Dear Friends and Family:
While Officer Riquelme waited
for his wife in front of the school where she worked, two individuals passed by
on a motorcycle and opened fire on him.
He was shot twice, but fired back, hitting one of the assailants in the
head. The other escaped on foot. As
if that wasn’t enough violence for one city in one day, in the evening there
was a bombing at a radio station. This
occurred last Friday in the Paraguayan border town of Pedro Juan Caballero where
three visiting pastors and I taught a week-long seminary session for pastors
and church leaders.
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| Seminary Class in Pedro Juan |
Despite
the epidemic of violence in “Pedro Juan,” locals boast that it is a thriving
city where God is at work. Most of its streets are paved and there are a very few shantytown areas, making Pedro Juan appear more developed than other Paraguayan cities. It also has about 75 evangelical
churches, which is an impressive number for Paraguay. Since Pedro Juan is a full day’s drive to the nearest
seminary, many pastors there don’t receive biblical training. Unhealthy doctrines have infiltrated
churches and created divisions.
Pray for the churches in Pedro Juan Caballero to be united as they share the message of reconciliation in their violence-stricken city. Praise God for working through Pastors Gil Lain, Ted Gross and Fredy Pavez to equip 27 church leaders and share the gospel with 200 teenagers there. Additionally, please pray for a good turn-out and effective follow up for an evangelistic event that Margarita and I are leading in the city of Mariano Roque Alonso on September 17th (tomorrow).
Before I left for Pedro Juan, we celebrated Ana’s 5th birthday. There were actually three celebrations: with her new classmates at Asuncion Christian Academy, with her family, and with her former classmates at the New Horizon School. At the latter party, her attention-starved little brother drew a roomful of laughter when he managed to sneak up to the cake and blow out the candle before Ana could do so.
Prior to Ana’s birthday, and
just as Margarita and I were feeling confident in our ability to raise two
children, it was confirmed that we now have our third child on the way. Join
with us in giving thanks for new life, and please keep our family in your
prayers.
Yours truly,
Tim,
Margarita, Ana, Antoine and…
