Weekend Activities pt. 2 and Su Refugio

The church at Su Refugio

Well, we are nearing the end of our trip. We are here in Tobati at "Su Refugio." It is so amazing here. It truly is a refuge - nestled in the middle of rocky hills. Our tough work is officially done here, and we're here to see the work that has been done here over the past 4 years or so. When we were here 3 years ago,  this place was still under construction. Now, the whole structure is built, and there are 16 kids living here now. They bring in many other kids from the city for lunch 3 times a week who are malnourished or not fed enough in their homes. Afterwards, they are usually taught as if they were in school. There is a teacher strike going on here in the public schools, and its been going on for a long time. So, here, they take care of the kids educationally as well. The new Paraguayan president is going to be signed in to office on Thursday, so they're hoping he will fix the problem. The reason for the strike is because as teachers here in the public school system, the salary they start with is the one they retire with. If you have 2 or more kids of your own, they are allowed to retire 2 years early. So, its kind of a tough situation. I'm glad the local kids have this place to be for that as well as other things.

Since we were here last, they have also dug a well, finished construction, and have a running church. There is a new playscape here which was brought down in a crate recently by Scott Kvandel's church. They're pretty excited about it.

Yesterday, we had our final dinner with all the translators, host families, nationals, and pretty much everyone who has helped out for the past 2 weeks to make these campaigns happen. We sang together, danced, ate really good beef, and had a really amazing time of fellowship with everyone. It was truly memorable. Especially because we made a Harlem Shake video. If you don't know what that is, that's ok.

Before that, we had a Day of the Child program running at the church. The kids had team games, clowns, other amusing activities, and then they got to see the Arca play at the end. We then made more bracelets with them. I think we've put at least 1,000 bracelets on that many kids hands in the past 2 weeks. We also got to be reunited with many kids that we've seen in the past 3 years as well. All in all, I think we saw somewhere between 450-500 kids.

Andrew and Lou headed off today back to the US, so we ask that you pray for them as they travel back - that all would go smoothly and they would arrive safely. A few of us are sick too, still, so we would ask that you would pray for us as we get ready to head home and jump right back into the real world hours after arriving back in country on Wednesday night. Thanks so much! :)

Mural in dining hall of Su Refugio

Figuring out a way to retrieve the Evangeball from the roof...

Weekend Activities pt. 1

Before I say anything, I finally have a brief excerpt from Lou about his experience in being the head doctor in all of these clinics. We are officially finished with these clinics - we did 5 in all. 

Will and Sonia sharing the Gospel at a medical clinic in
Villa Industrial 

"We have had great clinics and a wonderful time for reaching out to the people of Paraguay.  Pastor  Alcides vision is to provide physical and  spiritual help to the people.  We have seen a large number of patients approximately 500 . They ranged in age from 4 months to 101 years  The team has all been engaged in the clinics.  Jayant has helped us work on improving our efficiency using his talents as an industrial engineer.   We also used him to work with Casey in organizing and dispensing our medications.  Marc and Casey did triage. Will and I saw 115 patients by ourselves and I was very tired.  God knew I needed help so He sent us more doctors.


On morning  I was the keynote speaker for a conference on how to prevent hosptal acquired infections.  The Minister of Health for Paraguay introduced the conference.   I was fortunate enough to have Pastor Alcides son Israel who is a senior medical student  serve as my translator.  My Spanish is very poor.  Pastor Matt. Pastor Alcides and Will all joined me at the Hospital visits. We  went to a second Hospital to hold another medical seminar.  I shared  my testimony with the staff at both hospitals.  The next three clinics God provided 3-4 additional doctors which was a blessing to all of us especially me.

After the medical visit the team had an opportunity to share the gospel with the people.  Victoria, Andrew, Portia, Liz and Pastor Matt were all constantly involved with evengelizing through sharing God's word.  Pastor pointed out that the door to door usually  only got one person to come  out but the clinics got entire families out.

Portia didn't think I was busy enough so she found some shut ins for me to do house calls.  Theae were very moving experiences.  I will share more of that experience when we get home.

God has blessed our work as we share His love with His children in Paraguay.  Please continue to pray for our safety and health through our return."

