Christmas 2015: A much deserved vacation

Agustina, a long-time "Walker Texas Ranger" fan, found her favorite actor's name at the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Dear Friends and Family:

Many rural Paraguayan women tragically accept domestic violence as a part of life, but Margarita’s mother, Agustina, didn’t.  One day Agustina decided that she and her children would no longer tolerate Margarita’s father’s aggressive behavior.  She loaded everything in the back of a truck, gathered her five children and left for the capital city.  She wanted them--her daughters especially--to have opportunities that had been denied to her.  For one, Agustina wasn’t allowed to finish third grade due to childhood employment.  After leaving Margarita’s father, Agustina made sure all of her children finished high school, with one daughter, Margarita, becoming the first in the family to earn a college degree.  A vacation for Agustina’s hard work was long overdue, so last month she boarded a plane for the first time and traveled to the United States with us. 

A friend in Los Angeles commented, “Your mother-in-law visits the U.S. for the first time, and you bring her to Amarillo, Texas for a month?”  Regardless of Amarillo’s lack of variety of tourist attractions, Agustina, Margarita, and I very much enjoyed our time there.  We were invited to Christmas parties, Sunday school classes and almost daily meals out.  We are very thankful for the great hospitality shown to us by many friendly people there.

While in Amarillo, we took Agustina to Palo Duro Canyon, about whose size and beauty she remarked.  Margarita told her of a much larger canyon a few hours away.  Last week Agustina saw the Grand Canyon.  Soon after, she saw Hollywood, the Pacific Ocean, downtown San Francisco, and snowy passes in the Cascade Mountains.  She visited places that she had only seen in movies, but never thought she would see in person. Now we’re in the Pacific Northwest with a whole new set of sights and experiences awaiting her.   

Despite the years of struggle that Agustina endured, she is quick to acknowledge that God has done great things for her.  God’s mercy flows in wave after wave on not only Agustina and her family, but also on anyone who acknowledges him and sees and trusts in Jesus—the central character of this and all seasons.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

            Tim, Margarita, Agustina, Ana and Antoine

November 2015: It's been 20 Years...

Dear Family and Friends:

Margarita and I reached out to about 600 new at-risk students in public schools—witnessing many decisions to follow Jesus—and worked closely each week with an additional 300 youth in our community.  Over 200 inmates in the Tacumbu and Esperanza prisons completed Bible studies taught by inmate-leaders (some of whom have since left prison and are serving in local churches) with nearly all of them deciding to follow Christ.  We participated in other projects like a soccer ministry, children’s outreach, missions conferences, a mission trip and a medical clinic.  We saw churches grow as well as the nation experience one of its best economic years.  We thank God for this year in Paraguay.  We also thank him for you because of your partnership in the gospel.  

October and November were filled with preparations for our trip to the U.S.  We finished up grades, wrote up reports, suspended some ministry activities and made sure others were left in charge by colleagues who will carry them out in our absence.  Right before we left, we celebrated Antoine’s first birthday.  We’re thankful for him and are on alert because he now knows how to run.

We arrived in Texas last week.  We’ve rested and spent lots of time with family.  It was Tim’s first time in twenty years to celebrate Thanksgiving with his mother and brother in Amarillo. We also played in New Mexico for a few days.  Antoine experienced snow for the first time.  Ana made lots of snow-angels.

Our plans are to continue introducing Northwest Texas to Margarita’s mother, Agustina, through December 15^th.  We’ll additionally be thanking all of our ministry partners in the area and sharing about what God has been doing in Paraguay at youth groups, fellowship meals, small groups and congregations.  If you or your group would like to hear from us, please let us know. 

Then, we’ll begin our trek through Arizona and California on the way to the Pacific Northwest, where we’ll spend the month of January.  Please keep our travels in your prayers.  And, join us in giving thanks to God this season for he is good; his love endures forever.   

Happy Thanksgiving!             

