"I think of my life before I was a Christian, and how much God has changed me since then," said Yanice, tears filling her eyes. "I used to go to parties with smoking and drinking and sexual music, and would always think, 'What’s the point?' But now, it’s so different. My old friends ask me what I do on Saturday nights, and I tell them that I go to youth group, hang out with friends, and have such a good time."

Like many Paraguayan young people, Yanice used to be into the party scene, not because she really got anything out of it, but because there was little else to do. With no local cinema, no shopping mall, and only a plaza to hang out in, the youth in Villarrica are inundated with advertisements for "parties"—often with Satanic and occult themes.

At these events they are exposed to drinking, smoking, suggestive music, drugs, and occult activity. And that is where Yanice found herself, wondering what the purpose of life was, until a friend told her about Jesus.

Eager students

When I met Yanice, she had only been a Christian a few months. I was impressed by her interest, her spiritual maturity, and her loyalty to her best friend, Cesia.

Cesia was the friend who had told her about Jesus. When I began teaching an "Evangelism and Christian Living" class, I saw the two of them becoming more serious about sharing the Gospel with their peers and strangers. They were dedicated to learning everything they could about how to share their faith, and never missed a class.

	The first evangelism class with Gina Paone (white blouse, center)

The class lasted 6 weeks, and blended the two forms of evangelism training that my teammate, Kait and I had been trained in—Evangelism Explosion and Evangecube. We taught 10 to 20 eager students how to talk about each picture on the cube and use Scripture to present the Good News about Jesus Christ.

We also taught them to live a life of credibility among their peers, and to develop personal relationships with God. Though we knew that God had called us to do this, we weren't sure if this ministry would accomplish what we felt called to do in Paraguay—to make disciples who could make disciples.

"What have we got to lose?"

On a summer day in January, 11 people, with two days of evangelism class under their belts, hit the main plaza in Villarrica. Paired up in groups, they shared the Gospel with almost everyone in the park. In two hours, 20 people said they wanted to follow Christ! We agreed to meet at the same time every week to evangelize on the street and to reconvene afterwards to share, pray, and encourage one another.

God was moving in the lives of these young people! We were watching lives being transformed by God’s Word, and several of them were adopting witnessing as a way of life.

Week by week we heard incredible stories of the students sharing their faith with friends, neighbors, strangers and family members. Cesia and Yanice told us what they had done in a class at school. When the teacher asked if anyone had anything to share about what they had done over summer break, they looked at each other, as if to say, ‘What have we got to lose?’

They took their cubes, got up and shared the Gospel with their classmates, and fielded questions from interested students about what they believe. Later, when they showed up at my house to get Bibles for a day that was not our scheduled day to evangelize, we knew that we had found students who had a real heart for the lost. It was time to encourage them to teach their peers.

The fire spreads

Our opportunity came when an SIM sister church in Cazaapa, invited us to come to teach the evangelism class to their youth group. Right away, Cesia and Yanice were excited about the opportunity and committed to going.

With the help of one of the young men who had been through the class, the girls successfully taught about evangelism that weekend. They held two sessions, one on the cube presentation and one on Christian living.

After the second session, they divided their class into teams and took to the streets—and eight people became Christians that day! The fire that ignited in Villarrica, spread to Cazaapa because of the faithfulness of these young people, who shared their testimonies and experiences with others.

The confidence with which they taught and their diligence in preparing are the things that will stay with me. As I talked with Yanice and Cesia, they shared how profoundly the experience had affected them, and I realized that giving people an opportunity to rise to their potential and be leaders is what missionary life is all about. This experience showed me that God had accomplished what he had called me almost 5,000 miles from home to witness: he is making disciples who are making disciples in Paraguay.