Mike and Trisha Goddard Mobilizing local churches in Paraguay 
Some things seem so impossible. Humanly impossible. There are too many hurdles to overcome. Too many cultural barriers.
Is it really possible that missionaries will be sent out by local Paraguayan churches into tribal church planting?
It’s easy to get skeptical. Due to the long history of corruption, people naturally have to be cautious, often times untrusting. Where a transaction of money takes place, there’s an obligation to render services to the giver. So when a church supports a missionary, the thought often crosses the mind, “what kind of return will we get?” Another great hurdle to overcome is the social ladder. “How can I, a poor person, give money to a missionary who has a car, house, or motorcycle?”
Challenging indeed, but nothing is impossible with God.
A missionary recently shared with me his experience at a Paraguayan church. He said, “I couldn’t believe it. A young man of about 28 years old came up to me like he knew me, and asked me if I had any financial needs. I was startled for a second, but quickly recovered and began to explain that funds could go toward a Bible memorization program that resulted in prizes such as Bibles and cassettes for the participants. He then probed deeper and asked if we personally needed money. After recovering once more from being startled, I proceeded to explain that our support level was at ‘such and such’ percent of the recommended support level of an NTM missionary. Contentedly, he handed me 400,000 Guaranies ($72 USD) and said, ‘here, use 200,000 for the memorization program, and 200,000 for your personal needs.’”
I am confident that God in His timing will raise up a host of supporters for those that are sent out as missionaries from local Paraguayan churches. Just as God has used the United States and other prosperous countries to send out missionaries, so will He also use Paraguay and other surrounding countries.
Share this ray of hope with someone within your sphere of contacts so that they will understand that we can actually do this! We (local churches) can finance missionaries!
