Dear Family and Friends,

         We write to you with full hearts.  We are seeing God at work and we have experienced His love for us in special ways.  First our new baby Lila was born in Paraguay and without complication.  She is so sweet and such a gift to our family.  God has been using her to help us make connections in the community where we live.  I (Lily) was nervous about giving birth to her in Paraguay and we can look back and see the Lord’s loving provision and how He kept us both safe in the fragile days of childbirth.

         Our small group has been growing and reaching out to new people! We see people being open to friendship and the Gospel! This is very exciting! 

         We have been involved with several children’s outreaches that have been special.  The children are played with, loved and taught truth.

         Our spirits are being refreshed!  After a year of being away, we have had the opportunity through a gift to travel to NJ, USA to visit our family.  It has been a delight to be with my parents, the kids Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins!  We miss them so much.  Our family has had the opportunity to meet new baby Lila and this has brought great joy to us all.  This was unexpected and we praise God for giving us this great gift!

Thank you for praying for us! We so desperately need the body of Christ!

Please pray for us to have full hearts. 

Pray for us to trust God once again in saying our goodbyes to loved ones in the USA.  Pray for our small group to grow and to know God’s love.

Pray for the church Mi Esperanza as we are looking for a National pastor.

Please pray for funds to be given to us to be able to purchase a vehicle on our return to Paraguay.

If you would like to give please  Go to http://www.cmalliance.org/ and click on the "Give" tab in the top right-hand of the website. You can donate securely through this link. You can also support us personally in the same way. Simply type "Saavedra" in the International Worker box to give to any of our ministry needs. Our current need is for our "Vehicle" or “Works Special” fund. Thank you for supporting us!

Carlos & Lily Saavedra

Hello Friends!

It has been too long since our last update. We have now been living in Paraguay for 7 months. 

Weekly we are providing leadership to life groups.  Pray that lost people who are coming would want to know Jesus and that believers would grow!

OUTREACH

We had an outreach in a park that is one block from the church this Saturday (March 7^th).  The afternoon focus was on children and families.  We had face painting, a bounce house, carnival booths and a presentation of the Gospel.

In the evening we sponsored a local Christian Rock Concert in attempt to reach youth in this area. Pray that many who attended would be drawn to Jesus and would consider visiting our church.

FAMILY NEWS

Our big family news is that our new baby girl will be born in 9 weeks.  Please pray for safety for Lily and the baby in these last several weeks of pregnancy.  It has been a challenge for Lily during 100 degree days and to find a balance in resting and also still doing ministry.  Pray for us that all goes well with the baby’s delivery in a developing country.

HELP

Last but not least we have been borrowing a vehicle here in Paraguay.  While we are VERY THANKFUL for this we really have gotten to the point where we need to purchase our own vehicle. After we have a new baby we will not have enough seats or seatbelts for our family in this borrowed car.  If you would like to give toward this we would be very thankful.  If you can not give toward this would you join us in prayer that God would provide these funds for us to purchase a decent used vehicle?  We are needing about $15,000, we need a vehicle that can fit our family and endure the high floods of our area and the rough dirt/ rock roads that we often drive on.  We know that God has the right vehicle for our growing family, we are asking Him to give it to us either before our baby comes or soon after.

If you would like to give please  Go to http://www.cmalliance.org/ and click on the "Give" tab in the top right-hand of the website. You can donate securely through this link. You can also support us personally in the same way. Simply type "Saavedra" in the International Worker box to give to any of our ministry needs. Our current need is for our "Vehicle" or “Works Special” fund. Thank you for supporting us!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRAYERS! PLEASE KEEP PRAYING FOR US AND THE PEOPLE OF PARAGUAY!

Love, Carlos and Lily Saavedra

(Carly, Elia, Lucas,& new baby)

Greetings from Paraguay! November 12, 2014

We have been here for 3 months! It is hard to believe.  We are jumping into different ministries here, and more importantly getting to know the people.  It is taking time but through helping people, who are sick, encouraging them, serving with them, hearing people’s dreams, taking one who is cut to the ER and living daily life we are starting to make more meaningful connections.

Our big news is that we are expecting our 4^th child in May!

These are some of the youth that we are blessed to hang out with.

Praises:

Lily got to be a part of a women’s encounter last week where God spirit was at work!

