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.

From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD’S name is to be praised. The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high,  Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth! Psalms 113:3-6

Building Project and 2 Short Term Missions Trips

The planning phase for the building project of Iglesia Nueva Cristiana, is in full swing! This is the Pai Tavytera church founded by a New Tribes Mission church planting team starting in 1996. After a lengthy period of pre-evangelism, a church was finally born in 2000 and has now grown into approximately 100 members.

The small property where the NTM Team built their houses was named “Light” in the Guarani language. Truly light has shown in the midst of darkness in this corner of Paraguay as this small group of believers grow in maturity and seek to impact their sphere of influence with the Light of Jesus Christ!

For 2 weeks in January and 2 weeks in February, we are combining this building project with the short-term missions program we lead called Acércate. We are planning for two separate work teams originating primarily from the capital of Paraguay and will be completely in Spanish. Many lives have been challenged into full time Christian work through these types of short-term missions trips. The cost of the project is as follows:

• Church building: $7,500 USD

• Cost per person for the two-week trip: $100 USD

Please pray with us and the Pai Tavytera church, Iglesia Nueva Cristiana, as we raise funds for this building project and trust God to bring the right young people as volunteer workers.

If you would like to have a part in Acércate 2012, you can visit our website.  Be sure to indicate that this is a one-time designated gift.

Neat Experience in the Southern City of Encarnacion

This month, we had a neat experience when visiting a small church in the southern city of Encarnacion. We shared with their youth group and adults what God says about cross-cultural ministries. Their response was tremendous and expressed desire to support a Paraguayan church planter! They also put us up in a hotel, treated us out to dinner, and gave us a tour of their city. What a joy to experience interdependency in ministry!

While in southern Paraguay, we took advantage of the opportunity to visit the ancient Jesuit ruins from over 300 years ago! We also stopped in for a quick visit with a missionary family working with the Mbya tribe.

4 Teaching Sessions on how to implement a Missions Program

The missions mobilization manual that Mike developed for the churches associated with an organization called FEMIPA is slowly making progress. With each step forward, there are overwhelming challenges to overcome.

In November, Mike will be providing 4 training sessions and discussions on how to implement a missions program within strategic churches.

Please continue to pray for us and with us as minds are retrained to think cross-culturally.

Thank you for your prayers and support which make it possible for us to serve on a full-time basis here in Paraguay.

Download pdf format of our Goddard Grapevine (Oct. 2011) and Praise & Prayer (Nov. 2011) here >> Goddard Grapevine – October 2011 (pdf format)

Find out below about more ways on how you can pray for Mike and Trisha Goddard and their 3 children serving in Paraguay.

Praise:

1. For our son, Michael Dean, who will be 8 on April 9^th.
2. We have bought our roundtrip tickets to the USA for our 4 month Home Assignment, which will be from July 24 – December 2, 2010. We look forward to connecting with our Support team, family, and friends.
3. God has provided a mini van for us to use while in the USA.
4. God has provided housing during our Home Assignment in the USA.
5. For the 30 hour Spanish course that Trisha took with Nidia.
6. For safety in our travels to Brazil and also to the Chaco side of Paraguay.

Prayer Requests:

1. For Mike and Trisha as they train up their children in the way of the Lord.
2. That Kaleb will understand the Gospel.
3. For Trisha, who is homeschooling Michael and Lea. They will finish their school year the end of May and begin the next school year 1^st week of June.

MINISTRY Prayer Requests:

1. For the ministry of mobilizing Latin and Tribal Churches to reach tribal groups with the Gospel.
2. For coworkers to help Mike and Trisha in Mobilization.
3. For Mike as he meets and continues to build relationships with Paraguayan Pastors and Christian leaders.
4. For safety for Mike as he travels to Colombia the end of June to attend a Training and Mobilization conference.

Please read below for our latest e-mail newsletter!

4 DAY VACATION IN BRAZIL

In November, we were delighted at the opportunity for a brief vacation in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil organized and funded through the Christian Hospitality Network and very generous donors. The children took swimming lessons and had a blast in the game room. One of the highlights was a trip to the Iguazu Falls between Brazil and Argentina. We returned home rested and ready to tackle the year-end responsibilities.

MINISTRY OPPORTUNITIES

Mike was invited to speak on “Animism in the Paraguayan culture” as training for a large group involved in evangelism and church planting in rural Paraguay.

Attendance for the monthly Acercate meetings has been encouraging.

Another invitation that Mike received in November was to teach a course on Narrative and Chronological Bible Teaching in a Bible Institute 2 hours from home. The students were 3 Ache, 2 Ava Guarani, and 1 Paraguayan.

