Visit From Family

We had the amazing experience of my parents coming to visit us here in Paraguay. They came down on June 2nd and left, yesterday, June 17th. It was a nice visit, but it was way too short. While they were here, we took a trip to the east, crossed two borders, and went to visit Iguazu Falls in Argentina. Above are a couple of pictures of them with the kids and one with Sherry and I. In the background is Devil's Throat. It is amazing the amount of water that comes over these falls. What is really amazing is the difference from November to June. There was not near the amount as their was in November. Here is a picture from the same angle, but this picture is from November. Look at the difference in the amount of water.Amazing, isn't it? If you ever visit Paraguay, northern Argentina, or southern Brazil, you have to go to Iguazu Falls (spelled Iguacu in Brazil). It's truly breathtaking.

Blessings to all,

Charley

Why We Are Here!

Last Sunday night, we had the opportunity to minister at a small four-square church in Asunción. The people in this church are hungry for a move of God. They have been praying for over a year for God to bring a spiritual renewal and revival to Asunción. They have asked us to bring the drama, "Heaven's Gates and Hell's Flames," to their church. On July 4th, we will meet at their church and show the DVD of the drama, select the cast, and begin one month of fasting and praying for lives to be changed by the love of Jesus Christ. 

During the service, one of the pastors announced that they will be continuing the prayer for the drama outreach on this Thursday evening. I asked them how long they had been praying for the drama. They informed me that they started praying two weeks ago. I was so impressed and humbled by the faith of this small church. I really believe that God is going to honor their prayers and commitment to bring revival to their church and to Asunción. Would you pray with us that God will bring revival to Paraguay? This nation is ready for change. They so need what we offer. Many here are looking for something, but they will never be satisfied until they accept Jesus.

The only reason we are here in Paraguay is to tell people about Jesus. Yes, there are many ways that we do this, and there are more ways that we can. However, the main objective is to show them who Jesus really is, and that He loves them and wants to save them. Sometimes, we can lose our focus and forget why we are here. I was reminded, again, of why we are here on this planet last Sunday night. It is the small, simple things that God uses to show us how much He loves the unsaved, and how much He desires that everyone comes to know and believe in His Son.

Blessings to you all,

Charley

Mission's Conference Banquet Night in Nicaragua

I have finally gotten around to downloading the pictures and video I took from my trip to Nicaragua. Again, it was such an honor and blessing to be there and witness what God is doing all over Latin America. A group of 20 different nations assembled together for one week in Managua, Nicaragua to be encouraged, to share experiences, to learn more about missions, to grow, and to meet other mission's organizations. The Assemblies of God is growing rapidly all over Central and South America. God is moving and people are responding to His call to become missionaries. The second quarter just started at the Bible school here in Asunción. Last night was my first night with my new students. Two of them feel called to Africa. Another student is a lawyer by profession, and he started taking classes at the Bible school because his wife is called to the mission field. He told me, last night, that he had better get on board with his wife's call, or she will leave him behind (he smiled as he joked with me about it). Then, seriously, he added, "My wife has a strong call, and I believe that God is calling me, as well. I realized that I had better prepare myself before God really calls me."

This video shows a little about what God is doing in Latin America. These young people are deaf. They attend, during the week, a deaf school in Managua, Nicaragua. They blessed us with a song called "Enciende la luz." Basically, the song is about bringing or turning on the light in the darkness because when the Light shines, it chases away the darkness. There are still many tribes and nations who need the Light to be shined in their lives. Here, in Paraguay, there are still unreached people. Oh, be sure that the Mormon church and Jehovah's Witnesses have a presence there, but there is no Evangelical message, the true message of Jesus Christ, being given to them. We must spread the Good News of Jesus Christ wherever we are and whenever we can. There is no greater message.

I am challenged today with this thought. Someone wrote on their Facebook status this quote: "How come we invite people to church, but we never invite them to Christ?" Isn't that so true? It seems, today, that it is much easier to invite people to a church service rather than show them who Jesus really is, and that He loves them. I want to be a person who shows people the love of Jesus! Help me, Lord, to invite people to meet with you!

