One down, still some to go.

This morning the Pre-school department held their Christmas Clausura (end of term Christmas concert) as they broke for their holiday. It was absolutely delightful as they retold the story of Christmas and did some local dances. Here are a few pictures.

A brave friend

Yesterday I visited my indigenous friend, Fermina and I realised that it would probably be my last visit. I would have stayed with her but the hospice kept me to visiting hours yesterday, my not being blood family. They told me that her community would be sending a truck today to take her back to her village in the Chaco. Chaco Indians like to die on their home territory. Fermina was agitated by this news. I knew that Fermina would never make the journey in the state that she was in, but it is good to know that her remains will be taken back to her community village and laid to rest. At least she did not die alone and she was loved by those in the hospice.
I am just thankful that Jesus took her home with him and that she is spared anymore suffering. I am absolutely certain that she is with him now and that she has found true peace.

All systems Go!

I suggest you turn the sound off for this one. A combination of airconditioners and LOUD music did not go well in my new camera's tiny microphone. It is very sensitive, poor thing.

Rehearsals began this week in the Primary department ready for a show on Friday morning and evening.
The problem is that we only have an hour per day in which to pull it all together, with song and dance. There are exams taking place each morning and the kids are now on half days. Nevertheless the parents expect a show. This year the theme is how blessed we all are even when the economic climate makes the World a difficult place to be. The dress rehearsal is tomorrow and today things were chaos.

We know that our kids have the ability to make a good show on the night but this time we are hoping for the near impossible. Thankfully we know that nothing is impossible with God to help us, (though it may be a bit rough around the edges this year).

¡Que lluvia!

The noise that you can hear on this video is the noise of the rain!! Look out for the three wheeler going down the hill and the driver with a clear plastic bag over his head. Don't blink or you will miss it.

Wow! what a morning. It is now 8.30a.m and only half the teaching staff have arrived in school. We normally start at 6.45a.m on Mondays. We have had the mother of all tropical thunderstorms this morning.

There was a deep river running down the road outside my house. We do not have drains as in UK. The water just runs down the hill gathering in speed and size and it eventually flows into man-made "canals" which run into the river Paraguay. It was too dark to take a photograph when I left. Fortunately Mags managed to get her car out, in spite of the river being well over a foot deep outside her house, so we had a lift to school and made it for 7.00a.m.

In this you can see two of our maintenance team trying to keep the walkways clear of water.... an impossible task.
The kids are writing their English grammar exam this morning so I had to stand in for a few minutes until a class teacher arrived. Some teachers may not make it in yet as they live out in the countryside, on dirt track roads. In UK snow stops teachers getting to school. Here it is RAIN!

Looking on the bright side, at least I will not have to stand with my hosepipe, watering the garden today.

A special Week

This has been a tiring, but very special week for me. A week ago last Friday I received news that my indigenous friend, Fermina, from Maxawaya in the Chaco, has been admitted to the hospice here. Those who read my newsletters will know that I met Fermina just over a year ago in the Anglican Cathedral. The Lord drew me to her. She is extremely poor and I felt led to invite her to lunch in my flat. That is something that I had never ever done with a complete stranger. That was the beginning of a very extraordinary friendship.

Chaco Indians are not easily accepted by the people in Asuncion. Fermina had been left to sit alone during the service so I went to introduce her to a few people.

When she was with me for lunch she shared that she was in Asuncion for treatment for cancer and that she was about to begin a course of chemotherapy at the Central hospital (a very basic, goverment funded place). Fermina was staying in a hostel here, which was ridden with rats and dependent on the owner's dogs to chase them away. Then the dogs died so Fermina loved to come to my flat to escape her environment.

During the course of the year Fermina has come to the church whenever she could and I have invited her home on several occasions. She loves the Lord Jesus. Our friendship developed because our Spanish is about on a par. Fermina is a native Enxtet speaker and I am a native English speaker. We have often shared a time with our Bibles, she would read quietly in Enxtet and I would read in English and sometimes we would read one of my Spanish Bibles together. We shared about our families, whom we both miss and we prayed together.

When I heard that she is at the hospice with terminal cancer and that she had asked for me, I immediately went there with nurse Beryl Baker. The Lord has been so faithful to Fermina. After a life of hardship he has now placed her in a beautiful Catholic hospice, the only hospice in Paraguay. It was funded by Italians and it is a remarkable building in the middle of a rich residential area, with a pseudo-castle as a backdrop. It has all sorts of ammenities, including a massive hall, church, school and conference centre.

