Rules of Engagement

 OR...

 " How to Drive in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay"

My husband assures me that there are rules for driving in this city. After years of careful observation I have gathered together the following rules of the road as I see them...


Never pull into a continuous stream of traffic with your eyes open.


Horse drawn vehicles should keep to the middle of the road and weave.

Fast vehicles should stay in Asuncion.

If you are coming from a side road onto the main road, you have the right of way. Do not slow down unless you roll over or hit something. Only stop if the object hit appears to have life.

Hand signals should primarily indicate the driver’s mood.

Only stop at a red light if the car in front has stopped.

At a crossroad when turning left, get into the right hand lane.  Beware of the motorcycle!

At a crossroad when turning right, get into the left-hand lane. Beware of the motorcycle!



If a horse cart hits you, you are going too slow.

If a police car hits you, you are driving recklessly.

If you hit a Paraguayan it's your fault.

If you hit a Brazilian its his fault.

If you hit an Argentine go to the nearest police station and claim your prize.

Do not enter spaces narrower than the width of the car, or a taxi narrower than the width of the passenger.

It is necessary to turn on the windshield wiper a few seconds before any stop.  This will keep some of the wind shield washers from spraying your glass with soapy water.

The horn operation must be checked at least every 10 meters, usually in order to move a cow from the road.

You may also be required to have brakes.

Two lanes are for driving in both directions, whichever side you are on.

The internal mirror is for the use of the driver only - to comb his hair, or hang his icons from.

If you are a foreigner, speed limit signs are in km/h

If you are a native speed limit signs are in m.p.h.

If you are driving on a cobble stone street, the speed limit is as fast as your dental work will allow.

All drivers must comply with the speed limit... or some multiple thereof.

Critters

Insects: In ,on, and under the skin!
It often seemed that while living in the jungle, one was at war with the entire animal kingdom. Fighting off "critters" would become a full time, never ending battle. No matter what you were doing or planned to do, the insects and other critters had to be taken into consideration. They devoured food,destroyed clothing, swam in your water supply, infected children...

All our dry foods had to be kept in large coolers (such as Igloos) with airtight seals. We ordered dry goods only once every three months and if not completely airtight, it would all be ruined in a matter of days. Not to mention the four footed furry vermin!!! or the bats...or snakes...

By far, the most dangerous animal in the jungle is the mosquito. The mosquito carries the dreaded malaria as well as yellow fever, and dengue. Any of these can, and do, kill humans on a regular basis. You begin to be aware of the mosquitoes living habits. You plan to not be out from under screens and nets between 5 -7 a.m.and 5-7 p.m. as this is when the mosquito is out and eating. You sleep under the mosquito net, not only to fight the annoying buzz of the mosquito, but also other flying insects... and bats...rats...snakes...

Another most annoying bug is the nigua. The nigua is everywhere. Due to the dirt floors and the constant contact one has with the dirt and with others who also happen to have niguas, you can never truly avoid this bug. Some refer to it as a burrowing tic, but it is rightly, a sand flea. It is almost impossible to see with the naked eye, but it makes itself known!!!

The nigua will burrow into any exposed skin, most commonly the toes, but also the hands and in small children who play on the floor, I have seen them on the babies bottoms. They must be removed. This is best done with a small thorn from a bush the indians use for this very purpose. I used a needle so that it could be disinfected. Another way to prevent them, is to step in kerosene daily. During dry season, I would keep a shallow pan near the door for this purpose. We also would wash our chancletas (flip flops) in kerosene. Kerosene has no lead so was safe to use in this way.

An indian boy was brought to us once who had both feet so infected by niguas, he could not walk. We had to clean and remove infectious tissue for several days. The Sanema of a certain village were so inundated with niguas, that every member of the village could show you scarred and missing digits from their feet, caused by niguas.

Another common problem was scabies. Yuck!!! So many babies with scabies. I concocted a body shampoo, of sorts, for my family to use regularly in order to not be infected. Part of this shampoo was a dog shampoo. Sounds gross, I know, but ever so much better than scabies. I would say that we saw patients with scabies at least once a week. It is difficult to treat because it also infects clothing and bedding. And since several people share the same hammock...

With the dampness of the rain forest climate, fungal problems were also a concern. You had to stay dry! If you sweated, or were rained on, you had to change to dry clothing quickly or you would end up with rashes and other issues. Closed in shoes were not a good choice for daily use. I have seen a lot of newbys come into the jungle wearing leather military type boots or rubber mud boots, HA!! You knew they would be by asking for medical attention soon. Sandals and plastic flip flops are a much better choice as they can be treated and dried quickly, unless you are actually walking or working in the jungle. I have seen some severe cases of athletes foot! Many fungi respond well to being treated with white gas. We had to constantly come up with economical, yet safe, treatments for common problems.

