Trust and Provision.

It is a nearly constant battle for me as a missionary, someone "directing" a children's home to trust in the Lord, the creator of the universe. I can trust the Lord is so many areas of my life, but when it comes to trusting in His financial provision, I must say that I struggle. I want to write this note to encourage you, to say that you can trust in our Lord to provide and to declare that He will meet the needs of every child and worker under our care here in Paraguay.

I spend much of my time crunching numbers, reviewing donations, and honestly, just worrying. God has been working in my heart in this area and He has been speaking to me in so many ways to communicate to me, "Just trust Me." The last two months, we were several thousand dollars short to pay for our salaries and food costs here in Hogar GANAR and the Itaugua Christian School. Many people do not realize how much money we need to operate monthly. Currently, we need around $11,000.00 a month to pay all teachers, house parents, other staff, and to provide for the children's basic needs. Our costs have risen significantly because the dollar has lost much of its value here in Paraguay.

I always have a way in my head that God is going to answer my prayers and provide, and He is constantly surprising me by where the finances come from. Praise the Lord that in the last two months "surprise donations" have arrived at just the right time to be able to cover our monthly costs. One gift of nearly $4,000 came from someone I have never even met.

This month, I have no idea, and don't even want to try to guess at how God will provide, but I am learning that I can trust Him, because He is faithful. A wonderful friend sent me a link to an article about George Mueller and I would like to paste a portion of a quote from him here below:

My dear Christian reader, will you not try this way? Will you not know for yourself . . . the preciousness and the happiness of this way of casting all your cares and burdens and necessities upon God? This way is as open to you as to me. . . . Every one is invited and commanded to trust in the Lord, to trust in Him with all his heart, and to cast his burden upon Him, and to call upon Him in the day of trouble. Will you not do this, my dear brethren in Christ? I long that you may do so. I desire that you may taste the sweetness of that state of heart, in which, while surrounded by difficulties and necessities, you can yet be at peace, because you know that the living God, your Father in heaven, cares for you.

Be encouraged! The Lord is faithful and will meet all of our needs.

Paraguay Celebrates 200 Years of Independence!

This week has been filled with celebrations of the Bicentennial of the nation of Paraguay (May 15th is Paraguayan independence day). It has been wonderful watching the cultural celebrations unfold. Monday, our school children put together a giant event to celebrate their nation's 200th year of independence. All the children intensely studied the history of Paraguay and each grade adopted a different region to learn about and then display to the community. We had a special program, as well, complete with participation in dance or speeches by every grade, from pre-school to 8th grade. All the parents and teachers worked together to prepare the school for the event. Their efforts were very successful and the students did an AMAZING job!!

Today, our school marched in the Itaugua bicentennial parade. Several of our students dressed up in Paraguayan dance attire and proudly represented our school. We were presented to the town officials. It was a proud moment for all the teachers and students! Nilda and Carlos, from our children's home, carried the school's banner and led us in the march. Enjoy the photos!

In typical Paraguayan dance outfits

Pre-school and 1st grade students' performance

Carlos in his grade's booth

Aren't they adorable?!!

In costume

Pre-schoolers in their "broom dance"

The children from our children's homes preparing to march in the parade

Our school in the Itaugua parade

In other school news...

As many of you know we have recently started the school year here in Paraguay. We are excited about the opening of our private Christian school (Colegio Cristiano de Itaugua) that aims to become a tremendous blessing to the precious children in our community, as well as the children living in our children's home (Hogar GANAR). To give a little context to the educational situation, here is a link to an interesting story that appeared in yesterday's paper about the poor state of many of the public schools in the Asunción. (Note- English speakers may want to use google translate.)

PHOTO: Just days away from starting classes, many schools look as if they are abandoned.

A Special Night for a Special Young Lady.

On Friday, January 28^th, we celebrated the 15^th birthday of Nilda, our eldest child in the home. For those of you who don’t know, a girl’s 15^th birthday in Latin America is a BIG event. It is the 15^th year that signifies a girl’s coming of age and the 15^th birthday parties are often bigger events than a wedding. We wanted this celebration to be something very special for Nilda, a night that she would remember. Nilda has been in the home since before Shaun and I arrived in Paraguay. She was one of the children that greeted us our first day in the country, and she has been a special blessing to us ever since. Nilda lives in House 1 with her four younger siblings, Carlos, Ever, Rocio, and Cristina. She loves to do computer work and is serious about her English studies, hoping to someday study in the United States. She is a very responsible older sister, always helping with her younger siblings and the other children in her house.

