The Rayburn Mensaje

The Move

2012-01-03T07:53:00.005-06:00

Dionisio, my language helper and only mbya believer in the area, is making a move to another community. He says that there is a lot of interest in this other community to hear God's word and wants to be there more often so that they can meet regularly. This seems like a good opportunity for him, but it means I will have to find a new language helper which will not be easy. Everything seemed like a good idea, but Dionisio's wife does not want to go to the new community. She says that she is happy where they are. Now, I won't even pretend that I understand the complexity of their relationships, but it seems like Dionisio is going to go to the new community for three or four days during the week and go back to his home the rest of the week. The two places are an hour apart.

Since Dionisio is staying in the other community, he had to build a home for himself. Traditionally, the houses were made of tree trunks of various sizes with mud put in the creases to seal it.

Now, especially around the city, more indigenous are starting to make their houses out of whatever they can find. Many of those who work in the trash dump use these big tarps. When there is a hard rain, no one sleeps. Here is the home that Dionisio built in the other community.

Here is the inside of his new house.

I was worried about Dionisio finding work. Where he used to live he had a job that payed him regularly. At this new settlement, there is not that type of steady work. He told me that he was going to make and sell artisan things. When I arrived for a visit one day, he was working on a basket.

Here is the finished project. Not to shabby. I'm hoping he can find a place where he can sell his things. The nearest town to them is about 5 kilometers, and it's not very big.

(Just for fun...) Here is a picture of two of Dionisio's grandchildren.

We are hopeful that Dionisio's presence in the new community will lead to the advancement of the kingdom. Please pray for Dionisio and his family. Please also pray for me as I look for a new language partner.

What's wrong with this picture?

2011-12-19T08:51:00.005-06:00

We were walking up the road in Asuncion and we walked in front of this mural. I have seen it a couple of times and never thought anything about it, well, except that 95% of the kids are white. Not exactly accurate for this country.

Lilian, however, noticed something. She said to Allison, "They don't have any water." Confused Allison responded, "What do you mean?" Lilian pointing to the two girls on the playground, "They have their guampa, but don't have their termo (water jug)." Lilian thought they were drinking tereré.

Here is a closer look of the two girls. One of the girls has some kind of cup with a straw which Lilian interpreted as a guampa and bombilla, but they were missing the water.

This practice is as Paraguayan as it comes. When Lilian plays school in the house, she always makes sure she brings her equipo (things needed to drink tereré). Recently, Allison told her, "You know, they don't drink tereré in Louisiana." Lilian dropped what was in her hands and said, "What!" Allison said, "Yeah, they don't drink it." Lilian said, "Well, we can bring it, right?" What is she going to do in the States?

The Smells of Christmas

2011-12-06T18:59:00.002-06:00

What are some of the smells that remind you of Christmas? Cinnamon, Pine, or maybe Pumpkin. What about the smell of the coco palms blooming? Not so much? Well, that is one of the smells of Christmas in Paraguay. It's summer here and it's hot. The coco palms bloom around this time and have a nice smell. People collect the pods and sell them in the street in Asuncion. The purchased pods are then placed around a nativity scene in the home.

Here is a picture of the flower blooming on the palm.

One from a little further back.

Lady selling the pods in Asuncion.

This guy was completely stoked to have his picture taken. I think we freaked him out.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T05:27:00.004-06:00

Signs you know your kid grew up outside the US. I thought I would share Lilian's outlook on Thanksgiving turkey. Allison was cutting up bacon, Lilian says, "Is that turkey mommy."

Allison responds, "No, that's not turkey. A turkey is like a chicken."

Lilian, "Are we going to eat turkey today mommy."

Allison, "yes."

Lilian, "Who is going to kill it."

Given Lilians latest experiences, I think that is a valid question. Happy Thanksgiving!

The Beauty of it All

2011-10-28T19:54:00.005-05:00

I recently posted on some of the frustrating environmental issues in Paraguay, but there is also so much beauty. Here are a few pictures.

The places in Paraguay that still have large wooded areas are absolutely beautiful. It seems like almost every tree flowers and there is so much diversity. Here is a picture near Paraguari. There is a long stretch of jungle there on top of this range of hills. We didn't see a lot of animals there, but Allison did see a couple of monkeys.

Around where we live a lot of the ground is used for agriculture. Here is a sunflower field with some woods in the background.

This is a view from one of the communities. This is farther south from us where most of the land is used for cattle and sheep.

This is near our house. Where we live in Itapua it rains at least one day week. This keeps the heat down sometimes, but makes it hard to fight off the mold. We recently lost a box of mac & cheese from the states to mold. Sad day. Anyway, here is a rainbow after one of those rains.

He Equips the Called

2011-10-18T16:08:00.003-05:00

When I (Allison) was in high school, I had to get permission from my parents not to participate in dissecting the frog in biology. I was excused from Health class when we had to watch a particularly gory film on abortion. I couldn't handle the thought of a fight at recess. I couldn't listen to any stories that involved blood. All because it made me light-headed and I felt like I would faint.

That feeling, whether mental or real, has continued throughout my life. I've gotten a little better, but it's still there. As a mother, if something happens to my children, I'm able to hold on as long as it is necessary. But, when I'm off the hook, I get faint. When Thomas fell and his head started bleeding, I was fine until we got to the hospital room to wait for the doctor. When Lilian pinched her finger in the door, I was fine until we got it cleaned up and bandaged.

I give you all that history to demonstrate the faithfulness of God that you will see in the following pictures. (And, they are a little bloody.)

Yes, that's right, I killed a chicken. Then, I proceeded to pluck the feathers and cut up, prepare, and eat that chicken. Although this is a daily occurrence for many people all over the world, this was a huge victory for me and a testimony of God's faithfulness! Thank you God for how you give us strength in our weakness!

Hard to get used to....

2011-09-14T13:30:00.003-05:00

There are many things that you get used to living oversees. You get used to being an outsider. You get used to different music, food, and humor. But, it's hard to get used to some of the environmental problems. It's kind of all around you. The water is polluted, forests are cut down (legally and illegally), car exhaust is not regulated, and so on. Many people really don't know any better. It's just what they have always done. I talked to a guy the other day and he had no clue that the rivers go to the ocean. For him, the garbage was just swept away when it rained and that was sufficient. It's defiantly a different mind set. Below are some examples.

We were out one time and a truck came through collecting logs that were cut down the day before. This whole area was cleared illegally in a couple of days.

This is a picture from Asuncion. There are tons of canals like this. People toss their garbage into the canal and it is washed away to the Paraguayan river whenever there is a hard rain.

Crossing the Boarder

2011-08-13T09:13:00.007-05:00

We live close to the Paraguay Argentine boarder and there are about 5,000 mbya living across the boarder from us. A worker from another mission was going across to visit a believer who used to live in Paraguay. He invited me to go along with him. It only took about an hour and a half to get there which is a lot closer than some of the settlements we go to here in Paraguay.

Tito, pictured below, was traveling with us. He is a school teacher in a mbya community. The man we went to visit is his father. He had not seen his parents for three years. This is very common amongst the mbya here. Family members will travel far from each other in order to find work. When Tito and his parents saw each other, they hugged and had tears in their eyes. That was the most emotion I have seen from any mbya. They tend to be very reserved, but in this case you can understand the "emotional outburst."

Here is a picture of the ferry we crossed. They can fit four cars on that thing.

A mbya family crossing the boarder. We gave them a ride to the bus stop about 4 miles from the ferry.

A typical mbya house next to where we stayed. We expected to do a lot of visitation and cultural research, but it rained literally the whole time we were there.

We were stuck inside the whole time. The view from the house. It was a huge red mud pit. The dirt in this area is loaded with iron and acid making the dirt red.

This is Brijito, the man we came to visit. The good thing about the rain is that we had a lot of time to talk with him about culture and the situation of the mbya in Argentina.

This is Brijito's daughter. She liked drawing animals in my notebook and then making me guess the name of them. It was fun, but the mbya in Argentina speak more Mbya than Guarani and I don't know many animal names in Mbya. Well, I know more now thanks to my little teacher.

This is were we spent most of our time. I forgot to mention, but it was freezing. We huddled around the fire talking most of the day. This is Brijito's wife.

Ok, so it stopped raining for an hour or so, which gave us plenty of time to kill trees with sling shots. I always cary one with me because it is the main toy for boys. It's incredible how accurate they are.

