Praise:
1. For new coworkers in dpto. ENLACE: Samuel and Tracy Recalde.
2. For the opportunity to challenge over 300 youth at a 5 day youth camp and spend time with new friends.
3. For a great ACERCATE team, good health, safety, team unity, and finances to build the Pai church, Iglesia Nueva Cristiana.
4. For the missionary team, who gave of their time, energy, resources, and place to call “home” for the team of 19 during the building of the Pai church, Iglesia Nueva Cristiana.
5. For Mike, who celebrated his birthday on Jan. 27th with 30 people at “Odie’s Hut.” Thanks to their sister-in-law, Odie, who made delicious homemade pizza and chocolate cookies.
6. For Lea, who celebrated her 8th birthday on Feb. 9th with the Goddard clan, Gugui (Paraguayan-Brazilian builder and friend), and Allison (Gugui’s Canadian fiancé). It was lots of fun and plenty of yummy food!

Prayer Requests:
1. Wisdom and guidance from the Lord as Mike & Trisha raise their children and train them to walk in truth.
2. For their lives to reflect Christ and that all they do will honor and glorify Him.
3. For Trisha, who is homeschooling Michael, Lea, and Kaleb. They began their studies again on February 12th.
4. For wisdom for Mike and Trisha as they layout goals for 2012 with their coworkers, Samuel and Tracy Recalde.
5. For the different ministry projects that the Goddards are involved in.

Praise:

1. For the opportunity to celebrate Christmas with Mike’s siblings and their families.
2. For Mike’s parents, who came to visit their children and grandchildren in Paraguay for 3 weeks.

Prayer Requests:

1. Wisdom and guidance from the Lord as Mike & Trisha raise their children and train them to walk in truth.
2. For their lives to reflect Christ and that all they do will honor and glorify Him.
3. For wisdom for Mike and Trisha as they serve in the different responsibilities that they are responsible for.
4. For Trisha, who is homeschooling Michael, Lea, and Kaleb.
5. For Mike & Trisha as they lead the Latin short term mission trip called ACERCATE. to the Pai and oversee the building of the Pai church.
6. For good health.
7. For safety in travels to the Chaco and the East side of Paraguay

Read in this monthly Goddard Grapevine:

(1) 9 months of Bible teaching in Caaguazu

(2) Testimonies of Rural Church Leaders

(3) Intercultural Missions Conference

(4) Children Update

(5) Prayer Requests

9 Months of Bible Teaching

November concluded 9 months of Bible teaching to rural church leaders. One man gave testimony saying, “I’ve been saved for 20 years, but finally I feel like I’m getting to know God! Mike has helped us establish a firm foundation in our lives; that foundation is Christ!”

The church leaders expressed their gratitude to each of the Bible teachers by giving a printed certificate.

Trisha’s service in the kitchen alongside the other cooks, was also recognized through a certificate. Her experiences will be very helpful as she cooks for the 2 work teams in January and February 2012.

Testimonies of rural church leaders from the 9 month Bible teaching:

“The stories of Adam and Eve and about the Church had become common to me until this year. I’m understanding things I had never known.”  – Alcides

“I have always been extremely timid and backward, but God’s Word has given me tremendous confidence!” – Manuel

“Mike wrote on the white board about who we were before salvation and who we are now in Christ. All we have to do is use the tools God has given us to live in holiness!” – Saul

Intercultural Missions Conference

A Paraguayan organization called LETRA Paraguay and NTM put together an intercultural missions conference where tribal church leaders, national missionaries and expatriate missionaries were able to fellowship together and learn from one another’s experiences and ministries. There were 11 different ministries present, numerous churches, and 4 tribal groups from both Paraguay and Argentina.

Mike oversaw the organization and logistics of the conference while Trisha handled the welcome table and NTM’s display table. It was encouraging to see so many people working together toward a common objective: to see that the Gospel is preached and lived out among the least-reached people groups of Paraguay.

Children Update

Michael, Lea, and Kaleb have finished their school year in a Paraguayan Christian School and are now homeschooling.

This next year, we will be homeschooling. The kids are very excited to have mom as a teacher again and enjoy having their own assignment books to “check” of the assignments that they have accomplisted during the day.

Michael is finishing his 2nd grade English Abeka books and will begin 3rd grade soon.  Lea is finishing her 1st grade English Abeka books and will begin 2nd grade soon. Kaleb is continuing his Kindergarten English Abeka books.

