Greetings in the Name of our Lord!
What an amazing time we have had thus far in Paraguay! i realized that i have neglected to mention some of the very basics of our trip and Paraguay! It is a beautiful country here and the weather has been fantastic. Probably in the mid 70s during the day and dropping to upper 50s each night. We havent had any rain and have been able to get much work done. God has truly blessed us as this is the winter time and apparently it is supposed to be freezing cold and rainy here. Due to the winter months, the bugs are almost unnoticeable which is a huge blessing. The land is very plentiful and there are fruit trees in abundance. You can walk down the street and pick oranges, lemons and other fruits as much as you want for free. It is truly an amazing country. The people here are very hospitable and friendly. I wish I paid better attention in my Spanish classes because it would be nice to be able to carry on a conversation with the people.
Last night I was at the church alone with Simon, a young man from Argentina who only speaks Spanish. We had a fun time trying to communicate through an English-Spanish dictionary, but just had to laugh at how silly things sounded. We at least could communicate genuine friendship and hope to be able to continue to communicate in the future.
Work is going great as we have almost finished up our projects. Tomorrow we are heading down into the slums of Asuncion. They are built along the river here and are known for getting flooded during the rainy season. Because of this the church we will be working with in the slums is nicked named the Spanish word for ¨Bath¨. We will be installing fans in the church and visiting some of the homes. Please be in prayer for our team. There is a totally different dynamic in this team then the one that went to Africa! Some of us on this team have yet had to truly depend on God for things in our life and really need to have Jesus break into the depths of our hearts. There is some attitudes and tensions that I did not anticipate but am excited to see how God transforms them. Tomorrow afternoon will be a proving time and a time of testing as most going have never seen true poverty in their life and may never experience this again. I remember my first trip to the Mathare slums only 6 or 7 weeks ago. I had a hard time keeping my composure while i was there and was on the verge of crying for several days after seeing the results and desperation that sin causes. It can still be hard to remember some of the things we saw in Africa, but I am excited because it transformed my life and i know what it can do for our team. Truly you are put in a place where you must trust God and the words of Romans 12:1-2 shine bright. "I beseach you therefore brothers by the mercies of God to present your self as a living sacrifice to God, holy and acceptible to Him which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."
What an amazing time we have had thus far in Paraguay! i realized that i have neglected to mention some of the very basics of our trip and Paraguay! It is a beautiful country here and the weather has been fantastic. Probably in the mid 70s during the day and dropping to upper 50s each night. We havent had any rain and have been able to get much work done. God has truly blessed us as this is the winter time and apparently it is supposed to be freezing cold and rainy here. Due to the winter months, the bugs are almost unnoticeable which is a huge blessing. The land is very plentiful and there are fruit trees in abundance. You can walk down the street and pick oranges, lemons and other fruits as much as you want for free. It is truly an amazing country. The people here are very hospitable and friendly. I wish I paid better attention in my Spanish classes because it would be nice to be able to carry on a conversation with the people.
Last night I was at the church alone with Simon, a young man from Argentina who only speaks Spanish. We had a fun time trying to communicate through an English-Spanish dictionary, but just had to laugh at how silly things sounded. We at least could communicate genuine friendship and hope to be able to continue to communicate in the future.
Work is going great as we have almost finished up our projects. Tomorrow we are heading down into the slums of Asuncion. They are built along the river here and are known for getting flooded during the rainy season. Because of this the church we will be working with in the slums is nicked named the Spanish word for ¨Bath¨. We will be installing fans in the church and visiting some of the homes. Please be in prayer for our team. There is a totally different dynamic in this team then the one that went to Africa! Some of us on this team have yet had to truly depend on God for things in our life and really need to have Jesus break into the depths of our hearts. There is some attitudes and tensions that I did not anticipate but am excited to see how God transforms them. Tomorrow afternoon will be a proving time and a time of testing as most going have never seen true poverty in their life and may never experience this again. I remember my first trip to the Mathare slums only 6 or 7 weeks ago. I had a hard time keeping my composure while i was there and was on the verge of crying for several days after seeing the results and desperation that sin causes. It can still be hard to remember some of the things we saw in Africa, but I am excited because it transformed my life and i know what it can do for our team. Truly you are put in a place where you must trust God and the words of Romans 12:1-2 shine bright. "I beseach you therefore brothers by the mercies of God to present your self as a living sacrifice to God, holy and acceptible to Him which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."
Well before I end i need to update you on an experience i have had. Yesterday i decided to wrestle with one of the guys on our coffee break and lost my balance as he fell on me. In doing so i severly twisted my ankle (i think it is a high ankle sprain). After the initial pain i was sitting in a chair getting my foot wrapped when for some reason I fainted. Because of fainting we decided to call the ambulance and i went to a Paraguayian hospital. I was concerned because my insurance isn´t international. After the ambulance ride we arrived at a hospital where I got preferental treatement because I am an American (this meant that I got a wheel chair haha). i did feel bad because there were so many people there that where in worse shape then me and i was getting treated better. After my Xrays they determined that nothing was broken but still prescribed a temporary cast, which i had to have Jason go purchase at the pharamcy across the rode and bring back so they could put in on me. After they cleared me an we left the hospital we had to take a cab to go get crutches from a different pharmacy, that was closed and then to another before returning to the church. All of which I had to pay for. The total cost ran me aroun 380,000 Guranne (Paraguayian money) which converts to around $100. That means an ambulance ride, emergancy room visit, xray, cast, taxi and crutches cost me less then $100 dollars without insurance. Wow.
Well to try to conclude this, i feel fine and my foot is progressing quickly. I really only bought the crutches because Jason said the church could really use a pair and this was a good excuse to get one. I believe I should be walking fine even by the time I leave here. I think God just wanted to teach me humility, to slow down and to provide crutches for the church. He always has a plan and I want to thank Him for His protection throughout our time here.
Please be in prayer for:
Tomorrows trip to the slums
for my foot to feel better
for sickness amongst the team members
And that our flights friday and saturday will be on time and no problems reaching home.
Thanks for reading all this and for praying for us.
In His service,
Brad Horner
1 comment:
Praying for you--in all regards. We've had experiences in Paraguayan hospitals, too.
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