Linn's News July 2010

Thank you all for your prayers.
In response we give thanks that Pastor Nicky and family appear to be fine, with Nicky coping with her workload and staying well.
One is never sure about newspaper reports but today one newspaper reported a growth in the economy and more people in employment, which is encouraging.
I give thanks that Giovanni has arrived to work in the school library. He is very young, (not long out of school himself). He is not a trained librarian but he has initiative and he is learning rapidly. I think that he will be a good support for me. He is a lovely Christian lad. His father was a maths teacher at St. Andrew’s many years ago.
I am developing a great relationship with the 6th grade students whom I am teaching and preparing for a Cambridge exam at the end of the year. They are now motivated to work and do well at English. I am working hard at making the lessons fun, especially with the World Cup as a focus at the moment. It taxes my brain for ideas.
The Church
The VIVE youth group from the evening Cathedral congregation held its first retreat. They had a wonderful time with the Lord. Around 20 young people attended. It was held out at our school sports ground.
This week Pastor Agustine, from the cathedral has been in the Chaco helping with a pastors course there. It has been good to see Pastor Agustine and his wife back with us after a short break. Please continue to pray for them as a family.
In the “Golden Oldies” congregation in the cathedral we continue to enjoy the presence of young people to help lead the music worship. It has been good to learn some new worship songs.
The country
The political scene continues to rumble on with very little actually seen to be happening. President Lugo is still down as far as popularity goes.
There has been a break from the ongoing “doom and gloom” attitudes with the participation of Paraguay in the World Cup. The city of Asuncion has been awash with the Albirroja red, white and blue as flags are flown and people are dressed in their Albirroja t-shirts. After the demise of England we Brits have all become avid Paraguay supporters. I even swapped my England flag outside the house for a Paraguayan flag, which the neighbours loved.

The school
The World Cup has taken the school by storm this month. It has rather overshadowed other events.
For the first time we held a day for parents to come and talk to staff. There was no appointment system as in England. It was just first come, first served. In fact it was a very valuable day and everybody was positive about it afterwards. A week later school reports were sent out.
Last week the Pre-school celebrated Family Day with a show for their parents. As usual it was excellent and the parents loved it.
Since then the main focus has been on the World Cup, with lots of prayer going up for the National team and praise for their success so far. As Paraguay has progressed so school attendance has dwindled so far for the matches.
Everything stops for the Paraguay football team playing and St. Andrew’s School is no exception. We used our facilities to set up a Big Screen in the hall and matches have been shown there for the whole school. The first round match was fun but nothing compared to the second round, which took place this morning, as I write. For the match to run into extra time was a bonus, but to face a penalty shootout had everybody on the edge of their seats and then jumping in the air as each goal was scored. (Amazingly there was virtual silence as Japan scored their goals). When Paraguay finally won we all went mad.
In fact the whole of Asuncion resounded to car horns and shouting in the streets. Thousands gathered in the centre of Asuncion to celebrate.... and this is just the second round! I hope that we fair as well against Spain.
Prayer Points:-
1. Give thanks for encouraging news of the reported rise in employment figures and pray that the trend will continue.
2. Give thanks for the young people in the VIVE group and pray for their spiritual growth. Pray for the leadership of that group, that the Holy Spirit will empower them to be inspirational.
3. Pray for the staff and pupils of St. Andrew’s who will be taking the 2 week Winter break at the end of the week. Pray for rest and recuperation and for safety in travel.
Thank 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
You can follow my blog on www.linninpy.blogspot.com (mostly full of the World Cup at the moment).