Our last day with TMS Global

Here is our email newsletter that just went out. Our last day with TMS Global is coming up soon. What an honor it has been to work with such awesome people.

http://us5.campaign-archive1.com/?u=78570f65c44145bdc77506e21&id=22a2cf0cc2

Very sad news

Interesting video about Tereré

Here is an interesting and informative video I found about Tereré, the national drink of Paraguay.

The Mission Society's new name

Our mission agency now has a new name: TMS Global!  We love the new name, and we hope you will, too.  To find out more info, read the new issue of Unfinished magazine.

Jonathan is Traveling to Alabama Soon!

In February, Jonathan will be traveling to the States to attend a Global Impact Celebration (GIC) missions conference with one of our supporting churches in North Alabama. While he is there, he would like to visit as many of you as possible and also search for new supporters. Contact us if you would be interested in him visiting.  Our support levels have been slowly dropping, so we also want to search for others who feel led to support our ministry.  If you know of friends who might be interested in our ministry, please contact us.

Paraguay, the happiest country in the world!

Paraguay has been said to be the happiest country in the world.  Everything is very relaxed here.  One of the main pastimes is drinking Tereré. The way that the people here sit in groups, talk, and relax reminds me a lot of Andy and Barney relaxing on the front porch (from the Andy Griffith Show).

Tereré is more than just the national drink here in Paraguay. It is a way to spend time with friends and share what is going on, a source of hydration, offers natural health remedies for just about everything, is a direct connection to local history, and so much more. Sharing the same cup with your friends is a way to show that you care and you value spending time with them.

Here are some excellent videos that explain really well about the people of Paraguay and some reasons why they are happy.  We hope you enjoy these videos and learn something new.

Video #1: Happiness in Paraguay

Video #2: Happiness in Paraguay

Video #3: Happiness in Paraguay

New Mission Society Website

The Mission Society's new website is now LIVE!   There are some amazing pictures on the new site. Check it out! https://www.themissionsociety.org/.  Also, there is a new and improved donation system at https://www.themissionsociety.org/give.

Blog Name Change!!!

I just realized that we can now change the name of our blog from "Our Journey to Paraguay" to "Our Journey in Paraguay"!!!

We are learning so much about the culture, language and people here now.  We are still getting settled in, getting used to living here, learning where things are, learning how things work here, etc.  We still have SO MUCH MORE to learn!  Thanks for keeping us in your prayers!  Some days are better than others, and your prayers really mean a lot to us.

We are also starting to be able to see first-hand the needs that are around us.  Some of the needs are ones that God has shown us before (and we are learning more about them and what God is wanting to do).  We are also learning of other needs, and we are continually praying about what God wants us to be doing next.

We hope to be able to share some stories here on our blog in more detail than is possible in other places, but it may take some time to get the stories on this blog.  We are new to writing and blogging, so please bear with us.  We have a vision of sharing stories here about people we meet and what God is doing here in Paraguay.

And, if you don't already know...  here are other places where we share other information, updates, pictures, and videos:

• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/FacesOfParaguay 
• Join our Email Newsletter List:  http://eepurl.com/n735n
• Donation page at The Mission Society (Use our ID#0353):  https://www.themissionsociety.org/give#missionary-giving
• The Daycare we work with: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mary-Jo-Phillips-Methodist-Daycare-Center-of-Asuncion/244217065626778
• We attend and serve at Trinidad Church: https://www.facebook.com/IglesiaMetodistaTrinidadParaguay/ 

We are excited to finally be here!  We are looking forward to what God has in store!

Here we go!

Our plane tickets have been purchased!  We leave to start our ministry in Paraguay on March 17th and arrive in Paraguay on the 18th!  Please keep us in your prayers during this upcoming transition!

Update on Vehicle Fund progress

Since we have not posted here in a while, I wanted to let you know that (for now) it is easier for us to post shorter and more frequent updates on our Facebook page.  Note: you do not need to have a Facebook account to access the things we post there since they are public posts.

Here are a few items you might enjoy:
As we visit several churches to share what God taught us during our year of Spanish Language School, we are asking them to contribute to our Vehicle Fund.

Post by Faces of Paraguay.

Also, you can see some of our pictures from our graduation from Language School.

Post by Faces of Paraguay.

Preparing to leave for Paraguay

We had a great Christmas and New Years with our families, and now are working hard in our preparations for Paraguay.  We have added several speaking engagements to the Calendar, so be sure to check that out.  There is a lot to do, so please pray that our preparations go smoothly.  We will be purchasing our tickets soon, and we will post the exact date after that time.

