Mike and Trisha Goddard Mobilizing local churches in Paraguay 
Read below our ministry update for October 2009.
Archive for the ‘News Article’ Category
Goddard Grapevine – October 2009
Friday, October 30th, 2009Not about us; it’s about God!
Monday, September 28th, 2009
People really need a new perspective on life. It’s not about us. It never was and never will be. Our existence and purpose since the day God breathed life into Adam and designed Eve from his rib, was to glorify Him through a worship-filled relationship.
Unfortunately, the broken fellowship caused by sin tainted our ability to even know what we want or desire. The things we study, work for, purchase, and dream of are only as long-lasting as the very breath we take. But when we intently look into the historical revelation of God we gain an entirely new and clearer perspective on reality. We see that the Messiah who hung on a horrible cross secured redemption for all mankind that chooses to trust in Him. We see the triumphant King commission His newly formed church to carry that Good News to all ethnic groups. We see an initially fearful church empowered by God in the face of persecution carry the Gospel to the known world in that day.
Today, in 2009, we are nearly aware of every people group that exists on face of the earth and yet His comfortable church turns and looks the other way. Over 2,500 ethnic groups HAVE NEVER HEARD THE GOOD NEWS EVEN ONCE, that the forgiveness of their offenses against a Holy Creator is found in Christ’s finished work on the cross. We need a new and clear perspective on life. We must invest in eternity; NOW. If you cannot go, please continue to do everything possible to mobilize and send others who can through your teaching, training, prayers and financial support.
Pray with us that God will move powerfully in hearts here in Paraguay and around the world for the sake of those whom have not heard!
Visit Paraguay!
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009
The Pai give their input on mobilization
Friday, July 24th, 2009
“We can\’t always be begging our wives for their chickens!” was the comment of a Pai Tavytera community leader and faithful church member to my question about the funding of their church outreaches.
“We will either have to have outside funding or stick to outreaches that are within our budget.”
After returning from a 5-day trip to the bush in northern Paraguay and just a few kilometers from the Brazilian boarder, I\’m confronted with even more questions than when I first set out. What role are tribal churches and their members to play in the Great Commission in Paraguay and beyond? Does the completion of the Great Commission lie solely on the shoulders of wealthy and educated people groups? Are the poor exempt from the responsibility to take the Gospel to the “ends of the earth” because of their financial limitations and lack of education? (more…)
Are you a jealous husband?
Friday, July 24th, 2009
How many times have you walked into church and wondered to yourself “people will think I’m a jealous husband if I sit next to my wife, perhaps today I’ll sit with the guys instead”?
This is a real question for Ruben, a Pai Tavytera believer from Paraguay, as he steps through the doorway of the church each Sunday and scans the scene that lies before him. On his right, he sees mostly men and boys seated intermittently on the back-less hard wooden benches, and to his left are the young girls and women with their infants. His feet kick up dust from the dirt floor of the church as he makes his way to the middle and decides that today he will sit next to his wife. He knows there will be talk among the people because what he just did is not considered the actions of a “normal Pai man.” But Ruben is not sitting by his wife because he is afraid that another man will single her out and run away to another village as is an all too common practice, but they are together because they enjoy one another’s company and he is proud that she is his wife.
The outward behavior of Christianity in an animistic society will look much different then what many westerners are accustomed to observing. Some form will take on similar and familiar traits, but genuine expression of Christianity takes place first at a worldview level and is observed through small yet significant choices made on a daily basis by husbands and fathers like Ruben.
As you step through the doorway of your church this Sunday, remember to pray for Ruben and other Pai men as they are faced with choices you can’t even imagine or comprehend, yet are significant to the furthering of the Gospel.
Spending winter break in bed
Friday, July 24th, 2009
"How sick are we?" I wonder to myself, almost afraid to entertain the thought that we might have come in contact with the H1N1 virus.
Our oldest son, Michael, started with a fever right after church on Sunday. Later that week, Kaleb and Lea became ill. Worse yet, Trisha began showing the symptoms of a really nasty flu. I didn’t get the flu as badly, but was miserable for quite some time.
Meanwhile, on the local news the H1N1 virus threats were escalating and were beginning to claim lives. Our children’s school extended their winter vacation from 2 weeks to 3. We canceled trips that we had planned, speaking engagements postponed, and hibernated in our home. It was a prime opportunity for me to make some updates to our Mission Board’s Spanish website.