Tim, Margarita, Ana and Antoine Revett    

*Amarillo Folks:  Please come to our going away party at the Blue Sky restaurant on I-40 and Western during the evening of December 14th.  A percentage of all the sales will go to help finish the construction on our house in Paraguay.  (Just say "This is for the Revett Family missionaries" when you make your purchase.)

October 2015: Coming Soon to Your Area...

Dear Friends and Family:

Margarita taught Ernesto from pre-school through first grade.  Last month, at 16 years of age, Ernesto was on his motorcycle delivering food for his job when a truck hit him at high speed.  Instead of helping Ernesto, the motorist proceeded to the nearest police station and “worked something out.”  Ernesto died a few days later.  Despite the testimony of witnesses and security camera footage of the hit-and-run accident, there has still been no response to Ernesto’s family’s plea for justice. 

The people of our city face a challenge in making a just decision in the current mayor elections.  The incumbent mayor, Cardenas, is under indictment for taking school lunch program funds and for providing faulty construction to a high school that resulted in a roof collapsing and seriously injuring students.  His opponent, Gomez, is under investigation for money laundering. 

Margarita and I wish we could say there have been improvements in cleaning up the corruption in Paraguay during 2015.  Transparency International continues to rank the nation as the second-most corrupt in Latin America.  Pray for a new generation of “good shepherds” who will truly care for the people of Paraguay.  

The New Horizon School is getting ready to have its third graduating class.  The majority of the previous graduates study in universities and many serve in churches.  We recently graduated one more class from the “¿Quién es Jesús?” course inside the Tacumbu Prison (*see the video on Tim's Facebook page of the inmates giving thanks).  Over half of the group confessed to not know Christ at the start of the study, but since made decisions to follow him.   This year alone, more than one hundred inmates completed the course.  Give thanks to God for these men, and pray that they share what they have learned with other inmates and with their families.

The CDE Mission Team

During last month’s Ciudad del Este mission trip a handful of new decisions to follow Christ were made.  The local church was strengthened and encouraged.  At one point, the mission team took the local youth group out to interact with and pray for people on the streets.  Through this activity the youth gained a practical experience in outreach, and the church now has a dozen or so people for follow-up.  Thank God for his work during the mission trip.  Please pray for the churches in Ciudad del Este.

Ernesto’s tragic death and the widespread corruption bare evidence of intentions to harm the people of Paraguay.  Yet, we can see God’s intentions for good through the saving of souls in Ciudad del Este and the Tacumbu Prison as well as through the hope in the New Horizon students.

Yours truly,     

Tim, Margarita, Ana and Antoine Revett

                                                

*We'll be in the United States soon, accompanied by Margarita's mother, Agustina.  Here is our itinerary:

November 18th-December 15th:  Northwest Texas

December 16th-17th:  Arizona

December 18th-21st:  Southern California

December 22nd-23rd:  Northern California

December 24th-February 2nd:  Oregon/Washington

February 3rd-9th:  New York/Boston

February 10th:  Houston, Texas

February 11th:  Paraguay

September 2015: Bring Hope to Unemployed Masses and At-Risk Teens

Dear Friends and Family:

4,000 workers recently lost their jobs in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay.  Its urban market—one of South America’s main shopping tourism destinations—experienced an 80% drop in sales largely due to the depreciation of the Brazilian real.  Many of the city’s inhabitants face an unexpected life transition without any clear direction.  A former seminary professor and fisherman once told me, “Fishing is best done where there is a transition in waters.” If this is true, next week’s timely mission trip to Ciudad del Este could yield a sizeable harvest.  Pray for us on the 9^th, 10^th and 11^th of October as we share a message of hope to people in a desperate situation.

Really, we need your prayers for this trip.  We leave in one week, and we still don’t know who all will go.  Paraguayans often make last-minute decisions, and some church members may suddenly decide to go on the trip while some team members may decide not to go.  Some doubt if the church van will make it there without problems (even though a mechanic recently fixed it).  Also, as much as Margarita and I want to bring Ana and Antoine, we hesitate to do so remembering the 2013 mission trip when Ana was hospitalized for an asthma attack.  Please pray for wisdom and for our mission team.

