Letter from a Hospital Room

Dear Family and Friends:

I originally wrote this update seated next to Gabrielli’s hospital bed.  A cold produced a high fever on Tuesday, so Margarita and I brought her to the pediatrician.  Her condition straddled the line between bronchitis and pneumonia, and, due to her very young age, the doctor wanted her to spend a night under observation.  She soon began to show eagerness to leave the hospital by knocking over her I.V. holder and ignoring hospital workers when they entered the room.  We thank God that she is now home, but please keep Gabrielli in your prayers.     

Gabrielli bored of her hospital room.

Gabrielli’s hospitalization came right in the middle of a series of exciting advancements in our work with three urban Mbya Guarani and Ava Guarani communities.  Today we helped organize a clown presentation about God’s love for a Day of the Child celebration.  This landmark activity came by request from leaders of a Mbya community where no ministry had previously gained entry.  Pray for effective follow-up to the presentation as well as for another event with Ava Guarani children on August 17^th.  

  

The young Mbya man who you prayed for last month lives in the community where we organized the presentation.  “Eli” is a follower of Jesus, and Margarita and I spent a considerable amount of time with him in July talking, listening to the Scriptures, and praying.  Next week I hope to deepen the discipleship, perhaps even moving toward starting a Bible study at his house with his family.  Please pray for this young man as well as for his community.

Most of July was focused on English classes at two different church youth groups run by Alaina, a high school student from Amarillo, Texas.  Impressively, she had never been on a plane or left the U.S. prior to this trip.  At one English class, three youth prayed to place their faith in Jesus and two of then began attending the church.  At the other class, the youth group grew and became more unified.  They also learned how to play ultimate frisbee.  Keep the Nueva Esperanza and Trinidad youth groups in your prayers.

Alaina with Ana and Gabrielli

After Alaina’s classes ended, 19 other people came from Paramount Baptist Church for a short-term mission trip.  They taught the Nueva Esperanza and Trinidad youth how to share the gospel.  They did a scavenger hunt-outreach project in Asuncion’s sprawling downtown market.  They told hundreds of public school students as well as residents of a village near a church plant about hope and new life in Jesus.  The group also visited two urban Native communities.  Give thanks to God for his work through Alaina and the Paramount team.

The Paramount Team with the Ava Guarani Community at Yvapovondy

Next Monday we will start a groundbreaking tutoring and lunch outreach to a Mbya community where Margarita took the Paramount team.  During our first ever gospel presentation there, a few of the children asked who Jesus was.  How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?  Because of your partnership in the gospel in Paraguay.  Pray for the new tutoring outreach, and continue to pray for the Mbya to clearly hear the message that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 

Sincerely,

Tim, Margarita, Ana, Antoine and Gabrielli

But that you may know

Dear Friends and Family:

"Only the shaman’s medicine can help him now.”  The teacher at an urban Mbya Guarani school was not feeling well went he left to visit his family for a weekend in early June.  He still hasn’t returned.  The community leader informed us that the medicine given to him by doctors didn’t work, so now he’s turning to traditional Mbya spiritual healing.  Margarita and I tried on two occasions to visit the teacher at his family’s home, but heavy rains made the dirt roads impassable. We contacted a Mbya church leader near that area about visiting the teacher. We also may try to go out there again, perhaps with a doctor colleague.  Pray that the teacher may know that Jesus has authority to forgive and that he can rise from his sickbed.

School keeps these Mbya children out of destructive situations.

In the teacher’s absence, the community school’s students are not attending classes. Sadly, we saw one of them sniffing glue on a street corner last week. Education is perhaps the primary means to help keep these children out of destructive situations. We thank God for a new partnership with a local church who will help us start organizing weekly tutoring sessions with lunch in August for this community’s students. We also thank God that the Mbya leader is open to this project. Along with the educational support, the students will hear the Scriptures. Please pray for success for this education-based outreach project for the students of an urban Mbya Guarani community.

Later this month, we will welcome a short-term mission team from Paramount Baptist Church in Amarillo, Texas. In addition to organizing a field day with the students of urban Mbya and Ava Guarani communities, they will help strengthen two youth groups, a university ministry and a church plant. One of their youth, Alaina, has arrived early to for an English-teaching internship that begins in a few days. We’ve challenged the youth groups to invite un-churched friends to attend the English classes. Pray that the classes and the short-term team visit will result in new followers of Jesus as well as encouragement for the local churches to continue reaching out to their cities.   

