Audio Bibles for Paraguay (San Francisco) [Part 1]

On Friday afternoon I was asked if I wanted to “go tomorrow”.  I took this to mean church as Tom has invited me to go with him to church on Sunday.  “Sure!” I said.  

“OK, we’ll be leaving at 1:30 tomorrow morning.”  

Something didn’t quite sound right about that.  I didn’t realise I was a day early for church.  What I had immediately said “Sure!” to was a 1-day mission trip.  Various church members from a couple of local churches had signed up to go by bus to San Francisco to hand out Audio Bibles, and now I was going, at 1:30am.

They had hired a bus to do the journey in.  It needed to be a tough bus as it’s only tough ones that make it down the dirt road segment of the journey south of Cazaapa.  At 12:30am it arrived, and I was taken aback as it was a regular Asuncion city bus, all brightly painted similar to Jeepneys in the Philippines, only 3 times the size.  From what I gathered this was the bus of a church member, one which would for the rest of the week be used circling some route in the city.

The buses here are great.  You stop them by pointing a gun-like finger up across the road.  You pay the very reasonable sum of 3,000G (something like 20 pence).  When you want to get off you need to get to the back of the bus and pull a string attached to the ceiling that runs forward to a bell near the driver.  Once I was heading to church and I squeezed past the people standing in the middle of its wide aisle, and went to pull the string only to find there was none.  I couldn’t signal the driver, and I couldn’t shout to stop without using the kind of vocabulary that would cause a mass panic as I’d be announcing an emergency.  I had to wait for the bus to slow down, then I jumped and hit the ground running.  In hindsight this was rather foolish as there could have been a telegraph pole right there for me to crash into.  Paraguayan buses: Adventure.

On early Saturday morning, about 20 people were on this bus and we set off into the night.  And my goodness, I regret wearing just shorts for the journey.  This was the coldest night not only of my stay in Paraguay, but also the coldest in my life I think!  As soon as we were out of the city a thick mist fell, and it was freezing.  In fact it probably wasn’t freezing, or any worse than in Scotland, only I was in shorts, which wasn’t wise.  At times the visibility on the road was reduced to about 30ft, and I imagined little reports in next weeks Asuncion newspapers mentioning a bus crash of Christians.  To fill us all, or perhaps just me, with dread, we passed a car fully engulfed in flames on the lay-by!

Someone must have checked weather reports and it turned out there was a big collection of blankets available which were passed out.  I wrapped myself into a sort of breathless cocoon inside my felt blanket as I perched on my chair, hoping it really wouldn’t take 6 hours to get there.

I don’t sleep on bus journeys, no matter how comfortable or warm.  Yet somehow, by God’s grace, I managed to sleep about 3 hours!  With me, I tell you, this was impossible, but with God, all things are possible.

We arrived in San Francisco with the thick mists still hanging in the air.  It made such a peculiar, otherworldly sight.  This was a town I’d only ever seen in the blazing sun, but now it seemed about as miserable as a dreich Scottish morning.

We were met at the Forest Door church (the one that has walls and roof made of swaying trees, and a carpet made of grass) by local believers, some who had been on the Audio Bible distribution over a month ago beyond Yuty.  This was a much bigger group than then.  Back then it was about 25.  This time there was about 50.  It was amazing to see!

For some the journey had been made to participate in their first form of evangelism, for others they had done this kind of thing for years.  Some were young (even a couple of pre-teens), some were old, yet everybody was part of the same family.  They were all out to put into the hands of every resident of San Francisco, a full Genesis to Revelation Audio Bible in Guarani that they could fully understand, which would mark the day when everybody in town could for the first time have access to the Truth of God directly, no longer relying on superstitious understandings of the Bible, or what had been twisted and handed down, or by the few incorrect things the locals priests would have offered in their own blindness.

I’ll write some more about the day of delivering them next, but first here are some pictures of the day up until that point.

To learn more about the Audio Bibles for Paraguay project, visit the website: http://audiobiblesforparaguay.org, and to support the work from a distance, donate via the project page on SIM.org: http://sim.org/index.php/project/91039

The city bus that safely got us there.

