Hello friends!

Yoe Jin here! I seriously thought about the title for like 20 minutes and that was the best I could come up with...

Anyway, can't believe that it's nearing the end of April already. Looking back, it feels like it has been forever since Joe and I arrived. I am learning more and more about myself in ways that I probably wouldn't have been able to learn in America... so I feel incredibly blessed to be here, at this specific moment of my life. I know that despite our doubts and inconsistencies, God is constant and unfailing, Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. We have been living with much hope in that Truth. And although we have come to Paraguay to serve and be blessing onto the people here, I realize that the Paraguayans have been serving and blessing us in ways that we can't even begin to explain.

This past Saturday, Joe and I had the honor of attending our first Paraguayan wedding. The couple (Milagro y Rodrigo) is extremely young, recent high school graduates. We randomly ran into them as they were passing out (all in person) their wedding invitations. Joe has known Rodrigo for a while and so we were both invited HAHA. To be honest, I felt a little awkward attending a wedding where I didn't know the couple being wed.... Right before we entered, Joe looked at me and said, "I feel like we're wedding crashers..." LOL But with the mindset that this could very well be the only Paraguayan wedding I will ever go to, I figured I should just live it up.

Despite my concerns, the families were very welcoming and didn't make us feel out of place at all... The food was amazing, asado of course, and we went home with very happy stomachs.

The bride and groom with their parents.

The ceremony/reception room. Very intimate.

Earlier that day, (Saturday), one of the families at Maranagtu generously invited Joe and me to eat lunch at their beautiful home. Their names are Victor and Betty. Betty cooked some amazing authentic Paraguayan food.... cannot get enough. They have two children, one daughter, one son, and a third on her way in June! A family that loves the Lord, loves their children, and loves music! Victor leads praise at Marangatu and also teaches music at Ytororo on Saturday mornings.

Abi and Josias! CUTEST KIDS EVER! Les quiero!

I have constantly been blessed by different opportunites to share life and share time with the Paraguayans here. We are always being reminded that despite cultural differences, we are all truly a part of one universal Church worshipping the same God.

Reminded of Paul's exhortation in Romans 15:5-7.
"May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God."

We again want to thank you supporters! The Chos, Joe and I truly appreciate all your prayers. God bless!

<3

Un Nuevo Rumbo

Joe here. Sorry for the lack of updates, we've both been pretty busy with all of our responsibilites. Today was a pretty big day for the country of Paraguay as a new president was elected. Even as I'm typing this entry, I can hear fireworks and car horns going off. The winner of the election was Horacio Cartes from the Colorado Party. You can think of the Colorado party as being like the Republican Party in the United States. It was a fairly close election between him and Efrain Alegre, who is of the Liberal Party.

From left to right: Efrain Alegre and Horacio Cartes

Horacio Cartes' campaign slogan has been "Un Nuevo Rumbo Para El Paraguay," which means "A new course for Paraguay." Let's hope that this new president seeks to serve the people of Paraguay with honesty, integrity and justice. I am reminded, however, that even with the ever-changing leadership of earthly rulers, we as Christians live with hope in the One who sits enthroned above and reigns with all power and authority. Only under Christ's rule do we find true freedom and new life.

The beginning of new things!

Joe here. Today was the very first day of my animation class. I have a total of 13 students (one was out sick today, and the other is a teacher who wanted to take the picture below for me). I am very encouraged by the excitement these students have. They were having so much fun just rotating and moving a simple sphere in the animation program. It’s a varied group, with some only being in the 9^th grade, while others are teachers at the school. The biggest difficulty that I had was trying to explain technical terms and concepts in Spanish, and I must have said, ‘Huh?’ a hundred times when trying to answer the questions of my students. I am very excited about the rest of the year and I hope the students enjoy the process of learning animation even though it can be a royal pain. I think Luis and Jose, the two guys on the far right, are already experiencing the stress of it.

 Something momentous happened two Sundays ago. 6 individuals got baptized at Ytororo Church, which is a church plant of Marangatu Church.

The individuals sitting in the front row in the picture above are the very first to get baptized at this place. The evidences of our Lord's grace are all over this church. There is something beautiful and appropriate about the fact that they have even begun a new garden in front of the church building. Christ is producing an abundant harvest here, and I am confident that He will grow and lead to completion that which He has started. Please keep these individuals in your prayers as they have begun this journey in the faith.

