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.