At Alto Refugio, the first visit is much more than a formality; it is the moment when masks are allowed to fall. When a young man named Angel stepped through our door for the first time, he looked like someone carrying the weight of the entire world on his shoulders. Our coworker Cinthia—petite and delicately built but blessed with an inner strength that leaves no room for doubt—welcomed him.

On the evening of the 50th anniversary celebration of Radio ZP-30, La Voz del Chaco Paraguayo, in Filadelfia, Paraguay, an older lady, a regular listener, travelled from near the Argentine border, to present the station’s director Egon Doerksen with a personal gift of honey.

Walter Kruse’s early teaching career got him fascinated by the far north; now, sent by EMC to teach in Paraguay he was intrigued by the cultural landscape of Paraguay: the Indigenous people, the Paraguayans (a mix of indigenous and European), and Mennonite settlers. The observations he made were recorded in the form of letters mailed to Canada; he later edited them, took some literary liberties, and collected them in this book.

A five-person work team from Canada together with national workers experienced with brick construction worked on a church ministry building despite the language barrier.

Bernardo is a very helpful boy. His teacher asks the students if they can find out how many sick people there are in the neighborhood. Bernardo volunteers and learns there are five. The teacher urges the students to act by setting aside some of their own lunch money to buy fruit or something else for them. Bernardo and his friends do so and are very happy. The student's action serves as an example, and soon the adults also begin to help the sick in their neighborhood.

This is the summary of one of 106 stories written by Nelson Aguilera in the context and the heart language of the Paraguayan people: Guarani Jopara.

What does a typical Sunday look like for us? On the mission field, we don’t deal with a lot of typical or sameness in ministry; flexibility and change can be expected. Let us take you along on a Sunday like this last one.

Paraguay is not a strong tourist destination. It is often overshadowed by surrounding, bigger, and more noteworthy countries when describing beauty, progress and peoples.

A look at the ministry of Judy and Dave Schmidt

Under-qualified. That’s the word that came to my mind when the Holy Spirit prodded me, “You should be on that prayer team to Paraguay.” Was this chance that a verse in Zephaniah leapt off the pages of scripture that very day to affirm the calling?