FEISA News for August
FEISA, The teacher training college in Asuncion has released their latest news for August.
Praise the Lord for a very good and refreshing winter break for all our staff and students in July. Estela’s health has improved and we are all very grateful for the wonderful, spring-like weather we were able to enjoy.
This month, there are several visits to the Chaco; please pray for safety in the journeys and fruitful training sessions with the indigenous communities:
Nursery project visits to Yatnata; 1st-2nd and 22nd-23rd
Pre-school teacher training visit to El Estribo; 8th -9th
There are also 8 mobile play sessions planned, including two special ones on 14th and 16th celebrating Children’s Day (16th Aug). Please pray for safety as our team travels to poor areas and for the children to experience God’s love through this ministry.
Prayer Line
The SAMS GB Prayer line:
SAMS Prayer Line for the week commencing Tuesday 5 August
Pat Blanchard was in the UK last week but on Thursday she returns to Peru after a short time in the UK. Pray for her in travel, readjustment to life and ministry at Jesús el Nazareno in Lima, and for a restoration to full health.
On Thursday and Friday the Hotel Salta in that city in Northern Argentina hosts a conference on the church and the environment. Andrew Leake is the main instigator and asks prayer that through it God will develop in church leaders of the area a genuine and practical concern for the world in which they live, particularly in light of deforestation of the Chaco area to the north. The conference has also caught the attention of politicians, the press and other groups.
Also in Northern Argentina this weekend are (i) a regional conference for Indian pastors held in the town of Sauzalito, led by veteran pastor Ernesto Avendaño, and (ii) a meeting in the Toba community of El Churcal to consider the possibility of producing Scriptures in audio form in the Toba language. Please include these events in your prayers.
Finally, the first indigenous pre-school teacher training sessions in the Paraguayan Chaco, mentioned last week, are held this Friday and Saturday in El Estribo. Pray for Samantha Parsons and the team from FEISA, the Early Years Teacher Training College in Asunción, who will be working with teachers and mothers from the villages of this community.
Paraguay Prayer calendar
The latest prayer calendar from Paraguay.
SAMS Prayer line
The latest prayer line from SAMS GB. SAMS Prayer Line for the week beginning Tuesday 29 July
Caroline Gilmour-White writes enthusiastically about the first part of the 2008 Mission Paraguay short term volunteer programme: “Praise God for the runaway success of the group activities in July – a building programme, children´s clubs and an innovative sewing project. Please pray for plans to continue the sewing project under the leadership of local women in the towns of Luque and San Lorenzo.”
As one group leaves, 25 new volunteers arrive on Saturday (2nd) for building and children´s projects in Concepción and the Chaco. Pray for good fellowship and that the Lord would direct the work.
Two further items for prayer from the Paraguayan Chaco are:
the indigenous pre-school teacher training programme which starts this month, when staff of FEISA, the Early Years Teacher Training College, will be working with 9 schools and 15 teachers and mothers
– on Friday (1st) Elena Nesbit, a retired nurse, arrives in Paraguay to help Beryl Baker in her Chaco medical ministry.
The week-long annual Youth Camp of the Lusitanian Church of Portugal begins on Saturday. Please remember the young people, and also that God would raise up from them future leaders for that church.
Finally, a request for prayer for next Wednesday, 6 August, when interviews are held for SAMS GB’ new Mission Director. There are three candidates; please ask God to reveal his mind to the interview panel.
Mission Paraguay 2008 first report
San Lorenzo is a very poor area with little work. Dusty earth roads are a quagmire during periods of rain. Some roads are on an incline so that deep ruts are formed, subsequently setting rock hard making the movement of vehicles extremely difficult…
Read the full report.
“Wonderful, fantastic, brilliant and any other superlatives you can think of are how it felt to be able to show ladies from a shanty town called San Lorenzo how to make garments for themselves and their children. The look of sheer ecstasy on their faces was amazing as they learnt and completed the task. In the end several pairs of trousers were made. One elderly lady looked resplendent in a pink suit (jacket and skirt). Her daughter and granddaughter had made trousers and inserted a zip. Children and adults made scarves.
In Paraguay nothing is wasted and scraps were tied together with string to make dusters.
This has been an amazing experience.
Thank you God, for giving me this opportunity.”
Moira Lindsay, From St.Saviour, Church of Ireland, Co.Armagh.
SAMS Prayer line
SAMS Prayer Line for week beginning Tuesday 22 July
The winter holidays are over for the staff and students of St Andrew’s School and the FEISA Teacher Training College in Asunción, Paraguay. Please pray for them in this first week back, and especially for the 1st and 3rd year students at FEISA who are on teaching practice. Pray they will bring God’s light and love into the schools where they do their placements.