Dr Lou Saravolatz

Yesterday, we were able to participate in the "Arca" performance that was done in the central square of San Lorenzo, where we've done the empty heart skit for the past 2 years. The actors did a great job, and we were able to go through the wordless bracelet with tons of kids. We do that a whole lot here. The medical clinic in Villa Industrial went well also. It was our last one of our time here. There were two dentists working as well. At some point, Dr. Lou came out to where we were making crafts with kids, asking Portia if she had a small pair of scissors and tweezers. When asked why, he said he was getting ready to do a small procedure. Things like that weren't too common either. Everything turned out well in the end.

Last night, we attended "juntos," the youth group here, for the second time. Jayant and Andrew got to participate in an interesting way as well. Jayant was able to share his testimony of how he came to Christ 6 months ago. "How great thou art" is a part of his testimiony, so he sang it to the group in spanish with another Paraguayan to help him out with the some of the words that were harder. Andrew got to preach on 1 John 2, and did a great job explaining about being in Christ, and how the outpouring of his love in our lives is manifested in how we love others, especially those within the church. It was a really wonderful night overall. 

I am out of time for today, tons more to write about, will have to find time later! 

Jayant sharing his testimony and singing at Juntos

Casey with all the nurses who she shared her testimony with

Villa Industrial and Los Nogales

Just as a disclaimer, this is being typed out on my phone. I am so thankful because every day, God has provided some sort of internet access so we can send something out.

Yesterday and today we did medical clinics jn in villa industrial as well los nogales. Los nogales is a city we were in last year, and villa industrial is one we worked in 3 years ago. We were able to work in Los Nogales with the medical clinic because of the door to door evangelism we did last year. But again, this is a story worth telling in person, so it will probably be shared next Sunday the 18th. I will probably post the stories we share in person on this blog as well after the service in a week, so keep that in mind.

Both clinics were a success. We saw less people than normal due to cols weather and rain yesterday, and we were in not as impoverished areas as we were in the beginning of the week. Still, we did the same things as we have been all week. Treating the physical needs and then talking with them. A pretty cool thing happened at the clinic today. About 35 or so nurses in training  from the military hospital showed up to help put. They were all waiting for us when we got there in the afternoon. Casey was able to get a translator and share the Gospel with hem as fellow nursing student. It was pretty cool to witness. So the workers as well as the patients heard about Jesus today.

The vice chair of secretary of defense showed up as well to entertain the nurses and encourage them as he is the head of the hospital. He brought along with him some army men who played the accordion and another who played guitar. It was pretty interesting. Casey also danced with the sec. Of defense man to some polka music. :)

Here is a short blurb from Liz about her experience thus far. She has been working mostly with kids.

"The children here are awesome. During the medical outreach, I was occupying the children with crayons and paper. I was showing them how to draw different animals. I drew an pock-a-dotted elephant and

Today's presentation of el ARCA in San Lorenzo today 

next thing almost ever child wanted me to draw them an elephant. It was so fun. Even though we don't speak the same language I can still connect with them. They are so energetic! One other thing I loved was singing Jesus loves me in Spanish with Will, Marc, and Portia. It has just been a blast working with the children hear. Painting nails to explain the Gospel, making bracelets, and soccer. I love it!"

Tomorrow is the day of the child, a holiday here in Paraguay. We are putting a program together at the church for them. We expect about 500 kids or more to flood thebgates here!

Thanks for prayers for health, Jim is feeling a ton better, and the rest of us are feeling pretty good, although we've had our share of headaches and sore throats. God is sustaining us here. I can't believe we are almost through with our time here!

Photo Blog Update

I've decided to take a break today from doing much writing, and for those of you who are not on Facebook, I want to give you some more photos! Hopefully they can give you a more complete picture into what we are doing, and where, as well as what the people we are working with look like when we tell their stories. Enjoy!

Jayant has been an incredible help in organizing and helping
coordinate the medical clinics we are working in. In the end,
we will have done 5 medical campaigns. 

Marc sharing a story with lots of children. They loved it. 

Andrew and Pastor Matt

Taking a break :) 

A really cool car made out of recycled bottles
by a kid in Rincon. 

Dr. Saravolatz with this mother and some of her 8
children. At the campaigns, we were giving each family 1
number. Sometimes in 1 number, there were entire families
like this treated. 

Our fearless team leader Jim, and Portia on el bus, "mecrito"
He's all better by the way! 

Liz painting nails the colors of the wordless bracelet. This
is in  Aregua - we painted hundereds of nails that day! 

Some of the hoards of kids who we got to spend lots of time with
in Aregua. 

A typical house in the first neighborhood we worked in. 

Dr. Saravolatz with Nani and Francis, a man who has committed
to be in the forefront of planting a church and evangelizing
in Aregua. 