Honking in Costa Rica

During our time walking around town here in Costa Rica, we have noticed a few of the reasons to honk your motorcycle/car horn here: 

1. the stop light turns green and the cars in front of you aren't moving yet
2. driving past a pretty girl
3. a taxi driver sees you walking (or sitting at a bus stop) and honks to see if you want a taxi
4. drivers that know each other honk as they pass  (especially bus drivers and taxi drivers)
5. a courteous driver will honk while stopping to let another vehicle turn or pass in front
6. a driver giving thanks to a courteous driver who just let them pass in front
7. a vehicle gets in the way of your vehicle or pulls in front of you suddenly
8. a vehicle in front of you is going to slow
9. a vehicle in front of you is driving badly
10. a vehicle in front of you turns suddenly without signalling
11. you are about to drive through an intersection, so you honk to let others know you are there
12. you are passing the vehicle in front of you and want them to notice you are passing 
13. a motorcycle delivery person honks to find the correct house on the street
14. a taxi driver who has been called to pick someone up starts honking to find the correct house
15. Costa Rica wins a soccer game

Where do we call "home" now?

We have a "home" in the States.
We have a "home" here in Costa Rica.
And, soon we will have a "home" in Paraguay.

It seems like it should be an easy thing to say where "home" is, but it is really complicated.  Since being in Costa Rica, I have noticed myself using the word "home" for our house here.  Each time I do that, I think "did I really just say that?".  It is a strange feeling.

We have realized in our short time here how much of an encouragement it is to hear from our "home" in the States.  We love getting emails from you who are praying for us and encouraging us!   We love going to our mailbox at school and finding letters, cards, and packages!

A new friend and fellow classmate here in Costa Rica at Language School was recently able to describe this feeling very well in a recent blog post.  She does a much better job than I could have explaining how we are an extension of YOU, our prayer supporters in the States!   Please take a moment to read the post here: http://wallacewanderings.wordpress.com/2014/04/07/theres-no-place-like-home/.  

Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we go though this challenging time learning a new language!  We have learned a lot so far, but we hear that this next trimester is even more challenging.

Our first haircuts in Costa Rica

Well, the time came when Jonathan and the boys were desperately needing to get their haircut.  We found a friend at school who took us to the place that he likes to go.  We met a guy named Luigi.  Jonathan went first.  We tried to gesture and use our Spanish dictionary to tell how we wanted it cut.  It was a little scary not knowing how the haircut was going to turn out, but it came out great.

Then, it was David's turn.  We told Luigi to do a similar cut for David.  David did a great job of being still, and his hair cut turned out great.

 Then, it was Eli's turn.  He likes to keep his hair long, so we were not sure how to describe what we wanted Luigi to do, but we did manage to get across that he could just thin it up a little.  While he was doing the boys hair he put some sort of gel stuff and spiked their hair up before he finished cutting.  It made for a great picture of Eli.

It was a great experience!  Luigi was holding up different things (scissors, clippers, combs, etc.) and telling us the Spanish word for the item.  We will definitely go back.

Our new home & the surrounding area

Here is our house in Costa Rica!  Don't you love the blue and white colors!  We enter through 2 gates before entering our front door.  And each lock has a different key.

This is our street looking from the park just north of our house (Parque el Bosque).  If you look closely in the picture below, you can see our house in the distance on the left of the street.

 

 Here are a few pictures of Parque el Bosque (Forest Park).  It is a very beautiful park.  In the second picture you can hopefully see the mountains in the background.

 Here is a map of the area.  It shows how far we walk to school each day.

In the back of our house, we have a small open area where our clothes lines are located.

On our way here from the airport, we stopped and bought some food.  We found out quickly that cereal is very expensive here.  But, it was worth it to have some Cheerios.  David couldn't wait to try out our toaster.

Then, we needed to do some shopping.  We found their version of Sam's Club, which is called Price Smart.

We also found Walmart!  We had to ride the bus to get there, but we found it.  But, it is very expensive here compared to some other stores.  So, we only try and go there when they have something we cannot find anywhere else.

 

From several places in the city, you can see the mountains in the background.  We learned that the San Jose area is surrounded by mountains.

 We also found where the nearest McDonald's is located!  David is very happy about that.  It is pretty far away, so we will only eat there on special occasions.  His Happy Meal comes with pineapples instead of apples.  But, we were happy that we were able to get our order correct (with lots of pointing at the menu, of course).