Nilda with her siblings, house parents, and "house siblings" from House 1

It was our first time to plan a Quinceaños (15^th birthday party), so we were a little lost about all the details it should entail. We made sure that the evening included time for our pastor to share with Nilda about being a young woman who would serve the Lord. We also presented Nilda with a new Bible and a necklace and earring set with heart-shaped pendants. We shared with her about keeping her heart for the Lord and always remembering that she was His child. The evening began with her grand entrance on Carlos, her brother’s, arm. We then showed a power point presentation of pictures of Nilda over the past two years, set to a worship song that she chose. The ceremony also included a time for the waltz, a traditional part of all 15^th parties. Nilda began the dance with Carlos and then Ever, her brothers. Later, all the children joined in the waltz. Many had been practicing for several weeks prior to the party to be able to dance the waltz that night. The party ended, of course, with eating finger foods and cake and ice cream, and taking hundreds of pictures with Nilda, who looked beautiful in her dress that a friend made for her at no cost.

Nilda and the Mortons

Shaun and I were so overwhelmed at how our church family and the workers in the home all joined in to make the event special. One of our house moms decorated the entire area, making the backdrop for the party absolutely beautiful. The other house parents and children from all of the houses worked to clear the party area and to bring and set up chairs for the event. Our pastor and his wife from church donated a lovely three tier cake, while other friends from the church donated fresh flowers. We even had people from church give cash donations to help us purchase the food and other items for the party. We were so blessed by the generosity of our Paraguayan friends, and we thank the Lord for placing them not just in our lives but in the lives of the children in the home.

Please continue to keep the children in the home in your prayers. We hope that each day they spend in our homes will be a time of growing, healing, and learning to trust both the Lord and others. Thank you for the part that you play in making this ministry possible. May the Lord bless you!

An Opportunity Like No Other

In past blogs I have mentioned the privatization of the school located on our ministry property. Since returning to Paraguay, we have been working constantly to make this dream a reality. It is hard for many of us to imagine the reality of daily life in Paraguay. Families where both parents are working and together are making only two or three hundred dollars a month- or even less in some cases. Many of these parents hope that their children will have a better life- that they will not be working 80 hours a week to merely survive. A grandmother that lives in a squatter's village with her grandchildren, some with learning disabilities, wondering if the public schools will even accept her her grandkids in their school. Children living in our children's home that previously sold candy and whatever else they could find on the street to have enough money to buy bread for that day, never dreaming that some day they would have the opportunity to study, work, and forge a completely different life for themselves and their siblings.

I don't want to over-dramatize the situation in Paraguay, but I do want to clearly communicate to each of you our hope and vision for the life of each child that will be entering Colegio Cristiano de Itaugua (our private school) and ask for your help in seeing this vision become a reality. Our school is offering not only a wonderful education to the children, but also uniforms for school and textbooks that will let the children learn as they never have. When launching the registration for classes we were unsure if many children from the community would come. Last year, as a government school, there were approximately 70 students. On the first day of registration, over 20 community children registered for classes. Tomorrow is the final day for registration and as of today, we have 97 students, including the 30 children from our children's home, registered from pre-school to 8th grade! We were shocked and overwhelmed by the response. We even had a teacher from a very nearby public school bring her children to enroll them because she knew that the quality of education they had been receiving in her school was not going to equip her children to succeed.

Textbooks in Paraguay come in the form of a textbook/workbook where the material and exercises are all together in one book. The approximate cost for these books is $15.00. Each student will need one book for each subject and total, we are looking at a cost of $7,500.00. To give each student a pair of khaki shorts and pants and two polo shirts, the cost per student is $30.00, for a total of $3,000.00. We would also like to buy a copier for the school, which will cost $1,500.00.

We need your help! If you would like more information about our ministries or are interested in giving to these one-time projects or in supporting the monthly cost of paying the teachers' and principal's salary ($3,000/month), please contact us via e-mail (mortonmissions@gmail.com) or send your tax-deductible donation to Serving Paraguay P.O. Box 6092, Mesa, AZ 85216. Write "school" in the memo line so that your donation will be properly allocated.

Happy Holidays!!

We pray you are enjoying the holiday season. It has been a blessing for our family to celebrate the Christmas season in the United States this year, and to introduce the newest member of our family, Samuel, to our friends and family. Our last two years in Paraguay have been years of learning, growth, and great blessing.