Mobilizing two youth groups to reach out to their city in July.

Last week, Margarita and I, along with 160 missionaries from different South American countries, received the very special blessing of a retreat hosted by the Tennessee-based Christian Hospitality Network. There was good food, massages, fellowship, and, most of all, rest. Please give thanks to God for caring for his servants on the mission field through organizations like C.H.N.  Also give thanks for Margarita’s family, who cared for Ana, Antoine and Gabrielli while we were at the retreat.

Just when Margarita and I had concluded that there were no Christians in one of the urban Mbya Guarani communities where we teach, we met one young man who confesses to believe in Jesus. He tells us about the loneliness and temptations that he constantly faces. We hope that he can be a light to his community, and this week we plan to start a discipleship with him. Pray for this young man.  Pray for us and our co-workers. Pray that our work will contribute to the integral transformation of communities as well as individuals, and that they may know that Jesus has authority to forgive.

Happy Independence Day!

Tim, Margarita, Ana, Antoine and Gabrielli

Keep kids off the streets

Dear Friends and Family:

Two years ago, you prayed for Pastor Eligio and his wife, Cynthia, after the death of their newborn, Elías Josue.  Before that tragedy, Eligio and Cynthia suffered three miscarriages and the death of another newborn.  With great faith they tried again last year to have another baby, and, in April, a healthy baby girl was born.  Her name is Janaí, which means “God responds” in Hebrew.  Give thanks to God for responding to Pastor Eligio’s and Cynthia’s long-suffering with the gift of their long-awaited child. 

Pastor Eligio, Cynthia and Janai

Children are indeed precious gifts.  Unfortunately, one can see many children in vulnerable circumstances on street corners throughout the Asunción metro area.  A number of these children are from the Ava Guarani tribe, and Margarita and I know some of them personally.  An Ava mother told us that when they have no money for their basic needs they feel that their only option is to take their children to ask for money at stoplights.  Through your support for us, you are helping raise awareness that sending their kids to school will contribute exponentially more to curbing their poverty than the coins they receive on the street corners.  Last month, Ava students with outstanding attendance at one urban community won fake money for a “shopping spree” of donated clothes.  Last week, the Ñanduti Organization provided a roof for their open-air classroom.  While these efforts support the students’ education, they also build the community’s trust in us and demonstrate their Creator’s love for them.  Pray for the parents to see education as an investment.  Pray for a door to open to make known the good news of Jesus to the urban Ava communities.    

The Ava School Before and After the Construction of the Roof

In mid-May, we traveled four hours deep into central Paraguay to visit a secluded mission among another tribe—the Mbya Guarani.  This region is the homeland of most of the people in the two urban Mbya communities where Margarita and I work.  In fact, we dropped off the teacher from one of those communities to visit his family on our way to the mission.  A German missionary, who has been in Paraguay for 30 years, shared about how it took 5 years for the first Mbya Christian in the area to decide to follow Jesus.  A Mbya Christian, who serves as a bi-vocational evangelist, said he placed his trust in Jesus when he saw that as he sought God through the Scriptures, his family began to experience peace—a peace that was absent during their years of following their traditional religion.  He additionally was drawn by the good testimony and compassion of the missionaries.  Pray for a harvest among the urban Mbya, and pray that Margarita and I, along with our co-workers, will represent Jesus well to them.

Road Trip to the Mbya Guarani Mission

Early in the month, we finished the Bible study in the Guarani language with the Ayala family.  During the course of that 5-month walk through the Gospel of Mark, their daughter overcame a serious illness and four family members decided to follow Jesus.  We concluded the study by challenging the family to go into all their un-churched village and proclaim the gospel.  Please keep the Ayala family and the people of the Yaguaron District in your prayers.  Thank you for supporting church-planting efforts there through your partnership with us.