The Ciudad del Este mission trip will include a children’s event, home visitations, a soccer game, and evangelistic services.  We’ll help a church that has been led all year by two recent seminary graduates since the former pastor left the ministry.  Despite divisions and struggles, the church experiences growth among children, young adults, and women; however, there are very few men.  Furthermore, we are told that when it rains, no one participates in church activities.  Please include the weather in your prayers for the trip.

[Margarita’s juniors researched and presented about the Toba native tribe.]

Additionally, pray for Margarita’s junior class to overcome negative family cycles and to make decisions that will result in beneficial outcomes.  One day, the students demonstrate great talent and creativity.  The next day, they make bad decisions that could result in destructive consequences.  Nearly all of them live with dysfunctional families and have few positive adult role models outside of the New Horizon School. 

In July, you prayed for 8 inmates who started a Bible study in the Esperanza Prison.  7 finished, and there is hope that they will reach out to other inmates.  Likewise, we now request you to pray for Margarita’s students in addition to the people in Ciudad del Este as we encourage them to put their hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption (Psalm 107:30).

Yours truly,     

Tim, Margarita, Ana and Antoine Revett

August 2015: Hindrances to Education, Hindrances to the Father

August 2015

Dear Family and Friends:

After recently reading the letters my 9^th graders at the New Horizon School composed for an assessment, I understand that behind their occasional rowdiness in the classroom lurk some serious life challenges:

“When I was little, my father died.  Two years later, my sister died. We thought that we couldn’t move on.”

“My grandfather passed away.  I feel I am colder because no one loves me like he did. ”

“I went to my father’s room and there was his phone.  I choked when I found a conversation between my father and a woman.  I was so angry with my dad.  I hate him."

“I met my dad at my 5^th birthday party.  He came to my house with a big teddy bear and later he took me to dinner.  I was really happy for that.  Later that year, he left me and I didn’t know anything about him.”

Margarita saw some similar issues in the evaluations she just finished with early elementary students suspected of having learning disabilities.  She reported that a few of them wouldn’t struggle if their families would only spend time with them on their studies. Other students, including a boy who never received support for past abuse, experience serious emotional obstacles to their learning and will continue to need Margarita’s intervention as well as possibly treatment from a psychologist. 

Your partnership and prayer enables us—along with our colleagues—to counter such hindrances to the healthy development of children and youth in Paraguay.  Thank you, and please pray for our students.  Also, pray that we effectively support them in their education while encouraging them and their families to come to Christ, who is the image of their invisible, yet faithful and ever-present, Father in Heaven.

The Fuente de Vida Church is blessed with an impressive group of youth.

The Fuente de Vida youth group organized a special service last week.  They impressed the crowed with their talents in music, dance, theater and public speaking.  About 15 new youth visited the event.  Pray that more neighborhood youth will be added to the number of their peers who have chosen to follow Christ.

One night last month, five little giggly girls in pajamas and with asymmetrical make-up on their faces ran around our small apartment until 1 A.M.  Ana wants to have another pajama party for her 4^th birthday party later this week.  We thank God for our daughter and can hardly believe that she starts school in a few months.

Antoine looks on at his big sister's first pajama party.

The Missions and Evangelism Ministry held a missions night last month to encourage local churches to reach out to their neighborhood public schools.  One congregation soon after helped with an event at a nearby school and then conducted their own outreach event at their church.  While that was going on, Margarita and I were four hours out in the Paraguayan countryside, accompanying a medical mission team from St. Matthews Church in Belleville, Illinois.  When the week was over, between 100 and 150 people had made first-time decisions to follow Christ.  Keep the local churches in your prayers as they continue reaching out to their communities.

Margarita taught Bible stories in Guarani to the children at the clinic.

