Do You Remember When ..... ?

How many of you remember the days when there were attendants at the all the gas stations? I do ... but, it seems that they are very scarce to find these days. Almost all of our gas stations are self serve now.
Not so in Paraguay! I have yet to see a gas station here that does not have attendants. All the attendants that I have encountered have been very kind and helpful, will gladly check the air in your tires, and will happily write a sales receipt when asked to do so. Now the price of gas is a completely different subject ....

Real Politikin' .... Paraguayan Style

There is much talk about American politics right now in the media surrounding the upcoming elections. Just so you know, there is no shortage of "politikin'" in Paraguay, either! There are two major parties (just like in America), there are lots of promises being made, and a gazillion accusations being slung around. (sound familiar?) One of the parties even gathered a bunch of supporters and made an impromptu parade around the city today. They just happened to drive by our street with horns and music blaring and their red flags a-waving! I quickly grabbed my camera (after Andrea reminded me to) and just caught the tail end of it here .....

Historic Moment for the Church in Paraguay

After several years of hard work, intense preparation, and much prayer, the church in Paraguay now owns its first property. On September 2nd, we carried the remaining funds to the "Escribania" office to complete the purchase of the property. Ike Yegros and Perry Hardin signed the papers for the deed. We are now submitting plans for the remodeling project and hope to have a special ground breaking day sometime in late November. God has answered our prayers! Now let's pray that the facility will be a useful tool for leading many to Christ and teh Truth of His Word!

ESL Classes

"Learn English Using the Bible!"
This was the approach we used to offer free English classes to the general public. We placed an ad in Facebook and quickly had 25 interested students. The campaign was for the entire month of August and we had about 15 students that went through the entire course. We studied words and passages from the book of John. Several of the students have decided to keep studying with their current teachers after the course had completed. We pray that each of them will not only learn more English, but more importantly, gain a better understanding of the Bible. Perhaps their study will encourage them to follow Christ.

Dia del Niños

It was an absolutely beautiful day and we had more than 70 in attendance on Sunday. The weekend also marked "Dia del Niños." In the USA we have Father's Day and Mother's Day. In Paraguay they have those days AND a day for children. So, after services we had a little "Midway Carnival" where we had several games set up for the children to play. If they won and collected enough tickets they could use them to get a toy. Everyone had a great time and their were lots of smiling faces!

“An open door just a few doors down”

Heidi, Maria, Faviola, and Raul after Maria was baptized

It took a considerable amount of time, effort, and money to get from Paraguay to Panama in order to meet up with my team mates for a short term mission trip. We had all traveled to the Darien jungle to evangelize the surrounding area, as well as, encourage the church there and teach some classes. We were excited about the possibilities! We stayed at the Hotel Felicidad in Metiti and traveled down the road to the church building everyday. A young woman, Maria, was a guest at the same hotel in which we were staying. She told us she was from Nicaragua and was traveling with her husband. He worked all day in the jungle while she and her daughter, Faviola, sat around the hotel. Since the ladies of the local church were preparing lunch for us, we decided to invite Maria and Faviola to join us. They really enjoyed themselves. Then, Maria started asking some questions and wanted to know more about this “church” that she was seeing. We shared the Gospel with her and she decided the next day to be baptized. It is interesting that we had all traveled from different parts of the world, but through a chance meeting in a mutual location, another soul was added to the Book of Life.

Panama Mission Trip

I was recently blessed to be able to go on a short term mission trip to Panama with a group from our sponsoring congregation, Margaret Street church of Christ. We went to Metiti and Santa Fe in the middle of the Darien Provence. It was a great opportunity to participate in another work, as well as, getting to fellowship with my brethren from the USA.

The campaign results were: 3 baptisms, 3 restorations, 25+ Bible studies, 10 Family and Marriage classes taught, 20 Evangelism and Teaching classes taught, children's classes, evening devotionals, lots of fellowship (including 1 birthday and a 15 yr anniversary) .... and a workday at a local school. God was indeed glorified in Panama!