Lou with nursing students after speaking in one of the
hospitals he spoke at. 

Sorry this is sideways, but this is the dog at Portia and Jim's
house, Mollie. Their Korean neighbors in  Paraguay offered
the Alegre's a chunk of money so they could eat her. They said no.
Just some comic relief!

Lots of love to you all back at home! 

Returning to Itagua!

Itagua is a city in which we worked last year, out of the Velazquez family's house, which doubles as a local annex church. We are here today doing another medical clinic! Before I go into that, I'll tell you a little bit about our rest day yesterday...

We went to a new mall in the area and pretty much did nothing. It was wonderful. We all definitely needed that time to de-stress and gain a little bit of energy. Since we literally started work here as soon as we landed, we were a little worn out and really enjoyed some down time. We had a riveting time at a supermarket, drank some amazing coffee, and then headed to downtown Asuncion (the capita of Paraguay), to look around. Since last year's adventures down to Asuncion, they have apparently relocated most of the squatters that lived by the river, and built a beautiful walking area on the water instead. We stopped for some ice cream, and then headed off to the soccer game of Cerro vs. Chile. It was pretty incredible, and nothing like any major sports game any of us had ever been to. The energy and intensity of the fans there is something that really can't be described in words... I'll have to show you in a video later on. Although it was a little bit stressful because of crazy fans afterwards, we all had a good time.

Yesterday, while we were doing nothing at the mall, Lou spoke at two different hospitals on infectious diseases. We haven't had time to coordinate him being able to write out some of his stories on here, hopefully we can do so soon. I just was able to briefly talk to him, and he's shared a couple stories I am going to attempt to cover here.

Lou has done about 5 house calls in the 3 different neighborhoods in which we have done these medical campaigns. The most interesting has probably been today... he visited an elderly lady who is completely blind, and I guess wasn't sure who they were when they entered. He wanted them to make sure they knew that he was there to help her and not harm her, mostly because on her bedside table she had a giant machete. I'm not sure what happened between then and now, but I know it ended well because he is still with us unharmed continuing to help patients! He Has many more stories, but I cant give too much away now as he will expound on these during our service next sunday.

So, as I said, in Itagua, we are working in another medical clinic. Something pretty exciting happened during lunch today as well. A teenage boy, Cristian, came up to Andrew and told him that he had shared the story of Jesus with him the year before. Casey took his blood pressure at the medical clinic we did here last year, and he remembered her too, as she also shared the Gospel with him later on. He was telling Andrew that in the year that we have been gone, he had surrendered his life to knowing Jesus, had been baptized, as well as joined the church and attends regularly. All because we were going house to house sharing why we came so far in the first place - because our lives have been changed by the work that Jesus did on the cross for us so many years ago. Hearing these stories from the people themselves who we come in contact with is incredible. This is why we come back, and LOVE coming back and being a part of these campaigns. God goes before us, and keep working after we leave through the people we come in contact with. These stories get us SO EXCITED! I hope you are as happy reading them as we are when we talk to the people who we have contact with here, and who's lives have been changed by our Savior.

We are so happy to be serving the one true God, who is alive, moving, working, and who is active, and actively loves people!

Please be in prayer for health for our team at this time. Jim has been very sick all day with a high fever, and others are feeling under the weather as well- most likely from all of the sicknesses we are exposed to every day. We really appreciate it!

Rincon's Clinic and a Rest Day

Today, we have a free day, which we are extremely grateful for. We were able to sleep in a little bit, and rest up for really the first time since we got here. We are now at a mall for lunch on the way to Asuncion, in which we will kind of explore the area, and then head off to a 'futbol' game later! By that I mean soccer. Tonight there is a game between "Cero" and an out of country team - I think Chile. So, it will be a big game within their league, but nothing compared the rivalry that exists between Cero and Olimpia. Most everyone we know up here loves Olimpia... its a big deal.

Anyway, a little bit about yesterday, we worked a clinic in Rincon. Here are some of the highlights that happened outside of the actual clinic.

