Concert in Catholic Church

I was invited to a concert put on by the youth version of the Paraguayan Philharmonic Orchestra who were to play the music, from what I gathered to be, the first Paraguayan opera.  It took place in a Catholic church and as we all got there early there was a service still going on which was interesting to watch.  Unlike Catholic churches in Europe which are known for being extraordinarily lavish in design and filled with idols, the Paraguayan ones I've visited are generally quite ordinary structures and a lot less dark and mysterious, and their relatively few idols are set against bland backdrops.  Whenever I see places like these I wonder how many genuine believers are there, no matter how few, who believe not because of the Roman Catholic system but rather in spite of it, people who act like those God deems "noble" -the Bereans in the book of Acts who didn't just accept what they heard taught about God and how to worship and live, but actually searched the Scriptures to see if what they are being told is true.

How tragic it is to have a Bible, the guidebook God Himself has given to humanity in order that we may know Him, but to simply hear many things about it and to never even check if what we've been told is true.

After the couple of idols were bowed down to by much but not all the congregation, the musicians quickly set up and put on a marvellous performance.  Much of the lyrics of the songs were addressed to God, and it was very good to hear.  Here are some pictures:

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Audio Bibles for Paraguay (San Francisco) [Part 2]...

Continuing from where I left off in an earlier post…

The fog that had enveloped us on the road down from Asuncion lifted and the sun came out as we all got suited up with logo-ed aprons to reach every isolated corner of the spread-out community of San Francisco.  It seemed very fitting that the mist that was heavy upon the town and reduced visibility was lifting to be replaced by blue skies as the Holy Bible was being taken to every home.  The group of 50 or so Christians made up of believers from otherwise unconnected churches as far apart as Asuncion and Yuty, were split into various smaller groups and given several town blocks to hand out Audio Bibles in the native Guarani language to after being given some training in first how to use the custom-made Chinese devices so they could then explain to those who they were giving them to how to work them.  It seemed to be a case of men going with men, and women with other women, with each group having a leader.

Last time I filmed an Audio Bible distribution I spent most of the time with a group of two (Dan Hough and a Paraguayan believer), so this time I tried to get some shots of the others.  So first I joined a group of Paraguayan girls that was led by Jean Floyd (an SIM worker who’d previously lived in San Francisco whose planted trees a decade ago now are the canopy that is the church’s roof).  The younger girls started off a bit shy, them being 15 or so, and from the city now in a totally different world, but soon they were filled with courage.

Jean's team of Paraguayan girls.

The girls at a farm shack.

Around the block from the church was a former neighbour of Jean’s and she happily invited a group of us into her little house where her granddaughter was running about.  I’ve noticed how much more inviting the small shack of a relatively poor person is about 10 times more inviting than the house of a well-to-do Briton.  Much of this is because Latin culture is to be around neighbours, friends and family a lot, and to have an open house, whilst in the UK we keep everybody away and only have people in occasionally.

After this I took a lift with Dan Hough’s 2 teams out into the sticks of San Francisco, out along the dirt road to almost Yataity.  Dan’s teammate was the same Paraguayan as the former Bible distribution, but his 2nd team who’d do the other side of the road (the even numbers, so to speak) was the youngest team headed by a Paraguayan teen who led 3 missionary kids, Daniel, Luke and Camden, aged between 8 and 12 roughly).  

Demonstrating how the Audio Bible works.

Seeing SIM Paraguay’s missionary kids makes me wish I became a Christian at a much younger age.  Granted God had many reasons why I’d be saved in Japan at 26/27, but I do have such regret at a wasted life which could have been doing mission trips for 15 years.  But I also remember that nothing in God’s economy is wasted, and He turns what seems like wasted times of life into beneficial things that can help others due to our knowing a number of snares of the Devil that held us back so long.

Because of the enthusiasm of all involved in the day, the whole town of San Francisco was reached, as well as the next village up the road, and also Yataity where the McKissicks have their medical clinic.  Quite what effect the Audio Bibles will have on the community is unknown and will require a lot of prayer as I’m convinced the enemy will wish to distract the community and the people with other things, so please pray that the people will listen to the Word of God and no longer be led astray by falsehood, and that the various items outside of homes which ward off various spirits will be taken down as signs of new belief and hope coming to the hearts and minds of families.