The constant rain caused a lot of difficulties with clothing. Very hard to get the clothes dry. Many a time, I have had to re-wash all the clothing as it began to mildew while on the clothes line. We often would have everything in the house drying and yet, it would remain wet and begin to smell. When we arrived in town, our clothes smelled rank and mildewy. Eventually, we would keep city clothes in town and jungle clothes in the jungle. I was so happy when Febreeze became available in Venezuela!!!

Parasites were another problem. Dysentery type illnesses were common and we would have to de-worm the entire village every so many months. Since they share a common eating and drinking gourd, when one was ill, all were ill. When ever we ate with the people, we would suffer for a few days with stomach ailments, but we seemed to slowly grow more resistant to the bugs and were able to eat with less problems each year.


Culturally, the Ye'kwanas share gourds and when offered a drink or food it is very rude to deny it. It is the worse possible insult to not take part in the meals. A girl would serve you a large pot of yucuta, made from casava, and you were required to eat or drink it all. You could swallow it and spit it out, but you had to finish the pot. Vomitting it up was NOT rude and much preferred to returning it unfinished. In the common round house, you had to be careful where you stepped as much vomitting is normal. All of this makes a wonderful breeding ground for more parasites!!!

The other problem that was a daily battle was the head lice, as everyone is infected. In the evening, the indian family will sit around and de -louse one another. I am sure you have seen the pictures where they appear to be eating the lice. Actually, they are only using their teeth to kill the lice. If they only remove them and toss them to the ground, they will be back. It is a sign of affection to de-louse someone.I remember my youngest daughter would play at de-lousing her dolls. The indians thought that was so sweet, what a good little mommy she would be!!! We used the same dog shampoo, weekly, in order to not get the lice.

On occasion, it was inevitable and one of the children would end up with lice. The quickest way to get rid of the problem is to cover the head in cooking oil, pop on a plastic shower cap for 24 hours, and then, shampoo out. The oil will smother the lice and even penetrate the nits and end the problem with one treatment.

So many bugs...

My husband became infected with onchocerciasis. This is from the bites of the black fly and can lead to blindness. It also caused some severe itching which he suffered with for years, until finally able to kill the disease completely. The parasite, once in the blood stream, can live for 10-15 years. It causes raised bumps under the skin which are colonies of eggs. Very difficult to treat. There is a large portion of the Sanema tribe of Venezuela who are going blind as I write this, entire villages infected and not receiving treatment. It will eventually cause lesions upon the eye itself and is painful. You can even see the larvae crawling along the inner eye, just under the sclera.

I could go on and on...

We saw some insects that made me think of aliens. I am sure there are a few undiscovered bugs we saw. But the other bug that was a problem was the army ant.

Now, this is no ordinary ant! These ants would come out of the jungle, swathing through everything. The largest group I saw were about 4 feet across and walked through the village for an entire day. They eat everything in their path and you can not stop them. Not by water, fire, nothing. You must get out of their way and remove anything organic you do not want to be eaten. The indians tell stories of babies being eaten while asleep, as these ants would march by.

These ants will cross creeks and rivers by making boats of large leaves. Very freaky!!! You can hear them coming in the distance as they eat. Chomp! Chomp! We had to cancel classes a few times while we waited for them to walk through our class room. My kids loved that, as we had no snow days, so they loved Ant Days! There is even a hot sauce the indians make from ants which my husband eats and enjoys. But, my daughter prefers termites! Easily accessible at night while attracted to the inside light, all one must do is scrape them off the window screen and pop them in the mouth. Our screens became the fast food joint for many children!!

And of course, the infamous 24 ant. Yes, it exists. It is a large, black ant measuring a good 2 inches or so. It not only bites with pincers but stings with its wasp like tail. It feels as if it tears skin away while biting and does cause slight bleeding. The toxin it injects with its stinger is like liquid fire and quickly causes the entire muscle area where bitten to burn for several hours, thus ,called the 24 ant. It wont kill you, but for 24 hours you will wish it had! And yes, I am speaking from experience! (And my children had better not tell any more details about it!!!!)


Although controversial, we treated many snake bites and 24 bites with electrical shock. We had a small ammo box which was converted to a kit. Inside was a small magnito attached to a handle outside which could be cranked to produce a small, high voltage low amperage shock, similar to a taser. Leads were attached on either side of the bite. This only works on certain toxins and must not be used except on extremities. If applied quickly, it greatly reduces the swelling involved in most bites and we have seen it used this way several times. It changes the molecular structure of the toxin.


I haven't even mentioned spiders...


