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Saturday, May 17, 2008
Our first night in Paraguay and preparation for the week
 Our first night in Paraguay and preparation for the week as Journey moves forward...
After our 6:30 arrival at the camp near Yrybucua we were told dinner would be at 7. We all went into the bunk house and found our bunks. Bruce Johnson and I were roommates. Melody and Traci were roommates. The seven other men picked their bunk in a large bunk room.
We settled in and headed to the dining hall for dinner. After dinner we shared about the day and all the events. The primary question was, “Where did you see Christ in action today?”. The overwhelming response was that it was very apparent the Lord wanted this team to arrive safely and get on with His work. Every obstacle we had encountered was overcome.
We were told by Christian that the next day, Sunday, was National Election Day and there would not be much happening. Breakfast would be at 8 am. Everyone settled in for a good night’s rest to prepare for the following day.
Most of the team were up by 6 am and hungry. We talked the cooks into getting us breakfast a little earlier. After breakfast, Garen Smith shared his devotional. Garen told us a moving story of how he realized that this mission trip was not just his journey, but a journey for all of those who supported him financially and prayerfully at home. It was not by his own power that he was there, but by God’s power through others which resulted in things far more amazing than any one person could do.
After a short break we all jumped in the trucks and took the drive to Quinta Linea where the Agriculture center and school were located. It was about 4 miles as the crow flies but about 12 miles by dirt road. We toured the Agricenter which was a really nice facility that had a big kitchen, two restrooms with showers, a large meeting room and two rooms to house future mission teams. The Agricenter sits on about 24 acres of land which will be used to establish test plots for native villagers to plant a small crop using their own methods, while next to it the same crop will be planted using more modern techniques. The results will show them a better more productive way to farm. We also saw the site where we would be building a home for the future director of the center.
We then went to the school about a half a mile down the road from the Argicenter. The local church is also there next door to the school. It has only been six months since Angelica took over as director of this school and already much progress has been made in better curriculum and biblical studies. We learned that they were also trying to buy the five acres behind the school for future expansion and a ball field.
On our drive back to Yrybucua, the small village by our camp, we noticed several bus loads of people traveling up and down the dirt roads. We were told that they were being bussed in to vote in the election for a new President.
The balance of the day and that evening we unpacked all the materials we had brought with us from home. 170 sweatshirts for the children, 160 book bags, 170 health kits containing, tooth brushes, tooth paste, soap, etc. We loaded each book bag with supplies purchased in Asuncion to get them ready to give to the kids at school. We also sorted out the vacation Bible school materials that we had.
Plans were made as to which day each item would be used. We then went into rehearsal for the next day’s VBS. The story centered on a worm that thought he was ugly and unworthy and his best friend a frog that continually encouraged him. Each team member was assigned a character to play and we rehearsed our parts. At the end of the story the ugly worm turned into a beautiful butterfly…God has a plan for everything and we are all beautiful to Him. Next it was time to prepare the crafts for the kids in VBS. They were to make a worm out of Fruit Loops strung on a wire.
Finally around 10 pm it was time to turn in for the night. The next day’s wake up call was scheduled for 6 am with breakfast at 6:30. It was a little difficult to get to sleep that night as the locals in the village of Yrybucua were celebrating the election of a new president. He is a liberal ex-Catholic Priest and a hope by the people of Paraguay for a positive change.
Tomorrow the fun begins.
Mike & Melody Vanderhoff
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