TrewsNews

Last day in Paraguay

2010-07-16T19:26:00.000-07:00

The last couple of days have again been spent relaxing with special friends. Yesterday we went out with the four other mission partner teachers we worked with during our 8 years here. We'd a delicious Brazilian churrasqueria barbeque dinner, where the waiters just keep bringing more and more meat until you can't move.

Today we had breakfast with Diana, who looked after Elijah and Hannah from they were babies, and now is married with her own 1 month old son. Lunch with some Paraguayan friends from school and dinner with Linn - which we just adored. Another great day.

Tomorrow morning we're up at 5 am (!!) for the 8.30 flight to Montevideo, Madrid, and Dublin.

Are we illegal immigrants?

2010-07-14T20:40:00.000-07:00

After the events of the previous day we finally arrived in Foz around 8pm. We'd taken the coach to Cuidad del Este and the regular bus across the border to Brazil. After getting off the bus we took a taxi, for what turned out to be just 5 minutes, to our guest house - the Pousada Evelina in Foz do Iguacu, which was a good choice (recommended by Footprints). As we were starving we went out for dinner to the nearest restaurant, a local place with three items on the menu and an aroma of grease. The food was tasty though and we ate a lovely meal then went to bed. The rooms in the Pousada were simple but clean, with a good hot shower. Breakfast was great and their advice on what to do for the day was excellent.

So we set off for the Parque de Aves (Bird Park) first. Ana in the guest house had told us the birds are more awake in the morning. The regular bus service to the Falls and Bird Park is just 100 m from the guest house which made it dead easy. The Bird Park was fantastic as always, it just gets better with each visit.

We had lunch at the restaurant opposite the Bird Park - as much as you can eat buffet for 15 Brazilian Reales, tasty food. Then headed into Iguasu Falls National Park. It was truly majestic, a breath-taking place. So worth the hassle to get there. After a really enjoyable day we headed back to Pousada Evelina who were taking us to the bus terminal.

This is where the things got sticky. The day before, when we came over in the local bus service, the driver had not stopped at immigration - he said we did not need to simply for a Falls trip. But the coach driver for our return said it was obligatory to go through immigration, but this would mean trouble - we'd no passport stamp to enter Brazil. So I decided we'd just to stay on the coach when everyone else got off at passport control. We sat with the blood draining from faces and teeth clenched hoping border control officials would not check the coach and drag us off. They didn't and we entered Paraguay again unmolested. Officially, we'd never left.

Made it to Brazil

2010-07-14T03:45:00.000-07:00

We made it. Managed to catch the noon bus and arrived at 7 pm last night. Had a simple but delicious dinner. We're off to the falls after breakfast!

Should have been in Brazil, but we're not

2010-07-13T07:19:00.000-07:00

Well, so far our time here has been very enjoyable. We had quality time with friends and just spent time relaxing.

We'd planned to get the coach to Foz do Iguacu last night, by now we should have been in Brazil, but we're not. We were actually sitting in our seats on the bus when other passengers arrived with the same seat numbers. The driver checked our tickets and told us our tickets were for the day before! It was a midnight service, 12.15 am, and we'd asked for the Monday midnight bus, but we're sold the Monday morning tickets - confusion reigned. So we had to get off the bus with crying children and were abandonded in a freezing terminal. They offered to sell us tickets for the 1.30 am bus to Cuidad del Este (the wild west style city full of contraband) , we didn't fancy that.

We taxied home and had a bit of a sleepless night. So we're back at school waiting to see if they will transfer us onto a lunchtime bus instead. We shall see.

Torrential rain

2010-07-09T18:08:00.000-07:00

After an X-Ray(!) it turns out there are no broken bones and it's just a bad sprain.

Pouring with rain today, the streets are like swollen rivers. So we grabbed a lift to the shopping centre for a lomito burger and bought some lovely Paraguayan T-shirts.

More from Paraguay

2010-07-07T17:04:00.000-07:00

We've enjoyed the last couple of days. More time with friends and relaxing in the school flat, not going too far. We have had real quality time with our Paraguayan friends. Last night we had tea with Ruth and Tadeo, really committed, Christ-like people. We just shared about our lives and cemented a friendship that we know will last a long time.

I spent an hour yesterday buying a SIM card for the phone. All new phone numbers must be registered, which took forever, and in the end it turns out we cannot text the UK with that network. Still, useful to have a local number.

The kids went with all of primary to Surubii where the playing fields are. They enjoyed it but Elijah came back with a swollen wrist after a knock with a football. Today it's swollen a bit more so we have it in a sling. A visit to the doctors may be required.

Return to Paraguay

2010-07-05T19:03:00.000-07:00

Almost 3 years to the day we've returned to Paraguay for a holiday. Back to St. Andrew's College where we worked for almost 8 years.

Just two hours after arriving we cheered on Paraguay in the quarter final of the world cup. The excitement of penalties mixed with the bang of fire crackers from the neighbours meant we'll not forget it quickly.

Yesterday we enjoyed a service in the English chapel. And had a lovely afternoon watching the St Andrew's female teachers team thrash two other school teams! The women here would run rings round half the professional teams back home. It was so good just to sit with old Paraguayan friends, relax and catch up.

Today was the first day back in school. The kids were a bit nervous at first as they have lost most of their Spanish, but their friends are so kind and helped them settle back in really quickly. They had a really good day being back with their classes. Eil and I spent the whole day just chatting with staff and close friends we have not seen for three years. The school is such a special place with wonderful atmosphere; somewhere God is at work.

New school year.

2009-09-06T14:48:00.000-07:00

We moved house almost a year ago. Hard to believe. I also have been working for the Dept Agriculture for over a year now too. Where does the time go? Eileen is settled into her primary school too. Two jobs we both enjoy, good stuff.

The long range forecast is good for the end of middle of September. I have some farms to inspect in the high Sperrins - those hills are calling.

I was at a meeting in Elijah's primary school last week for P7 parents on transferring to secondary school. We cannot believe our wee son will soon be leaving primary. Here he'll be going to Lurgan Junior High so we have not worries about transfer tests. They have a selective transfer again going into 3rd year. The kids are both very happy in school here.

We were just looking out some old photos, pre-digital days, to scan into the Mac. You sometimes wonder if life existed before kids.

2009-02-11T13:36:00.000-08:00

Off sick today. We all are in fact, Elijah, Hannah and myself. Thankfully Eileen was not at work over the last two days and could nurse us all. We thought Han had taken food poisoning after a Mc'D's last weekend, but it turned out to be a winter vomiting virus. I cleaned up the vomit of chips beside her bed and must have infected myself. Two days incubation later I was kneeling beside the loo in the en-suite retching repeatadly, wiping down, then crawling back into bed. A few hours later Eljah joined in the fun and Eileen had to mop the decks.

Two days later we are all just about recovered.

New year has been good. We invested in a new patio at the back, the dog does not need bathed after every pee. Work has been going well for both of us. Eileen loves her new school and I'm enjoying seeing much of Co Tyrone and visting the farms.

Hannah wins Christmas card competition!

2008-12-08T12:41:00.000-08:00

Hannah has won a Christmas card design prize for her school. Her design was selected from everyone in the school to be the school Christmas card! This follows Elijah winning an environmental art design prize last week!