Their Spanish has greatly improved over the year and often speak it in the home. We praise the Lord for our children, who have learned Spanish as well as tidbits of Guarani and Portuguese. In fact, this next  2 1/2 weeks, we will be having a Brazilian friend stay with us.

Prayer Requests

(1) to provide our children a balanced life-style in both education and ministry.

(2) wisdom as we raise our children to walk in righteousness in their faith in Jesus Christ.

(3) wisdom as we lead two Latin missions teams to build a church building with the Pai Tavytera

(4) wisdom as we live out Christ in so many contexts and cultures on a daily basis. May His Church be built up and engage efficiently in worldwide missions!

Download a printable version here: Goddard Grapevine – November 2011

Check out our new family photos here >> Goddard family 2011

I lift up my eyes to the hills- where does my help come from?  My help comes from the LORD , the Maker of heaven and earth.  He will not let your foot slip- he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.  The LORD watches over you- the LORD is your shade at your right hand;  the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.  The LORD will keep you from all harm- he will watch over your life;  the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. Psalms 121

Praise:

1. For the opportunity to serve the Paraguayan Christian community.
2. For the ACERCATE 2012 project that is now in full swing >> building a church for the Pai believers in a tribal location.
3. For Michael, Lea, and Kaleb, who are finishing up their school year at the Spanish Christian school mid- Nov and looking forward to being homeschooled with mom.

Prayer Requests:

1. Wisdom and guidance from the Lord as Mike & Trisha raise their children and train them to walk in truth.
2. For their lives to reflect Christ and that all they do will honor and glorify Him.
3. For wisdom for Mike and Trisha as they serve in the different responsibilities that they are responsible for.
4. For Trisha, who will be homeschooling their 3 children. Lord-willing, she is hoping to get 3-4 weeks of school in before the 2^nd week of December and start again end of February.
5. For Mike & Trisha as they lead 2 short term mission trips (ACERCATE) for 2 weeks each with approx. 12 Latin youth (end of January and beginning of February). These 2 teams will have a part in building a church for the Pai tribal people and see cross-cultural missions first-hand.
6. For good health.
7. For safety in travels.

Praise:

1. For God’s continued provision for their needs.
2. That their children have a week vacation from school in October.

Prayer Requests:

1. Wisdom and guidance from the Lord as Mike & Trisha raise their children and train them to walk in truth.
2. For their lives to reflect Christ and that all they do will honor and glorify Him.
3. For Mike as he prepares for different meetings with pastors and missions organizations.
4. For safety as the Goddards travel to 4 different cities this month (Encarnacion, General Aquino, Neuland, and Caaguazu).
5. For the different meetings throughout this month with Pastors and other Mission Organizations.
6. For the different ACERCATE short term mission trips that are being organized for 2012.
7. For the Latin Mobilization conference that will be held in Brazil in April 2012.
8. For the Ache tribal church and the Bible translation being done by LETRA Paraguay.
9. For students in Bible Institute or Missions Institute: Ronald & Melissa (training in Bolivia); Leonie  (training in Bolivia).

1. For Mike, who had the opportunity to teach in 3 different churches the 12 hour module course on Evangelism and Discipleship. He really enjoyed teaching and interacting with the believers in each class.
2. For the 1st missions conference at the Goddard’s Paraguayan church the last weekend of August. It was a wonderful missions-focused weekend!
3. For a missionary couple who was willing to bring 24 Spanish “The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus” books to Paraguay with them for NTM’s Resource Dept.
4. For the blessing of a Paraguayan youth, who is the Goddards’ friend. The Goddards went to get a bike for Lea, but this youth worked at the store and gave them a tremendous discount enabling them to buy a bike for Kaleb too!
5. For the recent opportunity to share their lives and testimonies with 2 Paraguayan friends, who needed encouragement and a listening ear.

