After the storm

We arrived back home in Yuty last Friday afternoon to find that a strong storm had come through the night before.  It actually took some of the paint off of the front of our house and blew down the only tree in our backyard.  We also came in the house to find water in our living room and bedroom.  Fortunately it wasn't much compared to what some other people had to deal with.  Some of the farmers north of here lost most of their crops to the hail.  The internet tower for Yuty also blew down in the storm so we have been without internet for the past week.

On another note, Holly and I have been trying to figure out what exactly life and ministry here in Yuty is supposed to look like.  We had asked our landlord when we moved in, if she knew of anyone in the area who sells milk.  She put us in contact with a family about a quarter of a mile down the road who has several cows.  It isn't really any cheaper and takes a lot more time than buying the ultra pasteurized boxes of milk from the store, because we have to bring it home and strain it and pasteurize it, but it gives us the opportunity for interaction to both work on Spanish and build relationships.  There is no such thing as a quick transaction unless you are in a store in the city.  Any transaction must include time to maintain the relationship before getting to the point.  For us buying milk usually means it takes about an hour just to get the milk.  But this evening that meant we got the opportunity to share the gospel with the family.  The husband asked us why we are here in Paraguay and we told them we are here to teach the Bible.  He then asked what religion we are and that allowed me to go into as much detail as my Spanish would allow, explaining what it is that we believe.  Being a Catholic culture, I did my best to explain that we believe we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross and that there is nothing that we can do to save ourselves.  He brought up that he has seen a lot of hypocrisy in the Catholic church with the priests not always doing what they say.  I was able to explain that we aren't perfect and we still live in a fallen world, but if we have accepted Christ's sacrifice for our sins, then all our sins have been forgiven and we don't have to live in guilt.

It was a good conversation and he was very interested in what we had to say and engaged us in the conversation.  His wife sat by and was visibly uncomfortable, but she listened and heard what we said.  We see the family regularly and we will definitely continue to have opportunities to share more with them.  Please be in prayer because trying to explain some things in Spanish makes things much more difficult.  I don't feel like my Spanish allows me to get across the full force of what I want to say.  Sometimes Holly and I stop and look at each other as we try to figure out how to say the concept we are thinking in English.