Elijah wins environmental art prize

2008-12-04T15:11:00.000-08:00

Elijah won a prize for designing a page in a calendar about recycling. Here he is collecting his prize from the Mayor.

Teaching post

2008-12-03T12:37:00.000-08:00

After several months of search Eileen found her perfect job. It's a two day a week principal's release post. She went to a pre-interview visit last week and just loved the school. After preparing and praying hard for the interview she felt really ready, and it went fine. A few days later a letter arrived saying she had got the job. She was thrilled.

She starts tomorrow and is really looking forward to it. We found after school care for the kids too. Everything just fell into place. God is good.

Home making

2008-11-12T15:32:00.000-08:00

Almost three months since last update, sorry about that. Well, we did move house. On Thursday 18th September to be exact. We found a lovely home in Lurgan. It's invester magnolia, and has a really big back garden. Which is very muddy at the moment, roll on the Spring when we can sow grass.

The last few months have been settling in and making a home. The kids changed school and really like their new one. They settled very quickly, much quicker than last year when we returned from Paraguay. Both of them have been selected for music lessons - Elijah for Clarinet, and Hannah for Violin. We'll have a little ensemble before long!

My job is still going well, based in Loughry now and a 45 minute commute. Not too bad. I'm involved with press and communications which is keeping me more in the office than I'd like. I get out and about once a week or so at the moment.

Eileen is still job hunting. Next week we'll take the plunge and go for after school child care so she can start subbing. We just pray it will all come together soon.

New Job, new home

2008-08-20T15:09:00.000-07:00

Well things are moving quickly. I started my new job last week and I have to say it's just what I hoped it would be. I'll be out in the wilds much of the time visiting farms and drawing up management plans to improve the conservation value of farmland habitats. This first few weeks have been training and job shadowing. There have been some long commutes, up to 100 miles, but hopefully that will reduce when we move house.

It looks like we'll be moving at the beginning of September. We managed to get a mortgage and have found a lovely house in Lurgan. It means a big move for the family, but we have prayed long and hard about this and we know it's God's timing.

Day 1 in BA

2008-07-06T04:43:00.000-07:00

I'm in Buenos Aires and Eileen is with the kids in Scotland. The trip is going really well so far. Here are some photos. Check out lacaldera2008.blogspot.com for updates.

Argentina trip

2008-07-03T14:00:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow I leave for Argentina. I'm leading a SAMS Ireland trip to the diocese of Northern Argentina that has a link with the Diocese of Down and Dromore. There are 10 young people and another leader, Katy. The team are really talented and I'm looking forward to see how they all get stuck in.

We leave by bus from Belfast for Dublin airport, then fly via Madrid to Buenos Aires. We have two days there sightseeing and then go to Salta in the North West in the foothills of the Andes. We're staying in La Caldera helping develop a retreat centre. We return on the 25th of July.

It's a long time to be away from Eileen and the kids, I'll really miss them. We'll be apart for our anniversary on the 7th. Hopefully modern technology will allow us to talk pretty often. I'll be updating via text message, you can see the results on the right side of the blog. The team also has a blog at lacaldera2008.blogspot.com.

Emotional Rollercoaster

2008-06-07T14:35:00.000-07:00

The last couple of months have been quite a ride. We have been trying to figure out exactly where we are going to live, work, and send our kids to school. But trying to buy a house here at the minute is like trying to walk through a mortgage lender's minefield. The lenders want you to bear all - your bank account, spending habits, ever to prove how you acquired you savings. They pick through it all looking for holes and excuses not to lend you money. Mines have exploded twice already.

Eileen has had a few teaching interviews, but no success as yet. She is applying for jobs from one end of the country to the other, and if she gets one that may affect where we can live - it's a bit of a chicken and egg thing. Teaching jobs in Northern Ireland are really hard to get. There are up to 100 application for each post and the criteria are very specific. We are just praying the right job for her will there soon.

I did get my security clearance through for the Department of Agriculture job. Not sure of a starting date yet, probably August. At least that is one thing.

Perhaps the rest will fall into place before the beginning of July - we are so praying it will.

Foundation weekend

2008-04-25T14:50:00.000-07:00

This weekend I'm in Navan, Ireland for the beginning of a new era in the Church of Ireland theological training. I'm at a Foundation Course weekend to explore a calling to ordained ministry. It's a chance to ask God what the future holds. In Paraguay it looked like I was heading towards ordination, but returning last year meant that was not meant to be.

After coming back Eileen and I have been asking God what's next. We thought it was going to be with St. Jude's and SAMS, part-time with both, but then the Advisor in Countryside Management job came along. The Church of Ireland is changing however, now there are options for distance learning - the Foundation Years allows you to explore possibilities. Tonight we had a get to know you session, sharing in a small group how we come to be here. The rest of the weekend is exploring what Vocation is all about.

We're staying in the Irish Mission Union building, which looks at bit like Shawshank Prison. The food is good though.

The prison in Shawshank

Great Photo

2008-04-18T03:39:00.000-07:00

I just love this photo. I was taken in January and captures the moment the children saw the sea at Crawfordsburn Country Park.

Jobs, homes, and pets

2008-03-24T15:14:00.000-07:00

It has been an eventful month - interviews, job offer, home offer, new pet - lots of emotional ups and downs.

I had a job interview in February for a job with the Department of Agriculture in Loughry. It was for an Advisor in Countryside Management, something I was interested in way back during university days. Before the interview I discovered there were 37 candidates, so I thought my chances were next to nill. I was trying a door, if I was meant to take this job it would be a miracle if I was offered it. A week later I received a rejection letter.

A couple of weeks later I was in Cork visiting some churches. Eileen phoned to say I'd a job offer from the same people who rejected me a couple of weeks earlier. I'd come second and another post had come up straightaway. I knew straightaway I was meant to take it. Now I'm waiting for security clearance, which is taking months. I still don't know when my starting date is.

Meanwhile we'd also put an offer in on a house, using Co-ownership. It was close to the kids school and meant we could settle around here. But then Co-ownership refused new applications and we are still unsure if we'll be able to buy the house we have the offer on.

Eileen was excited when she applied for a Spanish primary tutors job. She was offered a post, one of 50, but it turns out there are only three hours a week available! So she is still looking for permanent work.

In the middle of all this we feel the emotional ups and downs, it's stressful not knowing exactly where we will be living and when the permanent work will start.

One definite highlight of the last month has been our new puppy - Mima, a Chocolate Labrador. We just love her to bits, even though she snores.

Changes afoot

2008-02-10T07:18:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since our last update – we're now heading into Spring. Today is the 8^th Feb and it's a beautiful early Spring day. The crocuses are flowering and it's lovely weather for the kids to ride their bikes in the park.

Christmas was good. It helped the Elijah and Han settle back, especially school with the nativity, and special Christmas events. We had a big fall of snow the kids made snowmen in the garden and snowball fights in the street.

They are making friends and beginning to seem at home here. Our fear is that a possible change in jobs means changing house and school. But we'll have to deal with that if it happens.