KIDZ KORNER

Lea graduated from Kindergarten. She is also pictured in the above header with her best friends from school. Michael graduated from first grade. Next year, Trisha will be homeschooling the children.

Kaleb will often dress up as either Batman or Superman, drawing the smiles where ever he goes.

Michael Dean learned to play checkers from some Paraguayan Bible students and now just can’t get enough chess! He’s been teaching Lea and Kaleb how to play too. When no one is around, he’ll challenge himself to a game and always win!

THANKFUL HEARTS

Each year, a Paraguayan women’s association that cares for missionaries organizes a Christmas party and gives each missionary  a care package.

In December of each year, our mission board organizes an annual missions conference for 5 days.  We were blessed by a church group from Wisconsin.

LOOKING FORWARD to 2010

- Youth Missions Conference in Argentina

- Linda (Trisha’s mother) will be visiting us for a couple of weeks in January.

- Trisha will take an in-depth Spanish course starting in February.

- Mike will take part in a mobilization conference in Columbia.

- Home Assignment (Lord-willing, late August to early January 2011).

A Merry Christmas from Paraguay!

Mike & Trisha Goddard

Mike and Trisha praise the Lord for His faithfulness during their first 5 years of ministry together in Paraguay. Truly He is worthy to be served!

Mike has been very busy lately do to the Paraguayan church’s steady advance in the Great Commission. In the next 4 months, he has scheduled over 20 different church meetings, events, teaching seminars, and camps, where he enjoys challenging people to look beyond their borders to a world full of tribal people who have not yet heard even once the Good News of salvation in Christ Jesus.

Trisha loves taking care of her home and family, enjoys preparing a meal for any guest that stop by unannounced. She helps Mike by doing secretarial work and running errands downtown. Next year, she plans to home school Michael and Lea (starting in February 2010), so that they can travel more with Mike as well as be prepared for later in the year, when we will be in the USA for a few months to visit our support team and family during a Home Assignment.

Michael Dean loves people and recently asked: “When do I get to go visit my Ache tribal friends again? Because when I go back, they will know who I am and they will say, “Hola Michael!” For Michael, school isn’t easy, especially when he and Lea are trying to keep 4 languages straight. AMARILLO CAMPEÓN! The soccer tournament has begun at Michael and Lea’s school. They are on the yellow team, and Michael gets really excited when he makes a goal! 

Lea is an A+ student, and she can’t get enough of languages. She is our grammar and pronunciation cop and helps Mom and Michael to conjugate their Spanish verbs correctly. She loves going to the park on the weekends, and then afterwards, she begs daddy to stop by the local ice cream parlor to buy a ½ kilo of 3 different flavors for $2.40. The dulce de leche (caramel) flavor is her favorite. 

Kaleb is believed to be the cutest, little boy by all the Paraguayan ladies, and they try everything possible to get him to give kisses on both cheeks (a traditional greeting). Often he will accept a bribe of candy for the kisses.  Kaleb enjoys  riding his scooter and once he got it down, there was no stopping him from trying to go faster than his big brother and sister.

As our children grow older, we see each of them grasping truths from God’s Word and desiring to apply them to their lives. Michael loves to read the Bible during our story-time before bed. We are now on the life of King David.

Filled with curiosity, I swung the door to the auditorium part way open so I could hear the fluent Spanish of the Chamacoco tribal leader.

I had been standing outside watching our three children as church nurseries are nearly unheard of in Paraguay. First, he shared about his family that lives far away in a small village alongside the Paraguay river and then described how God is drawing the indigenous churches together. They are setting aside their cultural differences so that other tribal groups in Paraguay and in the Amazon Basin can also learn of their Creator God and to come into a relationship with Him.

What happened next I had never experienced before in Paraguay. My husband, Mike, had been invited to share in that morning and evening in this church, and he gave the Chamacoco tribal leader 10 minutes of the meeting to share about his ministry. Mike went on to explain that to the congregation that the Chamacoco man had not seen his wife and family for a number of weeks and due to the nature of his work and ministry, he was dependent upon churches for support.

Immediately, the Pastor of the church stood up and put a basket out for those in the congregation who wanted to help the Chamacoco man with his travel expenses. As the first person got up to go put in some small change, many others followed. When I saw this, tears poured down my face, as I observed a local Paraguayan church sacrificially giving so that this tribal man could once again see his family!

God provides for each of us in many different ways, and I praise the Lord that through our ministry, Mike and I can have an impact in Paraguayan churches so that they too will be proactive in seeing tribal people reached with the Gospel!