We are still coughing, but are over the worst of the flu. Did we have H1N1? Perhaps we will never know, but thanks to so many people who stand behind us daily in prayer, we are back in business and the children will be starting up school once again on Monday.
Mobilizing the national Paraguayan church continues
Monday, June 22nd, 2009
The ministry of mobilizing the national Paraguayan church continues to take more and more shape and steadily gets more exciting and interesting. Recently, we combined two trips into one by first visiting an Ache village and later attended a missions conference. Mike has been highly interested in the idea of mobilizing tribal churches simultaneously with the national church so that missions in Paraguay can take on a three-way partnership between the expatriates, nationals and tribal people. Imagine the Body of Christ putting aside cultural norms for the sake of the Gospel!
During the missions conference that was held not far from the Argentine border in southern Paraguay, Mike was given the opportunity to lead discussion at one of the tables during the forum as well as a 15-minute opportunity to challenge people to become involved in tribal church planting. Often Mike walks away from these meetings wondering why so few people are willing to join God’s Plan to see the nations hear Truth in their own mother tongue. One of the keys to unlocking this door in Paraguay is a clear-cut plan laid out to mobilize the Church.
Trisha and the children also traveled with Mike during this 4 day trip and met new friends as well as touched based with friends that they had met at other events. Michael Dean is the true social bug and was immediately out playing with the Ache children and later made friends with the Paraguayan teenagers.
The missions conference was a tremendous help to Mike and Trisha. It provided a context where they could interact with other mobilizers and compare strategies in the mobilizing, training and sending of Paraguayan missionaries.
Seeing Tribal Missions from a Different Perspective
Friday, May 29th, 2009
Filled with curiosity, I swung the door to the auditorium part way open so I could hear the fluent Spanish of the Chamacoco tribal leader.
I had been standing outside watching our three children as church nurseries are nearly unheard of in Paraguay. First, he shared about his family that lives far away in a small village alongside the Paraguay river and then described how God is drawing the indigenous churches together. They are setting aside their cultural differences so that other tribal groups in Paraguay and in the Amazon Basin can also learn of their Creator God and to come into a relationship with Him.
What happened next I had never experienced before in Paraguay. My husband, Mike, had been invited to share in that morning and evening in this church, and he gave the Chamacoco tribal leader 10 minutes of the meeting to share about his ministry. Mike went on to explain that to the congregation that the Chamacoco man had not seen his wife and family for a number of weeks and due to the nature of his work and ministry, he was dependent upon churches for support.
Immediately, the Pastor of the church stood up and put a basket out for those in the congregation who wanted to help the Chamacoco man with his travel expenses. As the first person got up to go put in some small change, many others followed. When I saw this, tears poured down my face, as I observed a local Paraguayan church sacrificially giving so that this tribal man could once again see his family!
God provides for each of us in many different ways, and I praise the Lord that through our ministry, Mike and I can have an impact in Paraguayan churches so that they too will be proactive in seeing tribal people reached with the Gospel!
Acercate a las tribus
Tuesday, May 12th, 2009
What goes through your mind when you know of over a hundred young people living in your area (and many more in other cities) that love God and want to serve Him in missions, only to discover that their churches are not sufficiently prepared to take on the challenge.
Over and over these young people on fire for God and His heart for the world are welcomed with a cold splash into reality when their vision is not shared by perhaps the Pastor, church leadership, or the church members. Many of these young people become so overwhelmed by the magnitude of bringing along a non-missions minded church into that of a mobilized church, that they literally give up because they can\’t see the “light at the end of the tunnel.”
Labor not in Vain.
Thursday, April 30th, 2009
In April, Mike had the privilege to accompany his dad Dean Goddard on two trips to Ache tribal villages. For years Mike had watched his parents as they poured their lives into the Ache people and was himself challenged.
The Ache people are very friendly and full of emotion. They frequently laugh, give hugs, and cry on each other\’s shoulders in an embrace called the “chiga”.
Mike\’s parents, Dean and Nellie, gave 43 years of their life to seeing tribal people in Paraguay reached with the Gospel. Out of those 43 years, 20+ years were dedicated to an Ache village in need of hearing the Gospel and then discipleship.