Overall, it was a good trip and I'm glad I finally got to see some of what's going on across the boarder. Hopefully, we'll be able to go back soon.

ipahápe (finally)

2011-07-21T15:59:00.006-05:00

I have been trying forever to post these pictures of a visit we had. We had a visiter who grew up with another indigenous tribe in Paraguay. He grew up speaking Guarani, so he came to help us evaluate the language situations with the Mbya in Southern Paraguay. It's been tough because sometimes the people speak in Guarani, but a lot of times I hear them saying Mbya words. North of us they only speak Guarani, so I wasn't sure. It was a great visit and very helpful for us. He said he heard them speaking in Mbya a good bit, but we'll have to do more research to know for sure. As for us, we are going to stick to learning Guarani and move on from there. Enjoy the pictures!

Here is a typical Mbya house in one of the communities.

Two boys carrying some oranges in a bag.

This little guy was relaxing in a hammock made from an old political banner.

Chatting with a guy in one of the communities.

Some of the men we spoke with. To the far left is my language partner Dionisio and his wife Epifania. Dionisio is a great teacher and loves the Lord. He is one of the only believers in this area so please pray for him.

Happy 4th!

2011-07-05T12:28:00.003-05:00

Last year, we missed the 4th of July. Well, the day passed, of course, but without us realizing. When you're bundled up under layers of jackets and blankets, its hard to think about celebrating with pools, BBQ, and watermelon.

This year, however, we pulled out the US flag and had ourselves a holiday!

My (Allison's) mom was visiting. She helped with the preparation.

Thomas wanted to help his daddy grill, but it was way too cold---and, he wasn't too happy about it.

Lilian posed by "her" flag 'cause she was born in "Newowens" (aka-New Orleans).

We had steak, baked potato, and homemade baked beans.

Yummy!!

Hospital and Food

2011-06-22T09:09:00.002-05:00

I wanted to post some pictures of things past. During our Guarani class, Allison cooked on a wood fire for a couple of weeks. She came up with some creative dishes that we were able to share with the Paraguayans around us. Our neighbors were convinced that we didn't know how to start a fire. I tried to get it going before anyone saw me, but they did and came over to show me how to start the fire. That's just the way it is. You have to be a learner.

The pictures below were taken before Allison had Gabriela. This is the local hospital for the area. No need for lawnmowers or weed eaters here. These cows seem to always be around. We drive through this town to get from our house to Asuncion and I almost always have to drive around or wait for these cows to move out of the road. Anyway, I thought you might like the pictures.

Can your clothes be too soft?

2011-05-19T09:00:00.003-05:00

Allison has been scrubbing red dirt out of our clothes for a year now. She has to do it because the laundry detergent doesn't get the stains out from the dirt. Or do they? Well, we will find out because for the last year we have been using fabric softener instead of detergent. That's right.

I bought the softener one time and we continued to use it without reading the bag. Last night we were in the store and Allison turns to me and says, "read this!" I said, "What....Oh" We'll see if the actual detergent gets the stains out. The funny part about the whole thing is we put the story on facebook. Our Guarani teacher's wife responded, "I thought it was a new brand that had both or I would have said something." We washed some clothes at their house during our language studies and she saw the bag. Also, I have been buying softener from the same store for almost a year without buying detergent. Can you imagine what the people at the store are thinking?

So Tasty!

2011-05-04T08:35:00.002-05:00

Where they work?

2011-03-26T10:14:00.005-05:00

I get this question a lot, "How do the indigenous support themselves?" The answer depends on their location, but simply put, anyway they can. Many that live close to cities beg, some work in trash dumps, some have crops and others do whatever is available at the time.

This is a yerba field that has been stripped of it's leaves. Indigenous will do part time work like this.

Here is a community that lives beside this dump and pulls out things to recycle.

Here is a group that is drying corn and preparing a field to plant.

This group makes charcoal and sales it.

Do not Harvest

2011-03-26T09:20:00.003-05:00

The area we live in is an agricultural based area and the main crop is soybean. Paraguay is the 4^th producer of soybean in the world. This time of year the fields are green everywhere. Rolling hills of green. When the soy begins to dry, the farmers come in with their combines and clear the fields. They then load all the dry soy into trucks and haul them off. Some of those beans fall through the trucks on the way leaving dry soy on the side of the road. Many poor people sweep up the dry beans and bag them in order to sell the beans or eat them. You can see whole families on the side of the road gathering soy.

This reminded me of Leviticus 19:23, 23:22 when God commands the Israelites not to harvest every little bit of the crop, but to leave it for the poor to gather. The Lord is deeply concerned about the poor and weak amongst us. We see it in the Law and the judgments that come on Israel. Let’s not neglect this teaching, but look for ways to help the weak amongst us.

Here is a field before it is harvested.

Here is one of the pods. These fell before they dried.

These are some of the gathered soybeans.

Soybeans that had fallen from a truck on the side of the road.

King Cake

2011-03-24T17:11:00.002-05:00

I (Justin) wanted a king cake so stinkin' bad and my lovely wife made one. It was spectacular. That kind of goodness could not be held by one family so we shared it with some great friends of ours, Celso and Dolly. They enjoyed it, maybe not as much as me, but they enjoyed it nonetheless.

Celso and Dolly have been trying to have a baby for some time. Please pray that the Lord would bless them in this way.

Snap goes the Femur!

2011-03-11T11:28:00.004-06:00

I've told some of you about Christie Hagerman and her accident. If I haven't, this is a quick run down. Christie was studying Guarani with us in Escobar, PY. She and her family are super great people. They love the Paraguayans, and the paraguayans love them. So, Christie was coming to class everyday by motorcycle--about a 45 minute drive. The last day the guy driving

the motorcycle was turning off the main road and an SUV driving too fast tried to pass in front of them to the left. The driver clipped their handle bar on the other side of the road almost in the dirt. The car crossed the road, hit a small brick house, and flipped. The driver walked away with dirt on his pants. The driver of the motorcycle (Saul) stayed on the bike and got banged up, but walked away. Christie was thrown off and broke her femur on the left side. (Later she was told that the car had to have hit her leg before hitting the handle bars. That would have been the only thing forceful enough to break the femur like that.) She was taken to the hospital and had surgery. She is doing well and in good spirits. She told me today, "I feel like I was hit by a car." In a year, the doctor said she will be able to walk with a cane and limp.

Please pray for the Hagermans. For Christie's recovery, for their two daughters, and for Ken (Christie's husband) who had open heart surgery in January.

The black spot above is where the bike landed. The car stopped on the far right. The entrance where they were going to turn is on the left by the two trucks.

This is where the car hit the house and flipped.

The driver walked away unscratched and, by the grace of God, no one was in the house. Usually, someone is there selling things.

This is all that happened to the bike. The rest was fine. Below is a picture of Christie's post surgery leg. Please be praying for her and her family.

I gotta tũ

2011-03-07T15:28:00.006-06:00

There is a little bug (chigoe flea) here called a pique or in Guarani tũ. The pique can usually be found around animals and likes to dig in the bottom of your foot to eat your blood. At first, a little black dot appears that is slightly raised and it will itch a little. They are easy to take out. It just takes a needle and some squeezing. Thomas has already had two. Well, I (Justin) had one recently. The problem was I didn't notice it. It was under my little toe. I saw it about two weeks ago and thought that's a pique, but it wasn't raised and didn't itch. I convinced my self that it wasn't. Two days ago I went running and the spot was a little sore. I thought it was a blister. I showed it to our local pique expert and she said, "That's a 100% pique...and a big one."

So she begins to go to work. She opens it up with the needle and then squeezes the body out. That thing exploded. It had been feeding on me for about two weeks.

Then comes the digging the head out with a needle. It was deep and hanging on for it's life. I think I heard it scream, "I'll never let go!!!" This is Thomas comforting me.

It's out!!! With just a flesh wound.

Guarani Class

2011-02-25T07:19:00.002-06:00

Sorry we have been MIA. We were in a place without internet so we are going to try to catch up on the things that have been happening in the next couple days. This is where we were:

That was a taste of our Guarani classes. They were very good and I feel that we advanced a lot in our short time in class. As you can see, the language is very different. Allison's Dad asked us last night about how our Guarani was going and he asked if it was like Spanish. Allison said no it's very different. It's more like an Asian language than Spanish. He said, "Well, how are you ever going to learn that." It was pretty funny probably because he was just out of surgery and still feeling the affects of the meds. Anyway it's very different. It's fun when there are things where you just say, "Well, that really doesn't have a counterpart in English." So, enjoy this look into the class.