Blessings,

Charley

MEC-Misiones en Conjunto (Missions Together)

I find myself in an intersting place this week. Our general superintendent, Pastor Estanislaus Candia, and our field moderator, Frank Kendrick, asked me if I would like to go to a conference in Managua, Nicaragua and represent Paraguay missions. Frank and I left Sunday morning from Asunción, Paraguay and arrived in Managua last Monday evening. We have attended almost 2 days full of meetings and heard from the director of missions in Argentina, Venezuela, Spain, and several superintendents and missionaries. The superintendent from Spain spoke today about the spread of Islam all over Europe. He talked about how the only place in the world that has gained any "territory" from the Islamic religion is in the south of Spain because a pastor and his church have taken upon themselves to win Muslims for Jesus. What is interesting is they are giving Bibles to Muslims who are reading them and converting to Christianity! The Word of God has they power to change lives! I am pumped!

Many people are sharing their testimonies and reports about what God is doing in the world. The Latin American church feels a strong call to reach Muslims and the Chinese. Paraguay has a family in North Africa ministering to the Muslims. I really believe that God is doing something amazing in Latin America. It is so cool to be a part of it at this time in history! 

The leaders of the different mission's departments have reported how God is sending more and more missionaries to Africa, Europe, India, Australia, and China. God is calling Latin Americans to countries where many North Americans cannot go. We have missionaries in the middle East and North Africa, Spain, and Asia. It's amazing how God is moving people all over the world. What's even more amazing is that He has sent and is sending missionaries from countries that used to be the places that only missionaries from the U.S. went to. Now, God is sending missionaries from there. In other words, former "receiving" countries have become SENDING countries! Isn't God so amazing!?

I am hoping to post some pictures from the conference soon. I have been getting to know many people here who have amazing testimonies of God's grace and calling upon their lives. As I post pictures of them, I will try to share their testimony or story with you.

Blessings to you all,

Charley

Bible School Mission's Convention

A couple of weeks ago, it was mission's convention time at the Bible school. Up front, you can see missionary, Frank Kendrick, in his Tunisian garb teaching about the Muslim world and how to minister to them. He put some rugs on the chapel floor and had everyone sit as they do in a mosque. It made it a little more real to all of the students. This is a picture of the afternoon class chapel. 

During mission's convention week, there are four services, each with a different focus. Monday night, a new missionary spoke. Tuesday night, Frank showed a video of a muslim man accepting Christ and the struggle he has to live with in an Islamic nation. Wednesday night, Frank preached the service seen in the picture above. Thursday night was the faith promise service.

It is amazing to watch as every young person in the Bible school filled out their faith promise cards. It humbled me to watch young people, who can barely pay their tuition (about $30 a month) to attend Bible school, make faith promises for $200 or $300 over an 8 month period. What is even more amazing is that God meets their faith promise every year, and He blesses them with even more. I could share testimony after testimony of how God has blessed the students lives, but what is more important is to know that if these students, from a very poor country, can make faith promises and give to missions, then we all can.

I am proud to say that these students have taught me more than I can ever teach them. I enjoy going to class and teaching Evangelism and Theology I, but what I enjoy more is listening to the students' stories and seeing God work through them. I can't wait to see what the future will bring here in Paraguay. I really believe that God has His hand on Paraguay and is raising up a generation to lead this country to Him. I am excited!

Blessings,

Charley

Cool Story!

Here is a picture from the drama in Paraguari. This is the opening crucifixion scene. The lighting worked really well. But the story goes like this. Again, we had problems with the electricity. After I received several "shocking" moments, I realized that the surge protector was not "protecting" me. Man, it made my heart race faster each time I touched the metal case that holds the equipment that we plug the lights into. It was not fun! Thank the Lord that Sherry asked me if the surge protector was bad, or not. She is so smart. 
Here is the young man who played Jesus during the drama. He did well, but I thought maybe he was kind of young. He is only 16 years old. We had a lot more young people than adults at this church.
Here is the gentleman who played the devil for this drama. Sherry did another wonderful job putting his makeup on. This "devil" did really well. He was scary and convincing and had an "evil" laugh. Again, Sherry ran the microphone and changed his voice, very effectively I might add.
The next two pictures are what made all the "shocks", people quitting the drama the night before we did it, and the heat, all worth it. The first night, the altar was FULL of people coming to Christ. It was so fun giving the altar call that night. God is so good and faithful. He can take a midwestern U.S. missionary, send him to Paraguay, and still communicate His love through this crazy missionary. 
It is such a joy to be able to pray people into His kingdom. I love watching their faces as they pray the sinner's prayer and realize for the first time that Jesus is their Savior. The tears of joy, the smiles, and the looks of contentment make all the struggles, language barriers, frustrations with electricity, the heat, and sometimes illness all seem trivial and insignificant.

