Asuncion,
Paraguay (December 15 - 21, 2014) - Two brother workers were waiting
for us outside the airport when we landed in Asuncion, Paraguay. One of
them told me that they were expecting me to be as
old as they are!
Don Edgardo is 76 and Don Jose is 70! From the airport we took us to the
Convention home where the rest of the crew are waiting for us.
The first workers came to Paraguay in 1962. The work of the gospel is
rather slow in Paraguay, but the workers were able to find a few souls
that embraced the gospel with all their hearts. We heard about Doña
Lorgia, Doña Maria, Doña Emilia, Doña Genara and Doña Cristina.....
among the first ones that professed...... All of these ladies finished
their earthly journey... very faithful to the end! Some were added thru
the passing of years.
The friends here in Paraguay are pretty
much separated from one another as far as distance is concerned. We
workers scattered around visiting them in various places four or five
hours away by bus, usually just one friend in the area, or a family.
There were around 40 of us that gathered at our one day convention in
Asuncion, the furthest friends to come traveled around six hours by bus!
There is only one Convention in Paraguay.
One of our friends,
Chingolo, is a baker. They started listening to the gospel in 1999. He
was a drunkard and his wife told him at one point, "If you don't
straighten up your life, I am going to leave you." He knelt and prayed
asking help from God. One time he was at his work and saw a brother
worker passing by and as if a voice came to him saying, "That man is the
man that can help you". Because he was not free to leave his work, he
wasn't able to talk with the brother worker. A few days after that, the
brothers were knocking on doors inviting people and the other brother
knocked on one particular door.... And a man came to open the door, and
it was Chingolo! He right away connected these two men are companions,
and he received them in his house. After listening to the gospel, he and
his wife felt that the first thing they need to do is to get
married.... So they got married and professed! Chingolo's wife and 3
children and a daughter-in-law, and another two men, all professing,
were all at the Convention.
Traveling on the bus and going thru
the city, it is pretty common to see people carrying a jug of water and a
glass with sipping pipe attached to it. They have a national hot drink
here they call 'mate' (mateh), or the cold drink they call 'terere'.
People are drinking it all the time.... even while they are driving,
walking on the streets, etc! They fill the glass with mixture of herbs
and pour either hot or cold water and sip!
Traditionally, when
someone visit a home, you can tell you are not appreciated when you are
not served 'mateh'. If they make sure you drink enough of it, that shows
you are very much welcome! They would pass the glass around, each
taking a little sip at a time, then pass the glass to the one next to
you for his turn. For the country people, it is very offensive to wash
or wipe the sipping pipe before you take your sip.... And I lost track
how many times OUR glass was refilled and passed around! So i think that
tells us we are pretty much appreciated!
Some thoughts shared at Covention:
*We don't want to be in a condition where God can not heal us. If I'm not willing to receive His help, there is no healing.
*The most effective armor is to have the love of God.
*God told Moses to remove his shoes. Our feet is one of the most
sensitive part of our body. To not have anything that will protect us
from our feelings. God wanted us to feel things at this Convention.
*We don't always understand when God's hands work, but we can always trust in His hands.
*Joseph found himself far from his country, far from his father and brothers, but he is never far from God.
*It takes a lifetime to build a testimony, and in just a moment, we can ruin it.
*The Potter was asked, "When do you know when the clay is in the center
of the wheel?" "When the clay stops resisting my hands".
*Jesus said, No one can go to the Father but by me. We have to manifest Jesus in our lives.
*The most precious hour of the day is the hour of prayer.
*We might say, Time is passing quickly, there is no time to pray. That
is the reason we must pray... Because time is passing quickly.
*Prayer is our fellowship with God. We can be praying for one hour but if we don't have fellowship with God, its not prayer.
*If we have faith that God is listening to us, this will encourage us to continue to pray.
*Obedience to His will is the greatest expression of our love to God.
*A weapon we just used for the first time in the day of the battle can
not be used to overcome the enemy.
What will give us victory is by being
faithful in our daily life.
*God gave a message to the seven churches. He didn't speak about their
natural, economic conditions, but their spiritual condition. We should
pay attention to the message God will speak to us.
*Change of love is a change of life.
*Sometimes we just see the hardness of the experience because we are
looking thru it with our human eye. Obstacles are seen if we keep our
eyes on the goal.
*Pray harder when it is the hardest time to pray. When it's hard to pray, it's the time we need prayer the most.
*When Goliath was killed, the enemies went fleeing. Sometimes, the
enemy is not that great at all. What is really causing the problem or
our struggle is not so great after all. We need to focus on what is
really
causing the problem and deal with it.
*We receive help from God according to the measure of willingness we have to what God teach us.
*A sculptor made a beautiful lamb carving out of a rock. The people
were awed by the beauty of it. They asked the sculptor, 'what did you
do, how did you do it?' He replied, 'I did not do anything. The lamb was
inside the rock. I just chipped away what doesn't belong to the lamb!'
