End of School, More Pets and Big Decisions

School's out for summer vacation - woo-hoo!!!!  Isaiah and Landon successfully completed another year of school in South America.  This has by far been our best year and we are so grateful for the teachers who lovingly guided the boys through their first year of bi-lingual learning (first time to "do school" in English!)  Landon's class celebrated with a jungle theme and he sang a cute song about being an elephant.

18 kiddos in this class - and only 5 girls!!!  It was a wild, but fun year :)

Isaiah's class also performed a song and dance (unfortunately we only have video of that, no pictures).  Isaiah received an award for Best Student in the English program :) AND Most Obedient in his class!

About a week before school got out, some friends found a box of puppies on the side of the road.  Ryan LOVES puppies so we just had to adopt one :)  She looks like a little bear so her name is Osa ("bear" in Spanish)  She has already brought us so much joy!

She just wants to sit with her boy!

 THEN, on December 1, our cat gave birth to 3 kittens :)  Whew, do we have a full house now!  The boys named them Max, Messi, and Serena.  They already have owners eagerly awaiting them but it's fun to watch them change and grow during these long summer days.

 The boys started swimming lessons in December.  This has been a great way to help fill our days and they are enjoying learning to swim and dive!

Landon's first dive into the "deepness" (as he calls it!)

 We are fully enjoying our first month of summer, but with the blessings have also come some unexpected difficulties.  Shortly after my last blog post in November, we had to send home 4 of our 4040s.  That left our team with only 3 4040s to complete the project.  The original end date for the project was June 30, 2013.  After much prayer, the director of Extreme Nazarene Ministries together with the head of the South American region, decided to close the project early and send 2 of our 4040s to Peru to complete their contract there.  The 3rd 4040 is Paraguayan and will be staying in Fernando de la Mora and continuing to work with the church.
SO, with all the 4040s gone, there is no longer a need for two cluster support families.  The Williams (who have been working alongside us since May) will be returning to the States to raise more money as they plan to head to Ecuador in June and support another team of 4040s.
As for us, after 5 1/2 years of working with Extreme Nazarene Ministries in South America, God seems to be calling us back to our home country.  We have learned so much and been blessed beyond belief.  God has shown Himself to us in so many ways and each one of you, our supporters in prayer and finances, has faithfully followed His leading.  We are so grateful for you!!
We had previously made an agreement with the Vargas' to help pastor the church while they were on deputation so we will remain in Paraguay until January 30 at which point we will return to the States and begin the process of applying for a pastorate.
We have been so blessed by your prayers, support, and encouragement throughout the years and we would ask that you continue to join us in prayer as we transition yet again.  This may be the most difficult move for our dear little "South American" boys.
We will be sure to keep you posted as we have more details of where we'll be and what we'll be doing.  If you have any questions, please feel free to write me personally: Sarah Foster
Once again, thank you so much and may the blessings of Christ fill each of your lives this CHRISTmas!!!