November 9, 2025
Susan Hoover
Dear family and friends,
"God hath not promised skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways all our lives through.
God hath not promised sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow, peace without pain --
But GOD HATH promised strength for the day!
Rest for the labour, light for the way.
Grace for the trials, help from Above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love."
Oh, the precious promises of God. He never fails to deliver. When the dark days come, He is there to comfort and encourage. He whispers His peace into our hearts, and restores our joy. And we find that with Him holding our hands, we can go on! In trust and confidence that He is with us, and He knows what He is doing. He assures us that "all things work together for good" to those that love Him, and we do love Him!
Greetings in Jesus' Name. Recently we spent parts of two days in Asuncion, doing paperwork. We traveled by bus, as I do not want to drive in the city of Asuncion, with its tangled traffic jams!! So this was much more relaxing. And to travel around in the city, we used Bolt. That is a system similar to Uber or Lyft in the United States. Peter got the Bolt app on his phone, and it was so neat. Whenever we needed a ride to another place, he used that app, and in a few minutes the driver appeared! It's very reasonably priced too. And it was definitely less stressful than me trying to find my way around. So, that was a blessing! We also had some very restful and relaxing moments at the Menno Heim, a Mennonite hotel and restaurant in the city. We got a room there for the night, and ate several meals there as well. Again, very reasonably priced, very good, clean accommodation, and delicious food. The next day we finished whatever business we had left, and got the bus back to Campo 9 again. Joel from the Home here, picked us up and brought us home.
This past week we have had a visitor from Germany -- a 23-year-old young lady whose family Peter has known for a number of years. Julia Kehler, daughter of Johann and Annie Kehler from Minden in Germany. We have enjoyed the time with her. Since we have only one room here that we are living in, we asked our friends Arnaldo and Monika Harder if they would have a room for her to stay in for the nights. Of course, they gladly took her in. On Wednesday of this past week, Monika invited Peter and me to go along to spend a day at Iguazu Falls, just across the border in Brazil. She was planning to take Julia there, as well as Gladys, who is a member of the church where Arnaldo is pastor. We accepted joyfully! We had never been to the Falls, but from photos we had seen, we knew it was quite spectacular. We drove over to the Harders and then went all together in their larger vehicle, leaving their home around 7:15. After driving about an hour and a half, we reached Ciudad del Este, which is on the border but still in Paraguay. As usual there was a long line-up for crossing the bridge! We sat in the line-up for another hour and a half, inching forward as the line slowly moved through. Finally we reached the bridge! Border crossing was nothing -- they just waved everyone through because there is a check-point further into the country, but we did not need to go that far to get to the falls. We had all our documents along and never needed to show them.
So that was easy. We drove into the park entrance and parked the car in the parking lot, then went in to buy our tickets. We got on a little tour bus which took us back to the falls, we got off at the beginning of the trail and walked. It is simply incredible and amazing. Awesome! There are not enough words to describe it. The paved trail is nice and easy to walk on, and there are breathtaking views all along. It's over a mile of trail, and every time you think you are surely getting to the end of the falls now, there is more. And more. And more! I am just now reading a Google report on it -- it says "Iguazu is a system of 275 waterfalls located on the border of Brazil and Argentina, that spans nearly two miles of the Iguazu River." I made the remark that this falls is like the grace and mercy of God -- there is always more! It's inexhaustible! As long as we keep walking the path, there is always more mercy and more grace. Hallelujah.
That was definitely the highlight of the week! It was nice to get to know Gladys a bit -- she is very sweet, a widow with three teenage sons whose husband passed away three years ago of brain cancer. She is a nurse in the Luz y Vida hospital, where I will be having knee surgery this week! She said she'll see me and will probably get to help take care of me!
We got very, very close to the falls at one point -- actually right on top of one of them so we could look down and see the water tumbling over the falls right under our feet ... there was a walkway out there and we got all wet with the spray of the falls --- it felt good because it was a hot day! Fortunately though, it was cloudy. A blazing sun would have made it a lot hotter.
So, we returned home, tired, but it was worth it all. At the Paraguay border, once again we just drove right through, they didn't stop us. And there was no lineup, so we were through quite quickly.
Backing up to Monday of the past week -- we went to Hauskreis (cell group, prayer meeting/Bible study) at Billy and Christina Buehler's home, and took Julia along. Afterwards we all had a carry-in supper together. Good food, good fellowship! We had also stopped for a visit at the Harder's when we picked up Julia, and had a short visit there. Monika gave us an eggplant from her garden, and a loaf of her multi-grain sourdough bread. It's so-o good! The eggplant is good too. I sliced it, soaked it for awhile in salt water, then drained and dried it. Dip slices in seasoned flour, then dip in beaten egg, then roll in either flour again, or else ground oatmeal. Fry in hot fat till golden and crispy. Delicious!
Thursday evening Erdman Giesbrechts invited us over for watermelon and Rollkuchen, so that was another pleasant evening. We sat outside all evening. I did get a number of bites on my legs, but they don't bother me much. Friday afternoon Peter and I took a quick trip to Coronel Oviedo.
Saturday (yesterday) I took Julia to the bookstore here in town, then we also went to the coffee shop and had good coffee. Julia had planned to come here to the Home and have lunch with us, but then since she was not feeling the best (coming down with a cold like almost everyone else here has right now) she opted to just go back to her room at the Harders and rest.
So that about sums up our past week. God knows what we have before us this week. Tomorrow afternoon I am to go into the hospital, to get prepared for surgery on Tuesday. Surgery on my right knee, to remove a torn meniscus, and I don't know what about the ligament that is also torn -- I get the impression they said it will take care of itself. So -- prayers appreciated! Somehow I feel totally at rest. It is easy to trust in a God that always cares and never fails! Surgeon is Carlos Wiens, with our doctor Franz Heinrichs as his helper. It is nice to have doctors who also believe in God, and trust Him to guide them!
Because He lives,
Susan for the Hoovers