Margarita is developing a close relationship with a young Mbya woman, who, like Pastor Eligio and Cynthia, has not been able to have any children.  Additionally, her brother recently died of AIDS, a disease that has ravaged some Mbya communities. Margarita left her awestruck by sharing the story of our friend, Nidian, who lost her son (a New Horizon School graduate) to leukemia last year.  Nidian found consolation in her son’s last words: “Mom, don’t worry about me. We will see each other again.  I am going in peace.”  Pray for the young Mbya woman, along with many others from her tribe, to place her trust in Jesus, who responds by giving a peace that surpasses all understanding.

Yours truly,

Tim, Margarita, Ana, Antoine and Gabrielli

Margarita and I thank you for helping keep these precious Ava Guarani girls off the streets and in school!

Poor children buying donated clothes

Dear Family and Friends:

Asunción Christian Academy donated two large boxes of children’s clothes to the Mbya Guarani students living in a poor, urban community.  Instead of directly giving them the clothes, Margarita and I developed a plan with their teacher to have the students buy the clothes with their study habits.  Throughout April, as students showed up for classes, turned in homework and were on-task during lessons, the teacher awarded them with photocopied currency.  Last Friday, Margarita and I set out the donated clothes with price tags in their classroom.  Using their hard-earned fake money, they put their math skills to work to buy clothes just in time for the start of the Paraguayan winter.  The “clothing store” event was the first follow-up activity after the community leader and teacher approved of us working with their students on a regular basis.  We thank God for local partners as well as for your prayers, which contributed to opening the doors not only to this Native community, but also to three others.

Margarita explained the shopping procedure to the students before the clothing store opened. 

Margarita and I have developed a special affection for the Mbya Guarani. They are hospitable, inquisitive, and easy-going.  They are Paraguay’s largest Native ethnicity.  They also figure among the country’s unreached people groups.  At the most-populated urban Mbya community, called Tarumandy, the leader and the principal invited us to facilitate weekly educational activities for their youth and children, in addition to helping train new educators.  Our educational work has opened friendships with two young couples who are influential in the community.  Give thanks to God for good connections with the Mbya, and pray for us to learn their culture and dialect so can we better interact with them.

Another Guarani tribe, the Ava, are neighbors to the Mbya.  We previously requested your prayers for a visit to an Ava community with a group of seminary students.  The group included a doctor and a dentist.  While they conducted free consultations and gave dental hygiene lessons to the children, we challenged the community’s youth to a soccer game.  They schooled us, winning 4 to 1.  The community elders then taught us about some of their marriage, labor and religious practices.  They were pleased that we wanted to learn about their culture.  Their main leader said that we were welcome to return whenever we wanted to.  A few days later, Margarita and I visited another Ava community with help for a construction need.  The leader was very grateful for our visit and invited us to return.  A first critical step to work with First Nations people in Paraguay is to obtain permission from the community leaders.  You prayed for that to happen last month, and, as you can see, your prayers were answered.  Now please pray for us to have wisdom as we continue to build relationships with the urban Mbya and Ava communities. 

Having fun learning about dental hygiene

While our ministry moves forward, there is also lots of movement at home.  Antoine, a healthy three-year-old boy, is picking up Guarani from his daycare classmates.  1-year-old Gabrielli now walks like a pro.  Ana is officially the fastest girl in first grade, having won first place for the 100-meter dash.  In regards to our house, thanks to your donations, we are currently plastering the upstairs walls.  We hope to put the finishing touches on the bathroom, floors and stairs before winter starts in June.  Pray for the completion of our house, and please let us know if you’re interested in helping.

Margarita and I were recently drinking tereré (cold yerba mate tea) with some Mbya youth, when, through mixed Guarani and Mbya dialect, they shared how they feel that their people suffer because Ñandejara (a syncretistic deity) is judging them for their grandparents’ sins.  Pray that we can gracefully speak through their culture and dialect about how the Creator thinks thoughts of peace toward them, to give them a future and a hope.  And, please pray that many Mbya, Ava, as well as people everywhere, will call upon him. 

Happy Mothers’ Day!