Stuart & Kathryn Broughton are SAMS Associate Mission Partners serving the Portuguese-speaking communities in Sydney, Australia. Kathryn is currently in the UK helping translate for spouses at the Lambeth Conference, and asks our prayer for mental agility and strength and a true sense of God’s peace and love.
Next Tuesday sees the end of an era as Terry & Pancha Barratt arrive back in the UK from Chile after a lifetime in South America. They are coming to help care for Terry’s elderly parents, former SAMS missionaries Tony & Peggy. They will, however, be continuing the theological extension work of SEAN, of which Terry is International Director. As we give thanks for their wonderful service, let’s pray for their journey and resettlement, and remember the indigenous Pehuenche church in southern Chile, flourishing under new leadership supported by the training programmes carried out by Terry and Pancha.
Also next Tuesday Sue Woodcock returns to Sabadell in Spain after 3 weeks here, and around the same time Felipe Yáñez arrives from Málaga to join Sarah and the boys for the rest of their time here, including visits to link churches.
Following representation at the Lambeth Conference on Friday, the SAMS stand moves to New Wine on Saturday, for one week at Newark and two weeks at Shepton Mallet. Pray for the witness of the stand and those who staff it.
Finally, please continue to remember events going on overseas through this week:
the 25th anniversary of Anglican ministry in Villa el Salvador, Lima, Peru with Juan Carlos & Penny Marcés
– the training week for Wichi youth group leaders in Northern Argentina with René Pereira
– the 6-day course on HIV/AIDS in the Paraguayan Chaco with Beryl Baker for indigenous health auxiliaries
SAMS Prayer line
Pat Blanchard arrives in the UK tomorrow having just undergone an operation in Lima, Peru. Pray that this month-long private visit she’s making will be beneficial in every way. Pat will be at New Wine in Shepton Mallet later in the month.
This is the season of winter camps in South America. Josias de Souza and the church of Espirito Santo in Recife, Brazil, join with the local Baptist church in two children’s camps from tomorrow until the 19th. And from next Monday (14th) for one week a young people’s camp is held in Juárez in Northern Argentina, drawing people from different parts of the diocese and organised by René Pereira and Pastor Narciso. Pray God’s rich blessing on these important events.
This is a poignant time for the Somervell family as Tony, Chris and their 3 teenage children leave Paraguay on Friday (11th) after many years’ service there. Pray for them as they travel, adjust to the UK and face issues of schooling and future employment. Praise God for his faithfulness, past, present and future.
Arriving in Paraguay on Thursday (10th) is the first group of short term volunteers under the ‘Mission Paraguay’ banner. Pray their 3 weeks alongside the Paraguayan church and people in practical projects and children and young people’s work will be mutually enriching. Uphold too organisers David Orritt, Penny Metcalfe and Caroline Gilmour-White.
Finally, on Saturday afternoon (12th) a prayer ministry and healing retreat is held in Recife, Brazil; 6 ladies from Mission Esperança will receive ministry to help prepare them to minister to others. Ruth & Efraim Hollingdale Vilella ask us to remember this important event in our prayers.
SAMS Prayer line
The latest SAMS GB prayer line:
Please pray for a special meeting of the church of Gómez Carreño in Chile this Saturday. Pastor Danny Morrison remains on sick leave and Daniel & Ellelein Kirk ask prayer that God will guide this church gathering and lead the congregation forward during this difficult period. Pray too for God’s healing of Danny and remember his wife Ary too.
A number of folk are travelling to the UK this week:
Retired bishop David & Rachel Leake return tomorrow from a three-month visit to Northern Argentina to assist the Toba New Testament translation project.
Sarah Yáñez and sons Samuel and Aaron also arrive tomorrow from Spain for two months, the first with her parents, the second, after husband Felipe’s arrival, visiting link churches.
Also from Spain comes Sue Woodcock on a 3-week visit, arriving Tuesday (8th).
That same day Bishop Tito & Miriam Zavala arrive back here for church visits and the Lambeth Conference.
Please remember these people in your prayers.
Finally, the staff and students of St Andrew’s and the Annexe schools in Asunción, Paraguay, are winding down for the two-week winter holiday starting on Monday (7th). Pray for a time of much-needed refreshment prior to the long term ahead until Christmas, and safety for those travelling.
Paraguay prayer calendar July 2008
The latest prayer calendar from Paraguay has just arrived. Download the PDF.