Since arriving at the Hogar GANAR children’s home in February of 2009, the home has grown from 10 to 30 children, with the opening of two additional houses. We have begun a bible study program with the help of a local church in Paraguay and have a Bible memorization program in place. The Lord has blessed the home with a new missionary couple, Joe and Jayne Martinez. Joe has his masters’ degree in counseling and has begun an intensive counseling program with each of the children. Our farming and gardening programs are growing by leaps and bounds, thanks to a donation from the Project for the People of Paraguay of a dozen pigs and eight cattle. We now have 21 cattle and plenty of milk and beef for our children’s needs. Our tilapia ponds are adding to the children’s diet, and providing a fun activity for the children and house parents in the form of fishing. Our garden and bakery are now used as forms of job training for the children and so many of the children are now beginning to dream big dreams for their future. We also discovered that the property was home to honey bees and we have a new volunteer, Michael Tell, who will be joining our missionary staff in March 2011 to revamp our honey bee program, training nationals in the care of honey bees. Michael also plans to develop projects to better utilize the fruit produced in our citrus grove.

One of the most exciting recent developments is the transition that will take place in our elementary/middle school this coming year. Previously the school was managed by the government, but the quality of education provided was very poor. This coming year (the school year in Paraguay runs from February to November) the school will transition to private education. We are adding a Christian principal and teachers to the program and we can’t wait to see how our children will flourish with a higher quality of education. We are also going to add a full-time English teacher to the school. Dana Williams, a new volunteer, will be moving to Paraguay in February to oversee this new English program. We have received several laptops in donation and will integrate computer classes into the curriculum. If you are interested in supporting our school project, please contact us (mortonmissions@gmail.com).

All of these new developments would have been impossible without the support that you have provided. Your financial and prayer support for the homes has literally changed the future of thirty precious children, and we believe will even change the future of the nation of Paraguay! THANK YOU for giving! We pray that the Lord would bless each of you and that the coming year will be one filled with the peace and joy of our Savior, Jesus Christ!

Serving Paraguay,

Shaun, Sara, Abigail, and Samuel Morton

A Visit Home.

I wanted to check in with everyone and update you about what is happening at Hogar GANAR in Itaugua, Paraguay. Shaun and I are in the states for the first time in nearly two years. We are so thrilled to be able to have this time with the friends and family that we missed during our time in Paraguay and to be able to take some time to share with various organizations and churches about the ministries in Paraguay.

Deborah and Lorena from House 2- They are precious!

Leaving the children in the home was difficult for us. We love each of them so much and have not been away for more than a few days from the home since arriving in February of 2009. I can't imagine how much they will grow and change in our three-month stay in the states, and our hearts are still with them in many ways. I am learning that to be a missionary means to forever have a broken heart- we love to be with our families, but we have certainly left a part of our hearts in Paraguay with the precious children we have the privilege to serve. We appreciate your prayers for our family during this time of traveling, visiting, and speaking in churches. Also, please be in prayer for the children and staff of the home and Joe and Jayne Martinez, fellow missionaries, who are stepping in to direct the home during these three months.

We were so excited that the final children arrived to fill House 2 before we left the country, bringing the total amount of children in the homes to thirty.

Another exciting development is the change we are making in the school on the home's property. In previous years, the home has been run by the government, essentially as a public school. The quality of education, however, was extremely low and the teachers teaching in the school were not qualified to teach the children at a higher level. We are now going to make a large change and transition to an entirely private, Christian school. Our vision for the children in Hogar GANAR is that they would grow up to be the future leaders of Paraguay- positively impacting their country and culture. In consideration of this dream, we realized we must make a change in the quality of education the children were receiving. We want each child that is capable to be prepared to enter college. Before leaving Paraguay, we interviewed and hired a wonderful director for the school that has many years of classroom teaching experience, and has worked writing textbooks and in other leadership and administrative positions in private, Christian schools. Lucy, the director, is passionate about preparing our children for the future, instilling in each child a love of reading, and communicating the love of Christ to every child through a Christ-centered education.

The School.

During our stay in the United States, we have some very ambitious fundraising goals. First, one of our homes is still running off one-time donations, and we would love to find committed monthly sponsors for the $1500 necessary to run the home. This amount includes house parent salaries and health care, relief house parents for two weekends of rest a month, electricity for the house, clothing, food, and medical supplies for ten children. We are also looking to find donors interested in sponsoring the costs associated with our school. We will need money to pay the teachers and director their salary and health care (which is a legal requirement in Paraguay). If you are not currently supporting monthly and are interested in doing so, please contact us so that we can share more details about the costs with you. We know that the Lord loves the children in our home and has great plans for their future. We are trusting Him to meet all of their needs.

If we are not already scheduled to visit you or speak at your local church, please contact us to see if we can work out a time to meet with you personally during our time stateside to talk about what the Lord is doing in Itaugua, Paraguay.