I remember reading the Apostle Paul's book of Romans while dealing with a bad case of niguas and seeing it in a whole new light.


Romans 12:1
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

At times, I felt as if my body was a living sacrifice! Being consumed daily by the critters!

Roaches and chagas deserve a post of their own!

Aicha

My grand daughter, Elena (age 7) took this photo of me. She calls me 'Aicha' which is the Ye'kwana word for grandmother. It's fun to see things from a child's perspective. :)

Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed! ~ ¡Cristo ha resucitado! ¡En verdad ha resucitado!

The Grand Miracle

How to marry the perfect man

This broom was photographed by my oldest daughter and it does indeed serve it's intended purpose. It is mainly used as an outdoor broom to clean patios and yards. I have noticed that Paraguayans tend to keep a very neat yard even when they live in a humble home.

While mentioning this to my neighbor, she shared a Guarani 'wives' tale' with me. It seems that the mothers and grand mothers are always telling the young girls to do a thorough sweeping of the yard, porch, and house.

This sweeping needs to be done in a methodical, meticulous manner because it will effect the future of the young lady. A girl needs to be extremely cautious while sweeping so as not to leave behind any litter or dust bunnies because each one left behind represents a flaw in her future husband.

So a lazy, careless girl will undoubtedly end up married to a man with many character flaws, where as a diligent girl will find herself betrothed to a nearly flawless man.

No wonder my neighbor's daughter gets up early and sweeps the yard almost every day. Even the sidewalk! Her husband will certainly be a saint! Personally, I am not so sure I would enjoy being married to a perfect man. I would probably leave a few dust bunnies just to make sure my future husband had a little 'rascal' left in him!

 My dream man!

(artwork by BRIT ART)

Old memories awakened by the news of the death of Hugo Chavez

The death of President Hugo Chavez has brought back a flood of emotions and memories as well as concerns for the future of Venezuela. I am reposting this as I gather my thoughts for an article about his death.

This is an article that we had written for our missions magazine in 2006. I thought it might explain our situation a little better for some of you who do not know us. We are now relocated to Paraguay where we continue to serve as Baptist missionaries.



From the window of the Cessna 206 aircraft we took one last, long heart–wrenching look at the jungle village that had been our home. Circumstances beyond our control had forced us to leave a decade of work in the jungles of Venezuela. How do you simply fly away from ten years of working to learn a language…to establish a home, and to build relationships with some of the most precious people on earth? We had shared our lives with theirs, mingling our joys and sadness. We had become family with these Indian tribesmen through the blood of Jesus Christ! Through tear–stained eyes, we said good–bye to our Ye’kwana family, and the village they called Chajuraña.
Before we moved to the village, we had ministered for 8 years in the city of Barquisimeto. During those years, God was preparing us for the more primitive, tribal ministry in the jungle village. (The nearest town from Chajuraña is a two–week trip by canoe or a two-hour flight by mission plane.) We first visited Chajuraña in 1994 to preach the Gospel and to see churches planted throughout the Caura river valley.






Now our journey had unexpectedly brought us back to where it had all begun.
Our wounds were still fresh as we visited the church in Barquisimeto during a Wednesday evening service. Political tensions between the US and Venezuela had escalated in the expulsion of all missionaries from the jungle villages. We were expelled from our jungle ministry, and the future of our airplane was in question. That evening, as my wife and I read through I Thessalonians 2 with the believers in Barquisimeto, God’s Word spoke to our hearts in a very pointed and personal way.
From the window of the airplane, a disturbing thought had plagued my mind–was it all in vain? A businessman might say, “yes.” At first glance, it seemed that the costs were greater than the benefits. But God would have the final word. Right there in verse one, Paul reminded me of what I already knew… “For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain.”
No, it was not in vain! It was not in vain because we left something in that jungle village that could not be expelled with us. We were as verse 4 says, “allowed of God to be put in trust with the Gospel.” What a precious gift was entrusted to us to deliver to the people of Chajuraña! God used us to carry the Gospel to them! We were not the first. Cederico and Florinda Eddings of the Orinoco River Mission had spent years there in the 70’s struggling to minister under extremely primitive conditions. New Tribes missionaries, in other parts of the jungle, had worked to translate the New Testament into the Ye’kwana language. The hearts of some were ready to receive the Gospel while others were hard and needed patience and love to prepare their hearts for the Good News. When the Eddings left, they saw some fruit, but not as much as they had desired. Regardless, they too realized that their time was not in vain.