Before I end this blog, let me share a story with you about a young man who came forward to accept Christ the first night. You can see his back in the above picture. His shirt is either white or light blue with a strip across the middle of his back (running left to right). He is right in front of my right arm. Pastors, teachers, leaders, and mission's committees, please feel free to share this story with your church, youth, sunday school class, small group, or wherever you are. We all played a part in this story.

I wish I could remember his name. I believe it was Juan Carlos, but I can't remember for sure. Anyway, after the end of the altar call, his grandmother brought him to me. The reason she brought him to me was because he is blind. He has been blind from birth. When I looked at his face, I could tell he was blind. I asked him if he had prayed the prayer and meant it with all his heart. He said, "Yes!" I asked why he wanted to speak to me. He asked me if he goes to heaven, will he be able to SEE Jesus' face. I told him that if God did not heal him here on earth, the first thing he would see in heaven will be Jesus' face. I told him that he WILL be healed as soon as he enters heaven's gates. He started to cry and then the coolest thing happened. Without anyone telling him to, he began to thank and praise God for healing him. It was awesome! I started praising and thanking God for healing him, as well. He told God that he could live the rest of his life as a blind person if he knew that he would see Him when he got to heaven. I tell you what. I cryed like a baby after hearing that.

Amazing, isn't it? Some of the things I complain about are really insignificant to what this young man is going thru. I am praying that I can keep the same attitude as him. I want to tell God all the time that I can live with whatever problem there is, whatever illness I have, whatever shortcoming I have, or whatever financial issue I am facing, just so long as I can see Him when I get to heaven. 

Blessings to you all,

Charley

Ministry in Paraguari

It has been a long time since I last blogged. I hope that you all will be able to read this one sometime soon. I will attempt to do more blogging this week as we are preparing for another drama, and I am preparing to teach Evangelism to some amazing young people who are preparing to enter the ministry here in Paraguay.

The first picture above is of me, preaching in a small church in the interior. The city is called Paraguari. It is in a beautiful area of Paraguay that has "mountains." I wrote mountains in quotes because they are really just small hills. The people there love to climb them and picnic on top. It is much cooler up there than it is down below. Notice the towel in my hand. I have handkerchiefs that I carry, but they are not sufficient. I sweat a lot, normally, but when it is over 100 degrees and 80% humidity outside, and I am preaching inside a church with a metal roof, I sweat even more :)
This picure is of Chariti with her new friend, Bélen, the oldest daughter of the pastors of the church. It was fun watching them talk and visit in Spanish. All three of our kids are doing well in Spanish. The girls are a little more timid to speak to people in Spanish. Chaz, of course, can communicate in whatever language. He is even able to communicate a little in Guarani. Chariti, again, handled all of the props for the cast. She did a wonderful job keeping everything in order and ready for the next person in the drama.
Here is Chaz with the pastor's son, Silas. They spent the night together at his house on one night, and Silas spent the night at our house. They had a lot of fun. We are planning to take a trip up a river with them to visit little island villages where they don't have much. Chaz and Silas will be running all over together and making friends wherever we go. Chaz ran all of the lights, except for the spotlight, this time. He did a great job!
Here is Sherry getting ready for the first practice. She is amazing! She ran the video, sound, and kept Chaz on point with the lights. I could not do any of this ministry without her. She is doing well! She is still attending classes with the pastor's wives at the Bible school. She is making a lot of new friends, and God is openning up more places to minister and ministries to get involved with through this valuable time at the Bible school. All the pastor's wives just love her, and they enjoy spending one day a week with her as their classmate. I miss her when she is gone, but I know that God is really using her and helping her to make a lot of new friends.
Here is Kaylee. She is such a trooper. She was up high, in amazing heat, running the spotlight. She climbed up that ladder for the final practice, and the three nights of the drama. She did a great job, and she survived. The last night was really hot. She wasn't feeling too well. I was worried that she might not make it. Before we started the drama that night, we prayed for her, and she made it through. God is good, and He helped us all during this one.