"Yesterday, at the clinic, I got a chance to sneak away from the registration table to talk to the people waiting to be seen by the doctor.  I'm not aure if it has been explained previously, but he purpose of the clinics is to meet physical needs of the people while meeting their spiritual needs as well.  So all in all we got to share the gospel with about 200 people yesterday.  One instance stuck that stuck out to me was when i sat down with Andrew to share with an old lady.  Andrew was speaking, Alex was translating, and I was sitting there playing with my "evanga-cube".  A little girl, maybe 12 years old came up and asked me what it was, and i started bumbling around with my spanish.  The side of the cube showing was the resurrection of Jesus.  she asked me in spanish "Who is that?"  And i felt the spirit telling me "give it a shot"  I had no translator.  All of the translators were tied up with other Americans.  So I asked God to give me the words, and I got into it. After about 15 minutes, i had finished up sharing the gospel with the cube.  I felt pretty good because it seemed like she understood what I was trying to say.  I then asked her if I could pray with her.  I prayed in English and asked God to use my terrible spanish words and speak to her heart. I gave it my best shot and put it in God's hands.  A few minutes later, she asked me if she could borrow my cube.  I had the Holy Spirit gut feeling that i should.  She turned around and shared with 3 other boys her age.  I was especially excited when i heard her say the Spanish words for "No other things...only Jesus.  Only trust in Jesus for salvation"

It was an incredible Joy to  fulfill Jesus' command when he said "go therefor and make DISCIPLES"  This girl had accepted Christ as her savior, and within 30 minutes was already spreading the gospel to others.  We made sure she had a wordless book bracelet so she would be able to have a good tool to share with her friends from now on.  This is what we came to to Paraguay to accomplish. " Marc Rance

I was also able to visit a family that I visited 2 years ago with Pastor Matt. They really seemed as if they were interested in knowing Jesus. It turns out, since we left back then, they started a Bible study in their house and it has been going on once a week for the past 2 years. As far as we know, they have turned their lives to know Jesus and are being discipled continuously by the church.

There is another man who Daniel Wiiki, our team leader for 2 years, talked to as well and is still to this day being discipled by a man of the church of Florida, Juan Meza.

These kind of stories, are a HUGE  joy to hear, and make us so glad. God really is doing incredible works in people's lives everywhere, and it is such an amazing experience to be a part of it. I hope you, who are at home, feel this same joy as you are such a big part of why ministries continue like this, whether it is through sending us financially, or continuing to pray for us while we are down here, as well as when we leave.

Lou, Will, Jayant, and Pastor Matt are at a medical conference right now, in which I believe Lou is the keynote speaker of sorts. From what I know now, he's able to share his testimony with tons of medical people. Please pray that God does a work in this conference, that people would not only learn more about their profession, but most importantly about Jesus who wants to have a relationship with them!
We will know more later.

Talk to you all soon!!

-Victoria Leong

Rincon - Medical Clinic

Today, we are back at Rincon doing a medical clinic. This one today is definitely smaller than the one in Aregua, but we are still seeing a ton of people come through - especially Children.

It has been really amazing to be back working in this neighborhood which we were in 2 years ago. We were able to see some familiar faces, which is always amazing. Two years ago, we shared some pictures and stories about a little boy named Fabien, who has leukemia. He was at the clinic today by himself seeking some help from the doctors at work. He remembered working with us back a couple of years, and apparently is one of the children that comes to the children's dining hall and ministry that we were able to set up in 2011 as well. Someone told us he never misses a day.

There were a ton of children there as well, and so while we were waiting, Liz and I were able to do many crafts with them to keep them occupied with something. Jayant was able to do the bracelets with some of these children too, and this is his experience that he would like to share from today:

"Doing the Lord's works is amazing and having the opportunity to do so is something I am thankful for.   Today, at the medical camp I experienced how the Lord works in the hearts of children, children by age and children in faith.  I was spreading the word by tying bracelets on kids.  These bracelets have colored beads that walk through the story of Christ, our Savior. While I was with a bunch of kids, putting the bracelets and story together, I looked over the kids shoulders and saw one of the kids that I had worked with an half hour ago.  He was telling the story of Christ to his mother by explaining the significance of the colors of the beads.  The last bead is "Green" that signifies growth and growth in Christ comes by sharing the gospel with others.  That is what this child was doing. Truly Christ was at work in the heart of this kid." - Jayant Trewn

The family that Pastor Matt and I were able to visit remembers us and were overjoyed today to see Pastor Matt pay them a visit. I was working elsewhere so I couldn't go, but they asked for me and are going to come and visit the team later. It was pretty cool knowing that the people around here really do remember our visit here.

This neighborhood we are in really is dear to all of our hearts. We saw God do some incredible things in a mighty way, and I know everyone who is returning to Paraguay this year is very grateful to see the fruit of the work God allowed us to be a part of a couple of years ago.

