Paraguay 2003

For many years the names of Bishop John and Judie Ellison had been familiar to our congregation as Partner-in-Prayer as we remembered them and the Paraguayan Church on Sundays in Church. The Ellisons duly visited us upon their periodic returns home, but who would have thought that we would be enabled to visit them - some 10,000 miles away in South America! The dream came closer to reality when a team of six from Derryloran was invited to be part of a larger 15-person team under the inspirational leadership of Phil Grainger in association with the South American Missionary Society. The Project, in 2 parts, involved building 2 churches - the first at El Estribo in the Chaco for the local Indians and the second at San Juan, about 40 km from Concepcion. Work at the church at El Estribo had begun in 2002 with the laying of the foundation and erection of the "tinglado" (roof), and work progressed rapidly despite quite inclement weather with local workers and the first section of the team in early July - Phil, Paul Puttergill, Len Trew, Debbie Bennett from England and the first part of the Irish contingent - Ronan Lindsay and Richard Barrett from Craigavon, and Malcolm and Claire Kingston from Lisburn. The second part of the Project involved building a church at San Juan, and this work began with the arrival of the rest of the Irish team in mid-July - the Rev Dennis Robinson from Brookeborough, Debbie Arthur, Jayne Hassin, Gemma and Andrew Greer, Diane Larmour and Canon Norman Porteus - all from Derryloran.

Additional fund-raising meant that a 4-wheel drive Toyota Hilux could be purchased for Auxiliary Bishop Andres Rodriguez for his work with the indigenous people over rough roads and dirt tracks in all weathers - a much-needed bonus!

Arrival in Asuncion prepared us somewhat for the culture shock of life in South America - chaotic traffic dusty streets and street vendors of all ages at every intersection, trying to earn some elusive money for their families.

The first week-end was based at the Anglican Cathedral in Asuncion and was a useful team-building exercise in relative comfort before moving to the camp at San Juan. As we shared in the worship with the English and Spanish-speaking congregations, we sensed something of the warmth of the Paraguayan welcome we would receive wherever we went.

We then made the 5 hour journey to Concepcion via luxury coach - for the seeming bargain price of £3. However in real terms that was the equivalent of a labourer's daily wage and far beyond the reach of most Paraguayans, 69% of whom live in abject poverty. Wealth is very much in the possession of the minority - 78% of the arable land is owned by 0.4% of the land-owners!

Work on the building site began early next morning - following a wake-up call from the rooster at 3.30am! Lying in one's sleeping bag, one could hear roosters crowing all around the countryside - to be joined later by the dawn chorus of a variety of wild and domesticated birds!

Work continued with great enthusiasm and an ever-increasing confidence in newly-discovered building skills on a site where the local church had worshipped for 10 years under a big tree. The tree seasonally had provided shade from the sun and shelter from the rain! In addition we were able to offer to the local people the benefit of English classes, guitar lessons, a surgery and play group for the children. There was never a dull-moment on either site! In the evenings, football matches provided great entertainment for players and supporters alike, with Bishop Andres displaying remarkable barefoot footballing talent, and these were another means of developing fun-filled rapport with the locals.

Such was the pattern of our 3 week building project... It was a joy to see the red brick church taking shape and filling out day by day - until the big day arrived - the day of Consecration. From early Sunday morning a great air of expectancy was in evidence as people began arriving in various modes of transport from near and far. The seating capacity was 160 seats, with many sitting outside and some 40 children up at the front on plastic sheeting Painted banners made everyone welcome - with a special message for the British contingent!

As the service progressed, we were indeed honoured guests among friends! It was a most moving experience - the fulfilment of a dream for the people of San Juan - and brought tears of joy to so many. A barbecue for all followed in the grounds as worshippers tucked into steak cuts from a cow butchered the previous day!

Monday was our last day in San Juan, and in the evening tearful yet happy farewells were shared with new-found friends from a far-off corner of the world. What would become of them and the new church in the days and years ahead? Such were our prayerful thoughts as we contemplated leaving.

On our last night we experienced an electrical storm - reminding us how blessed we had been in our building efforts by good weather. Rain now didn't matter, but it made striking camp a rather damp procedure! Still, we were happy at having successfully achieved objectives which meant so much to the indigenous Christians.

On our last night in Concepcion we were again treated to a wonderful supper in San Pedro Church, and on the following day, we returned to Asuncion with the luxury coach almost to ourselves, feeling rather shattered, but looking forward to the final part of the experience - a few days at Iguacu in Brazil to view the fabulous falls. After a debriefing session with Bishop John Ellison and a 7 hour coach journey, the Hotel Florenca offered accommodation luxuriously surpassing that of the previous 3 weeks - but then hadn't we deserved it! Day trips to Falls on both the Brazilian and Argentine sides offered breath-taking views of the world's most beautiful waterfalls - and a fantastic speedboat ride over the rapids and right under the falls. The memorable few days at Iguacu were in marked contrast to our unforgettable experiences at San Juan - a world apart in terms of culture and life-style! Iguacu will in due course become a distant memory, but the Christian friends we made in Paraguay will remain Partners in Prayer as long as we live!

The Project was a major success - with 2 extra bonuses in the commencement of the building of a 16-bed dormitory at San Juan and the funding of Osvaldo as a driver for Mrs Judie Ellison as she visits the housebound and sick in Asuncion and further afield. Truly God had blessed an exciting venture in which it was a privilege to have been involved.

Canon Norman Porteus

Note from the webmaster: Following are two links to the photo collections of two of the Paraguay team, Debbie Arthur from Derryloran and Leonardo, who brought a digital camera and has supplied lots and lots of photos. Both of these pages are simple indexes of the photos. I've got some accompanying text to add, which should be complete within the week... Leonardo's page is huge, and I've got low resolution versions to load as placeholders while the current page loads. In the meantime, please be patient. Thanks.

Debbie's full photo collection

Leonardo's full photo collection (Note, this is a huge page full of photos, and unless you're on broadband will take some time to load. Please be patient).