Eileen and I are still waiting for permanent jobs. I had an interview last week for a Countryside manager, but there were 37 people interviewed, my chances are slim at best. I have offers of 2 part time posts – with SAMS and a church. This week will clearly show direction for me – I think it's becoming clear God wants me to stay in Christian work. Eileen saw some fantastic jobs in the paper yesterday – 20 posts for primary Spanish peripatetic teachers. So she is going to apply, and is excited about the possibilities. After permanent work comes buying a house.

So the next few weeks will decide our future. Watch this space.

Christmas approaching

2007-12-03T06:35:00.001-08:00

We have been back for almost five months now - that is so hard to believe. It really seems like a moment ago we stepped off the plane. Last Sunday we were doing a church visit and showing our presentation, it's beginning to feel strange seeing the photos from your previous life on the screen.

We put the Christmas tree up on the 1st December, last Saturday. The children are getting excited. It's the first time for them that we have the gentle change of seasons from summer, though autumn and into winter. Before it was baking hot summer, onto a plane and arrive freezing.

We're also house hunting and Eileen has an interview for a teaching job. Teaching posts are very rare in the current climate in Northern Ireland, so it is very encouraging she is called for interview to the first one she applied for. If anything the interview experience will be worth it.

Unpacking

2007-10-12T11:36:00.000-07:00

Our shipping arrived today, after a very lengthy wait. So far nothing is damaged and everything has made it. The children are very excited at seeing their favourite toys and books. We found it all a bit emotional, realising I think that this chapter has finally closed. Unpacking all our bits and pieces and remembering where they were in our home in Paraguay made for a tearful afternoon.

Tomorrow is tidying it all away day, changing plugs on Paraguayan light fittings and hammering nails for our pictures.

On a different note Stephen will be staying on with SAMS until June so that is a real blessing for us all.

Shipping arrived!

2007-10-08T02:03:00.001-07:00

The shipping company rang last week to say our stuff has arrived in Belfast and is now awaiting customs clearance. It should arrive this week. This was after it had been lost at sea for about a month. We were told it was stuck in a backwater port in Argentina, but it seems this was misinformation. So we're looking forward to some unpacking this week!!

The New Routine

2007-09-24T15:05:00.000-07:00

We have settled into the new routine of life here in Northern Ireland. Our kids have one of those under 10 year old busy schedules now. Swimming, children's clubs, after school clubs and the like. They are enjoying it all, especially the £10 bike we picked up from a charity shop for Elijah and bike a friend gave us for Hannah. Elijah's was a girl's bike, which he was not keen on, but his uncle sprayed it black so now he really likes it.

Our schedules are filling up too. Eileen is taking an after school club and teaching a Spanish lesson in the school our children are going to. I'm working for SAMS, improving their website and preparing for our tour of link churches. We're also working with St. Judes, whose house we are living in. Tonight an Alpha course started and it was really excellent. About a dozen people came along simply beacuse a leaflet was put through their door. The rest had been invited through members of the church. We're also going to do some servant evangelism over the next few weeks with both Monkstown, our home church, and St. Judes.

News update - where is our shipping?

2007-09-18T02:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we finally received the new computer- our old one arrived with us in July in our suitcase slightly damaged, and has been a bit of a dying battle since then. We had ordered a dell but it was going to take 6 weeks after them guaranteeing delivery within 10 days so eventually steve got a refund and bought an apple which arrived yesterday. So literally after over 8 weeks here we are only now getting it sorted out.

Next thing is the shipping. Should have arrived 6 weeks ago, but for a while was lost and untraceable. Last Thursay they found it.....in Argentina!!! We will be lucky if we see it before Christmas. Not a thing we can do. We went and got a bike for Elijah for 10 pounds from the local charity shop and my sister has got a handmedown from a friend of hers for Hannah so at least they will have bikes now. Mind you the one we got for E is purple with flowers on it so Eileen's brother has taken it to do a quick paint job to make it less girlie looking! There is a lot more cycling going on here these days with lots of safe routes to school specially designed for kids and their parents to ride in the mornings so thats why we are so keen to get their bikes.

We took delivery of the new car a week ago so that is good to get that sorted after the accident. Eileen has started driving again after almost 8 years hiatus. She found the roads exceptionally busy at first and then the accident and the hire car for 5 weeks didn't help matters.

School. Kids are settling but slowly. Its a lovely wee school with small class sizes and a family like atmosphere but...they are badly missing their Paraguayan friends. We are now entering the time when we would normally have returned to Paraguay and they are feeling things more. They are happy going out in the morning and never complain. They seem happy with their teachers... but it is tough for them at the minute. Work wise they have no problems with the homework and we have appointments to see both the teachers just to see how they are doing, what the gaps are and how we can help.

Church. Starting our visits next week and apart from that splitting our time between St. Jude's in Belfast and our home church in Monkstown. Preaching, leading worship, leading house group, involved in Alpha from next week... sounds familiar!!! All the same things only here and not there. We still really miss the chapel. We think there is a real change in culture here, even Christian culture. People are not as committed any more, there is not the same desire for worship, hardly anywhere does coffee after the service, people are literally all gone within 5 mins of church ending. it's taking us a time to adjust.

How are we? We're are doing ok. Our hearts are still in Paraguay. We are revising SAMS Ireland leaflets at the minute about the school etc. and it's strange reading all that and not being part of that any more. We are still trying to find Spanish speaking contact for the kids. We met up with an Equadorian mother and her 2 children last week (5 and 3) but they have been here a year and the kids don't speak spanish any more. So that was disappointing, although we had a nice time talking with her. They are with the Belfast Bible college here and she is trying to find some others for us to meet up with. There is a monthly service in Spanish so we are planning to go to that in October.

New School

2007-09-02T14:28:00.000-07:00

The last couple of weeks we have continued to settle into normal life here. Enjoyed the remainder of the holiday and the short spells of sunshine between the rain. It has been the wettest summer on record here, very nice to return to!

Hannah and Elijah started school last week, and it was not easy for us parents, particularly Elieen. It is the first time they have been away from us for the whole day. In Paraguay we went to school together, lunched together, and walked home as a family. Here we see them off at 9am and return to collect them at 2pm and 3pm. When you ask Elijah what he did the answer is "nothing...", typical boy's response. Hannah is a little more forthcoming at least. It is a small friendly school, just what we were looking for. They seem to be settling in quickly and making a few friends. Keep praying for them as they adjust, Stephen as he begins job hunting, and both of us as we continue working with SAMS and our link churches.

Here is a photo of the first day at school:

Car accident

2007-08-12T08:59:00.000-07:00

On Friday afternoon we were very badly hit by another car on an extremely busy junction in Belfast. The other driver didn't see us and ploughed into the drivers side. All four of us were in the car but thankfully are all unhurt. Definitely angels protecting. The car is a write off, so Monday will hopefully see us with a temporary car while we await the insurance money to buy another one. This little one we hadn't even had for 3 weeks! It is good to know God is so much bigger than all these things.

All well apart from that although definitely experiencing reverse culture shock. Our house is starting to feel like home and hopefully shipping will arrive soon.

However, we are all very much missing our church, our friends and our school in Paraguay.