The hospice takes in people who have nowhere else to go and they do not have to worry about medical insurance cover or finance. The presence of the Lord is so tangible there. All the staff are wonderful and nothing is too much trouble. Also, they are discreetly watching to protect their patients from any harmful influences, so much so that on my third visit, when Pastor Ronnie accompanied me, we were called to meet the founder of the hospice, an Italian Bishop.
We were invited to have an Italian coffee in the little log cabin cafe on site. It was like being in the Italian mountains somewhere. Then began a long, interesting chat about all sorts of issues. We were obviously being checked out. In the end they were happy that we were not from some weird sect.  When I told them that I was a teacher at St. Andrew's they were quite happy, as our school supports the hospice. We were both told that we were welcome to visit at any time, not just in visiting hours and were asked to call in again for coffee. We ended up being hugged as a brother and sister in Christ.

Fermina and I are having wonderful times together. I go whenever I can. It is a three hour round trip by bus, including my time with her. I dread going on the bus in the heat but the Lord always sees to it that somebody gives me a seat (it is usually rush hour) and my blood pressure has not yet gone up too high for me to go.

I have now met many of the patients and their families. To my surprise we share lots of laughter together. Fermina and I read the Bible together and I pray with her. Others sometimes come and share with us too. When I forgot my Bible Fermina decided to read to me in Enxtet from her New Testament. When she read aloud I realised that she cannot read very well so, to my own surprise, I joined in and helped her. Yesterday we shared the story of Christmas. (After I told her that I had been making storybooks with the children at school, she wanted to read it). We read in her language together. She always smiles when I tell her that I do not understand what I am reading. I don't think that she believes me.

These are all precious moments and a joy to me. Fermina has such peace and I feel very blessed to have the privilege of sharing her journey with our Lord.

Sundays

Some of you will know from my newsletters that I have now returned to the English Anglican Chapel here in Asuncion after thirteen years in Paraguayan Anglican churches.
Last Sunday was a very happy occasion in our Church. Bishops from around the Southern Cone had gathered for a conference so they were despatched to various churches on Sunday morning to take services. We were honoured to receive Bishop Frank Lyons from Cochabamba, in Bolivia. He has been in Cochabama for eleven years. (I was there fourteen years ago to learn Spanish in a month.)

It was a very happy day for Steve and Sherri and two children. They came to church as a family for the first time. Steve and Sherri have been wanting to adopt a family for a long time. Finally they have adopted  Victor and Barbara from Esperanza. They and the children are overjoyed to be together at last.
Here is our congregation. the photo was taken when Bishop Greg Venables was with us. Our congregation changes from week to week, according to who is in town.

This Sunday we held our annual Remembrance Day service. Bishop Peter and his wife, Sally led the service. There were not so many people there as in years past because we no longer have a British Embassy here. It was a lovely service.

Worshipping with music

Today the third grade (aged between eight and nine years) gave us a real treat in assembly. They formed a choir with their own music group and sang to the Lord. Afterwards we requested that we could all join in, so we had a second run. The children sang so beautifully. I am sure that Jesus loved it.

Their Last day

Each year's sixth form tries to outdo the class from the previous year, with their final day's entrance to school. This year they lacked imagination. They had consulted the director about what they could and could not do but that all went by the board today as they came in as Zombies. (That just about summed them up).

Educational visit

Educational visit On Saturday morning we had torrential downpours of rain during some massive thunderstorms. I thought that I would not get out all day because there was a deep river running along our street.
At around midday Gwen called and invited me to go shopping with them in their car and then for a surprise. Driving there we saw the beautiful flame trees in blossom.

Indian handmade baskets

The surprise turned out to be a visit to a museum on the outskirts of Asuncion. It was a museum dedicated to the art and culture of Paraguay. Their art is quite distinctive compared to other South American countries. It is generally fairly primitive and simplistic, compared to some of the art one sees in Europe and other parts of the World. There were examples of pottery, some 18th and 19th century Ñanduti lace, some modern art (not appreciated by any of us), some Indian artefacts and lots of religious art made by artisans for the Catholic churches in Paraguay.

Models of Satan amidst models of saints.

Shaman regalia.

Ñanduti lace

a wood carving of Jesus.