Missionary-Blogs 15

We are Grateful for CMA!

jnkurrle@gmail.com (Julie) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:36:00 -0800

We had the privilege of distributing 9 motorcycles to pastors and ministries thanks to the generous partnership of our brothers and sisters in Christian Motercycle Association during the Run for the Son annual fundraiser event. This year despite the economic crisis, CMA raised over $3.7 million for missions!

Today, the Latin American representatives, Hiram and Sharon, are arriving to help train new Paraguayan CMA members in three different parts of the country. They will also see some of the donated bikes in action.

Here are some of this year's recipients (we're still waiting for photos from five recipients):

Pastor Norma in San Antonio

Pastor Benigno in Coronel Oviedo

Pastor Victor in Triunfo 43

Pastor Pedro in Itá

On behalf of these pastors from different churches all over the country, thank you CMA for all that you are doing to advance the Kingdom in the heart of South America. You are making a world of difference here in Paraguay and we are so grateful for your giving hearts.

Photo of the Week

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:02:02 -0800

Osu Kannon temple, Nagoya. Yesterday.

Giving Thanks

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:57:07 -0800

“And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!” Psalm 107:22

I hope you are all enjoying making preparations for Thanksgiving! I am praying today that God would prepare each of our hearts to be filled with gratitude and that we would truly use this day to give thanks to God. I am praying against the pressures and stresses that would like to detract from the essence of this holiday and hope all of you have a joyful and worshipful time as you prepare food, get your homes ready, and celebrate with family and friends.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, please take a moment here to give thanks to God and encourage your sisters in Christ by sharing one or two things that you are grateful for this year!

Also, as a little side note, Missionary Moms will be taking a brief break for the next week as we savor the holiday and enjoy some restful time just being together as family. Be sure to come back next week though as we start preparing for Christmas and begin some discussion on the significance of tradition!

(Post by: Ashley)

Gabriela's place

Jennifer T. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:56:00 -0800

Hard to fathom it's been 10 months already. Some days it seems years ago, then some days I'll see a picture or read that someone has chicken pox or remember our "baby twins"...or even some completely unrelated detail...and I'm right back to that horrible morning with every detail still way too fresh.

Right before my trip here, I spent the last minutes of the last hour of the work week with Katrina and Savannah in Cochabamba's cemetery. Our simple mission was to paint the very high up railing in white paint. Unfortunately closing time came before finishing and I had very speckled black sandals by the end (guess I was too busy before to think of paint clothes!).

I left a stem with "triplet" roses, a little lock to secure Gabi's place (my mom prepared flower vases that we still need to take), and propped back up a picture I left on January 24, surprised it had survived all other clean-ups.

Continue to pray for Gabriel's adoption. All the instability in the court and social services means that caregiver Luz is still waiting for good news. Gabriel is just about our sweetest, best natured, happiest baby, and will bloom with a family of his own!

Week in a Nutshell

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:10:15 -0800

Let’s see if I can recap this week’s events in as little words as possible… Sunday evening, our guest, Dave Haas, came home from preaching with a very high fever. By Monday morning, he was very, very sick. Nothing had really changed by Tuesday afternoon, so our director took him to the doctor. They discovered that [...]

Documentation

noreply@blogger.com (Finnie Family) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:49:00 -0800

Just had a call from UPS to say the documentation for our freight has arrived so they'll deliver it tomorrow. It should give us a clearer idea of when the consignment should arrive.
Brilliant!

Apology

noreply@blogger.com (Dino) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:33:00 -0800

Sorry seems to be the easiest word these days with politicians declaring themselves 'sorry' for this, that and the other, so why shouldn't I?

A while back I got into Facebook. It took three goes but on the third try I was hooked. Initially I had planned to use FB as a means of directing more friends to this blog and it worked. I quickly realised that a lot of our friends on FB were reluctant to venture much deeper into the web and some actually admitted that they didn't know what blogs were and were a bit intimidated by them. So my plan was to use the RSS feed from the blog to post onto Facebook so that friends there could follow the blog from the comfort of FB.

Sadly, somewhere en route I got horribly distracted by Mob Wars and then Mafia Wars and ended up spending ridiculous amounts of time trying to play fundamentally flawed games on uneven playing fields! All this really achieved was a total distraction from this blog and from some other far more important aspects of life like family.

Well, tonight I have reset the stupid games and blocked them from Facebook. I've deleted all the 'friends' made through the games and have tidied my FB page up so none of that rubbish shows.

So, to our loyal readers, I must apologise profusely for neglecting this blog and you! I promise to get back to blogging properly and wasting far less time on pointless stuff like Facebook.

Pirate Michael

noreply@blogger.com (Dino) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:43:00 -0800

This morning I was up unusually early to pick Michael up before the traffic got too bad and take him to the hospital for his cataract operation. Amazingly he was only in for about an hour when he rang to say he was ready. I've got to take him back tomorrow for something else to do with his eye and apparently the Dr will put a new lens in in about 12 months.

There's much that's wrong with the State healthcare system here but praise God that this op' has finally happened.

Joel thinks Michael looks cool as a pirate!

Dirt Is Good For You

noreply@blogger.com (Dino) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:13:00 -0800

Here's something every parent who uses common sense has known forever, but for some reason it required a team of scientists with funding to make 'official': Children should be allowed to get dirty, as being too clean can impair the skin's ability to heal.

Apparently the study confirms the "hygiene hypothesis" which holds that exposure to germs during early childhood primes the body against allergies. Well hooray for science!

But before you let your little ones run amok in the garden, bear in mind that a spokeswoman for Allergy UK said there was a growing body of evidence that exposure to germs was a good thing. But she said "more research was needed". Obviously any further research would need funding so clearly there's no vested interest there then.

Read the full story on the BBC here: Dirt can be good for children, say scientists

To our Son

jnkurrle@gmail.com (Julie) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0800

To our son...

From the minute we found out you were growing inside mommy...we were in love with you, sweet little one. Your birth was nothing short of a miracle.

You are such an amazing blessing to our family, we love you more every day.

You made us a mommy and papi and we are thankful to God for answered prayer.

You started ~~walking~~ running at 10 months and you haven't stopped yet!

You love music, books and "just thinking."

Your favorite drink is terere (cold Paraguayan green tea)

You drove the Suburban at 2 years of age and it's by God's grace that you were not harmed!

You enjoy being outdoors and discovery (and mud) is what drives you.

Your love languages are touch and words of encouragements; you give us lots of hugs!

You are your papi's assistant and you love to take apart anything to figure out how it works. This is definitely a gift, since you know how to fix things that mom can't even fix!

Today is your fourth birthday and we thank God every.single.day for your life, for your gifts and for the joy you bring us and everyone around you. We love you with all our hearts and we consider you our greatest treasure.

Happy Birthday Timothy Samuel!