TrewsNews

We arrived home on the 28th November after managing to change our tickets to leave ten days early. Eileen's mum has contined to have health problems and was again in hospital last week with severe internal bleeding. We continue to pray for her health to improve. It was good to get back home a little early and be able to support the family during a difficult time. We also will be visiting some of our link churches over the next six weeks to talk about our work in Paraguay. As well we will be at the SAMS Ireland conference this year on the 13th January. If you are able make this we will see you there.

I realized today that the president of Paraguay, Nicanor Duarte, drives past our house everyday. I was walking to school this morning for our Monday early prayer meeting, at 6.45am, when he drove past in his cavalcade. Ten minutes later the troops in uniform, flak jackets and rifles are picked up by a cattle truck style toop carrier. As he passes so often I'll have to start waving. It's also commendable the time he starts work everyday.

Eileen's mum was admitted to hospital yesterday with a possible stroke. Please pray for family back in Northern Ireland and us here in Asuncion. We are awaiting results of a brain scan to confirm diagnosis.

The Remembrance Sunday Service went really well. It is one of the most popular Sunday services here as many expats see it still connects them to the UK. Some of them with long ties to St. Andrew's church had family members from Paraguay who fought and died for the British in the Second World War. Having so many visitors it gives us a chance to reach out and welcome those who do not normally come to church. For the first time in 5 years the weather was good, we did not have torrential rain. We were able to have refreshments and chat outside in the sunshine.

After six years of looking after our children Diana is moving on. Friday was her last day with our kids. She started looking after Elijah when he was a baby of just 8 months and has been with us almost every day we have been here in Paraguay. She helped Eileen when little Hannah was born, and has really been a part of the family that we love and trust over the years. Diana has just got a full time job to give her office experience while she continues her faculty course in Administration. From next February both children will be in school a full day. Both children are growing up...

November sees exam time in St. Andrew's College Asunción. In secondary the students are in the middle of their international GCSEs and primary exams start on Friday. Elijah is busy revising, and he is only in 1st grade (Primary 2). There is a heavy load of exams in the Paraguayan school system. I'm writing and marking exams and normal classes end next week. Eileen is building up to the end of the year events in pre-primary. She has practices everyday for the Christmas play. Hannah is taking part in this and enjoys singing to us after school everyday. We are also gearing up for our home ministry trip during December and January. We'll be visiting our link churches and spending time with family and friends. I'm currently working on the Powerpoint presentation you'll see when we visit your church. We're really looking forward to getting home to see everyone again. Sunday is Remembrance Sunday which is a big event for the expat community here. Many English ...

Last night we went to a spectular evening of Chinese dance and acrobatics. The National Taiwan College of Physical Education came and the students did some fantastic dances and physical feats - juggling, contorsions, unicycling acrobatics. I didn't bring a camera but here is a picture of the same dancers.

Last Thursday and Friday the school held a Parents Sports tournament. There were footballs and volleyball tournaments with the parents playing for their children's coloured team. Great fun was had bey everyone who took part and money was raised for more repairs on the Cubas school. Also the staff member who was shot is recovering after an operation to remove the bullet from his thigh.

Last night a member of St. Andrew's maintenance staff was shot when riding home on his motorbike. Some teachers and staff members had just been to the Paraguay vs. Columbia World Cup qualifier. Teofolo was on his way home to a town several miles out of Asunción when someone shot him as he passed by. They were attempting to steal his bike. At the moment he is in hospital having an operation to remove the bullet from his thigh. Please pray and thank God that it was not worse and the operation will be simple and without complications.

It's extremely hot here today, the official temperature is 38C. That is recorded at the airport which is outside the city. It's probably nearly 40 where we are. At this time of the year the sun is extremely brilliant too. The tropical summer is approaching.

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The school did not come first or second in the choir competition. The children really enjoyed it however, and felt they did well just to take part in a competition of very high standard. We went in our new car on Saturday morning and ended up driving through foot deep floods! Torrential rain and poor storm drains meant the water was up to the chassis. We survived without breaking down but managed to get a bit lost and a 15 minute journey ended up taking 1 hour!

SAMS Ireland have a new website and logo. Please have a look

Tonight there is a national schools' choir competition in Asunción and Eileen is conducting a primary choir from our school. Last year when they entered the same competition they came third. Eileen had a bit of a surprise when she turned up at the large Concordia church to find a thousand people and a grand piano on the stage! At least she knows what to expect this year.

The end of the school year here seems to start in September. Three months before the actual end of the year. It begins with Sports Days. It was Hannah's last week, Elijah has his on Friday. Yesterday it was Secondary's turn in the school sports grounds 20 miles outside the city centre. It was a beautiful sunny day and a perfect day for sports. Also starting this week are the IGCSE Exam practicals. Both international and Paraguayan exams continue until the end of November. It's a very long exam period. Eileen is practising with some primary children for a choir competition in a couple of weeks and gearing up for Christmas performances too. Then she has end of year reports to being to write. She has also been involved in a Purpose Driven Life group that the school is going to provide for parents soon. Last week our school also helped to repair and paint a local state school. Many of the young people and children went down dressed in old clothes and got stuck in pa...

Last week our school also helped to repair and paint a local state school. Many of the young people and children went down dressed in old clothes and got stuck in painting the Cubas School. It was one of the most dilapidated school buildings you would ever see. After a day's painting by everyone it was restored and the principal said it was better than new. They had a thanks giving service yesterday. Here are some photos Before painting After painting Elijah helping with painting

The good news is Eileen's mum is now out of hospital. After a week the doctors finally managed to sort the problem out. This week saw exams in secondary and the run up to the end of the year in school beginning. I've spent days marking exams and Eileen has started initial preparations for her Christmas plays. It's sports days soon with Hannah's tomorrow - always an excellent event when it's 4 years olds enjoying their races. We also booked our flights home for Christmas and New Year. We'll be visiting SAMS link churches and going to the SAMS Ireland conference which we are very much looking forward to having the opportunity to attend this year.

Eileen's mum was rushed by ambulance to hospital yesterday with massive internal bleeding. She was stabilized and has several blood transfusions. The doctors will investigate the cause of the bleeding after the weekend. Needless to say it was a bit of a shock to get this news, so please pray for Eileen's mum (also called Eileen) and the rest of the family.

Family photo Originally uploaded by stephentrew . Here is a photo of us outside church in August 2005.

Paraguay has some dramatic changes in weather during winter. Last Friday it was 38 Celsius, it dropped to 24 on Saturday and 14 degrees on Monday. This morning there was frost and it was 4 degrees. We have two jumpers and a fleece on and it still feels cold. Last Friday we wore shorts and T-Shirt. Some more visitors from Northern Ireland arrived last Friday (and commented how hot it was!). They are now freezing in Conception with our SAMS Ireland colleagues, Claire and Alison. Among the visitors is Hannah Collins. She is a great friend who worked with Eileen in preschool for a year. She returned to Ireland in February 2004 when her dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer. This is her first time back in Paraguay since then. She went up with the team to Conception on Friday and is coming to stay with us later tonight. It will be great to catch up. Secondary exams started yesterday so there is a large pile of maths papers I need to mark.