Being "In the Loop"

We’ve heard this phrase over and over… keep me in the loop. What does that mean? Does it mean I want to know what’s going on? Does it mean I want to be part of the action [but from a distance]? Does it mean Keep doing what you’re doing; just let me know what you’re doing? A few days ago I got to see what “being in the loop” was all about.

Some of the 40+ from the town that come to our feeding program.

Here at Su Refugio in Paraguay, we have many of God’s blessings, two of which are extremely pure artesian water from deep below the ground and children. You see, we have a feeding program here for many of the under-nourished children from the neighboring town of Tobati. Three times a week we go into town at lunchtime to pickup these children (sometimes 40, sometimes 70), bring them out to Su Refugio, and provide two meals for them: one from the kitchen and another from the heart – the gospel.

I had the opportunity to help serve these children. After making sure they all had plates of food I was taking around pitchers of God’s pure artesian water. As I saw the children stretching out their arms with the metal cups to receive this water, I realized how blessed I was to be “in the loop” for passing God’s blessings on to these children.

Next time you hear that phrase, “in the loop”, ask yourself if you are in the loop for passing God's blessings on to others.

Travel and Preparations

On Wednesday, February 12, I (Bill) will be leaving Costa Rica again, this time for Paraguay.

On Saturday, February 15, Su Refugio will be celebrating the grand opening of the Centro de Esperanza (Center of Hope). This long-awaited facility is where we will focus our attention on training the people, especially, the women, of Tobati in skills so they can start small businesses that we hope will help them support their families.

Interior of the Center of Hope - 1 week before the grand opening!

In the photo, taken from the main entrance of the building, there is one large meeting room on the left and two smaller classrooms on the right. The large central part of the facility is open to allow for large gatherings. At the back of the building are two small 1-bedroom apartments.

Sandy and I will be co-directors for the use of the facility, coordinating the activities and trying to make sure everything runs smoothly.

Another reason I am going to Paraguay is to hopefully finalize our purchase of a piece of land so we can start construction on a new house. While we were in Paraguay a couple months ago, we discovered there are very few houses for rent (we didn’t find any available) and only a few houses for sale. The price to buy a house, and then make repairs, was as much as it would cost for us to buy the land and build the house that we want.

Tobati, Paraguay - Su Refugio to the south, and where we want to build

Paraguay does not use an escrow system, so it is basically bring a pen and a bucket of money: sign the papers and hand over the bucket. We tried doing this from Costa Rica but it just didn’t work out. Without an escrow system, we could not find a way to get the money to Paraguay. We don’t have a bank account, the person I gave power of attorney to sign for me does not have a bank account, and the people we know with bank accounts did not want to accept large transfers for fear of government investigations as to why they were receiving so much money. Banks trying to avoid money-laundering have created problems like this.

Closeup of the land we are trying to buy

Prayer requests:

• safe travels (I will be carrying a lot of money – but less than the $10,000 limit!)
• good weather and turnout for the grand opening – that people will come to learn more about Su Refugio
• clean transaction while buying the land – we already know the homeowner adjacent to the land we want built his house slightly over the property line and we have to fix the documents, in addition to buying the land… Welcome to Paraguay! I was told

Where Are We, Paraguay or Costa Rica?

Once we completed our coursework in the US (a week-long interpersonal skills workshop and a four week intercultural missionary course), we left the US to spend three weeks in Paraguay. We hired a “handler” to help us navigate the immigration offices and translate, validate, and file our permanent residency paperwork. We also took some time to visit with the families we know there and looked for housing options: no rentals available so we will have to buy a house or build one!

As of January 5^th, we are in Costa Rica to begin five months of language training, primarily for Sandy but also for Bill. While Sandy is in her classes, 7:30 am – 12:10 pm, Monday – Friday, Bill is helping in the school that teaches the missionary children, as well as some of the local Costa Rican children. He will be teaching computer applications, two Spanish math classes, and tutoring several students that need help with math. In the afternoons while Sandy is doing her homework, Bill will be getting Spanish tutoring of his own three days per week and tutoring another Costa Rican student to help prepare him for upcoming English exams, and in February Bill will be teaching an ESL class with AMCA, a Christian youth organization. Needless to say, we have a full schedule!