Tim, Margarita, Ana, Antoine and Gabrielli Revett

*To view a music video partially filmed at Tarumandy and features some of the Mbya youth we know (look for "Benjamin" in the camouflage, Seattle t-shirt), visit:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKyIrD2OmoI

We really need your prayers

Dear Family and Friends:

After uncomfortable silence and unwelcoming facial expressions the Ava Guarani shaman finally gave her approval for our visit to her community with one simple phrase: “iporã” (“okay”). The chief (her husband) had been trying to convince her that our visit would be good for the community, but the turning point came when Margarita made a joke in Guarani that brought a momentary smile to her face.  Next week we’ll lead a group of students from a local seminary to this urban Ava settlement for an intercultural exchange.  First, we’ll listen to the Ava leaders share about their history and culture.  Then, we’ll serve a snack for the community and play games with their children.  We hope that this activity will open doors for future visits.  We really need you to pray for us on April 8^th when we’ll make the first-known visit by a Christian group to this settlement.   

Students at the Mbya school

Margarita and I need your prayers not just during the first week of April, but really throughout the month, during which we’ll launch three additional first-time, relationship-building activities with one other Ava Guarani and two Mbya Guarani communities.  The New Horizon School’s administration gave us a gift that we’ll pass on to an Ava school for construction later in the month.  On April 7^th, we’ll bring representatives from Ana’s school—Asuncion Christian Academy—to deliver school supplies to the Mbya school that I mentioned in our previous update.   At another Mbya settlement, Margarita will start working with early childhood education and I will start an English class for teens and young adults.  Give thanks to God for the open doors among the urban Ava and Mbya communities, and pray for us to proceed with wisdom.

Our Bible study hosts, the Ayalas, received sunglasses from Vista Missions in Seattle to protect their eyes during their long hours of work in the sun.

Much of March consisted in making visits and having meetings that laid the foundations for the activities we’ll be carrying out in April.  I also continued co-teaching the Guarani study on the Gospel of Mark in a nearby village, and began another Guarani Mark study at the Nueva Esperanza Church.  Moreover, we had some great family time this month.  Cousins, aunts, uncles and friends flocked to Gabrielli’s first birthday party.  Her grandfather even came down from Portland, Oregon.  She is now saying some words and on the verge of walking.  Give thanks to God for Gabrielli and for our family.

We’re likewise thankful that our house now has a roof.  We lived for two weeks with a 4-square-foot hole in our ceiling, and we’re very pleased that there was no heavy rain during that time.  One morning, I shared about the “Parable of the Two Houses” with the construction workers.  The welder, Ireneo, didn’t make a decision to follow Jesus at that time, but he did say that he wanted to learn more, so we invited him and his family to a Bible study at our house.  Pray for Ireneo, the other construction workers, and our future home group.

Moments after driving away from the settlement where we conversed with the Ava shaman, our car suddenly began to have problems.  It’s being fixed right now; however, the ordeal reminds us that the outreach projects we organize often are accompanied by annoying obstacles, which have included not only car problems, but also family sicknesses. In April, we really need your prayers, that we do the right thing at all times when we’re with the Mbya and Ava in order to build relationships with them that point to Jesus, who gave his life to redeem many.

Happy Easter!

Tim, Margarita, Ana, Antoine and Gabrielli Revett

Gabrielli's 1st Birthday Party

Immeasurably more than We Imagined

Dear Family and Friends:

On the Saturday after Valentine’s Day, Margarita and I, along with other volunteers, arrived early to decorate the Nueva Esperanza Church for a fancy dinner event for neighborhood youth.  It was set to start at 5:30 P.M.  By 6:00, church members brought some of the food, but no youth had yet appeared.  At 7:00, with still no youth present, I was frustrated because it wasn't going how I planned, and I considered canceling the event.  30 minutes later they began to trickle in, dressed in their best clothes.  Twenty teens participated in the event, which turned out to be a very fun evening for everyone.  An invitation was given at the end and 4 youth prayed to accept Christ.  Give God thanks that the event happened better than I had imagined.

The Valentine's Youth Event

The next Saturday, attendance at the youth service was more than twice as normal.  I’ve since been connecting with three teenage boys who want to go deeper in their spiritual walk.  Two adult couples are starting to support the youth ministry as volunteers.  We’ve also been able to help restore another couple, who had previously been the youth group leaders.  Please pray for God to impact the lives of the Nueva Esperanza youth and to prepare future leaders for this ministry.

