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...