Cristo Vive!

Yoe Jin here! :) What another beautiful day that God has given us! Let us rejoice for Christ has risen from the dead! There has been a lot of stuff going on this week, so let me summarize with some pictures.


On Thursday, Pastor Charles invited us to eat lunch at his mother-in-law's home in Itá. 

Quite an enormous feast.

Pastor Charles' mother-in-law left her comfortable life in Asuncion and chose to live in a small city of Itá in order to preach the gospel to the local children. She holds Saturday bible studies for her neighbors and fun programs for the children in her humble home.

The whole family gathered to eat lunch together.

She breeds her own chickens as well.

On Saturday, the jovenes at Marangatu gathered to go to an orphanage together. It was a great reminder that we were all once fatherless but God graciously adopted us into His family, as His own sons and daughters.

Meet Diego and Vannina. One of my favorite couples here.

Mighty encouraged by the jovenes' hearts to serve and love, wherever they go.

We also had a chance to perform a skit about Jesus' death and resurrection for the kids!

Joe was the angel LOL.

He played the mighty role of Jesus.

The Roman soldiers.

It was very hard to take a group picture LOL. Most of them were not even sure where to look because there were three cameras at work. This was the best picture I managed to take LOL.

I went out to eat dinner and watch Oz with two beautiful women: Dianna Segovia and Jesica Caceres. The process of buying the ticket, buying the popcorn, and going into the theater happened so fast and I felt like I was just moving with the current.

The movie had already begun as soon as we got into the theater and the three of us were rushing to our seats with the 3-D glasses in our mouths and the soda and popcorn in each of our hands. When we sat down, I realized that the movie was in Spanish (I was told that after a certain time, the movies here are in English with Spanish subtitles but not apparently not at this theater). Dianna looked at me flustered and said, "Sorry!" in her broken English. But then we all just started laughing. I didn't mind too much because it was a good learning experience for me! The movie itself was okay, but the graphics were really fun in 3-D... I got so scared at one point that my glasses fell right off my face and into my bag of popcorn LOL. T'was a beautiful night.

We went to eat dinner at Pizza hut afterwards.

And then stopped by an arcade.

It is now the end of March! I can't believe how fast the first two months have gone! Please continue to pray for us as we do our best to serve the Lord in Paraguay!

Semana Santa

This week is semana santa (holy week), which means all the schools are closed. During last week's chapel services, all the students were reminded to reflect on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and to spend time with their families.

What is unique to the country of Paraguay is the tradition of consuming large amounts of chipa during this week. Chipa is a baked, cheese-flavored roll. Why is so much Chipa consumed during semana santa? Well, Chipas that are baked on Wednesday will serve as snacks and meals to be eaten during the following days when very little cooking is done. Chipas are also made to be given away as a sign of friendship.

Chipas come in a variety of forms

I hope that this week will not only provide me with some physical rest, but a deep spiritual renewal as I rest in Christ and His perfectly accomplished work for me.

Rain, rain, and a little more rain

The weather has been cooling down these days! YAY! It hasn't been as hot or as humid as when we first got here, and my face feels drier (almost as dry as it feels in America). There have been less mosquitoes and less bug bites... Feels like my body is slowly getting more and more used to the Paraguayan lifestyle.

We started our respective church ministries this month. Joe is the "keyboard man" every Sunday and helps out with the Reunion de Jovenes on Saturdays, and I help out with a children's ministry at a church plant called Ytororo and Sunday School at Marangatu. This past week was our first weekend serving in all these ministries and to be honest, time seemed like a train, travelling at great speeds, not stopping for anyone. I found myself in situations that required me to talk more and although a little stressful, these moments challenged me to break out of my comfort zone. These days, I have been learning that it's okay to look stupid and have been trying to embrace mistakes and failures.

David Lugo speaking at Ytororo

Sunday School at Marangatu. Making crafts: "eyes to see, ears to hear."

End product! LOL

It has been raining a lot these days. A couple days ago, the power went out for a little while and Joe and I were sitting at the dining table, eating crackers in the semi-dark. Good times. But I give thanks for the weather!