Short break near the Mournes

2007-08-05T08:52:00.000-07:00

Had a lovely holiday organised by SAMS Ireland in Bryansford, Newcastle. The weather was great, did some gentle mountain climbing (really hills I should say!), beach walking, ice-cream eating, getting lost in mazes, visited the first church planted by St Patrick in Ireland. All really excellent. Also spent a lovely afternoon seeing Eileen and Molly in Rostrevor. ( Fellow missionaries from Paraguay who retired to Rostrevor last year.)

More photos are in the little album below.

St. Jude's cafe service

2007-07-29T14:43:00.000-07:00

This evening we went to St. Jude's evening service. St. Jude's are giving us the house rent free for a year and we are helping out with their services. On Sunday evenings they have a cafe service, a relaxed worship service sitting at tables with tea, coffee and sticky buns. We helped lead the worship tonight and spent time chatting which was lovely.

There was a Youth for Christ Summer Serve team in the church this week who did a 'Landlubbers' holiday Bible club which our kids attended. They absolutely loved it. The team were there tonight too and Elijah and Hannah were delighted.

We're having a wee break for a week, so no blog entries until next weekend! We'll update the mini blog on the right of this window from the mobile phone. If you just see a white box click on it for the updates page.

Ice cream in the cool of the evening

2007-07-29T14:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to the seaside near to Carrickfergus Castle where Eileen's parents live. Not in the castle exactly, but in Carrickfergus!

The temperature was 15C and there was a cool wind blowing. Note the gray skies, sunshine and showers are the extent of the summer weather this year.

Settling in

2007-07-29T05:13:00.000-07:00

Well, we spent two weeks moving in to the new house - crawling into attics to find boxes stored eight years ago. We are starting to feel at home again after a relaxing week living in the house. We've been to St. Judes's church, who are giving us the house for a year, and are starting to get involved in the services. We are leading worship tonight at their cafe service, and taking two services on the 12th of August.

We went to our home church in Monkstown today and it was really nice to start to feel integrated again.

This afternoon we're going to Carrickfergus castle for a medieval festival! Today there is actually a bit of sunshine, but we are still feeling the cold and wonder if we will ever wear our shorts and T-shirts again!

New House

2007-07-12T15:14:00.000-07:00

After we arrived on Sunday we hoped we'd have a few days to get over the jet lag and relax. Not a chance. Monday morning we met with Denis Johnston for a debrief, then we met with Elaine Hutchinson who is going out to teach in St. Andrew's on the 13th July. Then around lunchtime we were told we had to move furniture into our new house. So all afternoon, in the rain, we started moving house. Every day since we have been over cleaning, getting boxes from attics, sorting and using an industrial carpet cleaner we hired. Tonight we are exhausted.

We experienced a few little reverse culture shock items. First it's strange getting used to daylight at 10pm, we haven't seen long summer nights in eight years. Secondly, we cannot get use to all the modern menu filled mobile phones people use here. It took us three days to finally get one working properly.

Here are some little photos of our new house.

Safe arrival

2007-07-08T14:37:00.000-07:00

We arrived back in George Best Airport, Belfast about 24 hours after we'd left Paraguay. It was very easy travelling this time - short waiting times, the kids slept well, and all the luggage arrived safe and well. I took some photos and video and will put them up over the next couple of days.

The goodbyes at the airport were pretty tearful, but we felt we closed well with our friends and did not feel we had left any emotional loose ends. It was even more emotional reading peoples' letters on the plane. Eileen and I though that it was a very special time of our lives that had drawn to a close. We intend to go back for a holiday in a few years, but that mix of people will not all be together again, people will have moved on. They are all very special people in Asuncion and St. Andrew's School. We will miss them.

Last day of school

2007-07-06T05:45:00.000-07:00

Today is our last day in school. We're feeling pretty sad. Secondary showed a nice Powerpoint today with photos of me with them over this last 6 months.

The kids were at the hospital this morning for more nebulizing. They had improved a lot yesterday evening, we're very thankful for that.

This will be the last update for a few days. Watch the Live mini blog as we can update that from our mobile phone.

So, Goodbye Paraguay!! We will miss you.

Kids had to go to hospital

2007-07-05T11:41:00.000-07:00

What a day! Both Elijah and Hannah have had coughs and colds. We went to the doctor the other day just to make sure they were fine for flying. He said the coughs were pretty bad and gave us some inhalers and medicine. Today they went back for a check-up and he wanted to put them in hospital for nebulizing! I said that was impossible. We were pretty stressed and went as out patients where they got an antibiotic injection and 3 nebulizations with oxygen. Right now they are resting in bed. Pray for their coughs that they will improve for Saturday and our flights home.

Final Day at Surubii

2007-07-04T06:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my last time at Surubii, the school sports ground. Secondary pupils did an assault course after lunch. They we're half dead by the end of it. Below is a slide show of the day's activities.

Final Service

2007-07-02T09:27:00.000-07:00

It was our last service in St. Andrew's Church yesterday. Eileen and I have led the English speaking church here for four years now. It is the church we have raised our children in, and they are very fond of it. We've led the worship, preached and taught Sunday school there for almost eight years. It was sad to leave. Afterwards we had a shared lunch in the Metcalfe's and it was a beautiful afternoon, perfect temperature, great food and good company. We've only six days left in Paraguay now.

Farewells

2007-07-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was the leaving party - a despedia - for Elijah's and Hannah's class. Families from both years met on Saturday to play and spend the afternoon together. It was lovely to spend time chatting to parents we have got to know over the years. Friendships between classmates and parents in school are very close here. Birthday parties are always big events with the entire class always invited. While the children play the parents spend time together getting to know each other. We've got to know some of them quite well and we are sorry to say good bye. It was a great afternoon and the kids loved spending some quality time with their friends.

IGCSE Awards

2007-07-02T06:43:00.000-07:00

Monday saw the annual International GCSE award night for St. Andrew's College. Along side the Paraguayan curriculum we do a full English curriculum from Cambridge International Examinations. Students take seven GCSE subjects and several AS levels. The theme for the night was a literary café, and the students presented scenes from Romeo and Juliet, singing, a monologue, their artwork, and some ballet. It was a good evening to talk to the parents too.

Primary show and power surges

2007-06-29T11:27:00.000-07:00

Today is the Primary performance of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Our Elijah and Hannah are both taking part and it is really spectacular. Costumes and sets are very colourful - there are even special effects when Mike Teevee shrinks and appears in the television! Our kids have really enjoyed it and are singing the songs all the time in the house. Andy and Joe Perrson produced it all along with Babs. The Perssons are also leaving in 10 days time, so it was quite a lot to do in their last few weeks. Babs of course had to go back to Wales last week to be with her family.

We've just had the internet put back on in school after 3 days cut off. There was a power surge that killed several electrical items, including literally melting a 4-way adapter, and frying the phone lines. The phone provider here is a nationalized company and takes days to do anything. The connection was just restored a few minutes ago.

It's just a week to go until we leave. We're going round the house clearing out every room at the minute. Everything is either being packed, given away, or binned. The house is rented and has to be totally cleared before next Friday. We also have a few leaving parties over the next few days, so it's a busy time.

Bab's dad died

2007-06-27T07:16:00.000-07:00

We heard this morning that Bab's dad died last night. Very sad. At least she was able to get home to be with him for a few days. He was only diagnosed last week - amazingly quick progression of the cancer.

