A Typical Day in Paraguay
It is just a typical day here in Paraguay. The fam got up early to go to school. Our vehicle needs some work so I decided to take everyone to school. On the way there Danielle begins to scream bloody -murder, “I just got stung by a scorpion!” Sure enough, I looked down at her bag and contentedly poised on the side of the bag was a brown scorpion, seemingly pleased with himself at conquering his last victim. We immediately stopped the car and I threw the bag out the door. Fortunately, that kind of scorpion is relatively harmless—more like a bad bee sting. It got her on the thumb so she is stuck sucking her thumb all day. Not much of an example for those 10 year olds in her class.
My work as a discipler, speaker, and organizer continues. I was speaking at church plant a couple of weeks ago where they asked me to preach and share the Lord’s table. I did my thing, distributed the bread, and then I took the top off the canister with the little communion cups inside. Immediately, an intense smell of cheap alcohol overwhelmed me. Well I was stuck. What to do. You see last year I baptized Zac, my 11 year old so he now participates in communion. With no other apparent alternative, we continued normally. The guy in charge simply commented that they were going to use wine instead of grape juice because in the New Testament, wine and water are the same word. That was news to me. But I was worried about Zac. He was sitting towards the back, off to one side. When he received the cup, he began with faces. You know, those faces kids make at the most inopportune times? He was waving his hand in front of his nose. He was shaking his head. Oh man, I thought. We continued. He took the cup (presumably remembering the symbolic nature of communion and not the alcohol-laden smell) and drank it. You can imagine the faces and coughing that followed. I about died. I am sure my face was beet red. I was sweating before, but I began to spray sweat. I lost my place in my notes. I didn’t know what to say. All those new Christians were just looking at me perplexed. Zac was about in convulsions. Well, all is well that ends well. Zac announced after the service that he will never drink alcohol as long as he lives. That may be until next month’s communion.
Pray for us and especially for 3 churches and 4 guys:
Hope Baptist, Palma Loma Baptist, and Getsemani—3 churches forming the beginning of a new organization called a Fellowship of Churches.
Andres (young man with desire for ministry), Juan (unsaved), Carlos (new Christian), and Cesar (new pastor)—I meet with these guys weekly or bi-weekly.
Spray sweat…we must get that on video tape in the next missive you send home. Keep going! Stay Sober! Don’t grow weary in well doing.
Thanks Scott! That was hilarious (not sure if that is spelled right, everything looks funny in english now, sure you understand). After the few weeks we’ve been having in ministry it’s great to see the lighter side. Hope it’s ok but everytime I have moments in ministry in Colombia where I say “why did I come here?’ (don’t worry they are few and far between!) i just blame you and move on… In all seriousness thanks again for sharing all those years ago your burden and struggles which helped us define exactly what God was doing in our lives as well. You were definetly instrumental in clarify our call from the pastorate to missions, so in all seriousness thanks for being used of God. Please tell Danni and the kids we send our greetings. hasta pronto y espero q nos veamos algun dia cara a cara.
I could imagine Zac writhing in agony as his tongue and throat were burning. It made me laugh! I’m glad I found your blog, thanks. The resource center thing your are involved with sounds awesome, i’ll be praying for God to bless this “far more abundantly than we could ask or think.” God has gifted you with the ability to connect with young men and establish deep relationship. What a powerful way to practice God’s love and honor him with your life.
I have no doubt that your students love you, Dani. Do you have opportunities to meet their parents, or invest in any of the other teachers lives?
I love you guys! Oh, by the way, my mother in law is moving in with us in December. Her dementia is getting worse and is to much for the other daughter in law to handle, especially with the 7th kid coming in Dec.
Scott,
As funny as your communion experience was, I was really moved by the fact that Dani handled the scorpion sting as well as she did. I hate all critters that sting-wasps, bees, SCORPONS etc.
Just another day on the field for the Lord and you guys are doing great!!!
By the way, Darrell has been in services for the last nine weeks – ABF & church.
Hi Scott and Danielle,
We are the Whitlocks from Patterson Park Church and we have just “adopted” you (I bet you didn’t know you were orphans…hmmm)! We have committed to praying for your family on a regular basis. Here is the problem – our computer is not picking up your e-mail address…long story….so if you could send an e-mail our way, we’ll be able to get started with communication.
Sorry to leave this on your blog but that was the best we could do in a pinch!
Hope to hear from you soon!