On Saturday mornings, there is a farmer's market (called "feria") about a 15 minute walk away.  We found lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. 

There is a free Zumba class next to the market.  The people are really into it.  Just in case you are wondering, we have not tried to get out there yet.  Maybe later we could try to keep up with them.

Walking on the sidewalks here is an adventure in itself.  You never know when the sidewalk will suddenly change height, a hole will be there, or other "landmines" such as dog poop or garbage will be in the way.  Also, here in Costa Rica, the cars have the right-of-way over the pedestrians.  So, even crossing the road is an adventure.

We hope you are enjoying these updates.  Thanks for your continued prayers and support.  We could not be where we are today without your many prayers.  We pray for you also.  Please contact us if you have any specific prayer requests that we can pray for.  God Bless!

More pictures from school

Here are some more pictures from our school!  We have to walk about 10-15 minutes from our house to get there.

 

Here is a picture of Eli and David swinging on the swings with one of their new friends. 

This is  David's desk at school in his class.

 Some of the teachers performed a traditional Costa Rican dance for all of the new students. 

New Years Eve in Costa Rica

One of the first things we experienced when arriving here in Costa Rica was the way New Years Eve is celebrated.  One way to some it all up:  they LOVE fireworks!  The fireworks went off all around the city of San Jose starting about midnight and continued almost continually until 3 AM!

Here is the view from one of the buildings at our school overlooking the city.  The small streaks of light were small floating lanterns that were being launched all over the city.

 Here are a few pictures of our neighbors shooting fireworks.  They were exploding right over our "back porch".

We watched the fireworks for a little more, and then tried get some sleep even though fireworks were still going off.

Were are in Costa Rica at Language School!

We arrived in Costa Rica on December 27th!  We flew in late so as soon as we made it to our new house, we made our beds and went to sleep.  The first few days, we were getting used to all the new sights & sounds, learning how & where to buy food & supplies, and hearing Spanish everywhere we go.  But, we are pretty settled in now. 

Our language school is very challenging, but we can already tell it is working.  Our kids love the school here, and have made lots of friends.  We have 3 classes: Grammar, Language, and Phonetics.  We have already had tests in 2 of our classes.

 The Boys Headed to the First Day of School in Costa Rica

We were finally able to get internet hooked up at our house, so we have been able to email and video chat with our family. We need to post several updates soon about all that has been going on, but we have been so busy with school.   Hopefully, we can do that soon.

Thanks again for keeping us in your prayers.  We are so excited that we are finally here at the Spanish Institute learning Spanish.  We can hardly wait to know enough Spanish to be able to use it without any help.  Thanks again for your prayers and support!

Our "Send-Off" Service

On December 15th, we had a special service for us to say goodbye to our family and friends.  It was an amazing service.  We showed a slideshow of pictures of our trips to Paraguay.  We also had several friends share favorite memories.  Then, everyone gathered around us to pray for us.

We had several tables of items from Paraguay.  We also had note cards for friends to write notes to us.  We also had two books for friends to write notes for Eli and David.

It was a very special time that we will never forget.  It is such a great feeling to know that we have so many people praying for us.  We are so blessed!

We are back from Colorado!

We just returned from our training in Colorado at Mission Training International (MTI). We had an amazing time! Now we feel much more prepared for Language School and living in a different culture. We loved getting to see the mountains, the snow, and made some new friends for life who are heading out to countries all over the world.

For the last two weeks at MTI, we focused on Culture and Character.  It has been extremely beneficial, but at times very difficult.  The staff at MTI really wants to make sure missionaries are prepared for the Mission Field in every single way.  And they do a great job!  One way they prepare us is covering things that missionaries struggle with while on the field. Some topics covered were:  making the transition to another culture, dealing with conflict & stress, remembering to take time to rest in God, handling paradox in life, and dealing with culture shock.  This training has been very helpful in many ways.  I am sure we will look back and appreciate what we learned even more in a few years.

An example of the paradox that we have in our lives:  we are very excited about spending Christmas with family and friends, but at the same time we feel deep sadness about leaving for Language School on December 27th.  The next few weeks will be will be both beautiful and sad, but we are prepared to make the most of both sides of the paradox.

You are invited to join us on December 15th at 2pm for our "Send-Off" Service at Grace Bible Church of the Shoals.  You can find where it is located here.  We would love to have you be a part of this special time.  As we pack and prepare to leave, please keep us in your prayers.