Prayer Requests:

1. Wisdom and guidance from the Lord as they raise their children and train them to walk in truth.
2. For Michael, Lea, and Kaleb, as they continue studying at the Paraguayan Christian school and that they will be godly examples to their classmates. Their school year ends in November.
3. For good health.
4. For their lives to reflect Christ and that all they do will honor and glorify Him.
5. For Mike, who is traveling by bus with a group to the Chaco for the day on Sept. 3.
6. For Mike as he speaks at a church on Sept. 4.
7. For the ACERCATE mission-focused meeting overseen by Mike on Sept 6.
8. For Mike, as he attends an Ache Pastors get-together/meeting on Sept. 9 & 10.
9. For Mike as he speaks at our church on Sept. 11.
10. For Mike as he speaks to a youth group on Sept. 17.
11. For Mike who will be teaching Chronological Bible classes the end of this month in a town 2 ½ hours outside of Asuncion.
12. For Mike as he looks into the possibility of planning a trip to the training center in Bolivia sometime in September or October.
13. For Trisha as she continues to oversee the Spanish Resource dept within NTM and looks into affordable ways to bring Spanish resources from the USA to Paraguay.
14. For the months of October and November as they begin to fill up with ministry opportunities and different trips.
15. For Mike as he begins the preparations and scheduling for a Latin Mobilization conference in Brazil for April 2012.
16. For the ministry of assisting other NTM mobilization ministries in Latin America.
17. For full time coworkers in ENLACE.
18. For the Ache tribal church. They need teaching and discipleship in their heart language.
19. For LETRA Paraguay as they continue to translate the Bible in Ache.

Praise:

1. For our children, who continue to do great in school and are learning a lot.
2. For the opportunity to build new relationships with people during the Youth Missions Camp in July.
3. For the time of fellowship with a Brazilian/Paraguayan missionary couple and also a Paraguayan missionary couple this past weekend during our time in Caaguazu.
4. For the plans that are coming together for the mobilization conference mid-next year in Brazil.

Prayer Requests:

1. Wisdom and guidance from the Lord as they raise their children and train them to walk in truth.
2. For Michael, Lea, and Kaleb, as they continue studying at the Paraguayan Christian school and that they will be godly examples to their classmates. Their school year ends in November.
3. For good health.
4. For their lives to reflect Christ and that all they do will honor and glorify Him.
5. For the ACERCATE mission-focused meeting overseen by Mike on August 2.
6. For Mike as he teaches in 3 different churches the 12 hour module course on Evangelism and Discipleship on Aug 5-7 (traveling 5 hours out of town), Aug. 12-14, & Aug. 19-21.
7. For Mike’s cousin, Wayne, who will be teaching Mike’s Chronological Bible classes the end of this month so that Mike can be a part of our 1^st Missions Conference at our church.
8. For Mike & Trisha as they works alongside the other missionary couples from their Paraguayan church to organize and prepare for their first Missions Conference from Aug. 26-28.
9. For Mike as he plans a trip to the training center in Bolivia sometime in September or October.
10. For Mike as he begins the preparations and scheduling for a Latin Mobilization conference in Brazil mid next year.
11. For the ministry of assisting other NTM mobilization ministries in Latin America.
12. For full time coworkers to help Mike and Trisha.

Praise the LORD; for the LORD is good: sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant.

Psalms 135:3

Praise:

1. For the safety in our travels.
2. For the 7 years of ministry in Paraguay.
3. For the encouraging times of fellowship with Paraguayan believers.
4. For the opportunity to work with the other missionary couples from our Paraguayan church in organizing our 1st missions conference for the end of August.

Prayer Requests:

1. Wisdom and guidance from the Lord as they raise their children and train them to walk in truth.
2. For Michael, Lea, and Kaleb, as they continue studying at the Paraguayan Christian school and that they will be godly examples to their classmates.
3. For good health.
4. For their lives to reflect Christ and that all they do will honor and glorify Him.
5. For a missions camp that we will be participating in from July 11-13
6. For Mike, who is teaching the Chronological Bible series in Guarani (from Creation to Christ) the last weekend of July. He has 15 Christian leaders in his class.
7. For Mike & Trisha as they works alongside the other missionary couples from their Paraguayan church to organize their first Missions Conference for the end of August.
8. For Mike as he plans a trip to the training center in Bolivia sometime this year.
9. For Mike as he begins the preparations and scheduling for a Latin Mobilization conference in Brazil mid next year.
10. For the ministry of assisting other NTM mobilization ministries in Latin America.
11. For full time coworkers to help Mike and Trisha.

