NTM

"Hey, how’s the house coming?", seems to be the most common question we hear nowadays.  Not that that is a bad thing, but to be honest, we really didn’t think it would take quite this long to get moved out to the tribe.  I mean, just fix up the house, and move in, right?  Whew!  What a job it has been!  The past couple of weeks have found Shaun making an average of two trips a week, usually with an overnight stay, to finish up the ceiling.  Before that, we all went out as a family for three days and two nights to finish up the painting.  The good news?  The contractor is almost paid off, and the ceiling should be done today by a group of guys that went out with Shaun!  Hooray!  As we have been trying to finish things up on the house, and pay off the contractor at the same time, work slowed down.  Yet, just when we wondered when we would be able to finish all the big projects inside the house, God sent some special gifts of money our way from our churches.  Our hearts were overwhelmed with our supporters generosity during these uncertain economic times.  It was like a hug from heaven!  If we are honest though, we admit that we have wondered several times why God has wanted us to wait several months to get moved out to this Nivacle village.  Was it to prepare our hearts?  Prepare the hearts of the Nivacle?  We honestly don’t know.  But you know what?  It’s okay, because God’s timing is perfect.  And, I’ll pass on that pill for patience ~ God’s just been teaching me too much!

Thanks so much for praying for the completion of our house in the Nivacle village where we will be working!  Shaun left this morning with a group of guys to finish up the ceiling.  The old ceiling had holes and gaps, and would pour down dust and dirt.  This is the last HUGE project inside of the house before we can start moving stuff out there.  We are hoping to camp out in our house for a couple weeks in July.  Why do I say camp?  Currently we still do not have hot water, electricity, kitchen cabinets/sink, well, or furniture out there.  Keep praying!  =) 

It was so AMAZING to see progress on our house this past week!  It looks completely different, and we are so thankful to the Paraguayan crew of guys that are living out there to get it done as quickly as possible.  As they were fixing windows (taking out old ones and making a space for new ones), 4 walls fell down and had to be rebuilt.  As you can imagine, this will add to the cost a bit.  So, what are the facts?

We still need $20,000 USD. 

We will only be able to camp off and on in the tribe until that point.  We are praying for the rest of that money to arrive soon, so that when the house is finished, we can buy the stuff we need, and move out there!  The Nivacle people in this village are planning for us to move out there, as soon as the house is done.  Without a generator or a well pump, we won’t have clean, running water.  Thank you so much for praying for us!  This is a stretching time for us, and we are excited to see how God will provide!

As I looked out the window of the truck, I wondered why the Nivacle man was waving us to stop.  Did he want a ride into town?  Did he want to ask us for something?  Much to my surprise, it wasn’t what I expected…

It had been a hot, muggy day.  We had just brought friends into the tribe to show them where our future work with the Nivacle was going to be, and to check on the progress of the remodeling of our house.  It had been a 3 hour drive into the tribe, and we had spent a couple of hours wandering around, visiting with some Nivacle people, and checking out the construction.  I was hot, sweaty, and tired.  So was everyone else.  I was enjoying the air conditioning in the truck as we drove out of the village.  Until someone waved us down.  As I watched from the truck, I could see Shaun talking to the Nivacle man while they wandered around his yard, appearing to look for something.  As Shaun came back, I could see two watermelon in his arms.  They were a gift from a tribal man who had so much less than us.  I felt humbled by this man’s generosity.  We look forward to the day when we can offer this man the greatest gift of all ~ the opportunity to know Jesus as his personal Savior!  Please pray that we might be able to finish the work on the house soon, and get moved out into the tribe to begin learning their culture and language.  Thank you!

Is it faith or foolishness to go ahead with house building/remodeling before all the money comes in?  Nowadays, that is the question we are pondering in our hearts.  Let me back up a little.  In the beginning of December we got an estimation for the total cost to fix up the house in the Nivacle village where we plan to work.  Since then, we have seen God faithfully provide more than half of the funds needed to get us moved out to the tribe!!  It has been AWESOME to see God provide in ways we never expected!  Shortly after that,  we learned that the man who was going to supervise this project for free, couldn’t do it anymore.  As you can imagine, we felt disappointed and wondered how to best proceed.  Next, we contacted a recommended construction company to see what their quote would be.  You see, in this country, we can’t just run down to Home Depot.  If you try to aquire materials by yourself, many times you will pay quite a bit more.  Today, we received the cost estimate from the construction company, and although it was an extremely fair price, it was still several thousand more than we were thinking, or than we have.  At this point we aren’t sure what to do.  Step out in faith, praying for thousands of dollars to arrive before the project is finished?  That might not seem like such a scary thing, however here we can’t run to the bank to take out a loan or mortgage.  At the same time, if we decide not to go ahead with this guy, it could potentially delay the completion of the project 6 months or more.  To wait or not is the question!  Please pray with us this next week that God would show us what He wants us to do.  We want to be wise stewards of the money engifted to us, and never want our impatience to cause us to make a hasty decision.  THANK YOU for your prayers, we appreciate them so much! 

We have more than half of the money needed for building/remodeling the house we plan to move into in the tribe! 

Still needed:  $18,000

Thank you for praying!  Our God is Jehovah Jireh!!

We were so excited as we headed to the village that day, knowing that God was going to show us where He would have us rent a house, so that we could get moved in, and begin working with the Nivacle.  Several hours later, after realizing there weren’t going to be any houses available for us to rent, we wondered what God had in mind.  Didn’t He realize how long it would take to purchase land and build a house?  Didn’t He know that it would mean we couldn’t just jump into the work, but would have to wait for months on end?  As these thoughts raced through our heads, we took comfort in the fact that it isn’t "our" work, it is God’s work, and His timing is perfect.  We may not understand why, but that isn’t important.  God knows what He is doing, and is just asking us for the faith to trust Him and wait and see what He will do! 

Thanks for praying for us as we settle back into life here in Paraguay.  What are some of the adjustments we go through?  Missing family and friends, missing our home church, homeschooling, weather, different foods, and the finding of many snakes and other creatures in our yard!  These are just a few of the things we face, and your prayers are greatly appreciated!

Our 3 weeks in California left us feeling refreshed, encouraged, and loved!  Each one of our family members were generous with their time, often spending hours hanging out with us, taking us around, and preparing meals and taking us out to eat.  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts; you are all the definition of hospitality, and we enjoyed every moment!

We also enjoyed our time sharing about our ministry in Sunday school classes, and everyone’s interest and questions were such an encouragement to us!  Thank you for upholding us in your prayers!

We left for California still needing to pay for our trip out there, and came back with it paid off, and with bags full of things we need to take back to Paraguay.  WOW!  What a blessing! 

Thank you Lord for all the giving and generous hearts and we pray that you might bless them too!

While other people told us how stressful and busy their Christmas was, Shaun and I thanked the Lord for the special Christmas He gave us on our first furlough.  My parents and sister traveled up from Wisconsin and spent 6 days with us.  It was very nostalgic for us, with snow all around outside, a real Christmas tree that smelled great, and family surrounding us on Christmas Eve.  Our kids were completely thrilled with all the presents that they got, and there were many exclamations of joy!  As I pondered upon it, I realized how often God blesses us with something, and how often we forget to be thankful and delighted with His gifts.  Tucking kids in at night, listening to them read and helping them with homework, arriving home safely in a snowstorm, extra change to stop for coffee, snuggling on the couch on a cold night, friends that share their heart, and the list goes on.  For myself I know that many times I take these things for granted, and forget to be thankful for the opportunity to enjoy them.  Thank you Lord for reminding me to delight in You!