It’s easy to get focused on our various tasks, to get discouraged by the piles of verbs, confusing sentence structures, dirty streets and broken concrete but God sends us reminders of the beauty that surrounds us each and every day. We wake up to the beautiful smiling faces of the wonderful family that takes care of us so we can focus on our learning and we even have fuzzy flowers to make us smile!

The first of June, we plan to return to Paraguay and start to get settled, buying a car, a house, furniture for the house, etc.

Prayer requests:

• that we learn and retain as much Spanish as possible 
• that Daisy and Rudolpho (our host family here in Costa Rica) continue to see God’s blessings in their lives
• that the Holy Spirit would continue working in Paraguay, preparing the hearts of the people we will be serving

What's In a Name?

LAM? UWM? Su Refugio? What’s going on? Are you trying to hide something?

Those of you supporting us financially may have noticed a change after the first of the year… allow me to explain.

We are (will be) working for Su Refugio Ministries in Paraguay. Latin America Mission (LAM) is an organization that partners with existing ministries in Latin America, like Su Refugio. LAM is the mission organization that handles some of our state-side logistics, such as collecting donations, sending the funds to us when we have ministry expenses, and handling our IRS/tax obligations.

United World Mission (UWM) is an organization similar to LAM that does the same thing as LAM (partnering with existing ministries) but it works world-wide, not just in Latin America.

On January 1, LAM and UWM merged, closing the LAM offices in Miami, FL and moving their functions to the UWM offices in Charlotte, NC. Because of this merger, UWM is now collecting our donations, sending them to us when we have ministry expenses, and handling our IRS/tax obligations.

Any donations you setup through LAM, through their website, telephone, or mail, have automatically been transferred to UWM (so I’ve been told!).

If you want to start donations for us, here is the procedure:

      1)   go to the UWM website: http://www.uwm.org

      2)   click on GIVE

      3)   mail a check to the address indicated (include a note the gift is for Bill & Sandy Stevener)
           -or- click on GIVE ONLINE… if you are giving online, a new window will appear…

      4)   under the Designation label, select Missionary

      5)   below Missionary, scroll down and select Stevener, Bill & Sandy – 27668

      6)   to the right, in the amount area, enter the amount

      7)   click “Add” to finish this part of the form

      8)   continue to fill out the rest of the form with your name, address, frequency, etc

If you have any questions, you can call UWM at 800-825-5896, Monday-Friday between 8am - 5pm EST. You can also call one of us at 702-866-9548.

NOTE: LAM and UWM are both 501(c)3 organizations and your donations are fully tax-deductible.

Thanks!

Do You Believe?

     Making a list and checking it twice.... but this list has nothing to do with who is naughty or nice....

 

          We had the opportunity to go out with Pastor Pablo and his wife Stella to deliver Christmas gifts to the children that live in Tobati and come three days a week for a feeding program and gospel message here at Su Refugio. These children are from very poor families and the meals they receive are the only healthy food they get. Su Refugio would like to feed them five days a week but does not have the funds. These gifts were donations from the U.S. and a local supermercado but ultimately they are gifts from the Lord himself and are a small example of what He has given us.

 

As we were delivering them it reminded me of our traditions of Santa. Even our traditions enforce the belief that we have to earn everything we get. If you're not good then Santa will put coal in your stocking; if you are good you get presents! What kind of message does that send to our children? One of unconditional love? I think not.

 

 

     The message of Christ is that we can never be good enough. Our debt it too great to ever be able to pay. The good news is that we don't have too. Christ paid the price for us. He loved us so much that He paid the price for all our sins so that we could receive the greatest of all gifts. How contrary to our human thinking, how un-like us, to give to those who didn't earn it, even to those who will reject the effort. How great a God we serve.

Are your hearts open like these little children to receive the good gifts the Father has for you?

Ready, Set, ...

Two garage sales, selling as much as possible: check.

Move the rest into storage: check.

Farewell tour to tell family and friends in the Wild West goodbye: check.

Strengthening Your Interpersonal Skills workshop: check.

Equipping for Intercultural Missions course: check.

House rented: check.

Hey, I think that's it. All our prerequisites are done. What's left? Get on the plane and GO! We'll be flying out Sunday afternoon, December 15, traveling 26 hours before arriving in Paraguay Monday afternoon.

Wow, what a hectic schedule since finding out we would be moving to Paraguay to serve full time with Su Refugio just three and a half months ago!