I will update more on the drama in the next blog. Thank you all for your continued prayers. We really do feel them. I remember, as I was growing up, I would hear missionaries tell us that they felt our prayers wherever they were. I never understood what they meant until the past couple of years. EVERY time something difficult comes up, we really can feel them. We feel God's hand working through us and for us. So, I want you all to know how much we appreciate your prayers. YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN PARAGUAY!

Blessings,

Charley

A Short Video

Just thought I would post a little video of Iguazu Falls. We traveled there in November and were amazed at the amount of water that comes over these falls. They are huge and beautiful. You can definitely see the hand of God at work on this one :) 

The last couple of months have been pretty fun for our family. We had a great Christmas. We really missed our family and friends in the States, but we had many new friends here that helped us celebrate Christmas and New Years. It is hard to celebrate Christmas so far away from what we were used to, and it is strange celebrating Christmas in 100 degree weather. God has given us other things to celebrate and focus on. We paid a lot for an 8 pound turkey, but it helped us feel more at home. Some of the other missionaries here came over after Sherry cooked turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, green beans, and dessert. We couldn't find pumpkin pie filling, so we missed that tradition.

As far as traditions go, we kept to what we would have done at home. We got up, gathered in the living room, I read the Christmas story, we sang some Christmas carols, prayed, and sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus. Then, we opened gifts. Afterwards, Sherry made a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, onions, and spices all together in a sandwich. Then, we played games, enjoyed the day together, and had the aforementioned dinner later that night. All in all, it was a nice day with the family. 

We hope and pray that you all had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year. We love and miss you all!

Blessings,

Charley

First Drama Outreach

I can't believe it has been almost a month since I last blogged. A lot has happened since then. 

We went to our first church where we held the "Heaven's Gates and Hell's Flames" drama. The name of the church is Centro Cristiano de Adoración (Christian Worship Center). Pastor Prudencio Rodriguez and the church family are a very welcoming and friendly church. Above are some pictures from the drama.

The first picture is of the front of the church before setting up for the drama. The next one is Kaylee showing off the first sheet of Mylar before we set it up. The next one is the first and second sheet of Mylar going up to cover the high wall in front and to the left. The next picture is Chariti working hard at moving the cross where it needs to be. Then, you see Chaz with his new friend Alé. Then next one shows the front of the church during the first night of the drama. You can see the entrance into heaven and the angels and Jesus. The next one is of our Satan, Ivan. He did a really good job portraying Satan and ordering the demons to drag people off to "hell." The next picture shows the area for 'el infierno' or hell (you have to look at it side ways to get the full effect). The next one is of me giving the altar call (Yes, I still need to use notes to remind myself of how to say some things correctly in Spanish). The last picture is from the first night's altar call.

I must say that I am so proud of my family. My wife, Sherry, worked tirelessly decorating, setting up, running the sound, lights, and video, and doing so much more. Chariti was in charge of all the props and costumes. I never even had to think about either of these the entire weekend. She did an amazing job. Chaz' job was to run up on stage in between scenes and get all the props off the stage and put other ones on for the next scene. Again, I never even noticed him doing it. He did well. Kaylee ran the spotlight. She was always on time and knew when to turn it on and off. They all worked just as long and hard as we did at setting everything up, taping wires down, putting up Mylar, decorating the front, running wires, plugging things in, and general running errands and cleaning up. I must say that I received many comments from church members and the pastoral staff about how hard our children worked this past weekend. Everything they did was worth it, and they played a huge part in seeing people come to know the Lord.

I am also grateful to God for His mercy and His help. We were able to witness 50 in the altar the first night with 31 signing cards saying they accepted Christ, 30 the second night with 21 signing cards, and 80 the third night with 31 signing cards. Now, many of the people in the altars left without signing cards. I tried to explain, in my limited Spanish, that they were not joining the church by filling out the cards, but I think it scared a lot of them off. It is something that CCA, the church, wanted to do. Also, it is a way to follow up and help disciple people after they accept Christ. So, for sure, we saw 83 new brothers and sisters, but it could have been as high as 150 or more souls. God knows for sure, but we are hearing many reports of changed lives. On the first night, we saw four young Catholic members come to receive Jesus as their personal Savior. They all told us that they loved God, but they never really knew what Jesus had done for them until they saw this drama.