Partick's Ordination

2007-06-25T05:16:00.000-07:00

Sunday was the ordination of our good friend and colleague Patrick Butler. He has worked in Paraguay for fourteen years as a Youth Worker, but the family thought they were going to finish this year and settle back in England. God had other plans however, and they committed to work here for another few years. it was a fantastic service. He was ordained to take over the ministry of the English chapel that we have led for the last four years. Our last Sunday is next week in fact, we have just 12 days left.

Family Day

2007-06-23T19:58:00.000-07:00

Today was St. Andrew's School Family Day at the school sports ground. It was a fantastic day with stalls - including throwing a soapy sponge at Mags, a definite highlight - prizes, bouncy castle, food, and kites. Great fun.

Below is a photo album of the fun.

Babs has gone home to her family

2007-06-22T19:42:00.000-07:00

This afternoon we saw Babs off at the airport. Her sister rang yesterday to say that it is likely her dad will only last a few days - it's all such a shock. She managed to get a flight very quickly, within 24 hours, and will be home in Wales by late Saturday. We're all praying hard for her, her father and family.

Shipping Day

2007-06-22T07:39:00.000-07:00

All our prised possessions are now in boxes getting ready to ship to Northern Ireland. The house will not seem like a home so much after this.

Sad News

2007-06-22T06:39:00.000-07:00

We heard today a close friend and colleague must return to the UK. Babs Owen is a teacher in primary and yesterday she got a call to say her dad has been diagnosed with aggressive cancer. He has been given only weeks to live. She is leaving today. After the death of Prof. Elva two weeks ago, and then this, the school is going though tough times.

Shipping News

2007-06-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

The boxes for our shipping arrived today. Shipping date is this Friday. We did a lot of preparation around Easter so thankfully we feel fairly prepared. A back room is filled with stuff to go, and the kids rooms are all sorted. We just need to start filling the boxes. We even started packing our cases as we need to know how much we can take on the plane and how much needs to be shipped.

Despedias

2007-06-13T07:10:00.000-07:00

Last night we had our despedia - a farewell party. Nearly all the missionaries gathered together for tea and time to catch up with each other. We have often hosted despedias for others who have worked here, so it was a little strange actually being at our own. We sang a little song with memories of the last eight years, and added a few thoughts about leaving friends and colleagues we love so much. Here it is:

At the moment we are continuing to sort the house out for shipping next week. We have given away so much stuff! It is unbelievable what you can gather up in a few years. But we are getting there. Our two weeks will literally be living out of suitcases. If it can't go in a case it won't go.

Death of Prof. Elva

2007-06-11T07:50:00.000-07:00

One of our colleagues died on Sunday. She'd had a respiratory problem for a number of years and took a chest infection last week. She went to hospital with breathing difficulties, but took a turn for the worse, was put on a respirator and died a couple of days later. She was a wonderful woman, full of compassion and loved Jesus.

There was no school on Monday so pupils and staff could go to the wake. Her family lives in the interior so they are burying her on Tuesday.

Pre-Primary Performance

2007-06-08T07:37:00.000-07:00

Eileen had her last pre-primary performance today. It was excellent again this year. The wee ones, some as young as three, sang and danced very well. Here are some photos.

4 Weeks to Go

2007-06-07T04:52:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we have just 4 weeks left in Paraguay. The last couple of weeks have been busy with 'despedias' (leaving parties), and continuing to organize the house for shipping in two weeks time. It's starting to feel imminently close now. When we think of leaving the close friends we have here it makes us fill up with emotion. We work and socialize with our colleagues. We go to church with them and our children are at school together. It would be hard to have friends you spend more time with.

Yesterday I had a job interview for a Christian job with a mission agency in Northern Ireland. I connected to the interview panel over Skype and had to present a Power Point remotely (simultaneously starting it on a computer in Belfast and here in Asunción), preach a sermon to a webcam, and answer questions for an hour and a half. I was exhausted afterwards. It's a defining moment for our future. If God wants us to continue in Christian work related to mission this is it. If not he has other plans for us. It's in his hands...

Update - Didn't get the job, but I was happy with how it all went.

Cottage Pie

2007-05-31T09:24:00.000-07:00

We had a great final Bible study last night - a massive Cottage Pie, steaming hot, perfect on a cold night. We prayed for Niven and Lucy who are leaving for Scotland tomorrow. They have become good friends. He's joining the police and she is going to dig for old things.

Party with Pre-primary

2007-05-31T07:23:00.000-07:00

The girls Eileen works with threw us a Paraguayan style party last night. It was a great laugh - Karaoke in which Anna Gonzalez excelled herself.

Small Group Bible Study

2007-05-17T05:39:00.000-07:00

Every Wednesday we have a small group Bible study with a mixture of Paraguayans and Missionaries from our church. For a couple of months now we've been studying the Miracles of Jesus in the Gospels. It has been one of the most stimulating Bible Study Groups we've been part of for a long time. Mainly due to the excellent study questions prepared by our friend and colleague Billy Blair from SAMS Ireland. We really get in deep through his verse-by-verse questions.

Niven and Lucy Bull and Ed Houghton have been great assets for the Bible Study; they are volunteers who have been in Paraguay for about 6 months. The Bulls return to the UK in two weeks and Ed a few weeks later, we're going to miss them.

After these volunteers return we have only about a month left ourselves! Considering the enormous change coming we feel quite calm and peaceful about it. We can see God at work in our sorting and planning and we're looking forward to the next chapter he has for our lives.

The Final Countdown

2007-04-25T12:04:00.000-07:00

The Dengue Epidemic is fading but the mosquito blighters are still around. There were 27,000 cases in total.

Our thoughts are now turning to returning home in July. We are leaving Paraguay after almost eight years. During Easter we spent days sorting out and seeing what we wanted to ship home and what we can give away. Our spare room is starting to fill with a few memories of our time in Paraguay. It is hard to believe that so much time has gone by and a this chapter in our lives is closing.

We are not 10 weeks away from our return date. We continue working as normal, although the future of services in St. Andrew's English speaking church is in the balance. If there are no other leaders able to take on the planning, playing, leading and speaking then St. Andrew's will join with the Spanish congregation next door. Another girl from Northern Ireland is coming out in July and will take on Stephen's Maths teaching role and possibly his IT teaching too. The School director will take Eileen's preschool classes.

Dengue mosquito police

2007-03-26T07:26:00.000-07:00

We had a visit from the anti-Dengue authorities today. They looked at our garden to see if there are any places that mosquitoes could breed. Apparently we have 18 cases of Dengue in our block and they were surprised we have not had it in our family yet.

We need to keep burning the spirals and plugging in the mossi killer.

New York Times reports on Dengue

2007-03-05T04:28:00.000-08:00

Dengue Fever Hits Paraguay

By REUTERS
Published: March 4, 2007

ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay, March 2 — A Supreme Court justice, soccer players and a senator have come down with dengue in Paraguay, as the worst outbreak in the country’s history hit the well off as well as its usual victims among the poor.

On Friday, a nurse who worked with the public health service died after being hospitalized for dengue.

Ten people have died in Paraguay, which had never had a dengue death before, and more than 15,000 have been infected in the last two months. The dengue virus causes high fever, headache, muscle and joint pain and potentially fatal internal bleeding.

