Monday, July 02, 2007
Even though I haven’t written an entry for awhile, and no one knows what I’ve been up to for two weeks, I am just going to focus on yesterday. I went with Pastor Pedro and two of his kids to a sister church /outreach in Bañado, which means “bathed.” Contrary to the luxurious images this name may invoke, it is a dirty and uncomfortable part of town. The houses, sometimes just a collage of cardboard and metal, are meant to be impermanent due to the occasional flooding by a river which in this part of town resembles a garbage pit/sewage mixture. Even though that morning I was sufficiently cold to wear two sweaters and leave my winter jacket on during the service, I noticed that most people in attendance only had a sweater. One man was wearing only one flip flop, only one being necessary because the other leg just had a big round nub on the end of it in place of a foot. The service was on giving the best of ourselves and all we have to God, and I couldn’t help but be reminded of the poor widow who gave her last few cents as we went forward to give our offerings.
There were less than 30 people there for the sermon, but when it came time for me to teach the Sunday School class afterwards, I think there must have been near 70 or 80 kids. They tell me that just like the poor farmers on the banana island, here too every household has 5 or 6 kids. It is really easy to do children’s ministries in places like this, or I should say, it is easy to get lots of kids to show up if you have some sandwiches or a bag of candy. I told an embellished Paraguayan version of Jesus’ parable in Matthew 14 about a man who finds a treasure in a field, and in his joy goes out and sells everything he has to buy the field. In my adaptation, the man owned a hat, a coal cooking stove (which he sold for 15,000Gs, or $3), a bed, a cow, and a little house., and the treasure that he found had been buried by Francisco Lopez (see my blog entry from May). Of course, the greatest treasure we can seek cannot be put in a box and locked up; Jesus uses the hidden treasure as an illustration of the kingdom of heaven. When someone encounters this treasure, he or she will gladly give up whatever it takes to live a life of peace, love and service to others. That is why I try to be happy and not feel sorry for myself even when my family is all together on vacation at the beach.
The remainder of Sunday I celebrated Canada’s 140th birthday with the Elliots, my favourite Canadian family in Paraguay. The kids made pretend fireworks, we sang the national anthem, we quizzed each other on Canadian trivia and took advantage of the nice weather by going to the park with the kids. I knew that the Quebec Act was signed in 1774, but I didn’t know what purpose it served. Lane had me read an article on the Timbit as a national symbol. We watched the first episode of “Little House on the Prairie” although in hindsight I guess “Anne of Green Gables” would have been more fitting for the date. It was probably the most celebrating I have ever done for Canada Day, ironically in a country that barely recognizes Canada’s existence. The Elliots like being famous in my blog. Lane showed me some fascinating Paraguayan statistics. I forgot the sheet at their house but I will write the ones I remember and maybe Lane can correct me if he reads this. Percentages of Paraguayans that have:
a car 24%
a freezer 70%
a TV 74%
a cell phone 36%
internet in their house 1.4%
I guess I only have one of the above mentioned, and even then our refrigerator is about 2 steps away from the old appliance grave, but I do have a computer to write my blog!
There were less than 30 people there for the sermon, but when it came time for me to teach the Sunday School class afterwards, I think there must have been near 70 or 80 kids. They tell me that just like the poor farmers on the banana island, here too every household has 5 or 6 kids. It is really easy to do children’s ministries in places like this, or I should say, it is easy to get lots of kids to show up if you have some sandwiches or a bag of candy. I told an embellished Paraguayan version of Jesus’ parable in Matthew 14 about a man who finds a treasure in a field, and in his joy goes out and sells everything he has to buy the field. In my adaptation, the man owned a hat, a coal cooking stove (which he sold for 15,000Gs, or $3), a bed, a cow, and a little house., and the treasure that he found had been buried by Francisco Lopez (see my blog entry from May). Of course, the greatest treasure we can seek cannot be put in a box and locked up; Jesus uses the hidden treasure as an illustration of the kingdom of heaven. When someone encounters this treasure, he or she will gladly give up whatever it takes to live a life of peace, love and service to others. That is why I try to be happy and not feel sorry for myself even when my family is all together on vacation at the beach.
The remainder of Sunday I celebrated Canada’s 140th birthday with the Elliots, my favourite Canadian family in Paraguay. The kids made pretend fireworks, we sang the national anthem, we quizzed each other on Canadian trivia and took advantage of the nice weather by going to the park with the kids. I knew that the Quebec Act was signed in 1774, but I didn’t know what purpose it served. Lane had me read an article on the Timbit as a national symbol. We watched the first episode of “Little House on the Prairie” although in hindsight I guess “Anne of Green Gables” would have been more fitting for the date. It was probably the most celebrating I have ever done for Canada Day, ironically in a country that barely recognizes Canada’s existence. The Elliots like being famous in my blog. Lane showed me some fascinating Paraguayan statistics. I forgot the sheet at their house but I will write the ones I remember and maybe Lane can correct me if he reads this. Percentages of Paraguayans that have:
a car 24%
a freezer 70%
a TV 74%
a cell phone 36%
internet in their house 1.4%
I guess I only have one of the above mentioned, and even then our refrigerator is about 2 steps away from the old appliance grave, but I do have a computer to write my blog!
# posted by Ellen @ 6:20 PM 
