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