Thank you once again for all your support over the past month, both through prayer and in other ways. In answer to prayer, Angela has settled into her role very well. She and Santi are working really hard as a team, cataloguing books. We discovered that many of the Spanish books had been classified incorrectly in the dim and distant past, so they have a major task on their hands checking all the books in the library.... a few thousand! I help when I can. There is only one computer with the catalogue programme so we cannot double the speed. It will take a few months or so to do the job.The dengue epidemic is still with us but not quite so bad. My doctor said that they are seeing less cases at the hospital. I am still using repellent on exposed areas, but when I saw it take the polish off my shoes, I became rather worried about what it is doing to my body. There has been an explosion of mosquitoes around our property and today there were a lot in school. There has been very cold weather and now it is suddenly warmer again, so out they all come.
The Church
Since I last wrote we had the joy of a visit from Revd Andy Lines, director of Crosslinks. Andy was the pastor of the English church when I first arrived here. He and Mandy, his wife were the first people to invite me round for a meal. For once I attended the English church to listen to Andy preach once again. It was a lovely service, quite like old times. It was also good to hear something in English again.
The Country
This month has seen the official celebration of the Bicentenary of the Independence of Paraguay. We had a four day weekend off school so we could attend things. It has been a spectacle of colour and there was a real sense of unity over the offical long weekend when the main celebrations occurred. I went into town one evening with Mags and Gwen. It was wonderful to wander around and to see the sights all floodlit. There were huge crowds in the street outside the Pantheon de los Heroes, which had been lit with a continuous sequence of colours, red, then white, then blue. It was quite beautiful.
I also walked around Asuncion for nearly three hours on the Saturday, enjoying feeling safe for once as the place was swarming with police and it had been closed to traffic.
There was a mega programme of events all over the city, ranging from marches, carnival parade, concerts (including one with 250 young harpists), markets, light projections on buildings, military parades, theatre and spectacle, and a massive fifteen minute firework display on the Saturday at midnight. The calendar of events has extended well beyond just the weekend.
Last Saturday I went to the Municipal theatre to watch the Ballet company in a Bicentenary production of "Madame Lynch." Fortunately we have been overdosed with the history of Paraguay this year so I knew the story. It was a simple but magnificent production in the refurbished theatre. The costumes were wonderful and the orchestra played the specially written, expressive music superbly.
The school
We have been excited in the school library. Our school adviser took a trip to Buenos Aires to purchase books in a book fair. A few hundred new books were purchased in Spanish to cover all the departments, in an attempt to get the children reading in their own language. They read better in English than in their first language. We needed to classify and catalogue the books before the children could norrow them. In the meantime we put them out on a table and allowed the children to look at them in the library. The response has been fantastic in the Primary department. The children were all crowding in at lunchtime, squashed onto the sofas and even sitting on the cold floor, reading and enjoying the new books. Now that many have been put on the shelves they are borrowing them to take home. Some bookworms are coming for books twice a day.
Just before the long weekend break we held a beautiful bicentenary service in the Cathedral. It was packed to standing room only. It had been prepared very thoughtfully and it was a serious occasion. The theme was about God being the carer of the nation. The reading were given in Enxtet, Spanish and English. Bishop Andres from Concepcion gave the address and he began in Guarani.
Afterwards we all moved out into the grounds to witness children, staff and parents placing their hopes and dreams for Paraguay into a time capsule. This has been interred in a special plinth, upon which an ex-pupil has placed a sculpture of doves of peace. Bishop Andres, Bishop Peter and the head of the school,unveiled a plaque explaining what the plinth is.
A group of secondary children has just returned from a wonderful trip to enjoy sport with Brazilian schools at a centre in Brazil. It was a time when friendship meant as much as taking part in the sports. They came back full of stories of the good time that they had experienced.
Prayer Points:
1. Give thanks for the sense of unity that there was during the Bicentenary celebrations. Pray that the hopes and dreams of people for a better Paraguay will be fulfilled.
2. At the moment there is a huge drugs problem here, with all the associated problems of robbery and violence. The average person is tired of it and they want to see the country change. They are looking to the police and government to take control and to bring change. Pray for those in authority in the country to take up the challenge and for God to guide them.
3. The school exam season is with us followed by a Parents' Day and reports. Please pray for everybody in the school at this time. It is a stressful period.