It has been a long few days of work, but completely worth it. We are all in pretty good health, and everything is going smoothly and effectively. Thank you, once again, for your prayers!

Here are some prayer requests we would ask for specific prayer about:
1. Good health. We are all pretty good so far, but getting a little exhausted as there hasn't been much down time since our arrival.
2. The Gospel would be completely clear to all who hear it.
3. God would be working in the hearts of the people of Aregua. In 3 days we did a huge medical clinic, a play for children, tons of activities, the Magdalena film, and we had a ton of conversations. Pray that the people would not be discouraged about their condition on this earth, but would put their trust in the Lord.
4. The women and children who we encounter. There are many who tell us that there is not peace in their homes, usually meaning that their husbands are absent, abusive, or just don't care. That God would be working in the hearts of the men in these communities. They are hard to come by to really talk to.

Victoria Leong

Also for your enjoyment, here is Jayant playing soccer, and holding
his own with these guys very nicely! 

Medical Missions

Dr. Saravolatz working hard all day
treating patients

Yesterday, as I said, we were able to work a medical missions clinic in Aregua. I was able to send out more about what the rest of us were doing as people came out of the clinics. Here, Casey tells about her experience as well as a brief overview of what it was like working in the clinic.

What a wonderful experience it has been to work with the doctors and nurses in the first medical clinic. We saw hundreds of people within a nine hour period and were had much to do the whole day. The flood of people never stopped and we had to turn many away as evening approached. I aided the doctors with dispensing the medications prescribed and worked in triage taking intake vitals. I also saw a woman with a large wound on her abdomen and taught her how to clean it and dress it properly. I was overwhelmed at the desperate need for medical care that is here. There were many children with skin infections and upper respiratory infections that were able to receive proper antibiotics and anti-fungal treatments. I feel that these clinics are so wonderful because it is a way to meet the needs of people on many different levels. The doctors and nurses can assess and treat those with physical ailments and our team can come alongside of them and share the story of Christ that heals peoples' souls. After the patients saw the doctors, they were greeted by the rest of the team and had a chance to hear the truth of the gospel that has the power to forever change the life of a person, family, and community. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the change that God has for Aregua and am praying that God would continue to humble me and use me for the purpose he has set out for me. Please pray that the team would be filled with ample energy to work diligently through these long days of service. To God be the glory for all we have done.

<3 Casey Dillon

We have another clinic in Rincon tomorrow all day. If you have followed our posts in the past years, this is the neighborhood we worked in 2 years ago, and had an incredible turnout for all the events. This is the same neighborhood in which we were able to help start a children's ministry and dining hall that is still flourishing. We are extremely excited to return to a neighborhood that, just as Aregua, has an immense amount of needs - especially medically. Again, the rest of us will be evangelizing to the outcoming patients, as well as the hoards of children in which we expect to see.

Please be in prayer for the logistics in accordance with the clinic tomorrow as not all the details are hammered out yet. Another prayer request for these up coming clinics would be that we would all stay in good health, as we are all exposed to many sicknesses and diseases, as well as the pure exhaustion of working about 12 hr days in these neighborhoods.

Despite the exhaustion, we are so excited that we are able to serve people in this way. God really has worked everything out so flawlessly during the clinics themselves.

At the moment, we are showing a film in Aregua. It is the first time I believe the Magdalena film has been shown in this specific neighborhood. There are SO many kids here. Please be in prayer that the Gospel is presented clearly, and people's lives are changed by Jesus completely from the inside out.

Thank you so much for following these updates and praying for us. We are relying on them to get through every day. The fact that lives are being changed tremendously makes everything we do here completely and totally worth it.

-Victoria Leong

Beginning in Aregua - we hit the ground running!

Hello everyone!

Sorry for the lateness of this blog, this is the first time I've had good internet connection for an extended period of time...

we are presently in the middle of working a medical clinic in the neighborhood of Aregua. We are located at a church/school in the middle of the barrio. This is an event that we expected about 20-30 people... we have so far treated upwards of about 200+ people. It has been much more than expected, but such a huge blessing.

Will, Casey, and Marc have been working with the doctors here taking vitals as well as medical history of patients. Dr. Lou has been treating people from about 9:30 am until now (about 2:30 p.m.) Those of us are not in the medical field have been busy as well. There is a huge amount of children here.. to keep them occupied, we have made Gospel bracelets, painted nails, told Bible stories, shared the cube, and just spent some good time with them. We are able to sit outside and as people who are being treated come out, we are able to have conversations with them about Jesus. So far, everyone has been extremely receptive and we definitely love spending time with everyone here.