The unloaded precious cargo it carried: hundreds of Audio Bibles.

The volunteers start gathering at Forest Door Church.

It really was that cold!

Sorting out the boxed Audio Bibles.

During a lesson on how to work the Bibles.  The instructions would have to be explained to each person who received one.

What always surprises me is the number of Christian youths who turn out to assist these events!

One of the youngest volunteers gets help with his deliverer's bib.

Another youngster helping organise the pens on the chair for everybody.  "Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless." (1 Corinthians 15:58)  

The courier bags the volunteers will carry, each loaded with about 20 Audio Bibles.

A group photo before heading out.

A prayer by a Forest Door Church elder before leaving.

Dr. McKissick and David looking over the maps the latter had prepared so everybody could be reached.

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Sin Prisa y Sin Pausa

There hasn’t been much to write about these past 2 weeks as I’ve been in Asuncion the whole time editing.  I can’t make editing sound interesting, so I won’t try.  There also haven’t been many interesting things happening around here except another night-time thrill-ride to Asuncion airport to pick up a bunch of students from a Texan Bible college (on the road at 2:30am I had the great sensation of pressing the brake when approaching an intersection and nothing happening, then almost driving into one of them 50ft trees they have growing out of the centre of the slow lanes in dual-carriageways in Asuncion).  

The Bible college group are doing summer work similar to what I got to do at the Faith Mission Bible College, only they got to travel further than I did (Ireland isn’t far from Scotland).  It took them something like 3 days to travel here, which is more than it took for me from the UK.  The group of 5 are spending 2+ months here with SIM and New Tribes Mission.

I’ll be filming the activity they are involved in, that being the audio Bible distribution up the river from Concepcion in June, and they’ll be at the SIM Paraguay winter retreat in July the week before I head back to the UK.

Besides this I have dropped around to the New Tribes Mission 2-week seminar with Mike to film some of it and the work they are all doing.  For these past 2 weeks, until last night, a bunch of New Tribes Mission people were staying here at SIM HQ, including the lady I remember seeing in a NTM video from Papua New Guinea (you can see it here: http://usa.ntm.org/content/mission-videos-and-mission-photos/148/footsteps).  She gave a presentation at the church last last Sunday too, and it was very heart-breaking.  She spoke of how the tribe she worked with were taken through the Bible in something like 40 lessons over several weeks, and the day came when they reached the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and the whole village fell silent, none had anything to say, no questions to ask, just silence.  

Days later she asked one village lady what she thought, and she said through tear-filled eyes that she understood that Jesus had died for her.  Much of the village said words to that effect over the next few days, and they were all dealing with the weight of that knowledge, a weight which actually lifted the burdens of their sin.

At the NTM event I was about to speak to SIMer Greg Stirling (right) and ask him why he was there, until I realised it wasn't him, just his NTM doppelgänger!

The event brought out one of the families from the East I got to film.

At the church there was a celebration of mothers for Paraguayan Mothers' Day.  All the kids got up and spoke a bit of why they appreciated their moms.  Romy, one of the MKs said she appreciated her mom's patience with her.  I'll say!  Minutes later Romy beat me up in church again!

The New Tribes Mission presentation about Papua New Guinea.

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Sales, Food, Leaving, & Babies (pictures)

It's the 14th of May marking the 201 year anniversary of Paraguay's independence from Spain (also the anniversary of Israel's rebirth -that is the day the first world leader, Harry Truman, recognised the reborn nation).

Here are some pictures from the last week or so in Asuncion...

Asuncion Christian Academy has a once-a-year sale that has become a big event.

People set up stalls of second-hand stuff in the basketball court.

The McKissick stall.

The Stout stall.

The Reich stall.

Since coming to Paraguay I haven't had a decent self-made meal save for egg fried rice I made a fortnight ago, and this home-made pizza yesterday.  Two bites and I took a picture because it was so good.  Ready-made pizzas here are astonishingly expensive (like £5 quid!)

The Camerons building their car reminded us of pioneers using stagecoaches in Western movies.

Tyler McKissick smiling at the food needed for a family of 8 to last a couple of days. 