Guampa Gospel

2011-01-27T10:06:00.005-06:00

One of our leaders came in to check on us recently. While he was here, he told us about an indigenous man in Colombia that was drawing pictures of Bible stories on a stick so that he could remember the stories. He turns, sees our tereré guampa and says you could do that on one of those. Given the guampa is small, but we thought up a way to put pictures for a creation to christ presentation through stories. We haven't tried it out yet, but we hope that it will give us an opportunity to share an initial story with people so that we can tell more stories to them.

This is the guampa going from left to right. First, you see God giving his word (top left).

Then comes creation (below) and the fall can be seen above and below in the middle.

Then you see men doing bad things the two pictures below show a house on fire. Above you see the coming of Jesus and the death and resurrection.

Finally, below you see that he will return again. These stories are just initial stories to get deeper into God's word. Pray that God will open up opportunities for us and that our language will continue to improve.

Summer!

2010-12-21T04:51:00.004-06:00

Summer officially arrived yesterday. It has not been terribly hot, but the temperature has been rising. It looks like it's going to be a hot Christmas. Allison and the kids have been decorating. We have stockings, a manger scene, and a ginger bread house. One day, I walked by the ginger bread house and it smelt very strong. I asked Allison if she was cooking. She said no. I examined the ginger bread house and this is what I found.

Not that, but Geaux Tigers!

THAT!

A closer look....

The candy was melting and I think that strong smell was the ginger bread cooking. We are going without air with the idea that we will be living in the bush one day, so we figured we better get accustomed now. The ginger bread house payed the price.

Strange Things

2010-11-02T15:39:00.002-05:00

We see so many strange things in a day. This is just one of the many. This guy had a calf tide down on the back of his bike. At least it was in a crate.

Tujupe (in the mud)

2010-10-17T17:54:00.002-05:00

We have been working with a believer (Dionisio) in a community close to us. I go in at the beginning of the week to discuss a bible story and other leadership issues, then later in the week we share the story and Dionisio uses questions to discuss the story with the group that gathers. Sometimes there are a lot of people and other times not too many. Dionisio is the only believer in this community, so he is taking a big step by stepping forward.

With that background, the story: I was going in one Thursday to do the lesson with the big group. I had Allison and the kids with me, and it had been raining really hard. We reached the bridge and saw that the other side had some water. I didn't want to get the truck stuck in the mud there, so I decided to back out, bring the family home, and walk in. Well, backing out, I got the truck stuck. A rocked moved and I slid off the side of the road. A paraguayan helped me move the rock and put some smaller rocks to give the truck some traction. Being freed, I took the family home, took off my shoes, and walked barefoot through the water and the rest of the way to the community. When I arrived, the whole community was there in a meeting. Some of the children ran out to meet me, and Dionisio came. Turns out they had a community meeting and had forgotten it was Thursday. When it rains here, things tend to shut down anyway, but I wanted to demonstrate commitment to the message we were bringing. I greeted everyone and told them I would see them next week. I turned around and walked home. I wish I could say this story was abnormal, but something like this always happens.

Please pray for Dionisio and the people of Loma Hovy.

This was me about to enter the water.

The water was about knee deep towards the end and was moving pretty quick.

The truck is pretty light, so the it slides on the road a lot. It's a lot of fun to drive on.

Lagniappe: This is the water we use for tereré with lots of remedios (natural medicines). Some of them are supposed to add flavor, some for stomach, headache, etc.

Nasty

2010-10-04T19:40:00.002-05:00

Inspired by a group of indigenous that eat grubs, two of my associates decided they were going to try it. They ate them. Needless to say they didn't enjoy them, but they got them down. The real funny part was that sometime later they were informed that they ate the wrong grub. They were told that the indigenous don't even eat that type of grub. Well, it's not every day that you can say you ate something that ugly.

Obstacles

2010-09-13T16:49:00.003-05:00

We spent a lot of time with the Mbya clearing land with machetes, drinking terere, and making sling shot bullets out of mud. The gospel was shared with a number of people and we learned a lot about their belief systems and practices. We learned that they still have a shaman that only speaks Mbya and that they are still in some form practicing their animistic religion. The last night we were there, the magnitude of what we are attempting to do hit me like a ton of bricks. I was sitting on a fallen tree listening to the shaman chant, while his wife echoed him. It was kind of creepy. Later that night, some illegal loggers came in and hauled off trees that they had cut down earlier. The Mbya trade the trees for alcohol. I understood that it is going to take a miracle for these people to come to Christ. There are spiritual obstacles from their old practices and physical of alcoholism and deceit. Pray that the Lord makes His name great amongst the people here.

This is the Shaman's house.

Passing Time

2010-07-28T21:14:00.002-05:00

We had an opportunity to spend some time in a Mbya village. It was a great experience and some great contacts were made. We have been welcomed back so it looks like a door is opening were it wasn't before. Guarani was their primary language so continue to pray for our language acquisition and pray that a door will be opened to teach God's word in this village.

Happenings

2010-07-19T20:41:00.003-05:00

The World Cup is over and Paraguay did pretty well. We kind of got wrapped up in the games as you can see in the picture below. Well we went and visited the site of another mission that has had some success. Here are some pictures. It was good to see how others have worked.

2010-06-06T22:54:00.001-05:00

First Contact

2010-05-28T22:41:00.002-05:00

I recently returned from a meeting amongst the indigenous here. The four major tribes from the eastern part of the country were represented. We met some of the Mbyá and learned about one work that is going on amongst them. The meetings were held in guarani and occasional some one had to translate another indigenous language into guarani. I'm having trouble loading the pictures. I will try to put them up tomorrow.

Photos

2010-04-08T06:57:00.002-05:00

I realized that I didn't post any pictures from the Asado/Bible Study. Here you go...

Carlos and Fabion laughed at me when I put barbecue sauce on my chorizo (it was in a hot dog bun a couldn't resist). They ragged me a little, so I challenged them to try it. They put a little bit on and said it was good. Then, very discreetly, Carlos picked up the sauce and put it all over his chorizo. I didn't say anything, but Allison and I laughed about it later.

Ybytymi

2010-04-06T07:25:00.008-05:00

We spent the last week (semana santa) in the interior of Paraguay outside a small town named Ybytymi. It was a great experience and great Guarani practice. Guarani was the preferred language of the people and they pretty much spoke Guarani the entire time.

This is a picture of a tatakua. Tata means fire and I'm not sure what kua means. They use it to make chipa which is like a cheese bread. It's customary to eat chipa the Friday before Easter.

This is the pig that lived outside the house. Literally, right outside the house. We have been invited back May 15th for mothers day to eat this pig.

Here is the kitchen.

This is the picture of the old house. The mom lived in this house with her eight kids. It is two small rooms. The oldest son has built her the house we stayed in and the old house is now a bathroom (sort of).

This is the front of the new house where we stayed.

Here is the cow that kept sticking it's head in the window and taking things. I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and the cow had taken someone's shirt and was chewing on it.

We had the opportunity to pull yuka. It was really good and fresh.

They set me up. They showed me one off to the side and told me to pull real hard. Well I yaked it out and almost fell down because there was nothing attached to it.

This is how the hot part of the day is spent. Sitting in the shade drinking terere.

The drive was beautiful. The were a number of large hills along the drive and farms.

Learning Experience

2010-03-28T21:00:00.002-05:00

Thank you all for your prayers for Carlos and Fabion. Please continue to pray for them. We had a good time together last week and the bible study went well. I won't go through the details, but let's just say it was a good learning experience. Carlos is interested in hearing more stories and so we will keep sharing them with him. Thank you so much

Asado and the Bible

2010-03-23T13:25:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago we met a couple named Fabian and Natalia. Fabian is a
passionate believer and knows the Word well. I have been trying to
encourage him to start a Bible study in his home. Sunday night, Fabian
and his family came over to our apartment. While here, we talked with
the guard at the mission office named Carlos; I have shared Bible
stories and my testimony with Carlos in the past. While we were
talking, Fabian was sharing about how hard life was for him as a child
when he lived in the interior. He shared that there was a lot of
alcoholism and abuse in his family, as is common in most families in
the interior. Fabian said that he would have been the same as his
family had Jesus not changed his life. He went on to share the gospel
with Carlos in Guarani. Afterwards, Fabian prayed with Carlos and
asked if he would like to study the Bible with us this week. He agreed
and we arranged a Bible study, complete with an asado, this Wednesday
night. As much as I am praying for Carlos to know the Lord, I am also
praying that Fabian can see how easy it would be for him to lead an
evangelical Bible study in his home.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Tereré & Mate

2010-03-23T12:47:00.003-05:00

Above is a group of people at a buss terminal in Encarnacion, Paraguay enjoying tereré.

