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!!!

Children's Communion and Baptisms

After months of planning and preparation, everything came together to celebrate a special children's communion and baptism this past Sunday.  It was wonderful to see the church come together to support our youth!  Our outdoor "sanctuary" was set up for a breakfast and people were able to eat before the service started.  We had many new visitors (friends and family of the children who were participating) and hopefully seeds have been planted in several lives as a result of this day!

Everything set up and ready to go - tables for breakfast, a pool for the baptisms, and a special, smaller table in front for the children

Enjoying the praise music and watermelon!

 After Pastor Felix gave a short devotional, he invited all the children to receive communion.  The Sunday before, myself and another Sunday School teacher had shared with the children a lesson in what communion is and what it means.  Pastor Felix had Ryan come forward also to help the children visualize the First Communion - Ryan played the part of Jesus :)

 After communion, Scripture was read and a new Christian gave her testimony.  Then it was time for the baptisms.  Thirteen youth and children were baptized!!  Ryan was able to baptize Isaiah and Landon.

Landon affirming that Jesus is his Lord and Savior

Isaiah was so excited!  He has wanted to be baptized for about a year.  He loves his God!!

Isaiah invited his best friend, Paul, and his soccer coach.
Both of them were there to support him in this big decision.

I was thrilled to see the church working together for this event and I was so happy with the response of the youth and children from our church.  However, by far, the biggest blessing for my mommy-heart was seeing our two boys make the decision to publicly affirm that they will follow Jesus.  As a missionary and Christian, I know that God will use me to touch many lives.  But the most important lives I can impact are the two He has given us to guide and grow in love with Him.  I pray that each of you will also experience the blessings of guiding those with whom you have been entrusted!!

Celebrate Youth

One of the the things we love about Paraguay is that they celebrate EVERYTHING :)  In addition to the traditional and cultural holidays of this small country, they often have festivals celebrating children and youth.  On Friday, we celebrated the first day of Spring and Youth day.  The church took this opportunity to have a fun afternoon planned for the youth of our neighborhood on Saturday.  

The children in these pictures pretty much spend all their free time on the church grounds.  They begin showing up at about 11:00 on weekdays and a little earlier on weekends and holidays.  They play soccer, hang out, and tell jokes (it reminds me a little of that fun movie, The Sandlot).  Although we know these children, we know very few of their parents.  I'm sure many of them come from difficult home situations.  Please pray that these lives will be touched by the work of the 4040s and the local church.

Forming teams

The "drummer"

Egg race - Isaiah against Landon!

Team leader, Fernando, encouraging the littlest member

Egg-cellent!!!

Fabian, Mihael, and Isaiah waiting.....

Enzo dragging Isaiah - poor bum!

The final relay of the day....

....Mission Accomplished!!

August

We have had such a blessed August!  It started out with another short-term project.  We had 29 volunteers from the States, plus 2 Peruvians and a couple of long-term Extreme staff on hand and MUCH was accomplished.  As before, I was mostly inside at the computer with the "books", so I didn't get any pictures of the events.  However, you can see all the best pictures here.  I did get a picture of all the new contacts the 4040 team was able to follow up with.  Several people have started coming to church and a couple of new house groups have been started.  Praise the Lord!

 The last weekend of the short-term project, we had the privilege of hosting several leaders of the world-wide Nazarene church.  Christian Sarmiento (Director of the South American Region) and his wife, Margit; David Graves (General Superintendent) and his wife, Sharon; Marty Hoskins (Mobilization Coordinator); Verne Ward (Director of Global Missions) and his wife, Natalie; Doug Carter (Elder and Founder of RMTM Industries); Carlos Fernandez (Leadership Development in South America); and CB Glidden (Pastor of Fort Worth First Church of the Nazarene in Texas) were all on hand to provide encouragement to the church and missionaries.  The men also participated in a leadership conference for Paraguayan church leaders.
Below are several pictures of that weekend.

So, THANK YOU for your prayers!!!  As a team, we have experienced the much-needed refreshment of our spirits and encouragement in our work and are ready to claim the victory for Christ in Fernando de la Mora!!

Also in August we hosted the Officers of Extreme Nazarene Ministries.  It was fun to see old friends from Peru and the States (and receive GOODIES from the States, thanks Sydney!) 

The boys have had an exciting month also.  They started soccer school and are really enjoying being part of the organized sports world :)  

 

 They also celebrated a Folklore festival at school.  Isaiah's class won the best presentation as they all wore costumes and danced a traditional dance.  It was great!

