Halftime

Joe here. Our stay in Paraguay has reached the halfway point. We are currently on our winter break and we will have to leave the country for a day to renew our visa. We will be going to Clorinda, Argentina with Carlos Flores, who along with his family also works and lives in the mission center with us. Clorinda is a city where many Paraguayans go to purchase goods because it is so much cheaper due to the weakening of the Argentine Peso. There are people that even take the 2 hour trip to buy gasoline.

Paraguay is going through a period of tremendous economic growth and development. According to reports, Paraguay’s economy expanded 14.8% in the first quarter compared with the same period last year, and the central bank forecasts overall growth this year at 13%, making the country the fastest growing economy in Latin America. The expansion is driven predominately by the growing demand for its agricultural products, especially soy. According to some prognosticators, Paraguay will experience a renaissance of sorts for the next 20 years or so. Wow.  

Sadly, Paraguay’s soccer team has nearly been eliminated from World Cup qualifications. However, the nation, or at least most of it, is celebrating one of its own club teams (Olimpia) making it into the Copa Libertadores Finals against a Brazilian club team (Atletico Mineiro). Aside from the actual World Cup, it is considered to be one of the biggest tournaments in South America. In Paraguay, either you are a fan of Olimpia or a fan of Cerro Porteño. There are other soccer teams in the country, but by and large, people fall into either one of the two main camps. When asked by my students which club I root for, I usually say LA Galaxy, so that I don’t alienate anybody. Anyways, hardcore Cerro fans couldn’t care less about Olimpia making the finals, but because the national team failed to qualify for next year’s World Cup, Olimpia has become a rallying cry of sorts for the nation. The first leg of the finals will take place in Paraguay this Wednesday. I expect sheer pandemonium and fireworks to go off. 

In retrospect, the past 5 and a half months have gone by very quickly. I still remember saying good-bye to friends and family at the airport in February. Pretty soon, I'll be having to say good-bye to many new friends that I have made here. One thing that I have learned has been the importance of making the most of the opportunities God has given me. I hope that I can be faithful with what I have been entrusted with for the remaining 5 months or so. We have already locked down a return date with the purchase of our airlines tickets, so we know that the clock is ticking for us to redeem our time here for the glory of Christ our Savior and King. Please continue to pray for us!

Student Spotlight

Joe here. Every now and then I'm going to highlight one of my students here. Today I would like to introduce to you a 5^th grader named Violeta. I first met her during my summer trip last year. She stood out from everybody else because she was carrying around a trophy that she had won from a dance competition. Turns out she’s pretty phenomenal at dancing. During recess one day, I was talking to her about what she wanted to do in the future with her dancing and she told me that she might go to Spain next year for dance related purposes. I told her that she better remember me when she gets famous. She just smiled. Maybe she already knows that she's going to make it big. I'm rooting for her!

Violeta is the one giving the thumbs up sign

Below is a clip of her dancing at the Father’s Day festivities:

The month of June in a blog post

Yoej here! June has been a good, eventful, humbling month for us. Arah, the Chos youngest daughter graduated high school...

Pastor Cho and Arah sharing a father-daughter dance.

Of course I can't forget to mention the awesome food... (recurring topic)

Can't even explain this delicousness in a caption so not going to.

Also, we were invited by Pastor Charles and his son to attend a qualifier game for the Copa Mundial (love adding spashes of Spanish here and there hehehe). Paraguay vs. Chile.

It was slightly disappointing as Paraguay pretty much had no chance of going to the World Cup... but it was a fun experience nonetheless. Here is a glimpse of what the night looked like for us. Paraguay about to score... but... doesn't....

Fuerza Paraguay!

As you guys may already know, Paraguayans love to party. Therefore, Dia del Padre (just like Dia de la Madre) was a big deal at Cerritos and Marangatu. Not so much for the rest of the country, though. Here's why:

I recently learned that a Paraguayan household is 10 times more likely to have a maternal figure than a paternal figure (whether it be a mother, aunt or grandmother). I'm not sure exactly why this is (it may be due to early passing of the father, or the probability that many of them leave their wives and children). Regardless, I was moved all the more to pray for fathers, both mine and those of my students. It was also a beautiful reminder that we indeed have an eternal and perfect Father, who loves us and will never abandon us... amazing faithfulness.

And I think God's love is ultimately why Cerritos and Marangatu celebrated.

A pretty bad picture in terms of quality (my fault), but for the student (Emanuel) in the middle, so worth putting up.

1st grader, Camila, dressed as a princess (her true identity) for her performance.

Preschool performance. They had to wear their dad's shirts and ties. So cute.

2nd grader, Fernanda Arami. Her heart accidentally rubbed off on my face afterwards. LOL

There were festivities at Ytororo and Escuela Dominical (Sunday School) as well. However, Ytororo was where I felt the absence of fathers the most. None of them came that day and only a few mothers showed up with their children. I felt a whole bunch of different emotions: sadness, disappointment, anger... But when I was again reminded of the complete satisfaction we have in our Heavenly Father, I was overjoyed. True story. David Lugo led the children in a time of prayer for their fathers as well as for their mothers. One of the students caught my attention and I was able to snap a quick picture of him.

His name: Junior. Age: 7

His earnestness was a huge encouragement and blessing for me that day.

Please continue to pray for the children and their families at Ytororo. That they would continue to feel and experience the love of God in their lives, regardless of their situation or circumstances.

David praying for the children and mothers that came out. Our desire is that Ytororo would grow not in numbers, but in faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

This morning was the Dia del Padre event at Escuela Dominical, where many fathers did show up. Our prayer was that they would be all the more encouraged to exemplify the love of Christ in their families.