I promised an explanation of tereré and here it is. Tereré is a communal drink drunk in all of Paraguay, parts of northeastern Argentina and south western Brazil. It is served in a guampa which traditionally was a bull horn, but now could be made out of anything and drank through a metal straw called a bombilla. It is served with ice cold water that is carried around in a thermos. This drink is so entrenched in the culture that no mater where you go you see groups of people drinking together. It is common to see students going to school with a guampa and their thermos underneath their arms filled with plenty of ice and water because summer temperatures can reach 40° to 45°C (104° to 113°F).

Workers used to have a "tereré break" instead of a coffee break. In most workplaces, tereré is allowed among other things because the yerba mate has stimulant effects that can be likened to the role of coffee in an American workplace.

People add all kinds of medicinal herbs to help with headaches, stomachaches, etc. I like to add avocado leaves. So what happens is you sit around, talk, one guy pours the water and drinks it. Next, he pours some more water passes it to the next person, he drinks, and passes it back to the one pouring. And so goes the cycle. That is the gist of how it works.

House Help

2010-02-26T05:37:00.003-06:00

We found that trying to keep the house clean was to much work for us, so we got some house help. They work almost for free and are very efficient, but I am pretty sure they have animistic beliefs. Meet the ants. They are everywhere right now. Outside, inside doesn't matter. If something hits the ground or counter or couch or whatever they are on it. They especially like Thomas's spit up bibs. Communication has been tuff, almost impossible, but it's starting to come together. In the picture below, they are telling me that they are going to finish up this spot and call it a day.

Here is the text

2010-02-18T11:55:00.001-06:00

Here is the text that goes along with the video below. Our teacher translated it from Spanish to Guarani. Have fun!!!

Iñepyrũmbýpe Ñanadejára ojapo yvága ha yvy ape ha isarambipa, nandi, iñipytu ha Ñandejára Espíritu oku’e y ári. Ñandejára he’i oĩ haĝua “luz” ha upéicha oiko mba’e porã ha omboja’o pe “luz” pytũgui ha pe luzpe ombohéra “dia” ha pytũme ombohéra “noche”. Ha péicha ka’aru ha pyhareve ha’e peteĩha ára. Gen. 1:1-5

Guaraní or Jopará?

2010-02-16T18:43:00.003-06:00

Here is a sample of the language that we are learning right now:

That was our tutor reading Genesis 1:1-4. The language is called Jopará or Guaraní Popular. We say that we are learning Guaraní, but in reality, that is a little bit of a lie. The official form of Guaraní is called Guaraní-eté, but very few people actually speak this. What is more common is this form that uses certain Spanish words or forms of Spanish words in place of the word in Guaraní. Jopará still uses the grammatical structure of Guaraní-eté, but for the words that are a little "newer," it throws in the Spanish word among the Guaraní.

Asuncion

2010-02-10T12:16:00.003-06:00

A friend here took us around Asuncion to show us some of the historical buildings. There is a lot of history here and some beautiful architecture. We were told that a lot of the older buildings were designed by Europeans before the war of the triple alliance. I'll blog some on the war and the affects it had on Paraguay, but for now enjoy some of the pictures.

This is the building where congress first met.

This is the Pantheon de los Heroes. Inside are monuments to the past heroes of Paraguay.

This is a statue of an indigenous myth. The beast (Luison) is sort of a werewolf, but not really. It is one of the cursed sons of Tau and Kerana. Later European influence caused the myth to develop into a werewolf story.

Here is the Paraguay river right behind the first congress building. Down the hill was this small barrio.

Have you ever seen this?

2010-02-06T07:11:00.002-06:00

So, Justin noticed this week that we were starting our own little garden right in our kitchen. Check out the corner where our counters come together--below the dishes in the middle of the screen.

Here's a close up...

That's right. There are mushrooms growing out of the bottom of our counter. Each day of the week they got bigger and bigger. We guess that just from the heat and humidity here, it makes a great place to grow things like this! Thank you, Lord, for the little things that make us laugh!

Before we continue...

2010-02-02T08:50:00.004-06:00

I would like to say some things about Costa Rica before we move on with Paraguay. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to live and learn spanish in Costa Rica. It may just be the best country in the world. The people are exceptional, the weather is almost always perfect, and there is a strong evangelical presence there. I met great friends there that I will miss greatly. There is my endorsement for Costa Rica. Enjoy the pictures.

How could you not like a country that gives you an opportunity to sit on a big white ox.

Volcano Arenal

Great Beaches

It was great to watch our daughter grow here.

Our friend Gustavo. I know I put this picture up before, but it still makes me laugh that he made a lantern.

The gang going to a x-mas concert.

Benjamin is one of the smartest guys I know. He taught me more about the history of Costa Rica than any text book ever could have.

This is a cemetery where many national heroes are buried.

Information

2010-01-16T07:57:00.003-06:00

We are currently in Asuncion, Paraguay waiting for our documents to get stamped. As soon as that happens we are going to move to the province of Itapúa. From there, the plan is to research and hopefully work with the Mbyá, Guarani.

The Board is going through a lot of changes right now and with those changes have come a redirection of personal to the unreached people groups (those that don't have the gospel). In reality, there are not that many in the Americas as compared to other parts of the world, so we will see what other organizations are there working with the mbyá all ready and what kind of progress they have made. The exciting part of all this is that with the refocus it's feasible to believe that every group in the Americas could have access to the gospel. Praise God!!

We have been told that the Mbyá have been resistant to outsiders in the past and that most do not have access to the gospel. We will see if that is the case. They live in small groups ranging from 30 to 200. They are spread out and hard to get to. We know that another organization has had progress north of where we are, so we will have the benefit of learning some things from them. We don't know if we will be needed here for a long time or if there is enough progress made to move on, but we do know that God has put us here and he has a great purpose for it. Pray that doors will be open for the gospel.

Below are two maps showing where the Mbyá are located. The first shows a general location. On the right side of the map number 15 in green, is the Mbyá. The second shows the location of their villages. There are yellow stars that represent each one. You can compare the maps to see where they are.

- Please pray that we will pick up Guarani quickly.

- Pray that God will open doors, so that we can proclaim the mystery of Christ.

- Pray that we will be bold.

- Pray for unity amongst the believers here.

- And most of all pray that God will make his name great among the Mbyá.

Hello

2010-01-05T16:50:00.004-06:00

Sorry for the delay in posting. We have arrived in Paraguay, spent Christmas in Argentina with some friends and have now returned to Paraguay. We are starting to get settled, but there is a lot still to do with documents and other things. It looks like we will be in Asuncion for a while, so we are going to try to make ourselves at home here. I'll update as things happen. Until then, here are a couple of interesting things that have happened.

- We slept on the tile floor for two hours because the power was out and the floor was the coolest place.

- We have eaten who knows how many ants. They got into some things and since we are missionaries now, we didn't have to throw them out so we ate those suckers.

-I told a guy that I like cats instead of passion fruit in guarani. When your talking about watermelons, strawberries, and other fruits it's pretty funny when the next thing that comes out is "I like cats."

-I left the dryer on for four hours (it doesn't turn off by itself) and I thought it was on fire when I came back because it's a gas dryer and there is a flame inside (kind of like a blow torch).

-Apparently, the word "papaya" has a sexual connotation.......

-My spanish name is Justino pronounced Hustino, so congratulations first baptist plaquemine youth group. You were the first ones to call me by my spanish name.

- We had fireworks for Christmas and watermelon for the New Year.

- This is me with my Christmas present. I can now say that I have drank from the same straw (bombilla) as three other men while sitting in a boat. I was a very special time for me. I'll post later on the custom of drinking terere and our experiences. Well, that is a little bit about what's going on. Hope you guys are well and that you will continue to pray that God will make his name great amongst the people here. Oh yeah, if anybody from florida boulevard still reads this, there is my shout out with the t-shirt. Let us strive together in prayer.

Paraguay

2009-12-19T06:16:00.001-06:00

We leave for Paraguay today and arrive tomorrow morning. Please be praying for us and I'll send an update as soon as we can.

Louisiana Night

2009-11-24T10:11:00.002-06:00

Our mentors are from Biloxi, MS and they know a thing or to about Gumbo. We had some good 'ol Gumbo and Beignets. It has been kind of chilly here, so the Gumbo was perfect for the weather.