"Prettiest" Sight in Paraguay?

It's Christmas in July at the Spradlin household in South America! To quote Andrea,

"I never thought this would be the most beautiful sight to see in Paraguay....but here it is....FINALLY!!!!!!"

Yes, we finally received our container with all our household belongings. The men unloaded everything in the pouring rain and we are happy to report that everything made it here just fine (including Andrea's dark chocolate Reeses cups). There wasn't any damage, so we have been blessed with a good, safe move.
Many of you may remember that we packed everything to go to Paraguay as I was getting ready to graduate from SWSBS. That was a year ago. Graduation for this year's students is this weekend. How's that for timing?
This is Christian Flors with Andrea. He is one of the helpers that unloaded the truck in the rain. (BTW, he is very strong).

World Cup Craziness!

World Cup enthusiasm is at a fever pitch in Asunción, Paraguay! The national team, "Albirroja" won their game against Japan which propelled them into the quarter finals. It is a historical moment for Paraguay because they have never gone that far in the World Cup. As soon as the game was over, there was an explosion of excitement in Asunción. EVERYONE was honking a horn, waiving a flag, singing, jumping up and down, and/or screaming! We went out front of the church building to wave at all the happy people driving by! The downtown area was also immediately packed with thousands of people - all celebrating! WOW! What a neat experience!

Siesta o Sin Hogar?

Kodak Moments

Asunción is a rather picturesque city (that of course, is subject to opinion - mine being that it is). There are many fascinating things to see which present various "photo opportunities." While Johnny Davis was visiting, he got the idea to take this picture as we were walking up to the old train station. Fun!

"Volante" Evangelism

Andrea and I are still learning the language here in Paraguay. We can speak pretty well, but it is still difficult to communicate effectively (especially about religious matters). But, we were wanting to do SOMETHING that would benefit the church - even if we weren't capable just yet to speak the language. So, we decided to start handing out flyers in the parks, street corners, and bus stops to invite people to church. In Paraguay, they are called "Volantes" and almost everyone will take one if you offer it to them. Thanks be to the Lord, we have already had several respond!! Please pray that these flyers will reach those souls who are searching to know the Truth!

Our First "Care Package" from Home!

Is there anything more encouraging to a foreign missionary than a care package from home??! I find it hard to imagine that there could be anything else. We just received our first from our sponsoring congregation in Milton, Florida. It was just a small box, with some trivial things inside, but it was one of the greatest gifts I believe we have ever received. I knew that every item in that box was purchased and placed there with us in mind. Our brethren went out of their way to provide a few little things that we had requested. To me, each item represented a great deal of love, a whole lot of encouragement, and a large portion of thoughtfulness. That little box gave me a lot more understanding to what Paul wrote in Philippians 2:4.

Sightseeing in Asuncion

Everyday we learn more and more about the culture and language of Paraguay. It is exciting, yet, also overwhelming at times. One of the things Andrea and I enjoy doing is just getting out and sightseeing in order to learn more about Asuncion at a little slower pace. Recently, we have been learning a great deal about the history of the country. In fact, one of the members of the congregation here has a great-great grandparent that was involved in the signing of the declaration letter for independence from Spain. This is a picture of the house where the letter was signed on May 15, 1811. It is known as "La Casa de Independencia" and is located in the midst of the bustling, modern city of Asunción.

"Retiro" (Church Retreat)

This past weekend we had a congregational retreat. We rented a little campground about 45 minutes outside the city that is maintained by a Korean denominational group. We spent two days singing, studying, worshiping, and fellow-shipping. This was the first experience Andrea and I have had with a church campground setting in a foreign country. It was wonderful! The entire weekend, I couldn’t help but think how thrilling it is to see God’s word working in the lives of the Paraguayans in the exact same way I am accustomed to seeing in the States. In reality, it doesn’t matter on what continent one may stand, God’s word touches hearts in any culture. The best part – going to the camp retreat “rejuvinated our spiritual batteries” even if it was in a different language!