I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. Philemon 1:6

Praise:

1. On June 2, Kaleb celebrates his 5^th birthday!
2. For the safety that God gave Trisha and the kids as they were in accident the middle of May. No one in either vehicle was hurt and the truck’s damage on the front tire was able to be fixed within a few days.
3. These are exciting days for the Paraguayan church. It is an honor to partner with them!

Prayer Requests:

1. Wisdom and guidance from the Lord as they raise their children and train them to walk in truth.
2. For Michael, Lea, and Kaleb, as they continue studying at the Paraguayan Christian school and that they will be godly examples to their classmates.
3. For good health.
4. For their lives to reflect Christ and that all they do will honor and glorify Him.
5. For church meetings where Mike will be sharing on missions: June 5 and June 12
6. For meetings that Mike will be having with Pastors this month. Right now, there are 2 scheduled for June 3 and June 6, but there will be others as well.
7. For Mike as he attends NTM leadership meetings from June 6-8 and gives an update on Mobilization.
8. For the bi-weekly meeting that just start with Paraguayan youth, who want to help in missions ministry. This meeting is overseen by a Paraguayan Pastor and Mike.
9. For Mike and Trisha as they spend time with a married couple in training in Bolivia who will be visiting Paraguay for a week in the middle of June.
10. For Mike, who is teaching the Chronological Bible series in Guarani (from Creation to Christ) the last weekend of June. He has 15 Christian leaders in his class.
11. For Mike as he works alongside other missionary men from their Paraguayan church to organize their first Missions Conference for the end of August.
12. For Mike as he plans a trip to the training center in Bolivia sometime this year.
13. For Mike as he begins the preparations and scheduling for a Latin Mobilization conference in Brazil mid next year.
14. For the ministry of assisting other NTM mobilization ministries in Latin America.
15. For full time coworkers to help Mike and Trisha.

Read about Ministry Highlights, Children’s Corner,  Culture Snippet,

Paraguay Bicentennial, Mike & Trisha celebrating 10 years together, and Prayer Requests.

>> Ministry Highlights

Mike completed his 3rd month of teaching and training of Pastors and church leaders. One man commented, “for the first time in the 15 years of coming to this course do I feel like I’m genuinely understanding what is being taught”. Although these leaders are bi-lingual in both Spanish and Guarani, Mike is teaching Biblical truths in their heart language: Guarani.

The “Missions Promoters” program that Mike has been developing has been officially adopted by a large association of local churches.

To our delight, the local church that we belong to in Asuncion has decided to organize their very first Missions Conference in August! Our church is celebrating their 8 year anniversary this year and is ready to take their ministry to the next level in both local and missions ministries. Mike has been helping with the planning and preparations of this new endeavor.

>> Children’s Corner

During Paraguay’s Bicentennial celebrations in May, Lea and her friends at school performed a colorful and folkloric Paraguayan dance. Michael also practiced very hard at school to learn a traditional Paraguayan dance which he performed enthusiastically during the Bicentennial celebrations held in May. We praise the Lord that Kaleb is no longer finding the Spanish language as an obstacle for “being himself” in school.

>> Culture Snippet

A Paraguayan friend recently share with me the following story: “My father had a leg injury and was told by the local ‘specialist’ to find an old, dry bone from the skeleton of a dog; specifically from the dog’s back leg. He was then to take the bone, and in the name of Saint Roque, hit his leg several times for healing. After my father’s leg healed, he ‘owed’ Saint Roque a big debt, so he killed 4 of our best roosters, cooked them up in a delicious meal, put the food in a container and begin walking down the road. As he walked, he would break off a juicy piece of chicken and feed any dog that he encountered along the way. In this way he ‘paid back his debt’ to Saint Roque, the patron saint of dogs”.

>> Other News Highlights

PARAGUAY’S BICENTENNIAL: During Paraguay’s Bicentennial celebrations in May, we took some time out as a family to see the sights, photograph events, and experience this historical moment in Paraguayan history.

CELEBRATING 10 YEARS: On May 26th we celebrated our 10th anniversary. We praise God that we can enjoy serving Him together. You can see a few pictures of our wedding by clicking here >>> and a basic timeline of where God has had them these 10 years here >>>

>> Please Pray for:

- The Missions Promoter program.

- Paraguayan churches’ role in tribal church planting.

- Coworkers to share the work load.

- Wisdom in raising our children.

Check out more of Mike’s photography by clicking here >>>