Twenty years ago the Evangelical Methodist Church of Paraguay came into existence as a joint effort of The Mission Society and the Brazilian Methodist Church. In April, more than 1000 people came out to celebrate the Paraguayan church’s 20th anniversary, and I had the privilege of being there.
Before I left for Paraguay, I found a trip report in our files from a visit to Paraguay in late 1987 made by Julia McLean Williams, then Mission Society vice president. She had traveled to Paraguay along with Norival Trindade, a lawyer and leader in the Brazilian Methodist Church. Julia recorded that, by the end of their exploratory trip, she and Norival had stood on a hill overlooking the city of Asuncion, and prayed for the Lord’s blessing on this new cooperative work to share the Good News of God’s Kingdom with the people of Paraguay.
In the ensuing years, many missionaries from Brazil and the United States have worked alongside this newly formed church. As leaders developed among the Paraguayans, they were appointed also as pastors and leaders of the church. Since 2000, the church has been led by Pablo and Claudette Mora. Pablo, a Paraguayan, was part of the ministry team from the beginning.
They came to help
The Mission Society’s involvement in Paraguay has taken, and continues to take, many forms. In the rural area of Yrybucua, Christian Dickson, our field leader for Paraguay, helps manage construction projects and the development of an agricultural center. His wife, Angelica, works with a school there. Ed and Linda Baker have drilled wells throughout the region, providing needed water to the communities and support to the rural churches that have been established. Liz Boggess teaches at an international school and works with a church in a poor area of Asuncion. John and Sandra Carrick serve in the area of theological education and discipleship. Alicia Grey works with a church and a school in an impoverished community. John and Colleen Eisenberg, currently on home leave, served as field leaders for the team for several years and have also worked with the Methodist Church and the international school. And Ben and Jenny Reyes serve the ministry in Ciudad de Este – a place that is home to thousands of Muslim immigrants. These missionaries stand on the shoulders of others who have served over the past 20 years.
As is the case in Kingdom work everywhere, although we celebrate what God has done in the past, we know that He always desires to do something new in the present and in the future. The Methodist Church in Paraguay faces many challenges. There is a need for new leadership to grow among the Paraguayans. They wish to move away from heavy dependency on outside funding in the face of poverty in many of the areas where the churches are located. There is need for creative ways of discipling believers, so that they grow and themselves become lights to others.
Many more know Him
In her trip report of 1987, Julia Williams wrote, “As we enter this work, we are reminded of those among us who first had the vision and passed it on throughout several years and through the lives of people. Virgil Maybray looking at a map with Norival Trindade back in 1982, first passed on the vision of this work – then Paul Morell, H.T. Maclin, Al Vom Steeg and others. [Maybray, Morell, Maclin and VomSteeg are former Mission Society board or staff members.] Now we stand ready to move into the unknown, but armed with the solid knowledge that God gave us this task. As we praise Him for it, let us move with certainty into 1988!”
At the celebration service I attended in Asuncion on April 12, I looked around at the 1000+ people gathered together from across Paraguay. The joy on their faces was contagious. It was truly a celebration of God’s moving in their lives. Most of them would not know any of the names of those people from the early years. But they know Jesus as their Lord. That is an incredible testimony to the Lord’s grace and to the obedience of His servants, those who were there in the early days, as well as those who continue to serve now. That makes us able to “move with certainty” now 20 years later, into 2008 and beyond.
After 10 years on the mission field in Central Asia, Jim Ramsay now serves as The Mission Society’s senior director of field ministry.