New Arrival, Anna Reich, at the dinner table.

The two Reich kids are now 3.

Ginny and Anna.

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Paraguay's "Mountains"

I've written a few times about how flat Paraguay is.  For a time the biggest 'hill' I experienced was hiking the 5 meter rise from the local supermarket back to SIM HQ.  By God's grace I've been able to see a large amount of Paraguay (North, West, South and East!) and I have finally seen some hills.  Interestingly the missionaries refer to them as 'mountains' despite them being nowhere near mountain height, but travelling 200km over flat terrain, a rare hill does seem a lot like a mountain!

This first picture is from the summit of a man-made hill (the bridge West of Concepcion that heads into the flat Gran Chaco region).  Very few places offer views of the landscape like this.

These couple of hills were the first major hills I saw in Paraguay somewhere between Villarica and Caazapa, although there were a few smaller ones on the way, notably beside Paraguari further West (if memory serves me well

The same hills as Dan drives by.

Driving up a hill with a hill on the horizon!  Rare!

Small hills compared to the others, but so far the most scenic place I have seen in the whole of Paraguay.  My image was complimented by a fly hitting the bottom-right of the lens.

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A Farewell to a Faithful Family

The Dreiling family from the United States of America have served God in Paraguay for 20 years.  Their 3 kids grew up here as MKs before returning to the US for university.  Paul and Becky Dreiling are now returning to America to take up positions in the SIM office there.

Only about a month ago one of their US-based kids thought it would be good to fly out to Paraguay to spend their last week there with their folks and importantly leave with them.  Within days all the kids were wanting to come out alongside their spouses and the Dreiling's first grandchild.  As you need a visa to enter Paraguay from the US it was a race against time to get everybody there in time, but God is faithful and with about 2 days to go before they flew down here all the visas came in.


They all spent a week in Caazapa where they had lived and then for the final 2 days they stayed at HQ in Asuncion.  Their departure from this field brought out everybody (except Hannes as he was teaching the next morning) to Asuncion to bid them farewell.  The night before they left we all went to a traditional Paraguayan eatery where the Christian family who ran it -all musicians- played Paraguayan harps and guitars, danced and sang as we ate.  The Reich kids, similarly gifted in music, were allowed to use their equipment and play for us all too.


The next evening, hours before the flights, there was a party at HQ with a great comedy written by Dan Hough telling the 20 year story of the Dreilings in Paraguay which included an encounter with the local Fuzz who pulled over their car to check their fire extinguisher (all cars here must carry one), and having found fault with it, Paul proved that it worked by spraying the Plod with it!  There was also a time of praise and then prayer.


From there we all headed out to the airport with them near midnight and had some fun.  To see the Dreilings leave all together, all by God's grace on the very same flight, we thanked God for ending this chapter of their life in such a remarkable way.  I'll miss them.

Traditional music.

These guys could play several different instruments flawlessly.

The Reich boys.

The youngest Reich looks like a Beckham kid.

The first Dreiling grandchild.

Heather's family.

The youngest Dreiling.

There were many pictures on the walls of former students at the harp place, and one looked just like my good friend Lulu.

Baby Dreiling turned one year old during his stay at HQ, and also took his first steps the same day!

The MKs gathered with party poppers...

...for when the Dreilings appeared.

Ben putting fake dog ears on Shadow the guard dog.

Dan in the comedy dousing the Fuzz (Denny).

Paul and Becky looking over a gift made by Vonni.

Jeff wore a hat that had him mistaken as Waldo from Where's Waldo.  I told him he's a Wally to me as a Brit.

Tony finds Wally.

The Dreiling kids singing. 

Jean sharing some thoughts about the Dreilings.

Arriving at the airport with a trailer filled with luggage.

David is straitjacketed at the airport.

MKs.

There was one of those large sponsor boards sports-people and the like stand in front of for photographs at the airport so we made use of it.  Luke's interesting socks made the image disturbing.

Daniel messes up Denny's moment.

David striking a footballer pose.

Background: SIM people.  Foreground: Luke getting hit in the face by a hurled backpack.

Drinking mate (the hot version of terere) before departure.

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