In that time we have met such a wide variety of people, many who have impacted our lives significantly. The people at our garage sales asking if Paraguay was in Arkansas (minimal impact on our lives); old acquaintances and new friends in Las Vegas and Southaven as more people learned more about our calling (major impact); many other missionaries and their families at the seminar and course we took (huge impact). We are so thankful to be living in this age of electronics where we can easily video conference with others, keep up with people all over the world through Facebook and blogs, deposit checks electronically via email, the list goes on!

We plan to stay with Maximo and his family for a week while we work on getting our permanent residency ($2,000). Paolo (our "handler" to help us navigate the government offices and recorders) should be picking us up Tuesday morning at 8 for our first venture into the process. This is a huge prayer request, as many people will be on their summer vacations and Christmas is the following week. We've got activities planned daily, Tuesday-Friday, to get as much done as possible.

The next week we plan to spend with Pablo and his family at Su Refugio, experiencing Christmas in our new soon-to-be hometown of Tobati; how exciting is that! Being south of the equator, this is their summer. With temperatures around 93 degrees, not much chance of a "white Christmas" for us!

Around New Year's Day we will move to stay with Alcides and his family. Alcides is the main pastor at the church that oversees operation of its own elementary school, Heaven's Kingdom, and the Su Refugio facility. We hope to get his vision for how Sandy and I will transition into their environment. God is doing some absolutely amazîng things at Su Refugio which have the potential to change the entire nation of Paraguay. Suffice it to say we are working in the private enterprise at the highest levels. Stay tuned!

January 5 we head to Costa Rica for more language school. Sandy will be a full time student renewing her skills in Spanish while Bill will likely be working at the attached elementary school, Sojourn Academy, and pick up some tutoring along the way.

We plan to be back in Paraguay full time in early June!

Prayer requests:

-- Praise God for such a clear answer to prayer about where we would be going next

-- Praise God for the tremendously exciting journey He has allowed us to experience

-- Smooth and successful processing for our residency paperwork

-- Strength for Maximo and his family as they prepare for a new baby in late December (C-Section)

-- Peace for Pablo and his family as they face various struggles working at the children's center

-- Health for Sandy and I as we work and study in Costa Rica

All in In His Time

For about a year now, having left TPI, we have been working where we are, wondering what God had lined up for us next. Were we going to stay in Mississippi assisting in missions and women’s ministries at Trinity and providing computer assistance at Northpoint Christian School (formerly SBEC), or were we going to go somewhere else. We wanted to be sure we satisfied two conditions: working in areas where we have skills and passion, and working in an area where there is a great need. We were using a saying we learned from Vance Pitman at Hope Baptist Church: ministry rides on the rails of relationships.

Through a series of relationships that we are confident were orchestrated by God, we came in contact with Latin America Mission (LAM). LAM’s focus is to partner with existing ministries in Latin America, providing assistance as necessary.

After much prayer and discussion, we completed the application process with LAM and know that God is now calling us to work with Su Refugio in Paraguay. Su Refugio is a Christian home in Paraguay that takes in children from abusive and drug-using families. Scott Kvandal, an engineer from San Diego, started Su Refugio several years ago by building a small dormitory, dining area, church and amphitheater, and has recently added a Center of Hope which helps train women with skills to help sustain their families; an elementary school is also being developed.

Bill will be assisting Pastor Pablo with the church on the campus at Su Refugio, as well as home churches that are starting in the neighboring town of Tobatí. Bill will also be working with Pastor Alcides to teach and develop course for the Bible college Alcides has already started. Sandy will be working primarily in the Center for Hope, helping women in Tobatí and another town, Caacupé, learn sewing and cooking, and also with starting practical businesses out of their homes. Together, we will be coordinating visiting mission teams and leading marriage retreats for towns in the surrounding areas.

We have put our house up for sale, plan to sell both cars and most of our furniture and put a few things in storage. We are planning a trip to see family and friends in Las Vegas, California and New Mexico, followed by a four week intercultural course in North Carolina. We’re looking to move to Costa Rica in mid-December to sharpen our Spanish skills, and then on to Paraguay, probably in early June.

These are definitely exciting times for us. Please pray for us, giving thanks to God for making our plans as clear as He has, and that all goes well as we transition to our new lives in Paraguay.