This is Mike the chef.

Rain Rain Go Away

2009-11-06T21:07:00.002-06:00

The rainy season in Costa Rica hasn't been that bad this year. It didn't get started until late and it hasn't rained as hard as it rained last year. That said it still rains almost every day. Here is a taste of a light rain on our street.

Notice the trash sitting out. The garbage truck didn't come by. The ended up coming by later in the week. One time they came by at one in the morning. That was an interesting sound to upset your sleep.

El Museo de Los Niños

2009-10-22T15:33:00.002-05:00

Before Thomas was born, we were able to go to the children's museum in San Jose. The building used to be a prison and is set up really. Oh yea it's huge. They have play areas, rooms that talk about the body, light, sound, and many thing that pertain to Costa Rica like the production of coffee and bananas. We had a great time.

Thomas Nathanael Rayburn

2009-10-09T14:17:00.003-05:00

I posted the story about Thomas's documents and forgot that some of you may not have seen Thomas. So here is a picture of him and one of the family after the birth. Can you believe they let me where that sweet get up?

Shout Out!!

2009-10-09T14:14:00.001-05:00

This is a shout out to Brent Doriety, the most faithful blog reader in the world. Thanks Brent you make blogging worth it.

Certificado de Nacimiento

2009-10-09T13:36:00.004-05:00

I would like to start this post by saying I am in no way aggravated or frustrated about the following events. I just wanted to let our readers in on the process of obtaining documents here. Actually, everything went a lot smoother than I thought it would. Ok, the story: So I needed to obtain Thomas's birth certificate in order to start the process of getting his passport, SS#, and other U.S. documents. Usually, a birth certificate won't be processed until 3 months after the baby is born. So, first step for us is to ask them (CR government) if they can put him in the system sooner.

So yesterday I went to the Registro Civil (Civil Registry) and waited in line to enter a office to ask that his documents get processed sooner. The lady I spoke with typed on her computer for a moment, then asked her boss about the situation, returned asked for my documents started the request and then figured out that I needed to go to another office. I went to the other office and the same thing happened. The lady looked, asked her boss, typed and started to send me to another office, then decided she could do it. She started the process, then realized Thomas was not in the system yet, so she told me to go to the hospital to get the forms that would allow her to put him in the system. So I walked across town, maybe about 45 minutes, got to the hospital and they told me to come back tomorrow to pick up the document (single piece of paper). So I walked 20 minutes to the bus and went home.

The following day (today) I took the bus down town, walked to the hospital, received the document from the hospital walked 45 minutes across town and handed the document to the lady at the Registro Civil. She took it processed the request and told me I could pick up the birth certificate on the 23rd. And so completed the first step.

The next step is to go back to the Registro Civil, pay for a sticker that shows I paid for the documents and wait in a long line. Step 3 US embassy followed by the final step asking the Costa Rica government if I can take Thomas out of the country. It's really not that bad (so far). I'm just happy they have a way to get the documents sooner than 3 months.

Here are some pictures of the sites I passed downtown on my multiple walks through the city.

This is the National Museum. It used to be an old fort.

This is the monument in the Parque Nacional. The Registro Civil is behind me.

This is the Teatro Nacional (National Theater). It's really beautiful on the inside and it's next to Plaza de Cultura which is a great cut through.

El Día de Independencia

2009-09-28T17:02:00.005-05:00

On September 15, most of Central America celebrated its Independence Day.

One tradition is to run the Central American Freedom Torch from Guatemala to Cartago, Costa Rica. This is "a reenactment of the messengers who brought the word of independence to the various Central American provinces belonging to Spain's Capitanía of Guatemala" (www.naturelandings.com/articles.php?article=11). The torch starts in Guatemala on September 1st and ends in Cartago on September 14th. Justin & Lilian were able to see the torch pass through San Pedro before heading onto Cartago.

After the torch passes through, students from the local schools carried their own torches, lit from the Freedom Torch, from the central park back to their schools.

Also, at 6 p.m., all of Costa Rica sings the national anthem.

Then start the lantern parades. Here is one of Lilian's friends from church, Isa, as she holds her lantern for the parade.

This lantern took some time to make!

Usually the lantern parades are for the kids, but our friend Gustavo decided he didn't want to be left out this year. So, he made one of his own!

Perú

2009-09-23T09:33:00.005-05:00

Justin had the opportunity to go to the Amazon of Peru. He went with another missionary to check on some churches that had been planted there. They flew into Iquitos, Peru and traveled up the Amazon towards Brazil. He said the trip was pretty strenuous, but was great for his language acquisition.

Above is a picture of the Amazon in Iquitos. People will travel up the Amazon, which is huge, in these little boats with a motor they call a peki peki because it makes that sound.

Here is a small settlement along the river.

Jake is the guy I went with. The average height of the Peruvians there was probably about 5'5" and Jake stands at a meager 6'8". They loved the big white guy.

This is the Peruvian that is heading up the work amongst the Peruvians, Richard. He loves the Lord deeply and is a great brother and evangelist.

Nothing like sleeping in a hammock. It was uncomfortable at first, but you get used to it. It was hot there. I guess it was comparable to south Louisiana in heat and humidity, but there was no AC there.

Picture of some little girls at Pevas.

This is Lea Brown with the extreme team. She is from Lafayette, LA. We met Lea at Seminary and went to the same church in New Orleans. It was a great blessing to see her and catch up.

Good Bye Mercers

2009-08-24T15:44:00.003-05:00

Our friends, the Mercers, left Costa Rica a couple weeks ago. We shared a wall with them for almost a year. We are really going to miss them, but that's the missionary life. Here is a typical Mercer/Rayburn dinner. As you can see, they are pretty lively. Please pray for our friends as they are beginning their work in Mexico. Also, baby Thomas is due in a month and a half. Please pray that our family adjusts well. Thanks

Change is the only constant.

2009-08-08T12:23:00.002-05:00

The old missionary adage: The only thing that's constant is change. Well, we have seen a couple of changes in our young missionary lives and another is on the horizon. With the changes going on with IMB (the name has been changed from THE IMB) our mentor who is now in charge of a bunch of people is moving to Asunción Paraguay. It was necessary for him to make this move to be closer to a major airport. So, we will spend our mentorship time in Asunción and probably stay in Paraguay. It's not that big of a deal because it was always an option in our minds to go to Paraguay. Even though we will be crossing the boarder much of the culture is the same so the change is not that drastic. Well, there is one big difference. It appears at this point that we might need to learn Guarani (an official language of Paraguay spoken by 90% of the population.) No sweat, we're young right? We are actually pretty excited about where God is leading us.

Arenal

2009-08-02T13:32:00.003-05:00

We went to Arenal Volcano this past weekend with my family (Justin). It was a good relaxing trip and the area was beautiful. I have been looking forward to seeing the volcano because it's erupting right now. I just wanted to see some lava. Well this is how it looked most of the time. But it was still fun

That is a real crocodile and I didn't use a zoom. It was pretty freaky.

Here is a picture of Lake Arenal

Another picture of the lake on top of a dam.

The clouds did clear for part of the trip and we were able to see the volcano, but no lava. I heard that some people saw some on the other side at night. It was cool none the less.

USA vs Costa Rica

2009-07-04T11:49:00.004-05:00

Well I went to the U.S. - Costa Rica game and it was pretty bad. The U.S. lost three to one. They beat the snot out of us, but as my friends you see in the picture said, it was probably better for our safety that Costa Rica won. I have a video of Donavan's goal. It was the one bright spot of the night.

Rincón Trip

2009-07-04T11:15:00.005-05:00

Two weeks ago Justin had the opportunity to visit a church in the southwestern part of Costa Rica. It was a great trip to see brothers laboring for the gospel there and to practice spanish. The area was beautiful. It was close to the pacific ocean and had some spectacular views. We traveled with two pastors from San Jose 8 hours to Rincón, so by the time I got home, I was done with Spanish for the week.

This stream was behind the church and is the place where people are baptized.

The food that was prepared for us was typical Costa Rican food: rice, beans, platanos, chicharrónes (pork rinds), fish. It was all cooked on this fire.

This is the bed where I slept. It was pretty hot, but comfortable.

We saw this as we were driving through Drake Bay. I thought for sure I could get a free meal here, but to no avail. Oh yeah, a soda is just a small restaurant.

Here is one of the views we had of Gulfo Dulce.

The Pastor of the church, Daniel, farms these African Palms. The fruit you see at the top is used to make palm oil.