I will leave you with this one story. One of our actresses is the widow of a very famous Paraguayan actor. I still can't spell his name. So, I won't try. She was not a Christian, but before the first night, I asked all the cast members who wanted to accept Christ to raise their hands. She did, and she is now our sister. That is not the end of the story. She invited her children to the drama. The first night, her son, also an actor (TV and movie), and his family came to the altar and all accepted Christ. The second night, one of her daughters and her family all came and accepted Christ. The last night, the rest of her children came, with their families, and they all accepted Christ as their personal Savior. You should have seen the tears of joy that this special lady had after the third night. She told me that she is happier than she has ever been because she knows that her entire family are now Christians.

The weekend was difficult. We had many problems with lights, video, sound, and most of the equipment. It never went as smoothly as we wanted it to go. But it was all worth it! For me, it would have been worth all the work just to see this widow, mother, and grandmother see her entire family come to Jesus. Our God is bigger than any difficulty, any language barrier, and any thing that tries to get in our way to spread the message of Jesus Christ. Thank you to all who have been praying for us and supporting our family as we serve Him in Paraguay. Your faithfulness has seen many people come to know the Lord. 

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Blessings,

Charley

Pictures of Food :)

I decided that I would put some pictures that we have of different foods here in Paraguay. Hopefully, you will enjoy the pictures. For some of these pictures, we want to thank the team that came down from Oregon for taking them for us and allowing us to use them to show life in Paraguay.

This is very common to see. Many people sell chipa on the streets and highways. Some cities are known for making really good chipa. It's bread with cheese mixed in to the dough.
This is a pretty common lunch after church service in Paraguay. I forget the term in Spanish that they use, but it is basically a way to get together, eat spaghetti with big chunks of meat and bread, and chat. I think we call that "fellowship" or "afterglow" in the States.
Yes, we have ice cream, and it is good. It doesn't cost much, either. We can get cones with three flavors for a little more than a dollar. That is the price for the large cone. The small cone with two flavors is 60 cents or so.
At a church in Aregua, the children all get a snack and milk or juice after the service. They can't wait to get their two cookies and glass of juice.
Now, you may look at this and wonder what this has to do with food. This is a picture from Chaz' birthday. This is a thermos and "mug" for drinking TERERÉ, an herbal tea that everyone drinks. They say that it cools off your body, but it doesn't help me (at least not yet). Everytime I drink it, I have to go to the bathroom more. It has a lot of caffeine and other herbs in it. To me, it looks like someone picked a handful of grass, put it in a mug, added water, and drank it. Oh well, when in Rome.... No, it's not that bad. I can handle it. The hardest thing to get over is the sharing. We drink it through a metal straw with a sieve (sp?) on the end, and everyone passes it around. So, you would have to get over the fear of drinking after someone else. I really believe this is the reason that many people stay ill all winter long. When one person in the family is ill, the rest seem to get ill later. I wonder why.Here is another picture of Chaz. Now, I absolutely love this place. It is an open air place that serves meat on a stick. Chaz has given it the name: "the Stick Place." You can order steak, chicken, sausage, pork, cheese, garlic bread, and other meats. It comes out on small skewers. It is well-seasoned and usually grilled to perfection. They don't cook it until you order it. The best part is that each "stick" costs 2,000 Guaranies (about 50 cents or a little less). We can eat at this restaurant for less than 20 bucks! I love it, and so does our budget!
Okay, here is something that is very popular here. It is called either Sopa Paraguaya or Chipa Guazu. To be honest, Sherry is not here beside me as I am typing this, and I can't remember which it is. Either one is really good. Both are eaten at most of the meals in the home and especially in restaurants. Our first night here, we ate this. It's not too bad, but I am not a big bread person. I figure why waste space on bread when you can fill it with meat :)

I guess I don't have pictures of the meat here. There are great, cheap steak houses here that we enjoy. Sometimes, it is cheaper to eat out than to buy groceries because most of the restaurants are "all you can eat", and if we bought that amount of food every time, it would really add up.

Hey, if you have any questions, or just want to chat, drop us a comment or an email. We would love to hear from you.

Blessings,

Charley