South to Paraguay

A few months ago, a small team of us had the opportunity to go south to explore one of Paraguay’s major cities. After expressing some interest to RPGM regarding South American mission opportunities, Heather and Vince encouraged me and my wife, Emily, to consider visiting a family in Paraguay who has been involved with RPGM for the past several years. So, we quickly started planning a trip to visit, encourage, and learn about life and ministry in Encarnción. We were excited when Audrey M, a young woman from our local church, expressed a similar interest and was able to take some time off school to join us on the trip. After traveling from Toronto to Panama City, and then on to Asunción, we were met at the airport by Mario and his family and we began the five-hour drive back to their home city. During this drive we were able to learn a lot from Mario about the daily life, culture, and food in Paraguay, as well as the current ministry opportunities that Mario was involved in.

Each day Emily, Audrey, and I traveled around Encarnación with Mario and often with his family as well. We visited different historical sites, learned about Paraguay’s rich culture, and for ten days lived the life of Mario and his wife, Liza. Our trip was full of surprises. One of these surprises was that as foreigners we did not stick out very much due to the large number of German immigrants who had originally come to Paraguay after WW2 to settle. It was not uncommon to see a tall, blond-haired, blue-eyed Paraguayan speaking Spanish. We also were surprised to see how receptive people were to Christianity because of the past positive influence of the Jesuit Missionaries back in the 1800s. I would encourage anyone to read about the history of the Jesuits in Paraguay, as we found it fascinating and inspiring to learn about.

We were blessed to be a part of several outreach opportunities during our trip. The main opportunity was to join Mario and Liza for a weekly Bible study with a group of local women. The majority of the group did not come from a Christian background, but they were very open and receptive to the gospel. During one these studies, we were discussing how Jesus desires to have a personal relationship with his people. One of the ways Jesus proved this desire was by caring for the physical needs of his people and working a miracle by feeding the five thousand who gathered to listen to him. One of the women at the study, upon hearing this story of Jesus’s love for people, exclaimed, “I don’t agree and there is no way Jesus wants that type of a relationship with us.” This gave us a wonderful opportunity to explain this wonderful work of Christ and his desire to know and love his people. Another evening, we were able to do some evangelism on the local pier with Mario. In a “warm culture” context, people are much more receptive to a stranger walking up and talking with them, so this led to some good conversations and the ability to share Mario’s contact information for further follow-up.

Mario and Liza were wonderful hosts and reflected Christ’s love in their care for us on this trip. If you are reading this post, please pray for them consistently and fervently. They need our prayers as they seek to further the gospel in Paraguay, and they greatly desire to see a church formed in their city. Thank you for praying with us!