The Craft Visit

2009-05-27T20:52:00.003-05:00

So, a few days after Allison's family left, Justin's parents came for a visit. We were able to visit Punta Leona and see all kinds of animals: crocodiles, raccoons, white-throated capuchin monkeys, iguanas, and coatis (o pizotes en Español).

We also took another trip to Doka Coffee Farms...can't ever get enough coffee!

And, then to Poás. But, this time, although there were clouds everywhere else, we actually got to see the crater.

After Justin's parents left, we started our second trimester at the language institute. So far, this trimester has been a little more work (which is why we've been a little behind on posting), but our classes are challenging us in our language.

Thanks for keeping up with us and we'd love to hear from you. Feel free to comment or email us: justinnallison@gmail.com. Please continue to remember us in your prayers as we are still trying to get this language down!

The Berry Visit

2009-05-03T17:05:00.006-05:00

We have had a busy month!! First, our mentors from Argentina stayed with us for 5 days. Then, the Berrys came for a week-long visit. Then, the Crafts came for a week, also. Now we have a few more days until our next trimester of school starts, so we will try to catch you up on all that we have experienced in the last 3 weeks.

Allison's parents, brother, sister, and about-to-be brother-in-law were able to come visit on their Spring Break. Although we had a few mishaps on their trip (that is only Latin American), we all had a wonderful time!

Here is the whole gang at Doka Coffee Farm. (Their #1 buyer is Starbucks!! Mmmm!!)

We also went to the volcano, Poás, but it was covered with clouds. We did not get any good pics of it. On the drive, we did get to see a real Costa Rican ox cart in use. I have never seen someone so proud of his oxen!

We were also able to visit downtown San José. We ate at an authentic Argentine restaurant, did a little shopping, and saw some downtown sights. Here are the Berrys in the square in front of the Catholic church.

We were also able to take a day trip to Isla Tortuga--a small island in the Pacific. We rode a bus to Puntarenas and took a boat to the island. (Technically, the tour company took us to the ¨Pregnant Indian.¨ We just assume the Tortuga Island is a more appealing name than Pregnant Indian.) Most of our group was able to go snorkeling. My brother, Bryan, and Justin got to kayak around the different islands. And, we all did some swimming and had some fun in the sand.

Here is my sister, Denise, on the boat ride back.

The most exciting event from the trip, however, was the engagement of my sister and her boyfriend. Kevin proposed to Denise at the top of Irazú, the tallest volcano in Costa Rica (he scores major points for that one!).

All in all, we were so thankful to get to see everyone. It was definitely a blessing and an encouragement to be able to spend so much time with family. And, now, we are excited to (hopefully) plan a trip back home for a most anticipated wedding!!

Irazú

2009-04-08T23:17:00.005-05:00

The past couple of days have been a great time of looking ahead to Argentina. Our mentors Alan and Melissa Andrews came in to visit those going to Argentina. It was a great time of growing closer and learning more about Formosa.

We took a day trip to Irazú. It is the highest volcano in Costa Rica at 11,260 ft. The view was incredible. This is one of the three craters.

This is, I think, the newest of the craters. It was very wide and filled with volcanic sand.

Towards the end the clouds started to come in and drift into the main crater.

The main crater is the one pictured with the green water.

Here we are standing in the clouds.

Argentine Party

2009-03-23T10:37:00.005-05:00

This past weekend, we were blessed to have a Southern Cone get together. Everybody who came had served or will serve in Uruguay, Argentina, or Chile. One of our mentors here, Hope, showed the ladies how to make Argentine deserts and Ñoquis (pasta made out of potatoes.) Above and below are some pictures of the deserts.

Below is a picture of the ñoqui making process. It was a good good meal.

Here is a picture of everybody who came. Asbury Martin is taking the picture and I have to mention his name because he brought the Maté.

This final picture shows me throwing away the ñoquis. Our fridge stopped working during the day some time. We didn't notice it until the next morning. It was a sad morning having to throw away something so good.

Las Bailas de Costa Rica

2009-03-13T15:32:00.003-05:00

Here's what I've been doing lately! After classes the Spanish Language Institute offered classes to learn some of the traditional dances of Costa Rica. Today, we performed for all of the teachers and students. The first three dances represents single Tica women in the rural areas: free and fun-loving.

The next dance represents the married woman: busy with work in the home and with the children, but still fun-loving.

The last dance represents the upper class woman in the urban areas: self-confident and a little proud.

And then, the exit...

Hay un panecillo en el horno

2009-03-02T16:23:00.005-06:00

So, surprise! We have baby number #2 on the way. After all of our careful planning to pack all of our maternity and baby things in the crate for Argentina, the Lord said now is time! I am at 8 weeks, so that puts the due date at October 14 (2 weeks before Lilian's 2nd birthday). That means we'll be in the middle of our last semester at language school. So, supposedly we'll be done going through the grammer book and just be polishing up (which I imagine we'll be polishing up for the rest of our lives!).

We are so excited to have baby #2 on the way. Please pray for the pregnancy and the development of our new little one. Thanks!

Introduction of Players

2009-02-23T21:36:00.002-06:00

As they introduced each player on Costa Rica's select team, the ticos would yell the players last name.

Tenemos que Ganar

2009-02-22T08:13:00.002-06:00

The fans showed up about two hours before the game.

The stadium doesn't hold very many, but the whole stadium was like the LSU student section.

Costa Rica y Honduras

2009-02-16T21:57:00.005-06:00

I (Justin) was able to go to the Costa Rica vs Honduras game last week. The game was to qualify for the world cup, so it was a pretty big deal. I'll put some videos up latter. Costa Rica won 2-0.

Drinks to Go!

2009-02-11T14:07:00.004-06:00

The guy I asked you to pray for, Cuauhtli, works at a Mexican restaurant near our house. We got some food to go one day and this is how we received the drinks. I think most places give to go drinks like this.

Please continue to pray for Cuauhtli. I've asked him to help me with my Spanish. I am praying that this turns into a Bible Study.

Good Friends

2009-02-06T12:50:00.004-06:00

We have bean really blessed to find some tico friends so early. This is Gustavo and Rebeca. They will be getting married in May. We met them at our church and they have been great language helpers for us. Please pray for them as their marriage approaches.

Please also pray for a guy named Cuauhtli. His family owns a restaurant here that we visit often. We have built a relationship with him and are going to ask him if he would like to have a bible study together.

2009-01-23T21:45:00.001-06:00

This is how we feel in our phonetics class everyday.

And the earth shook...

2009-01-08T14:31:00.006-06:00

So, we had an interesting afternoon. We've had Orientation this week at the language school; we've talked about classes, administrative policies, what to do in earthquakes, visas, cultural things... Well, we got to use some of that information this afternoon.

At about 1 o'clock, I (Allison) was just getting lunch ready, Justin was lying on the couch studying, and Lilian was in her room playing. Then, all of a sudden, my head starts spinning--or so I thought. Actually, the house was shaking; it was an earthquake! Justin jumped up and started unlocking and opening the door (which is a task when the door is not still!). I ran to the back of the house to grab Lilian; she was sitting in her closet in her car seat with the door closed (silly girl!). Then, we all ran outside to wait out the quake and the aftershocks.

As you can see on the map, San Jose is not inexperienced in the area of earthquakes (red = strong, yellow = moderate, green/blue = light; San Jose is the black dot on the right). The earthquake actually hit about 22 miles northwest of San Jose and registered a 6.1 on the richter scale. It was the strongest quake that they have had in this area in 150 years. In the city of Poás, it collapsed a bridge; in all, there have been 14 reported deaths from the quake & aftershocks and related landslides.

So, all is very well in the Rayburn household. Please pray for the families of those who have lost loved ones in this quake! Please pray that God will use this situation to shine into hearts that are veiled to the truth of Christ! Praise God that He is faithful and He is the One who holds all things together!

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

2009-01-01T19:45:00.004-06:00

People love fireworks here. And, since there are no large "yards," everyone's house is right on top of the other. This means that when someone is popping firecrackers, everyone knows! Back in the States, people would shoot fireworks and save their biggest few for midnight and then call it quits. Not here! They shot tons of beautiful and LOUD fireworks until a quarter till the new year, and then they did not stop until about 30 minutes after the new year had arrived. I do not know how Lilian did not wake up! Although it does not do the noise justice, here's a clip of what we heard for close to an hour last night.

Some people say this is bowl season. I say this is Bull season.

