Dear Supporters,

We’ve been burdened with a lot of friends in crisis these days.  Jesus promises to give rest and says that his burden is light (Mat. 11:30), and Paul tells us in Galatians to carry each others’ burdens (6:2).  It’s interesting to read those two verses together, especially in light of an Ephesians study I’m doing with some ladies in which we’re seeing how we, the church, are Christ’s body.  Could it be that part of how Christ lightens our burdens is by providing other Christians to help bear them?  And could it be that He’s put burdened people around us, you and I, so that we can help to carry them?

We’d appreciate you helping us, through prayer, carry these burdens for our friends:

Y, a 15-year-old whose family is involved in youth club, was allegedly raped by her uncle (father of another one of our youth) and got pregnant. The ambulance wasn’t working and Dan was unable to take them to the hospital in Caazapa when she started labor, so she rode the bus, had the baby less than two hours after arriving, and rode it back the next day! PRAY that the father (who has fled the country) would help financially, and for hope for Jennifer, this little baby girl who had such a bleak beginning.

T & JC, friends of ours, are on the verge of separating.  We’ve counseled, prayed, read the Bible and advised them, but they’re also getting plenty of bad societal advice at the same time.  PRAY for their marriage and their five-year-old son.

Kelly Stout, our colleague, recently recovered from breast cancer, recently found out that the cyst in her uterus has grown to the size of a five-month- old baby.  A hysterectomy is the doctor’s answer.  PRAY that it will shrink and the operation will not be necessary.

One of our supporting churches, Discovery, lost their interim worship pastor in a car accident.  PRAY for his wife and two young children and that the church family would be faithful in carrying the burden.

My mom, Sherry Everest had shoulder surgery last week.  Recovery is going better than it did last month after back surgery.  PRAY for her body as it adjusts to these major changes, and for one more upcoming back surgery.

Psalm 68:19 — “Praise be to the Lord who daily bears our burdens.” AMEN!!  May He use us to do it for those around us who are suffering.

EVANGELISTIC CRUSADE

Last week the Billy Graham Association’s partner organization in Paraguay put on the “Festival of Hope” in San Pedro, a city just 20 miles to the south of us.  Even though there was rain every day of the festival, it cleared up each night and a vehicle was able to take believers from Yuty to be counselors.  It was exciting, encouraging, and a little overwhelming to see how much work lies ahead before our “Festival of Hope for Yuty” May 3-5. Pray for those who surrendered their hearts to Jesus in San Pedro this week, and that many will in Yuty next month as well.  Pray too for the logistics of arranging this big event — not only the three nights of outreach, but a morning festival for children as well.

CHURCH BUILDING

Progress on repairs is slow but sure.  Jorge and Sonia haven’t moved in yet but hopefully this week all the doors will be in place and the apartment will be ready.  In addition, soon the septic system and some bathrooms in the ministry center will be usable.  If we can finish these projects (doors and septic system) and repair a section of roof before May, we can use the building to house teams coming to help the Festival!  Please pray for this.

DEPARTURE

We’ve got plane tickets!!  We’ll be leaving Asuncion on June 26 and spending a week at the SIM office in Charlotte before traveling to Denver for our year of Home Assignment.  Talk about a deadline looming close. We haven’t even begun to sort through our stuff, something we’d hoped to do long in advance of our departure to avoid the pressure of hurried packing while many visitors come to say goodbye.  Pray that we’d get around to it in good time.

We’re looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible while we’re there for the year.  We may need to wait a bit to do official visits to churches as we won’t have our “show and tell” stuff ready right away, but we’ll be contacting you once we’re home about setting up dates for visits.

Thankful for your gifts and prayers that God’s using to change lives in Yuty,

Christie (for Dan & the boys)

THE LAST PAGE

DAN’S LAST MINUTE

(Editorial from Dan:  Paul in 2 Cor 12:9 says he will boast in his weaknesses.  So, here is a section all about one of mine.  Feel me cringe, and pray for discipline to do this sort of thing less often!)