Brazil and Bolivia are also fighting major dengue outbreaks and, like Paraguay, have declared health alerts. The outbreaks are thought to be linked to unusually hot and rainy weather that has allowed the mosquito that carries the disease, the Aedes aegypti mosquito, to proliferate.

“We’re really scared,” said Amalia Benítez, an herb vendor in Asunción, capital of the landlocked South American nation. “Everyone is sick. This is chaos.”

Doctors and health workers protested Friday in front of a government public health building, saying the government has failed to fight the epidemic properly despite assigning $3.8 million in emergency money. Carrying signs with drawings of giant mosquitoes and photos of health officials, the protesters demanded that Health Minister Oscar Martínez resign.

BBC NEWS - Dengue sparks Paraguay emergency

2007-03-01T16:57:00.000-08:00

The Dengue Fever has now made international news. Today this report was on the BBC

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Dengue sparks Paraguay emergency

Paraguay has declared a 60-day state of emergency to deal with an outbreak of dengue fever which has killed at least 10 people in the past two months.

Officials say 14,654 people have been diagnosed with dengue.

But doctors say the figure is 10 times higher, and are worried about a new more virulent variant of the disease. Read more.

The other day a young SAMS volunteer who has only been in the country a month was hospitalized with Dengue. He had been ill then started developing nose bleeds. The missionary family has was staying with were pretty worried it could be hemorrhagic Dengue so they took him straight to hospital. After a day of test and a night in hospital for observation he was allowed home again. It looks like a bad case of classic Dengue.

We also took Eiljah and Hannah for Yellow Fever vaccines last weekend. There already is Yellow Fever in Boliva and doctors are predicting it will spread to here.

Keep praying!

Prayer topics for the World Day of Prayer

2007-02-22T17:34:00.000-08:00

Here are some specific prayer requests from Paraguay for the Woman's World Day of Prayer.

Please pray for the continued growth of the evangelical churches here, and for the Anglican Church and St. Andrew’s schools.
The Bishop of Paraguay retires in October and the church is currently looking for his replacement.
We shall be returning permanently to Northern Ireland in July and St. Andrew’s school really needs more Christian teachers willing to serve here. The next year will actually see the school short staffed.
Pray for the ministry of the school to the young people and the support St. Andrew’s gives to the Annex shanty town school and rural development projects in the Chaco.

Woman's World Day of Prayer 2007 - Paraguay

2007-02-21T19:01:00.000-08:00

Woman’s World Day of Prayer event this year on the 2nd March is praying for Paraguay. Over 170 countries will be joining together to pray for this nation. You can read more about this and events in your area on the Woman's World Day of Prayer website.

Dengue Fever Epidemic in Asunción

2007-02-21T19:00:00.000-08:00

In Asuncion at the moment there is a major Dengue Fever epidemic. Almost 10,000 people have come down with the it, which is like a severe flu, but some 400 have contracted the hemorrhagic form, some of whom died from internal bleeding. There are signs up all over the city warning people not to leave water lying that can be breeding areas for mosquitoes that carry the disease. A number of colleagues have come down with it and a couple have had a rough week in bed. Doctors are predicting that the outbreak could continue to May and cause 60,000 cases.

The New School Year

2007-02-21T10:16:00.000-08:00

The new school year has just started and we are now back in normal routine. The year started with an assembly where Eileen and I played and Mags and Gwen, the principal and VP spoke on 'How God knows, and yet still loves us'. There was a very good atmosphere and the year seems to be starting very well.

This year once a week pupils will be bussed to Surubií where the school sports grounds are. New classrooms are being built along with a 400m running track. There will be sports lessons and even normal classes once the classrooms are finished out in the countryside. A shortage of cement in the entire country meant there is a month delay with the building work.

Happy New Year!

2007-02-21T10:15:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas and New Year, one of the best actually. We know for sure now that we are returning for good to Northern Ireland in July 2008, so we decided to make the best of celebrating this time around. There was a good crowd for church on Christmas Day and we had some good friends around for dinner. We'd been given a large turkey and the Paxo stuffing had arrived in the post, so it was a traditional dinner with all the trimmings. It was also the first Christmas when the children have had all day in their own house and time to play without rushing about. A great time was had by all.

We saw the New Year in with a few more friend around and we laughed and danced, let off fireworks and played silly games. It was pretty hot and we were all hot and sweaty by 3am when we finally got to bed. It was a fantastic time and one of the most memorable New Years we have ever had.

The end of the year approaches

2006-11-08T03:26:00.000-08:00

The last month in St. Andrew's has seen Eileen and I busy with end of year preparations and exams. The international GCSEs are in full swing with my students taking Maths and IT exams. Eileen is busily writing reports and organizing practices for her Christmas plays.

It's been a bumpy ride for us as Eileen's mum has been in and out of hospital over the last couple of months and has been diagnosed with Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). She will need a liver transplant in the next 12-24 months. The stress of dealing with this at times was very difficult, but we're glad a rough period seems to be over for the time being.

With the end of the school year approaching and Christmas on the horizon we are doing some Christmas preparations and the children are starting to get into the spirit. We dug out the Nativity set and Hannah is having great fun recreating the cattle shed scene many times over.

It's hard to believe another year is almost done, time flies.

Spring Break

2006-10-04T07:20:00.000-07:00

We we're back to school after a week's spring break. We had a short holiday in Buenos Aires which was excellent. Some pictures are in our online photo album .

The week before the holidays was one full of activities. Primary had sports day, you can see Elijah doing long jump, and secondary had youth day as well as sports day. All the students really got into the spirit of it all and it was a great week.

Next Monday is the start of the IGCSE IT practicals. My students are practicing hard and a little nervous about their first exam. I'm sure they'll be fine though.

Anniversary Photos

2006-09-13T18:20:00.000-07:00

The chaco trip was great. It was amazing to see a church in so remote a part of the world celebrate 100 years. The old man in the first photo is holding a 1911 Bible in Exlet. This version is incomplete and is being revised by a SAMS mission partner - Tim Curtis. The inside of Makxawaya church was decorated with baloons and tinsel(!). It was good to see many of the local community turned up to celebrate this special service.

Makxawaya church

2006-09-07T03:17:00.000-07:00

100th anniversary of the Anglican church in Paraguay

2006-09-06T11:37:00.000-07:00

Next Sunday sees the 100th anniversary of the first Anglican church in Paraguay. Special services will be held in the remote village of Makxawaya in the Paraguayan Chaco. At 4:30 in the morning we'll be catching the bus for the 5 hour journey to the middle of nowhere! There'll be a church service and a barbecue lunch. Then it's back on the bus for another 5 hour journey home. Should be very interesting.

Some photos hopefully next week.

Photos of the prayer room

2006-09-06T08:56:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of the prayer room used for the 24-7 Prayer. The first is the lower floor with a comfortable chair and world map, and the other is the prayer wall - were everyone could be creative in their prayers.

Update - the 24-7 prayer was amazing! We carried on for 2 full weeks of solid prayer 24 hours a day. This is very worthwhile doing in your church.