Margarita and I made two visits this month to a Mbya Guarani settlement on the edge of a suburb of Asuncion.  Their school is a one-room wooden shack with a dirt floor.  The settlement’s only teacher has a blended class of 1^st and 2^nd graders.  Most of the children want to continue studying; however, they stop at third grade since there are no additional grades offered at their school.  Paraguay’s Ministry of Education sent additional teachers to help, as well as to provide adult education classes, but the teachers do not regularly show up.  Such educational needs—combined with the fact that this community is considered unreached and unengaged by the gospel—contributed to Margarita and me starting an educational ministry project there.  Pray for us as we connect with this and one other urban Mbya Guarani settlement. Additionally, pray for our developing friendship with a young, talented Mbya couple.

The Mbya School

Working with the Mbya means that I will need to improve my Guarani language skills, which I’m currently doing, in part, by co-leading a Bible study in Guarani in a village about 45 minutes south of Asuncion.  The study has resulted in 3 members of the village’s most infamous family deciding to follow Jesus.  Last week Margarita and I traveled an hour and a half in the other direction to spend a few days at a children’s camp.  I was the guest speaker and Margarita, with her vast experience as an elementary teacher, helped me prepare the materials for the five sessions I taught.  Give thanks to God for seeds sown among the attentive children, and pray that they grow up to be men and women who will shine Christ’s light in Paraguay.

When I was ready to cancel the Valentine’s youth event because it didn’t start like I imagined, I sort of acted like Antoine, who, recently at his new daycare, cried for me not to leave, but, as soon as I left, enjoyed playing with his new classmates.  Keep Antoine, as well as Ana and Gabrielli, who will turn 1 next week, in your prayers.  Also, pray for more Paraguayans to trust in the Lord, who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.

Yours truly,

Tim, Margarita, Ana, Antoine and Gabrielli

Ana, Gabrielli and Antoine also helped at the camp.

"...He went out, not knowing where he was going."

Dear Friends and Family:

In order for an addict to reject the immediate gratification of drugs, he or she must have faith that sobriety will bring greater gratification in the long-term.  Just as by faith Abraham in the Bible went to a new place not knowing where he was going, the brethren in recovery in Paraguay’s Esperanza Prison must leave the lifestyles they know, trusting in God to bring them to a new place where their needs and longings will be met. I spent much of January working with our core group of inmate leaders, and we’re thankful for the spiritual as well as numerical growth that we’re seeing.  Last week they carried out an outreach event that concluded with 35 inmates either deciding to or expressing an interest in following Jesus.  Give thanks to God for his work in the Esperanza Prison, and pray for the inmate leaders.

Inmate-Led Outreach in the Esperanza Prison

As the school year starts back up in February and we become more active in our educational ministry, I will decrease my involvement in the prison.  Years ago I unsuccessfully tried to leave the prison ministry due to few laborers; however, now a team of pastors and volunteers is available to shoulder the ministerial burden.  This will free up more of my week to make visits with Margarita to urban First Nations settlements.  Pray for open doors and open hearts among the Ava and Mbya Guarani communities who we’ll be getting to know better in the coming months.   

Margarita and I are very happy to announce that we started living in our new house during the first week of 2018.  We are very, very grateful for your contributions, which made our new living space a reality.  We were also grateful for a 5-day vacation to escape the discomforts of moving.  Please pray for the full completion of construction, in addition to the settling in process.  Also, pray for the home group that we plan to begin. 

We vacationed near the town of Belen, which is Paraguay's "Capital of the Tropic of Capricorn."

Furthermore, in a couple of weeks, Antoine will begin attending a daycare that is near Ana’s school.  Please pray for him as he adjusts to a new environment with new people.

Ten years ago this past January, I left my home country, family, friends and job to answer the call to missionary service in Paraguay.  There have been difficult moments, and I still miss my family and friends; however, there is no doubt in my mind that coming here was the right decision.  I thank God for Margarita, for our children, as well as for the countless marvelous things that have happened over the past decade.  I also thank God for those of you who have partnered with me since the beginning.  Leaving places and ways of living can be unsettling, but when we do so by faith, we will see that God, who calls us, is faithful and rewards those who seek him.  

Yours truly,

Tim, Margarita, Ana, Antoine and Gabrielli Revett