As we head into Fall (for you) and Spring (for us), we are planning to take on more of a pastoral role in the church.  I have already been involved in Sunday School ministries, but I'm also starting to become more active in women's ministries and discipleship.  I have two ladies with whom I meet each week to study the Bible.  I am excited in the changes I've seen in these women!
Ryan will be preaching this Sunday and several other Sundays until December when he will be preaching full-time as the Vargas family spends the summer months in Colombia.  He will also be directing the leadership meetings in Felix's absence and will begin discipleship of a couple of men from the congregation.
God is moving and we are excited to be a part of His plan for Paraguay!  Keep us in your prayers, we know the enemy is not going to let this country go easily!  We appreciate you all :)

Building Update and Extended Vacation

The day after my last blog, the new church was complete enough to hold a service!  One of our local church leaders had been working with other church leaders in Fernando de la Mora and on Friday the 13th, an inter-denominational youth service was held under our new roof :)  It was exciting to see 10 churches and nearly 200 youth and families present and celebrating unity in Christ!

 As I mentioned in the last blog, the kiddos are on winter break right now.  It was supposed to be two weeks but last Thursday we found out that it had been extended another week.  We have been having fun playing games (with the world's smallest monopoly set!)

 and going new places like the zoo.  It was neat to see the animals (including the pregnant elephant below), but the most fun was definitely had at the gigantic trees we found in the park!  I know we're hard to see in this picture, but that just shows how massive this tree was :)

 It's been wonderful to experience God's amazing creations with our growing boys. (By the way, Isaiah hasn't grown THAT much, Landon is sitting on a small wall)

The last two weeks we had lots of homework to complete, but this week we're looking forward to some extra free time.  Isaiah is now 8 and Landon is rapidly approaching 6.  Next week we will also be welcoming a group of short-term volunteers from the States.  Three of our 4040 boys are currently in Cali Colombia experiencing the discipleship model we are using here first-hand.  We are looking forward to a boost in morale and energy with the return of the boys and the short-term team.  Please keep us in your prayers as we soldier on :)
Much love, the Fosters

Prayer and Construction

Happy July and summer to all our friends and family in the Northern Hemisphere!!  Although it is winter here in the South, we are pleased to find that "winter" is pretty mild (however with our thin "jungle blood", even the mild winter requires several layers and coats for us!) 

I sent out a group email a couple of weeks ago, but was not sure if it went through.  If you didn't get it, I wanted to make sure you all received our thanks for the prayers each of you lift up for us.

We were in not one, but two, very dangerous situations in our car that day and truly believe the hand of God saved us from any injury on both occasions.

First, a motorcycle tried to pass us on the right-hand side and ran into a parked car - right next to Isaiah's open window.  Except for ringing ears from the sound of the crash, the car and our family were unharmed.  Then, a few hours later as we were turning left into our house from a busy street, a city bus tried to pass us on the left.  Ryan said he is convinced the bus should have hit us, but miraculously it didn't.

We were concerned for the people on the bus who were thrown forward with the sudden stop.  One family approached us and said they would be filing charges against the bus company but we have not heard any more from them or the bus company.  

Thank you so much for your daily prayers on behalf of our family and safety.  We truly feel surrounded by God's protection!

I'm happy to share some really exciting news for our church in Paraguay - CONSTRUCTION HAS BEGUN!!!  We were finding it difficult to fit everyone in the small church building every Sunday so have started the building process.  So far, we just have funds for the floor and roof, but we know God will provide the rest.  Below are several pictures taken over the last week and a half (the current church building is the white building to the right of the photo).

I'm so grateful that we can be here for this time of growth!  There is much activity on the church grounds as the workers dig the foundation, mix and pour concrete, and smooth the floor.  Our male 4040s have been talking to the workers about the hope we have in Jesus on their time off and perhaps we will see growth in more than just a building :)
And, finally, I wouldn't want to post a blog without letting you know how the boys are doing.  As I mentioned earlier, it's winter here and the boys began their two-week winter break on Monday.  So far they have had two sleepovers, a day at the park, and a visit to a friend's house - and we're not even half-way through vacation!  Yesterday they wanted to help make dinner :)

 They also have LOTS of homework to do each day and Isaiah has been practicing his English reading.

Next week will be full as we are having ANOTHER sleepover for Isaiah's 8th birthday, various play-dates, and a trip to the zoo.  Landon's birthday follows soon after so the next blog will probably be about birthdays :)
We truly appreciate every one of you and the difference you are making by joining us in prayer!  May God bless you and increase your joy in Him each day!!

Engage article

Our family is currently being profiled in the Engage on-line magazine.  You can check out our interview here
On an unrelated note, the COLD has arrived!  It has been quite chilly lately and we are expecting it to reach freezing tonight.  We are praising the Lord for our heaters, warm blankets, and warm clothing!