Prayer Requests:

We are asking God to give us in roads with the people. Would you ask Him with us?

We are needing to purchase a vehicle for our family. Would you pray for this financial need and possibly considering giving toward it?  We are needing to raise about $15,000 to purchase a used vehicle here.

If you would like to give you can do that online! Go to https://secure.cmalliance.org/give/      Type in our names in the area where it says give to international workers.  Three big needs that we have right now are our “outfit” which is all we need to set up a home in a new country, a vehicle, or our “work” which is ministry expenses.

Greetings from Paraguay!

We have been here for 2 months now and it feels like we just arrived.  There are many adjustments that have been made and many still to be made.  We have rented a small row home.  It is in the center of the city; in between the school our children are attending and the church.  We have been in our home for 2 weeks now.  The second day we were in our home Carlos’s brother Richard and his girlfriend arrived.  We had houseguests for a week! We have had to furnish the house from scratch and are still in this process.  It has been challenging to look around for household goods and fun.  We have been very surprised how expensive things are here in Asuncion.

There have been many challenges and many joys.  It seems like it takes a lot more time here to get the same things done.  Cooking by scratch has also taken up more time than it did before.  If you have some favorite from scratch recipes please send them on to me : )

We have been spending time building relationships with people from the church, parents from our children’s school and neighbors. 

If you would like to give we have several needs. One is called an “outfit need” to furnish our apartment with the basics.  The next main thing on our list is to purchase a water filter for our home.   We also will need to purchase a vehicle in the near future.  We have heard that a decent used vehicle here will be around $15,000.  (Vehicles are imported here and the cost is higher…..)  The city is large and a vehicle with a family really is a necessity.  You could also give to our ministry expenses.  This involves the expenses we have as we actively engage people with the Gospel.

Thank you for your prayers as we adjust!

-Please pray that we would make key relationships and that people would be willing to trust Jesus as Savior.

-Pray that each one in our family would adjust well; pray for special friends for our children.

-Pray that we would have God’s heart for those around us, and that we would be ministering through His power.

-Pray that our family would experience God’s love in specific and special ways in this tough adjustment.

-Pray that God would provide the finances we need to set up a home and purchase a vehicle.  This can feel overwhelming, but we know our God owns everything.

Hola from Paraguay!

It is hard to believe that we have been in Paraguay for 1 week!  We have been walking through lots of transition as a family.  We are staying at another mission’s guesthouse while we look for a home to rent.  Our children have been enrolled and are attending Asuncion Christian Academy.  The school schedule is new for us homeschoolers and we are trying to adjust!  This means lots of early mornings! (For mommy this means getting up at 5am!)  The good news is that we get to see a beautiful sunrise each day.

Transition is hard and the truth is we are being stretched.  There have been challenges…but we remember that OUR GOD, OUR LOVING FATHER is the one who called us here. WE ARE TRUSTING HIM.   We are struggling yet we trust Him.  We are walking in a new dying to ourselves as we trust OUR GOOD GOD.

This week God has been speaking to me through this passage

Acts 17: 26 “From one man he made all the people of the world. Now they live all over the earth. He decided exactly when they should live. And he decided exactly where they should live. 27 God did this so that people would seek him. Then perhaps they would reach out for him and find him. They would find him even though he is not far from any of us.”

In God’s goodness He decided that people would live here in this city, in these days so that they could hear from us the good news of the gospel.  The people of Paraguay are a needy people without much hope, and we have the greatest hope to give them!

-Please pray for us to find a place to live so that we can settle in.

-Pray that we could raise funding to quickly set up a home with basic needs and buy a vehicle.

-Pray that we would have God’s heart for the people around us.

-Pray that our children would experience God’s love and grace in this transition.

-Pray for John Saapia and family (one of our teammates who is headed to the USA today for surgery to change his pacemaker battery and lead.)

Thank you so much for your emails and Facebook messages! They have been encouraging! Love Carlos, Lily, Carly, Elia and Lucas Saavedra.

If you would like to give you can do that online! Go to https://secure.cmalliance.org/give/   Type in our names in the area where it says give to international workers.  Three big needs that we have right now are our “outfit” which is all we need to set up a home in a new country, a vehicle, or our “work” which is ministry expenses.