to be a long year. Yolanda handed us our schedule and introduced us to Gabriela, one of the other English teachers who could explain to us about the curriculum in more depth, in English. Praise the Lord! LOL

                                                       Joe and my teaching schedule!

We then travelled to Asuncion with Mrs. Cho and Arah, the Chos' second daughter. Mrs. Cho's mom actually lives in Paraguay as well so she invited us over for a feast of a lunch. Arah's baby cousin was also present, such a cute diva. Honestly, we were not expecting so much good food for our first meal, but we greatly appreciated the effort that Mrs. Cho's mother put in to cook for us. God's grace in the little details make all the difference.

                                       

                           Arah's baby cousin striking a pose with a manzana y durazno.                      

Afterwards, we went grocery shopping at a couple small Korean owned stores and a supermercado (super market) called Stock. Joe and I again looked at each other after checking out and expressed our sense of culture shock.

On our way back to the mission site, Arah pointed to a picture of a man on a billboard and told me that he was a presidential candidate for the Paraguay Presidential Elections, taking place on April 21, 2013. One thing that I remembered a friend sharing with me about Paraguay is that its government leaders can be very corrupt. But let's hope that this presidential candidate is an exception.

                                       
As I reflect back on this day, two things come to mind.

First, even before I arrived to Paraguay, and even before I decided to serve here, my biggest concern and prayer request was the language and cultural barrier between myself and the Paraguayans. I am seeing all the more how much I desperately need the Father and His guidance. How important it is to constantly remind ourselves of the permanent joy that we have in Christ despite our struggles and shortcomings.
"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy spirit who has been given us." Romans 5:1-5

Second, we must pray for our government leaders! Although I am not savvy with understanding politics, both American and Paraguayan, I have been reminded too many times by God that we must pray for the nations.
Please pray with us for the future of Paraguay and its government leaders.
"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." 1 Timothy 2:1-4

Please continue to pray for us!!!! Joe and I are quite a sight to see right now on one table with both our laptops open, Joe's to edit pictures, mine to write the post, as if we are college students again studying...