The harvest is indeed plentiful in Paraguay.   In spite of many obstacles, we aim to do the works that God has called us to do here with the hope that many more would choose to follow Jesus, who is gentle and approachable, and in whom we can find rest for our souls.

Sincerely,

Tim, Margarita, Ana and Antoine

Happy Independence Day!

[To those who received the e-mail: please forgive us for forgetting to use "bcc."  We will be sure to do so next time.]

Dear Friends and Family:

Instead of participating in class, 5-year-old “Victoria” would frequently say, “I can’t do it; I don’t know how,” then put her face on her desk and completely shut down.  Her teacher referred her to Margarita, who began an intervention that resulted in some improvement.  However, Victoria recently reverted back to her former practice.  Margarita concluded that without addressing the rejection that Victoria feels from her mother and her separation from her father, it will be difficult to overcome her obstacles to learning.  Sadly, Victoria’s home situation parallels not only many students at the New Horizon School, but the majority of Paraguayan children and teens, who don’t live with one or both parents (CEPAL 2008).

While Margarita and I provide academic and spiritual support to students and youth in situations like Victoria’s, many of them clearly need a multidisciplinary approach.  Pray that in spite of the absence of ministerial resources they and their families ultimately find support through knowing Christ who gives strength.    

Most youth in the section of our neighborhood around the Avamba’e public school live in extreme poverty and face situations like Victoria’s—and worse.  With our almost 4-year-old daughter Ana’s “help,” Margarita and I gave a recent presentation there.  Our hearts were broken to the needs of the students.  In attempt to maintain a connection, we invited them to a movie night hosted by our church’s youth group.  Attendance at the movie night exceeded twice as much as normal.  After the movie we invited the crowd to find peace with God through Jesus.  We are now following-up with those who responded in order to get to know them and their spiritual situations better.  Pray for us to effectively connect with the youth of our community.

One pastor in the Chaco region recently surprised us with the question, “How can I teach my congregation to share the gospel?”  The national Missions and Evangelism Ministry will facilitate an outreach workshop at his church on July 25th in response his question and to encourage his church to be involved in missions locally, regionally, nationally and to the ends of the earth.  We also continue to organize a mission trip to Ciudad del Este.  Please pray as we help mobilize congregations in missions projects.

Outreach in the Esperanza Prison is complicated by the fact that new Christians recovering from drug addiction share cells with active drug users.  I recently challenged eleven inmates to commit to a month-long discipleship, comparing it to what singer Alex Campos calls the “Taller del Maestro” (Master’s Workshop).  I told them that they would be put into the fire, but, as one refines silver, it will help them in the end.  Eight showed up for the first lesson. One of them recently gave his life to Christ and two of them recommitted themselves to follow him.  Pray for transformation to occur in these men’s lives as they study scripture.

Finally, pray for Margarita and me as we plan to visit family, friends and churches in the United States this coming winter.  If we could be of service to your church or small group during our stay, please contact us. 

The majority of Paraguayan youth know what it’s like to live without acceptance and affection from biological parents.  How much God the Father desires to lavish love upon them, along with everyone else!  Through your support and prayers for Margarita and me, you help many in Paraguay experience God’s affection and hear the invitation that anyone is accepted as a son or daughter of God through faith in Jesus.     

Thank you, and Happy Independence Day!

Tim, Margarita, Ana and Antoine Revett

*You can see a live performance of the powerful song referenced above,  "Al Taller del Maestro," (a classic from way back in the late 2000's) at 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LGPw5q_rsc

May 2015: Missions and Student Mischief

Dear Friends and Family:

Fields in harvest, rolling hills and thatched-roofed wooden homes provide for pretty scenery while visiting rural churches in the San Pedro province of North-Central Paraguay.  Last month I traveled with a team of three young adults to cast vision and leave materials for churches to set aside one Sunday a month to pray for and talk about missions in other countries and among Paraguayan native tribes.  We demonstrated this vision by presenting about the challenges faced by the Church in two African nations.  Then, the wood-plank churches filled with the congregations’ clamor in Guarani for God to work mightily in those countries.  Pray that Paraguayan churches catch the vision to keep on praying for all the Lord’s people throughout the world to be a testimony to all nations.  Also, pray for our June 17^th informational meeting for the Ciudad del Este mission trip. 