24-7 Prayer

2006-08-22T19:08:00.000-07:00

This week we're taking part in a prayer marathon - non-stop prayer for 24 hours over 7 days. The Spanish speaking congregation have converted a room in the cathedral into a special prayer room with comfortable seating and things to help focus our prayers. It is part of a worldwide 24-7 prayer initiative, and 16 groups worldwide praying at this time. Members of the Spanish congregation, English congregation and pupils from the school are all taking part to pray for Paraguay, our churches, school and needs worldwide.

Eileen took a turn this morning and found it really rewarding. Both of us have more slots later in the week. There has been a fantastic response with all the hour long slots being filled each day.

We look forward to hearing how it develops.

Strange winter

2006-08-09T11:54:00.000-07:00

This winter has been a strange one. We'd hardly had any cold weather at
all, temperatures stayed in the mid 30s through all of July. Then last
week it dropped, we had 4 degrees in the mornings and the maximum was
13. This week it is back to 36. This is more like mid summer weather
temperatures.

Last Saturday Eileen had the toy library again and 50 children came
along to play with good educationally stimulating toys - something they
would never get the chance to anywhere else. The children who come are
street children, they get a shower and some breakfast then have time to
play. They just love it.

In church we are planning some shared lunches, aiming to invite some new
teachers who recently came to the American school. Then later we hope
to have another Alpha course. We pray we might make the contacts and be
able to invite new people to church and the course.

Back to work

2006-07-25T08:51:00.000-07:00

It was back to work yesterday. We had two great weeks holiday with some fine people. Last night was a bar-be-be-que for all the Project Paraguay teams, nearly all from Northern Ireland.

We met some folk who had been in Concepcion, like Rachel and Noel from Donegal and Diane and Debbie from Derryloran.

Time with the teams

2006-07-19T08:31:00.000-07:00

We have been having great craic with Hannah Collins and her lot from Dollingstown. They took the entire service on Sunday to give us a break, and excellent they were too. We've been cooking for them sometimes in the evenings and having such a laugh.

We also went out to see the other group from St. Marks Parish Portadown, they are building a retreat centre about 30 miles outside Asunción. It's an isolated rural location (the middle of nowhere), and they seem to be suffering from food poisoning a bit and severe mossie bites. But the work they are doing is fantastic.

Varig troubles

2006-07-12T08:15:00.000-07:00

A few days ago a group of 30 arrived from Northern Ireland, only 3 of their cases arrived! While they are all here Varig, the Brazilian airline they travelled on is in collapse. All the Varig flights have been cancelled and the team had an 18 hour wait in Sao Paulo trying to get another flight. Virtually any flight arriving into Asuncion has had luggage delayed by 24 hours. Great fun when you are going 500km north with only the clothes you arrived in!

Visitors from Ireland

2006-07-08T09:00:00.000-07:00

The winter break starts on Monday 10th. We really need it. It's been a 13 week term and pretty busy with school and church to organize. We're looking forward to these holidays. Lots of people are coming out from Ireland over the next three weeks. Today sees our good friend Hannah Collins arrive with a team from her church, St. Saviours. They will be working for two weeks doing a children's holiday club and painting a mural on a foster home run by friends of ours. Other groups are coming our with Project Paraguay to work on building projects, children's clubs and medical work in Concepcion and an area outside Asuncion. It will be great to have some more Northern Irish accents around the place.

Paraguay out of the world cup

2006-06-15T08:27:00.000-07:00

Sweden 1 -0 Paraguay. We are out of the world cup.
Very subdued atmosphere here, everyone hoped they would do better.

June 2006 TrewsNews Prayer letter

2006-06-14T07:47:00.000-07:00

Our latest prayer letter has just been put online. We appreciate your prayers for our work in Asuncion. Please print it out and stick it on your prayer fridge. You can click on image below to download it in PDF format.

World Cup photos - 10 June

2006-06-13T11:50:00.000-07:00

The Paraguay v England match on Saturday saw everyone glued to their televisions. The Paraguayans were dissapointed they did not at least draw with England as they played well in the second half. The English were dissapointed they did not play better.

On Friday we took a photo and sent it to the BBC World Cup website. They published it :

BBC SPORT | Football | World Cup 2006 | Your World Cup photos - 10 June

World Cup starts

2006-06-09T07:58:00.000-07:00

At this moment the students are all in the assembly hall watching the start of of the World Cup 2006. Excitement is building here as tomorrow sees the England vs Paraguay match. Paraguayans are totally mad about football - the shopping centres will be packed with people watching it on the big screen. The BBC are in town and a number of English friends will likely be on Match of the Day tonight, they like to film the ex-pats abroad. I'll post some photos when I get a chance.

Funeral of Esmerelda

2006-05-31T04:54:00.000-07:00

It was the funeral of Esmerelda today. First we went to the Memorial Funeral Home where her coffin had been since yesterday. Funerals here are the day after the death and many of her family and friends had not gone home at all. Then we followed the hearse on a 45 minute journey out of Asuncion to a large modern cemetery. Many of the families and students from our school where there along with students from another school she'd taught in. It was quite an emotional funeral, many of her family were in floods of tears and crying out or wailing. Being buried the next day the grief is short lived, but intense.

They reckon she died of a pulmonary embolism - she'd had a broken foot and a blood clot caused a heart attack. It was totally unexpected. She was a faithful Christian and not married, so we all take comfort that she is now in heaven.

The photo of her was taken at the Franklin Graham Children's festival 2005 at which she was a dancer.

St. Andrew's teacher dies

2006-05-30T15:29:00.000-07:00

When we arrived at school today we heard one of our teachers had died of a heart attack. Prof Esmerelda taught home economics, she was 37.

Video of the Chaco Trip

2006-05-26T10:22:00.000-07:00

Here is a little video of the students' trip.

Chaco trip photos

2006-05-18T08:34:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of the Chaco trip. This trip of final year
students followed one of 1st year students (5th form) earlier in the week. They started digging the water storage well beside the church in Santa Fe community, the guys in our team carried on the digging to about 2 metres. The ground was very hard and digging was pretty hard work. We broke a pick axe and a shovel trying to remove the earth. Some of the local community will finish the digging to 3 metres and then line the inside walls with bricks. Guttering will direct rainwater from the church roof into the well. This water provides a clean source of water for the dry season - it will not evaporate and being covered reduces the risk from the Dengue mosquito that breads in open water.

The girls painted the classrooms of the local school and it provides a really bright and stimulating environment for the children. The community was very appreciative of the help and it is good to think that the work the students did will go to helping these Enxet peoples' health and education for many years to come.

- Enxet boys - the well - a chaco house - Enxet children

- Enxet village

To the Chaco

2006-05-09T12:38:00.000-07:00

The school trip to the Chaco sets off early tomorrow morning. On this
camp we are going to dig a well to store water during the dry season.
This evening it's a trip to the supermarket to buy some toilet roll,
mossie repellent, and batteries. There are lots if mossies, spiders and
snakes at the minute! It's also a chance to encourage the young people
to make real commitments to Christ, so please pray for us.

A Long Weekend

2006-05-03T03:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Labour Day, a day off, so we had a fun day at home filled with painting, dressing up, lego building, Horrid Henry books, Angelina Ballerina books, microwave popcorn (sen't from home!) and the new Wallace and Gromit movie! (cost: £9.50 in Asuncion). Elijah spent the day scared to go up the stairs in case the were-rabbit was there!