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Angoninguíteguesáque or Pangoninguíteparitigáde

With New Tribes Mission I got to go to the Gran Chaco last week whilst it was in full bloom, its arid flatlands brought to life and various shades of green thanks to God's giving them an abundance of rain recently.  For some it was a blessing as it watered the crops, whilst for others they were flooded.  When seeing such a difference in the results I remember Elihu's words to Job (Elihu was the only friend of Job's whom wasn't rebuked by God for speaking falsehood about Him) when he said, He brings clouds to punish men, or to water his earth and show His love. (Job 37:13).  This shows me how God uses things usually used as a blessing to often speak to people by causing it to not be a blessing.  Elihu also said earlier, 'He says to the snow, "Fall on the earth," and to the rain shower, "Be a mighty downpour." So that all men He has made may know His work, He stops every man from his labor.' (37:6-7)  God communicates to people through many ways, although they don't hear it.  Earlier still Elihu said as much, 'For God does speak -now one way, now another- though man may not perceive it.  In a dream, in a vision in the night... He may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, to turn man from wrongdoing and keep from pride... or a man may be chastened on a bed of pain... God does all these things to a man -twice, even three times- to turn back his soul from the grave. (33:14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 29, 30).


God speaks to us through difficult events, through illness, through creation, though we don't often understand it, and we remain in our rebellion and even get angry at God for brining calamity when He is actually bringing it to get their attention, 'For when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, no one listened.  They did evil in My sight and chose what displeases Me.' (Isaiah 66:4)


While in the Chaco we visited the Ayoré tribe who are having the complete Holy Bible translated into their language, and as I looked over a book of their Bible, I saw a very long word which caught my eye, Angoninguíteguesáque, and I asked what it meant so I could learn a Ayoré word.  The Bible translator said it meant open-eardness, and its antonym is Pangoninguíteparitigáde which is closed-eardness.  Who has their ears open to God's voice I wonder in the Ayoré tribe, in the Gran Chaco amidst its recent difficulties, and around the rest of the world I wonder?


Here are some other pictures from the tribe and other places I saw last week.

Tribal pastor

Pastor teaching.

Bible translators.

Ayore dolls.

Tribe guy with an awesome face.

This man was kind enough to do an interview for us.

People from a different tribe to the West.

Kids from 2nd tribe.

Smiles.

Heading out of a tribal community.

Anthony found this outhouse interesting as its throne was sideways...

...so he demonstrated the angle a person should sit!

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Audio Bible Distribution

Dan Reich was up in Asuncion for a couple of days and invited me to join the group handing out Audio Bibles in one of the rural villages outside of Yuty after church on Sunday.  I jumped at the chance as I have heard so much about SIM Paraguay’s Audio Bible work.

The idea was conceived a couple of years ago to make Bibles Paraguayans could listen to rather than read.  Whilst literacy levels aren’t really low, Paraguay is not a nation, generally, drawn to reading, instead people prefer to share information through speaking.  You could hand out written Bibles but they could, conceivably remain on a shelf unread.

Whilst audio Bibles exist in Spanish, there is nothing like hearing God’s Word in your heart language, so SIM Paraguay recorded the whole Old and New Testaments of the Holy Bible in the Guarani language (with various voice actors and sound effects to bring the accounts to life) and put them all on custom built MP3 players designed by a Chinese company they know.  You can find out more about the project here on the SIM website (and also here on the project website) and ways to support and raise money to distribute hundreds of thousands.

On Sunday we had about 160 to hand out, and it wasn’t a case of just dropping them off impersonally, but rather speaking to each recipient and explain how to work them, and share their own faith with them in the process.  To do this church members from San Francisco travelled down by motorbike and 4x4 to join others from the Yuty church to go out in teams of 2.  There must have been about 30 of us.

Getting kitted out.