In May, I worked with two local churches in presenting in about a half-dozen of public school classrooms over relevant issues to the current generation of youth.  After the presentations, we invited the students to put their trust in Jesus, in whom they can find guidance through the issues they face.  In two of the classrooms, nearly everyone responded to the invitation—approximately 60 students.  Both churches are following-up with those schools. Likewise, our youth group will host a movie night for students from another public school in addition to local colleges on June 27^th.   Pray that God’s Word, which is shared during these events, will achieve the purpose for which it is sent.

Like any Christian school, the New Horizon School has its share of challenging students.  One such group is in Margarita’s homeroom class.  They began the year struggling in responsibility and behavior.  Margarita and other faculty members were concerned about how to better support them.  In late April Margarita started using team-building strategies and delegated classroom governance responsibilities among the students.  Since it is a Christian school, she also resorted to a spiritual approach to the situation.  Margarita started organizing a monthly mini-church service in the class.  The classroom climate recently turned a corner.   We thank God that these efforts have already yielded some positive results.

Furthermore, Ana and Antoine enjoyed a week of playing with their Grandpa Bill Revett, who visited Paraguay last month.  We all miss him and look forward to seeing him, as well as the rest of our friends and family, when we visit the U.S. this winter.  For the time being, we wish all of you who are fathers a happy Fathers’ Day!

Believe it or not, there is a connection between the Church in parts of Africa, for whom we were praying last month, and the urban Paraguayan youth, with whom we directly we work.  Both face challenges.  They also are in areas where, based upon Pew Research (2011), and, to quote Luke 10:2, “The harvest is plentiful.”  Ask the Lord to raise up and send out more of his workers from and into his harvest field.

Yours truly,

Tim, Margarita, Ana and Antoine

April-May 2015: The Challenges of Shepherding in Paraguay

Dear Friends and Family:

What do you say to children who recently came home to find their father dead from a tragic electricity accident and who had been taught by him to trust in God’s love and protection?

When Margarita and I visited the man’s family on Paraguayan Labor Day, we didn’t know what to say.  We could only listen to them share about all that this great man did for his family as well as for the dozens of youth to whom he ministered each week.  We prayed with them and left them with elements to start a small empanada business, provided by God’s generosity through others.

In addition to the two pastors who we mentioned last month that left the ministry, a colleague of ours decided to step down from ministry due to a faith crisis.  One pastor just had his 5^th heart surgery while another pastor practically lives in a hospital, accompanying his son who is recovering from a bad motorcycle accident.   Even Nico, the young man who helps me give public school presentations, faces trials.  His brother had an accident in a glass factory, and his wife is about to have surgery. 

Many serious obstacles arise in the lives of those who keep watch over people’s souls.  Please keep the Paraguayan pastors and ministry workers in your prayers.  

The other day I had a very interesting conversation with 5 inmates in the Esperanza Prison about the tenth chapter of the Gospel of John.  Two of them previously worked with animals, so they shared great insights about shepherding.  Considering the danger from dehydration, snakes and pumas, a good shepherd in the Paraguayan Chaco takes a certain measure of risk of laying down his life for his sheep.  Thus, the men grasped what Jesus meant when he used these exact words to illustrate his intense love for the world.

Our discussion led us to mentioning the countless Paraguayan adolescents wandering like harassed and helpless sheep without a shepherd and filling up juvenile detention facilities across the nation.  For 75% of Paraguayan youth, one or both of their parents—the adults who should be their first shepherds—are not present in their lives, which is one of the highest percentages of Latin America (Martinez-Restrepo 2012).  Please pray for Margarita and me as we teach and counsel adolescents at the New Horizon School and in the surrounding community.  Also, pray for my Wednesday night sports outreach activity with local teens.