We are trying something new this year and holding the clinic on a Sunday. When we go door to door, we meet mostly younger people and women. The men are always gone working, so we thought we could connect better with the entire family if we were working on a day when they were not. So far, I think the the hypothesis is proving to be true. Although the demographic here is still mostly women and children, we have definitely seen way more men than usual. Pastor Matt and translator Josue were able to grab a whole group of men and share the Gospel with them. This is a rare opportunity.

Liz and I (Victoria) have been mostly with kids today. They love explaining the Gospel back to everyone with their bracelets, painted nails (Gospel  colors), and various pamphlets we have handed out. They are so precious.

Looking back at the past 2 days:

Friday we arrived in the morning. We had the easiest flights I think we have had in all 4 years. This is definitely an answer to prayers! We love American Airlines for creating a direct flight from Miami to Asuncion. We arrived in the neighborhood we are in now, and walked around praying for the people and inviting them to the medical clinic as well as the Arc presentation the "juntos" (youth group) did yesterday. Since not many of us slept for a long time, we took Friday pretty easily.

Saturday we had an early start and went house to house with our translators and nationals sharing the Gospel. All of us had very interesting conversations. Many people were receptive. Pastor Matt had the interesting opportunity of having a translator who is having a hard time with the whole idea of being a Christian. He got to spend a lot of time actually having conversations with her about what it means to believe in Christ. It was a great blessing to everyone who went out, those who have done this now for a few years as well as those who are new to going door to door.

Portia and Liz spent the morning in one of the neighborhoods we were in last year doing children's programs. They sung, played games, and did all sorts of special programs with them.

In the afternoon, the youth group out of the church of Florida put on a play called "El Arca." It is a narrative about Noah's Arc, which ended in the presentation of the Gospel. The kids afterwards separated into groups to make bracelets and once again hear what it means to have a relationship with Christ, and how through his sacrifice on the cross, we can have a right relationship with him again. I had the great opportunity to talk further with the kids in my group... a group of boys who wanted to learn english. I taught them a few word and then asked if they wanted to know anything about America.  The first question was if I knew where Spider man lived.

We are busy, and having an incredible time sharing the love of Christ, as well as sharing personally with them about how He loves us, as well as how He has called us to know him as our savior. Now that Andrew is here with the computer, there should be posts more frequently as we begin this new week.

Stay posted, we have a lot of stories and pictures to share with you!

My friend Christiano is 9 years old and has been stuck at my side for the past 6 hours or so... he says "hola" to Crosspointe everyone reading this right now! :)

Set to Jet!

Tomorrow, August 1st 2013, we embark on our 4th trip down to San Lorenzo, Paraguay. The Lord has been good and has brought together another team, comprised of 11 people, 4 of which who have never been down before. We will be gone for 14 days, and we are all anxious to see what God is going to do through multiple ministries that will occur in our time there.

 These are just a few different ministries we will be a part of during the trip: door to door evangelism, medical campaigns in different villages (some will be assisting with that, the rest of us will be sharing the Gospel with them aferwards), sharing of the Jesus Film (Magdalena) and Gospel presentation, as well as sports activities/children's programs. We have the pleasure of returning to "Su Refugio," an orphange (and much more) that we were able to visit during its construction in our first year there. We have only seen pictures of how it has flourished since then. I can't wait to post about the incredible changes it has undergone in recent years.

 I have spent the last few moments looking back on pictures and blogs from the last 3 years and just reveling in the goodness of God and how it has been so evident on every trip. If anything has been constant throughout, it is that God does exceedingly and abundantly more than we could ever ask for or imagine. He always works in marvelous ways, and we expect nothing less for this year!

Needless to say, we are EXCITED and I am excited to be able to share these next two weeks with you!

We would love to be able to share our prayer requests and praises with you as we go along, starting with these below:

 1. For safe travels as we fly down (last year was unforgettable, we learned a lot, but would not like a repeat). :)
 2. For safe travels for Andrew Leong, as he is flying down seperately on Saturday and meeting us there.
 3. God would continue to work in the hearts of those we will be coming in contact with while in country.
4. Health!
 5. God would use this time of ministry to be glorified!
 6. Team unity for travel and the whole time we're in Paraguay. Thanks for stopping by, keep coming back! I expect to have something sent out at least once a day, internet permitting. :)

 - Victoria Leong