We were reminded of how precious our new friends had become to us when we read in verse 8, “ye were dear unto us.” We found it necessary to not only impart the Gospel but to share our very souls. Often times in a tribal situation, because of language and cultural barriers, words alone are not enough. One must become the very Bible that they read. The only way for them to comprehend the love of Christ is by seeing it lived out in a person’s daily life. That is not to imply that it came easily.
To the contrary, we found the words of verse 9 to ring especially true, “for laboring night and day.” We found living among them to be more demanding than we had ever imagined. Not only were we forced to build a house from materials totally alien to us, we also had to experience first hand the rigors of malaria and other tropical diseases. At the same time we were raising our four young children without the convenience of electricity, running water, or for that matter–floors! We have seen first-hand the tremendous toll that jungle illnesses can have on missionaries. Our co–workers were forced to leave tribal ministry after experiencing many bouts of sickness. I was of necessity the preacher, teacher, doctor, dentist, pharmacist, midwife, airstrip builder, village mechanic and carpenter. On a regular basis we were awakened at night to attend to the sick or to deliver babies.


So, why did we do it? Again, Paul’s words in verse 12 echo our hearts cry…“That ye would walk worthy of God.” Our motivation for being in this ministry was so that we could preach the Gospel to the Indians and see their lives changed by the power of the cross and the work of the Holy Spirit. As Paul also said in I Thessalonians 1:9, we saw many who “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” Even as I write this I can see their faces, Ye’kwana men and women who left their heathen ways and now “walk worthy of God.”
Ramon – He heard the Gospel for nearly 40 years before he believed and became an example of faithfulness.
Luis Milano – He was the worst drunk and womanizer in the village with four wives and nearly 30 children. He came to know Christ after the death of his Christian son.
Petra – She was the wife of the witch doctor. She was the first believer in the village and prayed for years that someone would come and teach her more of the Word of God.
Magdelena – Through her own death, she became a witness to over 500 Indians from other villages.
Space does not permit me to tell each and every story, but you can someday hear their stories in Heaven.



We do thank God for the privilege of being His witnesses among these people. It is a fearful thing to be the one called upon to deliver God’s message to men when they do not have God’s Word written in their own language. That’s why the words of verse 13 were especially applicable to us: “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.” We have seen the power of the Word of God and the work that it brings forth in the lives of the people when they receive it, whether it be from our mouths or from the written page. For this reason, while we are still allowed to remain in the country of Venezuela, we feel strongly that we should dedicate ourselves to the unfinished work of translating the Old Testament into the Ye’kwana language so that they may read it for themselves.


Verse 14 also resonated in our hearts: “for ye have also suffered like things of your own countrymen.” When President Chavez decreed that evangelical missionaries must leave the tribal areas, Indian believers began to suffer at the hands of their own countrymen. The missionary pastors that were forced to leave are often the only medical help available to jungle tribes. Missionary pilots are also no longer allowed to fly the sick to the hospitals. Two natives from our area have already died needlessly because of this decision. There is no longer medicine available in the dispensary, as this also came through mission donations.
At this time, missionaries are not allowed to minister in the tribal areas. We understand Paul’s experience in verse 16: “Forbidding us to speak.” In most cases the Christian Indians are also cut off from each other due to lack of communication and transportation. Additionally, many mission bases are being converted into military posts. There are psychological operations in place for the purpose of re–indoctrinating the Indians who have been under missionary influence. They are being told to return to their old ways and religion. In our last church service in Chajuraña, Victor, the pastor, said, “They can take the missionaries out of our village, but they cannot take the Holy Spirit from our hearts.’



We like Paul are “…being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart.” (Vs. 17) Although we are not able to be with our congregation in Chajuraña, they remain in our hearts. Even our youngest daughter has cried in church services wishing she could be in our Indian church. God has put a love in our hearts that goes beyond the physical separation. Not a day goes by that we are not thinking of them, praying for them. “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?” (Vs. 19) Whatever hardships we have experienced in the past, whatever difficulties we may experience in the future, we will never regret the years in Chajuraña at the Good Hope Baptist Church! The joy of seeing people come to Christ cannot be taken from us. Even if we had our doubts today, imagine the rejoicing we will share at the Second Coming of Christ. We look forward to walking on heavenly streets in the company of our Ye’kwana believers.
Over the years many people have questioned why we would isolate ourselves deep in the jungle to reach tribal people or how we could be happy raising our children in primitive conditions. Verse 20 says it all: “For ye are our glory and joy.” Any glory and joy that we have in eternity will far outweigh our past and present trials. The Ye’kwana people will never read these words but some of them will be in heaven with us – thanks to the prayer and financial support of people they will never meet in this life. For ye…Victor, Antonio, Maria, Magdalena, Joel, and my many other Ye’kwana brothers and sisters’ye are our glory and joy!

Today is National Tereré Day