Travis and Renee Whitman Connecting you to tribal missions in Paraguay Birthday in Paraguay
Renee was the first in our family to celebrate a birthday here in our new country!
Travis ordered a cake from our host mom, who makes “tortas” for a job in her home!
It was delicious! And not as sweet as it looks!
We had our host family over (except for the dad who was fishing)
and enjoyed cake and visiting together!
Our host family said a normal birthday party consists of light snacks,
cake, and visiting. However, there is a special birthday party for girls when they turn 15.
The parents can spend more money on this party than they spend for her wedding!
Maybe we’ll get invited to one someday so we can check it out?!
Canaan gave mommy M&M’s, Isaiah picked out baby lotion,
and Travis gave me a dark chocolate bar, 2 new bath towels,
and a fan (much needed when I am cooking/we are eating in the kitchen)!
Boys Begin School
After much prayer, we decided to have our boys attend a Christian, Spanish-speaking school in our neighborhood. We thank the Lord for the wonderful school He has provided!
Both of them have a teacher in their classroom that knows a bit of English!
It is also helpful that they have recess together! They attend school for half a day.
Above: Canaan in his classroom. He enjoys school and is excited whenever he learns new Spanish words!
Below: Isaiah in his classroom. He also enjoys school but experiences some anxiety when we drop him off in the mornings.
Going to this school will help Canaan and Isaiah learn Spanish and the Paraguayan culture quickly. However, this does not mean it is easy for them! We would love if you would pray for them as they adjust to their school, make friends, and learn Spanish!
Sunshine and Sweat
WOW – it is HOT here!! We left Ohio just before a snow storm and now we are sweating!!
We thank the Lord for shade, fans, and air conditioning!
Bienvenida
The ladies at our host church organized a Welcome Party for our family!
Above is the pastor’s sweet wife, welcoming us to the Bienvenida.
Several women prepared mini-speeches about the land, the food,
and the music of Paraguay! It was all spoken in Spanish, but one lady
who attends the church is an English teacher and was able to interpret for us!
After the speeches we got to taste their traditional breads:
chipa (bread with cheese) and sopa (bread with corn)!
We also tasted a traditional drink, called cocido, that many of them drink each morning!
This was a nice opportunity to meet the ladies and learn some names!
Moving Day
THE GOAL: to get new missionaries into the community ASAP so they will bond with and learn from the Paraguayan people (not other American missionaries)!
To accomplish this goal, we had MANY decisions to make and things to buy during our first week! Another missionary couple “adopted” us: they drove us around to different stores, helped us find good deals and helped us communicate!
- Get cell phones set up before we can move into our own place (safety reasons).
- Buy a fridge, a stove, and a washing machine.
- Buy food for the fridge & gas for the stove.
- Buy beds & mattresses, towels, pans to cook with and dishes to eat on!
Exactly one week after arriving, we moved into our new apartment!
Our first meal in our new apartment at our new table!
We thank the Lord for the money that He provided through His believers to be able to set up our house! WOW!
February Prayer Requests
Praises:
- Safe arrival!
- Adjusting well.
- God’s continued help in every situation.
- Wonderful host family, host church, and coworkers (everyone is so willing to help!)
- God provided enough money through so many of you to set up our house!
Prayer Requests:
- Dependence upon the Lord to learn this culture and language.
- Adjusting to life here (immersion into a whole new culture is good,but tough!).
- Finding the right school for Canaan and Isaiah (we’ll begin looking at options next week).
- Renee will have her first appointment with a baby doctor next week.
We’re Here!
We landed in Asucion, Paraguay, the capital city, around suppertime the next day!
This BIG CITY airport had one terminal and no air conditioning!
We had quite the welcoming committee:
two missionary families, the pastor and wife of our host church,
and our host family warmly greeted us with hugs and “besos”!
(The “beso” is a kiss on each cheek.
Here, it is the normal greeting for man to woman and woman to woman!)
This was our first view of Paraguay as we walked outside!
Reactions: Travis was ready for the adventure!
Isaiah seemed to be doing fine, just tired!
Renee had already started crying in the airport and
Canaan cried when we were driving because everything was so unfamiliar!
Lord, you have lead us here; please help us adjust to this new place!
On Our Way to Paraguay
Goodbye
We spent the last week saying goodbye to our parents and siblings. That’s a hard thing to do!! What do you say and how do you say goodbye for 4 years? With tears and promises to Skype! 
The Lord did some really cool things at the airport!
First, each of our duffel bags weighed just under the maximum weight of 50 pounds – yes!
Second, the airline gave our parents special passes so they could come wait at the gate with us until our plane left! It was a strange feeling to say goodbye to the people who know us so well for such a long time.
Here are Canaan and Isaiah, watching the planes and baggage trucks. They were excited to fly!
Our Growing Boys
Being parents is a joy! We just love it…and we love our boys! (I’m sure you feel the same about your kids if you have some!!) We like to play with them, we like to watch them play, we like to watch them sleep, we like to teach them new things, we like to see them smile and hear them laugh!
One great thing about being a missionary is that we’ll get to be with our boys! Sure, we’ll be plenty busy, but Renee has the privilege of homeschooling them and they’ll be able to accompany Travis as he builds, visits, or teaches! We’re excited about this because this is how discipleship happens!