Tuesday, September 14, 2010

September News

September News
Linn’s News September 2010
Thank you everybody for your prayers. This has been a good month generally. The weather is becoming warmer and Spring seems to have arrived. At the moment the predominant colour in gardens and parks is pink, with pink lapacho trees, pink bougainvillaea and pink azaleas all in bloom. The colours seem to take turns at putting on displays at this time of the year.
The Church.We are now in the run-up to the General Synod.This week in the cathedral we held our AGM after the morning service.As I walked into church on Sunday I spotted Fermina, from Maxawaya. I rushed over to talk to her. She is down here again for hospital treatment. She is going to begin chemotherapy. She looks very frail, but she is placing her confidence in Jesus. I was able to introduce her to a few people. She is not sure how long she will be in Asuncion, so I thought that it would be good if she felt a bit more at home and welcome at church. I invited her back for lunch but she did not want to wait until after the AGM.
The country
President Lugo is in the spotlight once again as another young lady claims that he is the father of her child. Also, President Lugo’s niece was involved in a car crash at the weekend in which two people died. She has been charged with manslaughter.Whilst Spring is arriving in the country, so are dirty skies. Fields are being burned off in the Chaco and all the smoke associated with that seems to be hanging over the city of Asuncion as smog. Lots of people are becoming sick with allergies to the pollution. Also smoke is blowing over the north of the country, drifting from wildfires which are raging in Bolivia.The schoolThe new term started with a very cold week. The children spent each day bundled up in coats, even in the classrooms and several had colds and coughs.During the holidays Profesora Pabla went to visit a school in the Chaco. She came back with a report for the children and a request for help for Children’s’ day, in the form of cartons of chocolate milk. The children responded well and they raised funds for this by selling tuck.This month has seen the birth of a little girl to “Auntie Rita” our Primary department secretary.We celebrated the Day of the Flag and the Primary children heard about the history of the flag. They then raised their hands and swore allegiance to the flag of Paraguay in true patriotic fashion.As we come up to the 200th anniversary of the founding of Asuncion, the children are receiving an input of Paraguayan culture. Last week they were treated to a presentation about a famous Paraguayan composer followed by a guitar recital of his music. It was beautiful and the children all listened attentively. Many of them are learning to play the guitar (Paraguay is the land of the harp and the guitar) so the recital was inspirational.All the children in Pre-school and Primary pupils celebrated Children’s’ Day with fun and games at our sports ground.In secondary the ninth grade held a presentation of their small business projects. They had great fun designing, producing, marketing and finally selling their products, working in teams.
Prayer Points.
Please pray for the government and President Lugo.
Please pray for the health of the students and staff at St. Andrew’s school. Many are suffering with allergies to all the air pollution.
Please remember Fermina in your prayers as she begins her chemotherapy treatment. Pray that she will receive all the support that she needs.
Please pray for Judith Duddy, from my home church in Warminster, who will be joining us at school for a few weeks. She is due to arrive on 28th September. Pray for her as she prepares to come and pray for a safe journey for her.
You can read in more detail some of the things that we have been up to this month on my blogsite at http://www.linninpy.blogspot.comThank you, from Linn Tedman –My work can be supported through The Church Mission Society/LatinAmerica, Watlington Road, Oxford OX4 6BZ You can find more information about me, on the CMS website at http://www.cms-uk.org/tabid/519/language/en-GB/Default.aspx