June 8, 2025

[Susan Hoover]

Dear family and friends,

Greetings in Jesus' dear Name!

Life continues to roll on, we are flipping calendar pages at an amazing rate, and who can believe that we are already in June! The year is nearly half over!

We are in winter time here in Paraguay. Some days are chilly and nights can be frigid, but then in the midst of it all we have days again where the sky is blue and the sun blazes hot. We have not had a frost yet, but they say it does freeze here, farther into the winter. It is very pretty and green here yet, and many bushes and trees are blooming. The sky and the clouds are beautiful. I really like the mimosa trees here in the yard -- there are several of them.  They have fern-like leaves which close up at night, and in the rain, like the leaves of a sensitive plant. Many wonders and beauties of creation to be enjoyed here!

And God is faithful. Always. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever!

I think at the end of my last letter, we were contemplating going to a small prayer meeting/Bible study group. The large Misionsgemeinde has formed small cell groups that meet together for prayer or study or some activity, every two weeks or so. Well, we did go that night, in spite of not-so-welcoming conditions of weather! It was about 25 minutes or so of driving. In the dark, and rain. On the busy thoroughfare most of the way, then we turned on to a side road which turned out to be quite muddy and a bit slithery because of the rain, but we made it through and soon turned onto a cobblestone road. (Paraguay has many cobblestone streets and roads.) The evening turned out to be worth it though. We met at the home of Raymond and Sylvia Peters, a young couple with several small children. Three more couples joined us there as well -- Albert and Elma Heinrichs, Henry and Lucy Neufeld, and Jason and Jenny Dueck. We studied a chapter, then divided up for prayer. It was an encouraging evening, so nice to get out for some fellowship! They told us another way to go home, on colony roads, all of cobblestone, so we were able to avoid that muddy stretch and also the busy four-lane. We were glad we went.

The rest of the week passed with some incidents. A new man was brought in on Tuesday by his family. He had a severe alcohol problem, as well as smoking. Of course, drinking and smoking are not allowed here. A number of men have come here with that problem, and have gotten "cured" with help from Christian staff. Some of them still find a way to sneak some forbidden items in at times, but it is impossible to hide, and it is very soon confiscated.

On Friday evening another man was brought. His name is Alejandro. Weak and thin, he was in desperate need. Joel got him cleaned up, burned the filthy rags he was wearing, and found clean clothes for him. He is enjoying the food he gets here, and he loves sitting by the fire! He was living on the streets, cold, homeless, hopeless. And hungry. I don't think I've ever seen a person as thin as he is. Since he is fairly weak right now we have him in a wheelchair, but I think he will be able to walk once he gets a bit stronger.

On Friday night Erdmann and Gertrude Giesbrecht invited us to go out with them for supper. They came to pick us up, and took us to a place in Campo 9 called the Pizza Shop, if I got it right. It was a nice place with lots of good food! I've never seen a system like they had. It's kind of like an all-you-can-eat buffet, but instead of you going to get your food, they keep bringing it and offering it to you. I've never seen or imagined so many different kinds of pizza! It all had a wonderfully thin crust, and so many different kinds of toppings! They had other foods too, more than just pizza. They came around with some little balls that reminded me of hush puppies. Also noodles, with butter (yum!) They had salad, fried chicken, grilled pork, beef chunks, etc. etc.!! After awhile they started coming around with the dessert-type pizzas. Like, with a sweet sauce and fruit toppings. My favourite of the desserts was tropical pizza, with chopped peaches, strawberries, kiwi fruit, and probably more. They also had churros. So-o good! It seems to be a pretty popular place -- lots of people there to enjoy the food that night. They have at least a dozen or more servers, going around offering and serving the different dishes.

Then today is Sunday. Pentecost Day. We enjoyed reading the story in Acts 2 this morning in our devotions. Then we attended a baptism service in Sommerfeld, at one of the Mennonite churches there. Nineteen young people were baptized there this morning. We felt privileged to be there, even though among the crowd of several hundred people, we knew almost no one. However, the real surprise came after the meeting, when we were already out on the front porch of the church building, watching the people come out. All of a sudden I DID see a familiar face! I could hardly believe my eyes, but there came our daughter Stefania!! Could it be true? But yes, it was! I rushed over to greet her and talk to her. What a surprise! Amazing! Apparently one of the girls that was baptized was a friend of Stefania's that is why she was there. It was very special to meet her!

We were at Erdmann and Gertrude's for lunch, then came back here to the Home, had naps, checked on the elderly, etc. And so begins another week! Who knows what lies in store? Well, God does. That is a comfort. And He will give grace, moment by moment, day after day. I know there will be a big pile of laundry tomorrow, and every day after tomorrow as well, but I'm thankful for good machines and that I don't need to scrub it by hand!! And it looks like tomorrow will even be sunny, so I'll probably even be able to hang it out. In fact I do confess that I did a couple of loads tonight, and hung them out to stay on the line overnight. It will give us a big head start tomorrow.

The nurse Angelica from here, is off work for at least a month, after she had surgery on Friday I believe it was. She has been diagnosed with cancer, although I don't know yet at what stage it is, if it is treatable, etc. Many questions and not so many answers right now. We sure miss her when she isn't here, but we do wish her the best, and a good recovery if God so wills.

Rudi and Helen Toews have been here to visit us twice. They are very helpful, and good friends!

So that will be all for this time. "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear..."

In Him,

Susan, for the Hoovers