These past few days, I have been realizing that I can be really hard on myself. One of my close friends reminded me of these two passages the other day via Skype.
"And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, 'You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.' But he denied it, saying, 'I neither know nor understand what you mean.' And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, 'This man is one of them.' But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, 'Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.' But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, 'I do not know this man of whom you speak.' And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, 'Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.' And he broke down and wept." Mark 14: 66-72

"When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?' He said to Him, 'Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.' He said to him, 'Feed my lambs.' He said to him a second time, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me?' He said to Him, 'Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.' He said to him, 'Tend my sheep.' He said to him the third time, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me?' Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, 'Do you love me?' and he said to Him, 'Lord, you know everything, you know that I love you.' Jesus said to him, 'Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.' (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this He said to him, 'Follow me.'" John 21: 15-19

There was so much grace for Peter. Even after he denied Jesus three times (which Jesus already knew before Peter did so by the way), Jesus recommissions Peter to feed and tend His sheep. I am so prone to forget what Jesus Christ's death, resurrection and ascension means for us. Honestly, being in Paraguay has exposed many sins that have been laying dormant in my heart. Often times, I wonder why God would have chosen me to come to Paraguay and convince myself that I am just "no good" to do His work. But, oh how God's grace embraces me and reminds me over and over again of my identity in Christ! That even in my failures, mistakes, weaknesses, God's power is made perfect in weakness. That His grace is indeed sufficient for me.

Summer days are over...almost

I am desperately looking forward to the cooler weather as the summer comes to an end here in Paraguay. It has been a little over a month since I first arrived and the adjustment to a different culture, language, and climate among many other things has been difficult. But looking back, I am thankful that my hardships have driven me to a deeper dependence upon my heavenly Father.

My cereal of choice

I have been teaching a total of 8 English classes so far. There are two classes each for the 4^th, 5^th, 6^th, and 10^th grade levels. My day begins at 5:30 AM when I wake up to eat some breakfast in the kitchen below my dormitory room. My breakfast usually comprises of a bowl of cereal (Nestle's Fitness), some bread with strawberry spread, and a few vitamin pills. After taking a quick shower, I saunter over to the chapel (literally a one minute walk) for morning devotionals with all the teachers at Colegio Presbiteriano Cerritos. Every morning the school’s chaplain, Cristian Jara, gives a short message. On occasion I am asked to play a song on the keyboard for a time of praise. My first class begins at 7 am. Walking into class I say, ‘Good morning class.’ Then all the students proceed to stand up and say, ‘Good morning Teacher Mr. Joe.’ (On the first day of class I told them all to call me Mr. Joe, but since it is their custom to address all of their teachers ‘profesor/a,’ they just call me Teacher Mr. Joe.) I respond by saying, ‘How are you today?’ Then they say, ‘Fine, and you?’ I end by saying, ‘I am also doing fine today. Please be seated.’ The conversation would pretty much end there anyways because that’s all they know. Each elementary class is 40 minutes long, and they all go by so quickly. That is, unless you have to discipline the kids for failing to take out their notebooks, or have to constantly tell the kids to stop talking while the lesson is being taught. Those classes seem to last forever. By 11:40 am my day of teaching comes to an end. I teach 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th grade classes every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and I teach my 10^th graders on Monday and Wednesday in 80 minute blocks of time. I have really enjoyed teaching mostly due to the fact that the students here have shown me such unconditional love. Even students that I had just previously disciplined that day would come up to me during recess and give me a hug. But you know what the absolute best feeling is as a teacher? It is when you see the eyes of a student light up with eagerness to learn and participate in class.

Here is a picture of two of my 6^th grade students with a 3^rd grader. The one on the left is Ife and the one on the right is Jose. I personally think Ife looks like Luis Fonsi, a famous Latin American singer.

Next week I will be going to all the high school classes to advertise my animation class. The first thing I’m going to write on the whiteboard is this: ‘ANIMATION IS A PAIN.’ Since it’s also a class that will be offered after school hours, I’m hoping that I’ll be only getting the truly motivated ones to sign up for it. The worst thing would be to get 30 students who think animating is glamorous because the final product is, when in reality it’s a lot of hard work, stress and frustration.

I don’t believe we have shared any pictures of the new synthetic soccer field at the school. After I finished my classes this morning, I decided to walk around and take some pictures of it. It’s a beautiful looking field that is already a big hit with all the students at the school.

Update: Thank you to those that have been praying for Martin. He is doing much better, but still has some issues with draining the water from his stomach. Please continue to pray for his recovery.