2009-01-01T10:34:00.007-06:00

Here in Costa Rica Christmas begins a festival in Zapote. Along

with the festival comes bullfighting which starts Christmas day

and goes to New Years Eve. Justin was able to go to one of the

session. It starts with a traditional matador, then the people are

allowed to come in the ring. A couple of guys went flying. It was

pretty cool.

A Tico Christmas

2008-12-29T10:42:00.005-06:00

Although, we missed our family terribly, we did have a nice Tico Christmas. The International Mission Board has a Language School Coordinator stationed here in San José. For Christmas, all of the language students were invited to her house for Christmas lunch. So, we ate our fill of roasted chicken, carrot souffle, green beans, potato salad, corn casserole, mashed potatoes, fruit salad, and rolls...

Then, we topped all that off with fantastic desserts and home-grown coffee. Here are some of the guys trying to save some coffee beans in their early stage from the kids!

Then, we played games and had some time of sweet fellowship.

We were even able to nurse Lilian's first shiner. (She took a step down a step that was way too big for her. I thought she understood the "climbing down the steps" idea.)

To finish it all, we sat around and watched bull fighting--a Tico Christmas tradition.

All in all, we had a great Christmas. We are now looking very forward to starting school so that maybe soon we will actually be able to communicate!

¡Próspero Año!

Happy Birthday!!

2008-12-23T19:51:00.002-06:00

So, I had a nice birthday this year. A morning to myself shopping--very relaxing. An afternoon with friends. A surprise birthday card that my sweet husband snuck in from the States. And, this fantastic Costa Rican cake!! One thin slice covered an entire large dinner plate. And, it looks almost as good as it tastes!! I love fresh bakeries!!

Punta Leona

2008-12-21T21:41:00.005-06:00

Earlier this week we took a trip about two and half hours southwest to an area called Punta Leona. The area is a point that has two beaches on each side of it, playa blanca and playa mantas. Our trip started with us traveling to downtown San José to catch a bus. We found out that the 9 o'clock bus was full, so we got tickets for the 10 o'clock. The lady asked us if we wanted sitting or standing tickets. This was strange to me. Standing tickets? Sure enough, we got on the bus (it was similar to an older charter bus) and there were people standing in the aisle. The bus was packed with people standing for 3 hours on this bus. We eventually reached our destination and it was pretty cool. The beach was really nice and there was a nice kids pool that Lilian loved. The people there were really nice and we had nothing bad to say about the place until...as we were leaving the area to go back to the main road to catch our bus. We were told it would cost 5 dollars to be brought to the main road. This is a distance of about 2 miles. We were never told this until we were leaving. On top of this hidden fee we almost missed the bus home, but we made it right as the bus was pulling up. It was a crazy and great trip, but really it was just great to get out of the city.

The area had all kinds of wildlife. We saw monkeys, iguanas, raccoons, macaws, and coatis.

Here is a picture of Punta Leona and playa blanca. The name means Lion Point because the point looks like a sleeping lion. There was good snorkeling around the rocks.

My buddy Josh and I went rock hopping when the tide went out. These rocks are under water when the tide is in.

This tree is 400 years old. It was huge!

Lilian living it up in the kiddy pool.

A movie about Columbus was filmed at the resort in the 80s. The cabins are named after the places he discovered.

The area was very tropical and had some great scenery. Here is a bamboo tunnel that covered the whole road.

Some House Pics

2008-12-18T15:51:00.003-06:00

We just moved into our house last week. It's pretty nice. Lilian really likes the big closets. She climbs in and out of them. She likes to sit and play inside of them. Here are pictures of the front of the house, Lilian and Justin in her closet, and Allison cooking up a storm in the kitchen. We were really blessed by receiving some items from missionaries that were leaving Costa Rica. Things like towels, blow dryer (Allison's busted), a wall clock, and some other things. Lord willing we will put some pictures of the neighborhood up later.

Sights of Costa Rica plus one

2008-12-11T15:53:00.002-06:00

Things are going good here in CR. We move into our house tomorrow, so we'll have some picks of that soon. Here are some picks from this week. The last one is my favorite.

Here are some more picks of Costa Rica. Like most places in Latin America, the trash goes in the basket.

This play ground is my favorite. Lilian watched me climb all over this thing. In the words of Katie Mercer "You need a boy."

This is the real reason for this post. Can you spot Allison. Second row from the top, second from the left. She is a cute little girl.

El Salón de Belleza

2008-12-10T09:03:00.002-06:00

I (Allison) braved the salon yesterday. I've never been nervous about a haircut before, but when you can't explain what you want, it can be scary. So, I drew front, side, & back diagrams of the haircut and memorized a handful of phrases. I walked in and said "Quiero cortarme el pelo, por favor," which means "I would like a haircut, please." The lady understood me and walked over to her counter. She asked me if I was a language student at the institute. I said "Si. Vine hace una semana," or "I've been here for 1 week." She told me that I spoke great Spanish for only being here 1 week. (What she didn't know was that these were really the only 2 phrases that I knew...). Then she asked me a question...I didn't understand it. Then, she asked again...I didn't understand it. I said "lo siento, no entiendo," or "sorry, I don't understand." Then, in PERFECT English she said, "When would you like to come in? Later this afternoon or tomorrow? I have a 2 o'clock open." I felt a little better about my haircut after this.

So, I was able to explain in English to the owner what I wanted and she translated it to the hair dresser. After using English, I did try to say it in Spanish to which I got a pat on the shoulder and a smile. I'm not sure if this meant "that was so nice of you to learn the Spanish," or "good try, honey, but you'll get better." Now, I just have to replace my hair dryer and curling iron that were killed on the new electrical system so I can try to fix my new 'do.

Oh, Costa Rica

2008-12-10T08:36:00.002-06:00

Here are some pictures of the mountains south of San José. We asked a cab driver to tell us the altitude of the city, and he told us that it was not as high as the mountains around San José. Then, on the other side of these mountains is the Hill of Death! So if you were curious, there's your answer!

We've made it!

2008-12-02T07:23:00.002-06:00

We've finally made it to Costa Rica! We flew in at 11:10 last night. We are now staying with a family we went through Orientaiton with. We will post more of our experiences when we wake up a little and have some time. Thanks so much for your prayers!

Northwestern State University

2008-11-24T21:51:00.003-06:00

Two weeks ago we went to speak at NSU's BCM. Our goal was to promote the Nehemiah Teams, see some old friends, and encourage students to pursue the higher calling that God has put on our lives. It was a great trip and it brought back a lot of memories for Justin. Below is the Catholic church in Natchitoches. The city has a lot of historic sites. It feels like "Steel Magnolias" as it should since the movie was filmed there.

The BCM is in the process of constructing a new building. Here is the cornerstone. It's a great multipurpose structure in a great location right next to the football stadium and the basketball gym.

The three columns are the symbol of the university. The university started as a Normal College in 1884. The columns are from the mansion that stood on the site prior to the city's purchase of the land.

Here we are standing by the cornerstone. Please pray that the Lord will call students from Northwestern State University to serve in Formosa for a summer.

Nehemiah Teams

2008-11-17T21:17:00.006-06:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfd4vHb7dcQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdSdyDXIO5Q

Here are links to youtube videos about Nehemiah Teams in Argentina and the Philippines.

We really want Louisiana to be represented this year in Argentina, so please tell college students about these opportunities.

Big Al

2008-11-11T21:45:00.005-06:00

I hope I get this story right. It's not my own. Our mentors in Argentina, were watching College Game Day (LSU vs Alabama) on their computer. During the show, there was a spot that showed some college students at LSU burning a likeness of Big Al. Big Al is a big elephant mascot for Alabama. Their son Benjamin (5) saw this going on and was horrified. He couldn't understand why anyone would want to burn Big Al, Especially Uncle Justin's Team. They had to explain that I did not know them and that it wasn't really Big Al. All that said here is the picture that I hope will put me back in good favor with Benjamin.

FYI

2008-11-11T11:20:00.003-06:00

Here is a quote by Jerry Rankin at the trustee meeting in Houston.

"Currently we have training at ILC the largest orientation group in the history of this program, and tonight a 105 new missionaries being appointed at the Southern Baptist of Texas Convention will represent the second largest appointment group in history. This will bring our total number of active missionaries to more than 5,600 for the first time."

Thanks for your Prayers!

2008-11-09T15:13:00.004-06:00

Thank you all for your prayers. I got my cast off on friday and will be walking with a boot by next Monday. What's funny is my brother-in-law had to have his knee scoped, so there are two of us on crutches. We were both feeling well enough to go to the LSU game.