Former teachers & classmates of Dan: You won’t be surprised to hear that he still works best at the last minute.  The trouble is that my brother’s motto, “If you wait till the last minute, it only takes a minute!” doesn’t work too well in Paraguay, the land of constant visitors and unexpected surprises.  (Especially at the last minute!)

Dan’s had a lot of surprises in his last-minute lesson preparation, but I think last Saturday night (before Easter Sunday) wins the prize.  Here’s a summary of what happened the 12 hours before church on Sunday:

9 pm, finish crusade in San Pedro

11 pm, arrive in Yuty; begin pastors’ meeting at our house

12:30 pm, finish pastors´ meeting, take village pastors home, show Asuncion coordinator the high school (where the crusade will be held) and the building (where teams may be housed)

1:30 am, arrive home with pastor who’s spending “the night” (what’s left of it, anyway!)

5 am, send pastor off to catch 6 am bus; Dan work on Easter lesson

6 am, welcome pastor back (no 6 am bus due to rain)

7:30 am, send pastor off again to catch 8 am bus; continue work on the lesson

Easter day itself was less eventful than the night before, although it was still plenty full.  We had church in the morning (Dan’s lesson went well despite the highly-interrupted “last minute!”), visiting in the afternoon, and barbecue by the youth at night. 

UNITY

Have you wondered as you’ve read about our upcoming evangelistic crusade what other churches we’re working with?  “I thought they were planting a church in unreached rural Paraguay,” I can hear you asking.

Our group is the only non-Charismatic/Pentecostal evangelical group in the district of Yuty.  In the 80 villages surrounding us, and in the town itself, there are a handful of small pentecostal congregations.  These groups are very legalistic (no playing soccer, ladies can’t wear pants or cut their hair) and sometimes shaky doctrinally (one pastor told us years ago that their group follows John, not Paul.)  You can understand our hesitancy in joining together with these groups, mostly because of the message that unity sends to the non-believers we’re here to reach. 

After a lot of prayer, some doubts, and some second-guessing, we decided it was worth the risk to unite with them to make this crusade possible.  Our believers have come to us with questions about the differences and we’ve been able to explain things satisfactorily to them.  For example one of “their” believers told one of “our” believers that the reason she can wear pants is because her pastor (Tom Stout) doesn’t know his Bible as well as their pastor.  While this is disturbing, we are more concerned about the effect on non-believers.  To put it bluntly, we don’t want our acquaintances and friends to assume that we are the same as our pentecostal brothers and sisters.  At the same time, we want to value the unity we have for having trusted in Christ alone and His sacrifice on the Cross for salvation from our sins.  (Eph. 4:3-6 and Psalm 15:4)

Please pray with us that the testimony of our unity during the crusade would glorify God and wouldn’t confuse people.

MINUTES MATTER

Dan and I read a letter from one of our supporting churches this week that mentioned the times of their morning services: 9:09 and 10:44.  In contrast, we had to laugh at the schedule for one of our weekly meetings here in Yuty: “around dark.” 

In anticipation of returning home in a few months, we’re noticing the American obsession with minutes.  The Easter egg coloring kit my mom sent us in the mail proclaimed, “Color eggs in only 10 seconds!”  The recipe cards I use from American cookbooks or magazines often say how many minutes it takes to prepare, and then how many minutes to cook, the meal.  (Usually both rather low numbers!)  Here housewives accept the reality that cooking the main noon meal will take a good part of their morning, and the rest of it will be spent cleaning.

Oh, for the flexibility to be efficient stewards of the precious minutes God gives us each day AND to always have time for people, regardless of our schedule. 

FROM THE BOYS

Nathan, praying the night before an Encuentro: “Thank you for the Encuentro.  Please help Daddy to get all his work done.  Please help Samuel and I not to be bored.”

Samuel: “Scientists are really smart, because they’ve made science books. A lot of them.  Maybe 10.”

Nathan, snuggling under a blanket to go to sleep the night of March 21: “It’s the first day of fall.  No wonder it’s so cold!!!”  I couldn’t help checking the thermometer — a frigid 80 degrees!!  We’ll see how these tropical boys fare in that Colorado winter!

After I mentioned that the boys would have a playground at their school in the US, Samuel commented: “I’d rather just have a soccer field.  It’s better exercise.”