We have been asked to write about our upcoming trip to Paraguay in the summer of 2013.  We have never been to this country before, so it’s hard to write in detail, but I’ll at least explain how we got the invitation, what we’re likely to be doing, and the little we know about Paraguay from what research we’ve done.

We met Bob and Joy Brougher when they were in Bridgton speaking at the Bridgton Alliance Church.  They are full time missionaries to Paraguay through the Alliance denomination.  Coincidentally, we met Joy’s identical twin during our previous visits to Ecuador.  Our pastor said that the Broughers needed families in the church to host them for meals while they were in the area, and we invited them over.  They were intrigued by our ministry of juggling and illusions as a means of presenting the Gospel and teaching, and before the evening was over, plans for a trip had begun.

We are told Paraguay is, according to the UN, the most corrupt country in Latin America, which is really saying something.  Of course, I don’t imagine that two weeks of us juggling in and around Asuncion will change the moral make up of the government, but people who live in corrupt culture certainly need a message of joy and hope.  That will be our primary mission while we’re there.  Right now, we envision doing open air shows on the city streets, shows at churches (mostly small church ‘plants’) and even in the public schools.   Our experience with missions work, though, is that we often end up doing things we never envisioned.  I’d love to get to where the poorest and most desperate people are.  We’ve visited the dump community of Quito, Ecuador, as well as the women’s prison there.  I’ve juggled in the barrios of Santo Domingo, and we’ve visited an orphanage in Juarez, Mexico.  I’d love to visit similar settings in Asuncion.

Paraguay, we are told, is much flatter and hotter than Ecuador.  There are a lot of beef ranches in the country.  Paraguayans seem to be the neglected step-children of South America.  They have been beat up repeatedly by neighboring countries in wars and border skirmishes.  While other countries on the continent have the Amazon, the Galapagos Islands, the Andes Mountains, Atlantic or Pacific coastlines, or the exotic cities found in Brazil and Argentina, Paraguay has little to draw tourists.  The people, we are told, have, by and large, accepted a fatalistic view of life.  While most of the citizens profess to be Catholic, church attendance of any sort is a tiny percentage of the population. 

Our total cost will be approximately $5000, and some donations and pledged gifts have started to come in.  we will be having a yard sale at our church on August 11, and we have several church ‘gigs’ this summer, too.  I have a stack of letters asking for support that I still need to mail out when I have a chance to sit and address them… probably this weekend.  We have a year, still, to raise the funds, and I am confident the money will be raised by August 2013.