When the group split up and went out two by two it reminded me of Jesus sending out the 72 followers to proclaim The Kingdom of God is near you, as recorded in Luke chapter 10.  They were heading out into the dusty, hot roads, with God’s power, a day similar to what the followers in 30AD faced.  Only here whilst some walked, others went on motorbikes.

Heading out in twos!

Whilst the town is in range to hear the Reiches popular weekly Bible radio show transmitted from Yuty, this could have been for most the first time the locals would have heard the Truth.  There is a Roman Catholic chapel in the village, but in the rural areas, whilst most call themselves Catholic, they are actually animistic as they mix in local superstitious beliefs and witch doctor teachings and drape over it a mixed-up belief of the errors that Roman Catholics believe about idolatry.

To illustrate the faulty teaching of Rome, and the melding of local beliefs, one lady rejected the Audio Bible as she said she was “close to the Virgin of Caacupé” (an ‘appearance’ of the Virgin Mary in Caacupé, a place which about 300,000 Paraguayans make a pilgrimage to a year), and she believed the Virgin would not like her accepting a Bible!  She believed the Mary, who we know only about through the Holy Bible, wouldn’t want her to have a Bible!  Such deception was heartbreaking, but the good news is that only a couple of people refused the Bibles.  Most families were thankful to get them, and seemed keen.  We’re hoping and praying many families will listen to God’s Word in their own language, and God will do great things in the village, and people will join the Bible studies put on by the Floyds.  It was great to be able to see people listen to the first verses of Genesis (“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”) and think of them as now hearing from God through His Word besides the general revelation of Him they have had since birth.  Exciting times!

Here are some more pictures of the great day:

An older man receives his Audio Bible

He had a cross above his door, but didn't seem to know what it really meant

Hannes and Mr Floyd heading out by bike.

A man and his granddaughter are introduced to their Audio Bible.

Facing the foliage to get to more isolated huts.

A kid in the rear view mirror.

As the Reich kids and the Floyd kids were together, there was much jocularity going on back at the base!

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Epicenter: Why The Current Rumblings in The Middle East Will Change Your Future

I was loaned a book this past week dealing with End Times events foretold in the Bible, it’s called Epicenter: Why The Current Rumblings in The Middle East Will Change Your Future by Joel C. Rosenberg.  There seems to be a prevailing lie in the church these days that End Times events are either obscure, or they shouldn’t be looked into because they could mean anything, or that if you do look into them then you’ll adopt a weird view of things.  This shouldn’t be the case, because Jesus, when asked by his disciples “When will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3) Jesus laid out the observable things which will occur prior to His return and the ending of the world as we know it.  He told them of many false teachers appearing (v.5), of wars and rumours of wars (v.6), nations rising against other nations (v.7), famines and earthquakes in various places (v.8), and how these things are the signs to us, and are the “birth pains” (v.9), the contractions that get closer and closer together that signal the birth of a baby.  He goes on to speak of other signs: a rising hatred against Christians (v.9), apostasy (v.10), deception from false teachers (v.11), an increase in wickedness (v.12), and the news of Jesus finally reaching all nations in the world (v.14).

Instead of telling us to not pay attention to these signs, Jesus urged us to watch for them: “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.  Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.” (v32-33)

Moreover, He adds that the generation of people living to see the first of the “birth pains” will not die out before all have come to completion when He added, “I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” (v.34-35).  How long is a generation?  Psalm 90 verse 10 says, "The length of our days is 70 years -or 80 of we have the strength".

The book lists these birth pains, things we are seeing in the world in these times, and it deals heavily with the prophecy in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel (chapters 38 and 39) which details precisely how these events will play out, even which nations will rise against Israel (Persia and Meshech/Rosh, which is Iran and Russia -nations currently allied, both hating Israel and wanting to destroy it).  The previous chapters 36 and 37 of Ezekiel had spoken about the reformation of the nation of Israel and God returning the Israelites to it from all over the world (started in 1948).

I highly recommend the book to all friends, Christian or not, for it will open your eyes to the promises of God, and wake you up to Christ’s return -an event Jesus himself said would be at a time when the church would be generally “sleeping” (Matthew 25:1-13).

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