Day 6 Edition of Our Journey In Paraguay:
We awoke at our usual time this morning. McGyver and I showered and dressed then raised the rest of the team at 6 am. We then went for our morning coffee and quiet time. Breakfast was another culinary delight this morning. Not quite sure what it was, but it tasted great.
It was my turn to give the morning devotional. My topic was “Why mission trips: What’s my motivation & what results do I see from these trips”.
I opened the devotional with the question, “Why are you here?” I answered my own question with, “It doesn’t really matter what your motivation; God will use it for his purpose”. Over the years on our many mission trips to various countries, Melody and I have teamed with people from all walks of life. Some are stepping out in faith, pushing their limits to answer God’s call. Others have been inspired by someone else to gather the courage and go abroad to serve the Lord. Others have just wanted to see another part of the World.
The funny thing that happens to almost every person that goes on a mission trip, is that they have a life changing experience. Being in a foreign land, showing less fortunate people that you are there in the love of Jesus Christ, has a tremendous impact on the people we are visiting, as well as those of us who are team members. We ALL experience the love of Christ.
Many people have asked us if it would be more productive to just send the money and hire the work to be done by locals…our answer is always the same. Yes, we would get more physical work done, but that is the least important aspect of these trips. Building relationships with the people and showing them we care are the most significant things we accomplish. Another important aspect of these trips is the fantastic opportunity that it gives us to evangelize to those in our own country once we return home. People constantly ask about the trips and this gives us the golden opportunity to tell our story of sharing Jesus’ love. And, because they asked it becomes a much more effective way to communicate the Good News to them.
After breakfast and devotional, we gathered our things, hopped in the trucks and headed for the Agricenter and School. More brick laying and shoveling fill dirt was the call for the day. I had a short break from work today to help Melody at the school and play soccer with the kids, which may have been harder work then shoveling dirt. We broke for lunch at noon and took some well deserved rest along with another great meal.
After we finished our work for the day, we hiked down the road to the school and church for VBS. It was a great program about Jonah and the whale today and the team members are all starting to really get into the skits and becoming hams. The kids all did really well with their project for the day, so I joined in with Melody taking pictures of the kids with my camera. Once they know you are snapping shots, they all want their pictures taken and want to see it on the digital display. Needless to say I had kids all over me for the rest of the day.
One really interesting thing I noticed was how many of the children have light complexions and blue eyes. Considering they are all natives to the country, it was a surprise to me. I was told later that during one of the two wars that Paraguay had started, with the intent to gain more land (both of which they lost), many of the men were killed. The lost war left many widows in the country with large land holdings. Many European settlers came to Paraguay after the last war and married these women… resulting in blonde haired, blue eyed children. Another fact that I learned was that originally Paraguay was the largest country in South America and encompassed Argentina, Uruguay, parts of Chile and a large portion of Brazil.
Marla, one of the little girls that attends the school and church, had a bad burn on her foot which had become quite infected. We did not have a doctor with us, but we did have McGyver with us who received medical training while he was in the Marines. So he, Melody and Ed Baker took Marla and her mother to a pharmacy in the nearest village to get antibiotics to fight the infection. The pharmacy was a small room attached to the pharmacist’s home with a few small cabinets of drugs, a chair, a dirt floor and plenty of flies. It was a far cry from the secure and sterile environment required in this country. The Pharmacist looked at her foot and asked Ed if one of them was a doctor to which Ed apparently indicated that McGyver was…so he sold them the needed drugs to help little Marla. McGyver didn’t realize that he was now a doctor…so he gained a slightly different nickname: Dr. McGyver.
When we all finally arrived back at the camp, we cleaned up for dinner. We had the added pleasure of celebrating Christian and Angelica’s third wedding anniversary with a beautiful cake made by our wonderful cooks. It was a great day topped off by a wonderful celebration honoring the marriage of our own missionaries.
We prepared for our next day’s VBS and hit the sack. I think everyone was pretty well worn out, but definitely at peace.
Labels: journey, missions, paraguay