Margarita and I thank God for the pastors and ministry workers with whom we serve.  Moreover, we thank him for the good shepherd, Jesus, who not only laid down his life for the world, but also leads anyone who chooses to follow him along life’s meandering path to find green pastures.  We pray that you experience some of those pastures this month, especially those of you who are mothers. 

Happy Paraguayan Labor Day and Mothers’ Day!

Tim, Margarita, Antoine and Ana

Abril 2015: La Comision despues de la Resurreccion

 Queridos Hermanos y Hermanas:

Una iglesia se cerró recientemente. Dos pastores-colegas renunciaron. Por necesidad, el Pastor Carlos ahora supervisa tres congregaciones, cuya membresía combinada no supera cincuenta. Él se siente solo. Viajó 5 horas a Asunción el 13 de marzo para presentar y pedir ayuda en la Noche de Misiones acerca de las dificultades que enfrentan las iglesias en Ciudad del Este, Paraguay. El versículo lema de la noche fue Mateo 9: 36-37, en el que leemos acerca de 
cuándo Jesús tuvo compasión por las multitudes “desamparadas y dispersas,” que eran 
“como ovejas que no tienen pastor,” y les comenta a sus discípulos, "a la verdad la mies es mucha, mas los obreros pocos." Irónicamente, las personas presentes esa noche eran pocos; por lo tanto, lamentablemente, el pedido por socorro de Pastor Carlos apenas se escuchó.

El Ministerio de Misiones y Evangelismo comenzó a visitar otras iglesias para compartir acerca del pedido de socorro de Pastor Carlos.  Ya hablamos en la región noroeste de Paraguay, y el próximo mes estaremos en la provincia de San Pedro en el norte. Mientras tanto, estamos hablando en las iglesias en el área metropolitano de Asunción. A pesar de la asistencia desalentadora en la Noche de Misiones, unas cuantas iglesias ya han dicho que quieren enviar equipos misioneros de corto plazo a Ciudad del Este este año. Por favor, siga orando que las iglesias en todo Paraguay capten la visión de apoyar a las congregaciones que están luchando en la segunda ciudad más grande del país.

Otro lugar donde se encuentran multitudes desamparadas y dispersas son las escuelas de Paraguay. Un joven maestro llamado Nico y yo presentamos en diferentes escuelas públicas en la ciudad de Lambaré sobre diversos temas que afligen a la juventud de hoy.  Al final de cada presentación invitamos a los estudiantes para poner su fe en Cristo, y ya hemos visto docenas de decisiones, gracias a Dios.  Ore por las presentaciones que Nico y yo damos en las escuelas públicas dos jueves cada mes.

Además de los 22 alumnos del nivel primario con dificultades de aprendizaje en la Escuela Nuevo Horizonte, Margarita ahora también trabaja con las clases de primer año 
y segundo año del colegio.  Debido a una falta de docentes, la directora le pidió que
 ella fuera la "profe-guía," lo que implica una administración de esos grados y la enseñanza de una clase sobre asuntos sociales y desarrollo personal. 
Muchos de los estudiantes de Margarita están pasando por situaciones 
graves en sus vidas. Ore para que puedan tomar decisiones sabias y que 
Margarita pueda ministrar a ellos.

En casa, Ana comenzó clases de baile cada semana, lo que ella realmente disfruta.  Ella también "ayuda" a cuidar de Antoine, quien ahora está empezando a gatear y tener sus primeros dientes.

En el primer día de la Semana Santa, mientras Jesús se acercó a Jerusalén, vio la ciudad y lloró sobre ella.  Poco tiempo después, su tristeza se convirtió en acción porque después de la resurrección, Jesús envió a sus discípulos a predicar en su nombre el arrepentimiento y el perdón de pecados en todas las naciones, comenzando desde Jerusalén.  Margarita y yo damos gracias a Dios por sus oraciones mientras hacemos esto en Paraguay.

¡Que el Señor lo bendiga!

Tim, Margarita, Ana y Antoine