*How do you show your love for God? If I allow God to work in me, this proves that I love God.
*Message of hope to the Church in Sardis... 'Thou liveth and art dead.
Strengthen things which remain, that are ready to die.' Jairus came to
Jesus and said, 'My little child is at the point of death'. A
centurion's
servant is sick and at the point of death. Only Jesus can heal them.
*Sometimes the spirit of a little child in us is at the point of death.
Saul felt he was very small and God was able to use him. Then he grew
in disobedience, he grew in dishonesty. He lost the spirit of a little
child
and he lost everything.
*How do we know if the little
child in us is healthy? If someone corrects us and we accept and change,
the spirit of a little child in us is healthy. If we are offended, the
spirit of a little child in us is at the point of death. If they do us
wrong and we want to take revenge, the spirit of a little child in us is
at the point of death ... If we bear patiently, the spirit of a little
child in us is healthy.
We greatly value your prayers!
Your brother, Renante
Another helpful letter from Renante...
Cochabamba, Bolivia (December 8 - 14, 2014) - Greetings from the City
of Cochabamba.... The city that never gets too cold, nor too hot! It's
2558 meters elevation.
Traveling thru the main road in Bolivia
is quite a sight. Beautiful sceneries.... But also along the road are
memorials for people that are killed in accidents on those spots.....
And we saw hundreds of them! As we journey along in this life, we are
often reminded where others have fallen and we want to be careful in our
steps so we can continue to the end.
The workers first came to
Bolivia in the late 1950's. They worked in a mountain City called La Paz,
but they didn't see much response there, so they left and moved to the
City of Cochabamba. They worked in Cochabamba for about five years and
they found no response here either. The workers felt that maybe it's not
the right time for Bolivia yet....And thought about leaving Bolivia. It
was around that time that they met a lady that had taken real interest
in the gospel and professed. From there on, a few have been added thru
the passing of time. The work in Bolivia has been very slow from the
beginning, but in the recent years, there had been quite a few that
professed. The meeting was tested at the end of our Cochabamba
Convention and there were four that stood up to make their choice known.
Thursday morning, we had a baptism. It seems that the last
baptism in Cochabamba field was about five years ago. There were 8 that
took the step. The friends were very happy and very supportive. They
hired two mini buses for the friends and workers that took us to the
baptism place and some friends followed along with their cars. The
baptism took place in a very secluded little brook more than an hour
drive outside the City. Among those that were baptized was a lady with
very bad arthritis, very frail, but we took turns carrying her from the
brook back to the bus!
We heard that our Convention in
Cochabamba was 155 on Saturday, and 188 on Sunday. Convention was held
in a retreat house.... where some of the friends and workers stayed all
throughout the Convention. They said it was the first time they used
the place.... And it worked out very well. It gave us more time with our
fellow workers and friends! The nuns that run the retreat house were
very impressed with our group...They told us afterwards that it is the
first time they saw people who love to be with one another, enjoyed
visiting, well-disciplined children, and orderly people...People who do
not only hear the words of God but applying it in their lives!"
Some thoughts shared at Convention:
*Jesus told Peter, "Do you love me more than these?" He reminded him
about the sheep, and the need of the sheep. I want to give my life not
because I need to but because I love the souls of others.
*Right spirit comes with a great price.
*"Because of thy word, I will cast the net." If we do what Jesus asks us to do, blessing will come.
*Peace is not the absence of afflictions but it is with the presence of God.
*A fire is put out because it’s not being looked after.
*The love of God within us will take us in the place of prayer.
*Jesus separated himself from the multitude...Far from the world and
along with His Father. We want to separate ourselves from multitudes of
thoughts that could be harmful to our souls.
*Walking in the land of the living. We have a responsibility to take care of our own step.
*Our growth is not measured by things that we left behind but by the things we outgrow.
*Shepherds are abomination to the Egyptians. As long as we are feeding
the lamb that is in us, this will keep us separated from the world.
*If we don't separate ourselves from the world, the world will separate us from God.
*Pharaoh told Joseph's brothers to live in Goshen, the best of the
land. Going to meetings, meditating on the words of God, being faithful
in prayer life.....is like living in the best of the land.
*David
protected the lamb from the lion and the bear. We all have lions and
bears in our lives, but it is nice to remember that in our struggles,
it’s not just about me and myself. It’s about protecting the little
lamb.
It wasn't easy for us to leave Ariel and Melinda at the
airport.... But know they are filling very useful place in Bolivia. Like
what Uncle Jim said, if we have a great need of workers in the
Philippines, their need is greater in Bolivia. And we are so thankful
that they responded to the call with willingness.... Though it came with
great price!
Next stop is Paraguay! Thanks for following us faithfully in your prayers.
Your brother, Renante