Hagermans' June 09 Newsletter From Paraguay

My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun… Malachi 1:11

Carapegua, Paraguay, South America WEBPAGE: www.hagermans.blogspot.com EMAIL: [email protected]

June, 2009 It’s finally gotten cold enough here for the long sleeves and warm blankets. What a change to sleep with more than a sheet! We’re blessed to be staying in a home with doors and windows, so we can close out the cold winds through the night. Most of our neighbors aren’t so fortunate. The past several weeks, YOU have bought them very warm blankets, which we’ve delivered door-to-door. Many of the most needy families only speak Guarani, so we always take a translator with us. Most often it’s our evangelist friend, Saúl. This is a double blessing because he knows these families, and they know he is a Christian. Even though we can’t have long conversations with them, they associate us with the “Man with the Bible” and this opens the door to us for return visits. One of the phrases we know how to say in Guarani is “God bless you.” A few days ago, I said this to an elderly woman who’d just been handed a blanket. She was so excited and said, “I know He is the one true God because my husband and I had nothing to cover ourselves with last night and today I have a blanket.” Some of the homes are full of small children, and we sure sleep better at night knowing they have something to bundle up in. We always tell them they are gifts from Christian friends in another part of the world who love them and are praying for them. They find this hard to fathom, it seems, but they always say thank you. While visiting these homes, Ken decided to take on a family photo project. He realized that many of them would never have a picture of their children or their home. He went back out one day and photographed as many of then as he found at home, and printed them off to give as gifts. The families were a bit skeptical at first, asking a lot of questions about what the pictures would be used for. We found small frames at a great price and put one of each family inside its own frame, for safer keeping. Over the next few days, we’ll be walking back into the woods to deliver these gifts, just in time for Fathers Day. We were contacted by a missionary couple in a city 5 hours from us about scarves and hats. They were given a stash of handmade fleece ones made by a Paraguayan widow for needy children. They sent us a giant bag full of the goodies (and a couple packs of MARSHMALLOWS!) and we had such fun handing these out. The teachers from the local elementary school told the children not to come to school without their scarves and hats, so we’ve been seeing fleece on every head around!

UPDATE on TAPÉ MISSION EXPERIENCE Please help us pray for the direction of the mission school. We didn’t have any committed students this session and are praying about God’s will and timing concerning future plans. We are researching the possibilities of adjustments to the school’s structure and general set-up. Keep posted with updates at the official webpage, www.tapemissions.org.

Friday Bible classes at the elementary school are such a big hit! Apparently, the children have been sharing with their parents, because some MOMS have shown up to hear the Word of God, as well! Saúl always presents the lesson, gives each child a page to color, and they do an activity to remember what they’ve learned. For many of them it’s the first time they’ve heard these stories, and even the teachers have questions. The students are also learning what prayer is and are always reminded that they are very special in the eyes of God. Saturday youth nights have been going very well. Our attendance is generally in the 20’s, and most of these young people are new to what’s happening here. This past weekend, one of the young men from the Children’s Home shared a scripture lesson with the group. These are his peers—kids he plays soccer with everyday—and he boldly shared his faith and read scripture, explaining what each verse meant. At 13 years old, he was able to explain our need for God, that God sent Jesus as a means for us to have a relationship with Him, and how we could accept Him and be in this relationship. The group that attends is mostly under 16 years of age. We continue to spend time throughout the week with the “older” teens and young adults, mostly hanging out in our home or at a little fire in the front yard. Please continue to pray that seeds being planted will take root and produce a harvest of young Christians, ready to impact their world. Project: Puente penpals have been a real treat for the children here. The kids get so excited to receive an email printoff from their penpal in

the States, and they want to write back IMMEDIATELY! One penpal sent a letter here through the mail, full of stickers. It was quite the buzz for days, and Mirian still tells anyone who’ll listen how her penpal sent her sooo many stickers, and that she loves her. If you want to get involved, there are plenty of children waiting. You aren’t required to mail anything. You can send us emails and we’ll translate them for the local child you are paired with, and then when they respond, we send it back to you via email. Email us if you want to jump on board!

The first weekend in June was National Convention, and we were blessed to be with our brothers and sisters from across Paraguay. All were encouraged and renewed in the vision for the ripe harvest here and around the world. Nana (Christie’s mom) visited with us for a little less than three weeks, and we all enjoyed getting to spend time with her. All the things going on mean you’ve gotten this newsletter a little later than usual, but we hope you understand and enjoy reading it. As always, we pray you are CONTACT INFORMATION continually blessed, as you have blessed Mailing Address in Paraguay: us. We appreciate so much your Hagermans c/o Miller encouragement and support as we follow Casilla de correo 13035 God’s lead in Paraguay. You are a part 1749 Shopping Del Sol Asuncion, Paraguay, South America of every work we do for the Kingdom, Telephone: 011-595-985-782-928 and we’re thrilled to be your partners in Donations are received through our local God’s plan for this country. church: Carolina Heights CoGoP 2900 Anderson Road Greenville, SC 29611 (Please write “Hagerman Missions” on check memo. All donations are tax deductible.) Email: [email protected] Webpages: www.hagermans.blogspot.com www.tapemissions.org

---Ken, Christie, Camille, and Caroline God bless you! ¡Dios le bendiga! (Spanish) Ñandejára tanderovasá! (Guarani) **(If you are receiving this through the US Mail and have an email address, please send it to us so we can get our newsletter to you in that way. It is much quicker and more efficient. If you don’t have an email address, or if you just prefer the regular mail, don’t worry. We’ll keep sending it to you that way.)