Thank you again. Please be praying for our families. We leave Dec. 1 This week we are speaking at the Northwestern State BCM pray for that also.

Lottie Moon

2008-11-04T14:47:00.003-06:00

I was going to post my thoughts on this years Lottie Moon offering, but I think Guy Muse did a good job of showing the numbers with some interesting thoughts at the end. Pleas check this link out and thank you all for your support. http://guymuse.blogspot.com/2008/10/money-and-s-baptist-global-missions.html

The Big 1

2008-10-27T16:18:00.003-05:00

Today Lilian turned one year old. She has been so much fun especially the past couple of months. It made me think back on how much change has occurred in her year of life. She has been to 8 states. By the end of the year she will have lived in two countries, five cities and seven different houses. What a wild ride, but it has been great. Things that I miss the most from the first year: swaddling her at night, waking her up in the morning (opposed to her waking us up in the morning), and kicking her legs like she was swimming. One thing that remains is she was born sucking her bottom lip and she still does it when she is tired. I'm excited about the next year, but hope that it doesn't go as fast.

Berry Stimulating Tereré??

2008-10-16T17:25:00.009-05:00

We love Smoothie King. It is really the one place we know for sure we will miss when we leave. So, we've been trying to get our fill of it before our departure date. When we pulled up to Smoothie King this week to get our fix, we were very surprised to find this promo.

Maté [Ma-Tay] is a type of green tea that is very common in many South American countries, including Argentina. It is made by seeping dry leaves of Yerba [Jerba] maté in hot water. Maté is sipped using a bombilla [Bom-bee-jya (in Argentina, anyway)] which is a metal straw with a filter at the bottom. The Smoothie just adds pre-made maté to the rest of the fruit instead of water. It's pretty good. The kicker is it's a cold drink. Maté is a warm drink like coffee. When maté is served cold, it's called tereré. Tereré is what we will drink about half the time because it's so hot.

Justin's Surgery

2008-10-06T14:36:00.002-05:00

Justin had his foot surgery this morning and is doing fine. The doc says that all went well and he now has a joint instead of a growth plate and an arch --Praise God!--(both of which Justin will be excited to realize when he is not on meds). We're back home now and Justin is resting. He's feeling fine other than a scratchy throat from the breathing tube. Thank you for your prayers!

Back home

2008-10-03T14:09:00.002-05:00

It's over. Believe it or not, we have finished our 8-week orientation with the International Mission Board. And, it was fantastic. We have learned so much and have made so many relationships. Now comes the hard part--putting it into practice. Much of what we learned about church planting does not really translate to our American culture. Right now we are trying to decide how we are going to learn some Spanish before we leave on December 1. But, first on our agenda is Justin's foot surgery on Monday. Please pray that it will go well, that we could share the Gospel boldly, & that recovery would be quick and easy.

Practice Trip

2008-09-21T14:11:00.003-05:00

We went to Washington for a day to practice some of the things we have been learning. The pictures are from the Basilica and Union Station. We didn't have time to sight see, but we met some interesting people. I know we learned a lot about getting around in an unfamiliar city. Our time in Richmond is almost up, less than two weeks.

Welcome to the Freak Show!

2008-09-10T11:02:00.004-05:00

College students can be a great asset to missionaries on the field. They can do things that the missionaries can't do, and they are able to share the gospel with large numbers of people. Nationals are curious about them and want to interact with the North Americans. Will you be the freak show that shares the gospel with the Paraguayan Criollo? Next week I will be able to meet with a guy from the Nehemiah Teams and learn more about the project in Formosa this summer. So I will update you with what I learn. Pray and Tell students about this. For more information visit http://thetask.org/students/Projects/ (type 91491 or 91492 in the key word search box). The spots are filling up.

Lots of Kids

2008-09-07T14:11:00.002-05:00

As you can see by the strollers, there are a lot of kids here at FPO. This is only one of the buildings that holds the children during the day. It's been pretty amazing to see so many families going overseas. The staff has been pretty stretched, but they have done a great job. Pray for them because the next FPO is supposed to be bigger. Next week is going to be the toughest week, so pray for us. Please continue to pray for Justin's foot surgery October 6. The sooner his foot heals the sooner we can leave. We are praying for all of you affected by Gustav in south Louisiana.

The Persecuted Church

2008-08-31T18:19:00.004-05:00

This week was a good, but hard week. We spent the first half of the week talking about different ways to plant churches using different training and Bible study methods. The second half was spent talking about the persecuted church. How humbling it was to hear story after story of our brothers and sisters enduring various persecution with joy. Losing jobs, prison, beatings, seeing family members tortured and killed, house arrest...the list goes on. It really brought verses about enduring hardship with joy to life.

After hearing all these things, it is really embarrassing to think back on how I (Allison) have served Christ. Forfeiting time in prayer because I'd rather sleep, paying little attention to the Word when I read because I have other things on my mind, not sharing Christ because I was scared I would look stupid. I don't mean for this to be a condemning post, but I do mean for it to encourage us towards obedience. People are coming to Christ all over the world in the face of persecution and martyrdom. When we read Acts, we see how normal persecution because of the Gospel is. What we have here in the States is abnormal, not normal. If we were living in the norm, how would we react when the police break up a service and begin arresting our church leaders? What would our response be if someone ready to beat us for our faith asks us who our allegiance is to? Our brothers and sisters of the faith have endured much so that we can have a relationship with Christ and enjoy it in freedom. So let me leave you with a comment from one of our brothers who was in prison for 17 years for his faith. "Do not give up in freedom what we did not give up in persecution."

Great Experience

2008-08-29T19:07:00.002-05:00

A friend (Jake) and I went out to share the gospel this past tuesday. We ran into two guys who only spoke Spanish. Jake speaks just enough Spanish to share with these guys. They both seemed uninterested until Jake said you can know that you have eternal life. One of the guys continence completely changed. Jake asked him again. The Man said he wanted us to come to his house and tell his family. Long story short nobody was there, but we have his contact info. Pray that the Lord will use this experience to draw these guys to himself.

Its Over

2008-08-24T13:31:00.004-05:00

The Olympics are over and Argentina did pretty well. They finished with 2 golds and 4 bronzes. One of the golds was in soccer, so nothing else really matters after that, but for the American audiences sake one of the bronzes was in basketball. So really if you add up each metal given to an Argentine the country received 49 metals. That sounds much better.

Come on!

2008-08-21T21:18:00.003-05:00

Here is an advertisement for summer of 2009. Please pass it on to anyone who might be interested. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfd4vHb7dcQ

Opportunity to Serve

2008-08-21T13:19:00.003-05:00

Nehemiah Teams Summer 2009
For the summer of 2009 our mentors in Formosa are looking for 25 students to go and spend the summer as part of Nehemiah Teams Argentina. Those who go will be trained and equipped and then sent out in teams of 4-5 to engage new communities. Living conditions will be challenging, but there are some exciting ministry opportunities waiting for the students. For more information visit http://thetask.org/students/Projects/ (type 91491 or 91492 in the key word search box).

For those of you we spoke with about serving as journey men in Formosa, this would be a great opportunity to test the waters. If anyone wants more specific info you can contact our mentors at their blog. http://pgycriollo.blogspot.com/2008/08/nehemiah-teams-summer-2009.html

Updates

2008-08-19T17:03:00.003-05:00

Pray for our families.

Pray for Justin's surgery in October.

Pray that we can retain and apply all the info we're being taught.

**Please let us know if there is anything that we can pray for you about. This partnership goes both ways. Thanks everyone.**

Happy Anniversary

2008-08-19T12:48:00.002-05:00

Allison and I celebrated our anniversary for the second time in our three year marriage in Richmond. Last year we were at Candidate Conference here. It was August 13. We have been very busy, but it has been very good. The central focus of everything has been scripture. I thought coming in to orientation the focus would be on strategies and structure, but it has been on scripture. The two things mentioned above are good, but they are better when founded in the word. Sorry to cut this short, but we need to get Lilian. Thank you all for your prayers and please let us know how we can pray for you.

Made it!

2008-08-05T17:57:00.007-05:00

We made it to Richmond on Monday. Our plane was delayed in Baton Rouge and we missed our connecting flight. By the grace of God we made the next flight on stand by. It has been a busy couple of days, but we are excited to be here. Tomorrow the fun begins as we start classes.

On a side note, the Olympics start on Friday. Who do I cheer for? Argentina or USA. The home town or the new country. Do I selfishly pull for the USA or do I relate to my future people group? I'll just pull for whoever wins.