Picture Update!

Joe here.
It's been a long time since I updated. We were very busy the past three weeks as we hosted two teams from back home. You can read all about what we did with the teams on kaceyinparaguay.blogspot.com. What I'm going to do here is post some pictures of the Expo that the high school students at Colegio Presbiteriano Cerritos put together, of the Día de Folklore celebration, and of an end of the year dance recital for one of my students. The Expo is an annual event where the high school students showcase various things that they have been learning and Día de Folklore is a day when the people of Paraguay remember their cultural heritage.

EXPO:

Some of my 10th graders selling some beauty products for the Expo.

Famous world landmarks recreated by students for the Expo.

More landmarks.

A booth detailing the effects of air pollution.

One of the 12th graders guiding a video camera attached to balloons to display on a big screen.

Below are some of my 10th graders recreating famous story moments through pantomime:

Día de Folklore:

Reenacting famous Paraguayan mythology.

Violeta and Mariam all ready for their dance performance!

Some 10th graders posing in their traditional Paraguayan dance costumes.

Some traditional Paraguayan treats!

Manucho and Cristian Jara

Dance Recital:

Excited about the show!

The final performance with all of the students from the academy on stage.

   

Restful work

Yoej here :)

The past couple weeks have been busy with the team's arrival, stay and departure. But it was worth every minute. We have been learning the true meaning of resting. How could it be that there were so many descansos (rest time) and yet I was still tired. I realized that true rest doesn't come in the form of doing nothing or even sleeping. True rest comes from resting in Jesus Christ.

He says, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Even as we are working, we are able to rest our souls, as we take the yoke of Christ upon us. My prayer is that we would remember that and continue to serve diligently. May work for the Lord become a joy in our hearts!

Also, I have been stuffing my face with hot cheetos. That is all.

New member to our family!

Joe here. This post is gonna be short. We've been pretty busy hosting a mission team that has come from our home church. We have also welcomed Kacey Kim to our team for the rest of the year! You can check out her blog here: http://kaceyinparaguay.blogspot.com/

Introducing PMT 2013!!!!!

T-minus 7 days.

Winter Break Highlights

Joe here. After having the luxury of a three week winter break, we have resumed classes again (this is the second week back). I had almost forgotten what it was like to get up early in the morning. I had trouble sleeping the night before the first day back as I was filled with unusual anxiety. I kept waking up intermittently throughout the night wondering if my alarm had already gone off. Anyways, now that I am back in the groove of things, I have found some time to put up some pictures of how Yoejin and I spent our winter break. These pictures recount our trips to Clorinda in Argentina, and Nueva Italia (the countryside in Paraguay).

CLORINDA:

On the road to Clorinda, which was about an hour and a half drive.

One of the reasons why it took longer than it should have...undeveloped roads.

Passing a river as we entered a small town bordering Clorinda.

Walking on a bridge to reach Argentina. As you can see, there are many who go to Clorinda to do shopping in bulk.

This guy was just amazing.

The produce in Clorinda are in abundance. Here you can see a store selling boxes upon boxes of tomatoes.

There really isn't a whole lot to look at in Clorinda, as people usually go there to get great bargains rather than to do sightseeing. We got the sense that it was a very old, dilapidated city.

As we were driving back home, our driver stopped by the side of the road to purchase this...

Yup, that's gasoline!

As reach home, we had to go over the Paraguay River.

You can see the capital, Asuncion, far off in the distance on the right.

 NUEVA ITALIA:

Rodolfo was gracious to take us to the town where many of his relatives live. We were often greeted by very large cows.

Brick making is one of the specialties of the people who live in Nueva Italia.

Even more brick making.

Rodolfo took us to a retreat campsite that was established by his great grandfather.

Another view of the campsite.

Rodolfo's family lineage. The man in the hat is a pastor (no relation to Rodolfo) who is also the caretaker of the campgrounds .

We did a lot of walking and exploring that day. Nueva Italia is such a tranquil place where you see miles and miles of grassland, and occasionally something extraordinary. 

Enjoying the view from the top!

We did a lot of walking.

At the campsite was a huge grill, which Rodolfo proceeded to prepare for our lunch.

FIRE!

A BIGGER FIRE!

So our lunch comprised of asado, and three links of chorizo. I think Rodolfo overestimated our appetite a bit.

Chimichurri for the asado!

The ingredients used to make the condiment.

The finished product!

We had to do quite a bit of waiting for the food to cook. In the meantime, we played a lot of pool.

These are just a few of the things we did during the break. We are both extremely excited as we begin the latter half of our stay here. Please continue to pray for the both of us!

One more week of vacation!

Paraguay surprised us with one more week of winter vacation! I was thrilled but partially wondered what I could spend another week doing. The weather has suddenly gotten super cold... Dropped many degrees in the span of a couple days. I woke up the other day and just stayed in my bed for another two hours because it was warm.

This break has been fun. There was nothing crazy that happened, but I think I have been learning to appreciate the little things in life more so than the big things.

On Tuesday, one of Howard Shin's (past missionary) old Cerritos students, Rodolfo, took Joe and me to a small town called Nueva Italia, where there is a lot of land used for grazing animals and growing produce such as sugar canes and cotton. A very tranquil and quiet town where people are able to create their own work schedule and take each day slowly. It was a new level of "tranquilo" that we never saw even in our small town of Villa Elisa.

We ate, walked, ate, talked, played some pool (Rodolfo beat the both of us every single game), and ate some more. He is a current medical student, working many hours a day at a hospital. I was able to see his love for his studies and will be praying that he becomes a faithful doctor one day for the glory of God.

Spending time with the jovenes has been fun. One thing that I am convicted to do these last few months here is continue building and deepening relationships with the few that God has allowed me to grow close with. Even simple bus rides are great ways in which God is allowing me to fellowship with them. I praise God that His timing is indeed perfect.

Today at Marangatu, there was a conference for mothers by an organization called, Madres Unidas Para Orar. It was a workshop teaching mothers (and every one else), the importance of praying for their children and our schools. Although I'm not a mother yet, I was blessed by the heart of prayer that these women had. I am convicted all the more to be a future wife and mother that constantly prays for her family.
http://www.momsinprayer.org

The speaker was Michelle Kvandal of Maranatha Chapel in San Diego. A mother of her own, her life is marked by encouraging other women to join her in this prayer movement. We are praying that families in Paraguay would grow in desire to make disciples of their own children. Michelle and her husband founded Su Refugio Ministries in Tobati, Paraguay. Su Refugio is a place where children and women are able to find spiritual healing in various ways.

This is where the story gets a little crazy. Earlier this year, I had reconnected with a friend from high school named Kendra after seeing that she was in Paraguay as well (via facebook hahaha). Turns out that Michelle is Kendra's aunt! Kendra had even told her last night that she had a friend named Yoe Jin in Paraguay...

The conversation went something like this:
me: "Hello Ms. Kvandal! My name is Yoe Jin! Nice to meet you!"
her: "Oh my goodness, you are my niece's friend..."
her & me: OMGSJFKDSLJAFSDKJSLKJ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!JFDLKS!!!!!!!!!!

Pretty crazy... Joe and I are going to try to visit Su Refugio tomorrow.

In other news, Olimpia lost the final Copa Libertador match last night against Brazil's Atletico Mineiro. Quite a sad night for half the nation... But Pastor Cho reminded us that we are more than conquerors in Jesus Christ! So we have peace.

Thank you all again for your support and prayers!