Luis and Luis. Father and son.  One of the most encouraging relationships I have witnessed here.

Please pray that the Holy Spirit would bring more and more people to the understanding of God's glory and love.

"For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba Father!'" Romans 8:15

Mother's Day

Joe here. Like I promised a few weeks ago, here are some pictures from the Mother's Day festivities at Colegio Presbiteriano Cerritos. Mother's Day is one of the bigger national holidays and is a day that people get off from work as well. People really love their holidays down here!

David Lugo giving a message to the parents before the presentations

My 6th graders singing a song along with their music teacher

One of my 5th grade classes exhorting their mothers not to get discouraged, because God hears their prayers

One of my 4th grade classes giving a presentation. The girls did a traditional Paraguayan dance while the guys did some sort of a bboy routine

Some of my 4th graders posing for the camera (left to right: Katerin, Michaela, Monse and Farid)

Kevin and Jesús from one of my 4th grade classes

Some cool 4th grade guys preparing to display their mad dance skills

Some 5th grade boys clamoring to make it onto paraguaydiaries.blogspot.com

I can't believe it's already June. Please continue to pray for Yoejin and me that we would seek out and make the most of ministry opportunities here. There are days when I wonder if I'm even being effective. But Pastor Cho always encourages us by saying that though we don't often see the immediate fruit of our labors, our God is faithful and we will see His purposes come to fruition in due time. I can find comfort knowing that the Lord can even use my failures for the good. Thanks be to God that His work is done through His resources and grace alone!

Last day of May.

Yoej here! Thank you for your continued patience with us!

We were finally able to get stable internet back a few days ago... what a trip. It's crazy to think that we only have 6 more months here in Paraguay. It's funny because some times, I feel like I have only been here for 2 days... while other times, I feel like I have been here forever.

Many things happened this month... And I felt like life here has been getting more comfortable (in a good way).

People come up to me asking how I'm doing, holding my hand, saying that they are praying for me, and it feels amazing to know that we indeed are one in Christ.

One thing I realized though, is that they do things very differently here...

Joe and I had the privilege of going to a one-day retreat with the 3rd and 4th graders at Cerritos. And during game time, they were using this ball.

They also used it to play soccer... unlimited amount of players. There was bound to be an accident, but still fun nonetheless. Here's a video so you can kind of get an idea of how this went down. 

Yeah... you guys get the point LOL You can hear my annoying laugh and Joe yelling at the end, "That guy is too big!"

Nonetheless, the kids were super excited. It was great to see them have so much fun with so little... Revealed my ungrateful and selfish heart.

4th grader named Carlos. I bet he will be very goodlooking when he grows up.

The area surrounding the campamento site: Zion Prayer House (Zion Gido Won).

3rd graders, Nestor and Debora!

3rd grader, Camila eating her merienda :)

3rd grader, Gisselle. The best artist in town.

4th graders, Oliver and Sebastian! Even though I'm not his teacher, Sebastian constantly comes up to me and gives me a hug and asks me to translate phrases for him... Many times, I don't know how to translate them.

1st grader, Adri! He went because his brother, Cesar, was there. Adri was following Cesar and his friends around all day. If I had twitter I would use #brotherlylove

4th grade cuties, outside waiting to play games.

This was the game. LOL A relay race to see which class could pin the most clothespin on their respective classmates' hair (or lack thereof).

We also had the opportunity to go to Arah's School's International Day (Asuncion Christian Academy). Because this is an international school, different ethnicities were able to be represented.

Here's a little taste of the night.

Our dinner. Carbs, carbs, and more carbs. Kacey if you're reading this, get ready.

Korea was represented by the lovely Arah and her classmates. Well done guys.

America was represented as well with none other than "Take me out to the ballgame."

I feel like there are still so many more things to be said, but this is already a pretty long post so I shall leave it at this. 

Thank you for your constant support and prayers. We say this over and over again, but without your partnership, we would not be where we are right now. I truly believe that God is using every single one of you to exhort, rebuke, and encourage us. Please continue to pray for us as we serve, teach, and love.

Sorry for the lack of posts!

Joe here. Like the title says, it's been difficult for us to put together a decent post. One with pictures and a summary of Mother's Day is on the way!!! I can safely say that Mother's Day is one of biggest holidays here. We even got the day off! Anyways, the reason why Yoejin and I have been pretty MIA as of late is because we have been without internet for about a week and a half, and we usually have to go to the local internet cafe just to check our emails. The weather here has been very cold and rainy, and torrential downpours last week caused the internet to go down. Hopefully we can get it up and running soon. Anyways, until then, please continue to keep us in your prayers and know that your support and encouragement has been a tremendous blessing to the both of us!

Dia de los Maestros

Joe here. April 30th is a day when teachers are celebrated and showered with gifts and affection. I didn't even know a day like this existed because I don't remember ever celebrating a day like this in the states for my teachers. Anyways, I was very fortunate to have experienced this holiday in Paraguay. It was a day full of festivities with performances by all the students and wonderful food! Here are some pictures:

The backdrop to all the performances that day

Soledad (5th grade) hard at work decorating her classroom for her teacher

My 6th graders setting up glorious snacks!

Some of my 6th graders with Profesora Nora

The lower elementary students performing a traditional Paraguayan dance

And the dance continues to the chagrin of some

My 4th graders preparing to sing a song for all the teachers

Ruth and Keyla, two of my 5th graders. This particular CPC uniform is pretty classy if you ask me.

Ada and Monserrath (4th graders) looking particularly happy to get their picture taken

My 6th grade boys doing what they always do

Samuel, Mateo and Jonathan (6th grade) looking like best friends