Today was back to normal school with Stephen starting to prepare for a school trip to the Chaco next week. The weather has turned cold so the duvets and jumpers are bact out in force.

Update on Zeballous Cue

2006-04-20T07:38:00.000-07:00

Last July a team from Ireland came out to visit us and start work on a church extension at Zeballous Cue, an Anglican Parish on the outskirts of Asuncion. It was a community that suffered much in the Supermarket fire disaster in 2004.

The extension was recently finished. The team were delighted to see the finished results of the work they helped to start.

Back from Easter holiday

2006-04-18T08:34:00.000-07:00

We started back to school after a week's holiday. We had a very relaxing week that included a fishing trip where we actually caught one.

Easter Sunday was good. The highlight was the kid’s illustration. We have a hollow stone that kind of looks like a tomb and it was used as a display at the front of church. Using a Playmoboil figure as Jesus we rolled toilet paper around it to represent the burial clothes. Just before placing Jesus wrapped body in the tomb I slipped the figure out. Hannah, being one of the women, came forward first to look in the tomb. She looks in, then turns and announces totally spontaneously, "He is not here, he is alive!". The boys came up next to examine the wrapped body. When they did not see the Playmobil figure they said in genuine surprise, "He's not here! Did you take him, did you do magic?” We think they understood the point.

Afterwards we saw many of the street kids the Spanish speaking church is ministering to. Our church bought a washing machine and donated clothes. So now when they come to church they are given a shower, clean clothes, and some breakfast. It is good to see them in something clean and decent to wear rather than filthy clothes they are usually in.

Toy Library

2006-04-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

This morning Eileen went to the Toy Library run by the Teacher Training Faculty attached to St. Andrew's school. They bring loads of craft, toys, games, and dressing up clothes to the church hall and children from the nearby shanty town communities come along to play and simply have fun. These children literally have nothing - they are othen dressed almost in rags and normally play with rubbish. So to give them a chance to play with educationally stimuluting toys is really worth giving up a Saturday morning for.

Some of the same children are coming along to the Spanish speaking congregation on Sundays. They are given breakfast and go to the Sunday School. If they want they can have a change of clothes and their filthy clothes are washed.

It is such a great work the Faculty and church are doing for these kids. Really the kind of service Jesus would do.

Easter Holidays

2006-04-07T20:47:00.000-07:00

Today was a half day in school - the Easter holidays start. We have all of Holy Week off. We finished with an Easter Service where each year in primary did a reading or drama. It was a great service - Patrick gave talk on how the disciples saw what, for them, was a tragedy on Good Friday turned into a victory on Easter Sunday. This is something God can do for each of us when we allow the Cross to bring a change in each of our lives.

Next week we are just taking it easy and getting some little jobs done around the house or head out of the city for a picnic.

Dengue

2006-04-06T11:21:00.000-07:00

In school this week there is a poster campaign to educate everyone on
the dangers of Dengue - a disease carried by mosquitoes. The students
have drawn posters and put them up around the patio. The disease causes
a severe fever and terrible aches and pains. In rare cases it can cause
cerebral haemorrhage! We have the mosquito repellent out and mossie
killer is at the ready.

You can pray that none of us catch it!

Chaco trip in May

2006-04-05T11:34:00.000-07:00

We are planning a trip to the Chaco in May to dig a water storage well - an aljebe. A well is dug near a building and guttering funnels rain
water off the roof into the well. It is stored in the well for the dry
season. There have been severe droughts in the last couple of years and
Aljebe's provide a constant supply of water in difficult times.

The final years students will start digging and it will be finished off by Indian workmen. I shall be going with them to document the progress
and challenge the students about their Christian commitment, so start
praying now.

Asuncion in the rain

2006-04-04T04:55:00.000-07:00

The other day I was taking Elijah to the opticians when it started to rain. The roads again flooded and we ended up driving through floods about 20-30cm deep. We almost gave up as we have heard of people literally getting washed away in these kind of rains.

Assembly

2006-04-03T11:28:00.000-07:00

Last Friday it was my turn to take assembly in secondary. I asked the students if they were ready to take a step and make a 100% commitment to Christ. Many of the students here come from very religious homes, most of them Roman Catholic. Lots are Christians to a certain degree, but most still lack that real total commitment. My real prayer for this year is that some students might decide to take that step to 100%, and then to stand up and testify about it. Keep praying for that.

Painting a home for girls

2006-03-25T06:40:00.000-08:00

Eileen and Hannah joined her team of helpers from preprimary to paint a shelter for sexually abused girls. Hannah just loved getting stuck in with the pink paint. The girls did a fantastic job brightening up a home that provides such a worthy service.

Tropical rain and scorpions

2006-03-24T18:18:00.000-08:00

We just drove home in the worst tropical rainstorm we have ever seen. The water was two feet deep in places and was raging down the road like rapids. Cars everywhere had their hazards lights on and were stuck in the middle of traffic. Our wee car rapidly filled up with prayer as we surfed home. The wipers struggled to let us see the four wheel drives ploughing water on top of us. We made it home safely and came into the house to find what is in the attached photo - yes a scorpion. Eileen and the kids rapidly jumped onto the sofa while I gave it the business with my trusty DM. Quite a night...

Synod Begins

2006-03-23T17:59:00.000-08:00

I'm in the opening service of the Synod. There are representatives from all over Paraguay - from Asunción, Concepcion and the Chaco. We've just had the reading from 1 Timothy in Guarani. The theme is the Church of the Living God. Prayers are said in Spanish, Guarani and Enxet. The worship is profound - it is always amazing to worship Christ with others from such different cultural backgrounds, it really helps you understand the worldwide Kingdom of God.

Synod 2006

2006-03-22T06:46:00.000-08:00

We've had a busy couple of weeks (what's new). With all the activities of family life plus teaching full time and organizing church. Last week we seemed to leave school then head straight to a birthday party, or after school activity, or the doctors... Hannah had a mild infection. It was also Stephen's birthday on Sunday we we though a wee party for that.

This weekend sees the Synod which runs from Thursday through to Sunday. We shall be giving a wee report on our church over the last two years and outline our vision for this year. It's a good time to get an overview of the work of the Anglican church in Paraguay as there are reports from the Chaco, Concepción, Asunción and even Formosa in Argentina.

We'll be having some visitors this Sunday in church from the Synod. It's a family service which will be interesting. Especially as our services are in English and the visitors only speak Spanish.

Meanwhile school continues. Eileen has been doing about the House on the Rock with the wee ones and they always finish at the end of the day singing and skipping out of the classroom. In one of my secondary classes we have been looking at Creation vs Evolution and trying to get the young people to back up what they believe in. Interesting as they often just have a belief but no arguments to back it up.

All for now,
The Trews

More Photos of Paraguay

2006-03-15T04:35:00.000-08:00

View of Asunción and the River Paraguay

A road in the Chaco

Paraguayan flag

A Toucan, native to Paraguay

Photos of Paraguay

2006-03-15T03:56:00.000-08:00

Paraguayan harpist

Guarani Indian boys in the Chaco

Guarani Indian elder

Sunset in the Chaco