by Tony Floyd, Paraguay
1 September 2006

For three years we studied the Bible with Paraguayans in small groups or one-on-one. Then at last came the day to bring them all together. One of the believers owns a farm just outside the town of San Francisco, and under shade trees at one end of his pasture, more than 60 people gathered for “church.”

All the believers worked together to make it happen. Several men went out a week early to dig a latrine and build walls and a door around it. Other men nailed boards together to form table tops for the noon meal. The women cleared the area of leaves and small stumps.

On the morning of the meeting, a farmer drove his truck to each family’s home to collect their chairs. The women brought cooking pans, dishes, cutlery, tablecloths and dishtowels from their own kitchens. They also brought vegetables and herbs from their gardens to add to the meat and noodles simmering in huge pots. Manioc roots filled another cooking pot.

Testimonies, Terere and Trough-Baptisms

I played the guitar as one of the young people timidly led our time of worship and praise. After a short message, two new believers told the story of how they had come to know Christ. Then we all trekked across the pasture to the animal watering trough in which we baptized them.

Back in the shade, we enjoyed a time of fellowship as we sipped terere tea, the typical Paraguayan bitter but refreshing drink. Then the children ate lunch at the makeshift tables, followed by the adults. The women washed the dishes in water carried by two young girls from a spigot far across the field. After everyone had eaten, the men disassembled the tables and arranged the chairs for another meeting. More singing. More testimonies. And three more baptisms. God is doing something exciting in San Francisco.

Please Pray:

• for the newly baptized believers to be strong in faith and love
• that others who have been studying the Bible with us will make a public declaration of their faith
• for other people in the town to investigate why their neighbors would take such a radical step.
• that God will be glorified in His church in San Francisco.