/ ParaguayMissions
The Miller Family
DECEMBER 2015
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!! At this time of year we always think more about our families. We generally have been in the Children’s Home over the holidays to allow the house parents some vacation time. So this year since we are the house parents we say that we are staying home for the holidays this year. I am so happy that we will have our youngest son Kyle and his wife Dani with us this year. We also have Jessica and Stephen for their first Christmas in hot Paraguay.
Rocio is the only one we have in school right now. Her last exam is December 22nd. When I say last exam I do mean that literally. So far her plan is to celebrate Christmas with us and then move to Asuncion with her aunt. She asked me if she could move her clothes in a few trips since she has to take them on the bus. I told her that she can only take enough clothes each time that will fit in her large purse. That way we would see her often. I am not looking forward to her moving out. It was obvious last night that she isn’t either. Rocio doesn’t usually eat supper with us because of school. In our family devotions Rocio thanked the Lord with to be home and with family.
We have all the report cards now and we are proud of the kids. Marcos and Richard are moving on to high school next year!
Sofia had her Grade 9 graduation. Dan was invited by her class to be their honored guest to present the diplomas. Sofia’s only request, was that Dan leave his gun at home. Dan’s favorite work pants are military camo pants. He even has the jacket to go with them. Most days he picks up the kids in his work clothes. It is kind of the joke amongst us that he does it on purpose to scare the boys away from his daughters. Plus Dan is much bigger than the average Paraguayan man. To show Sofia how much he loves her, Dan wore a suit and tie. For those of you who know Dan well he hates ties. Thankfully a rain had cooled the temperature down to make it comfortable for him. Jessica did Sofia’s hair and make up for grad and afterwards Dan took her class for ice cream.
We have signed up Carolina for Medical school starting in March. I am very excited for her but very sad for me. Carolina and I spend a lot of time together. We both enjoy flowers and plants so we work together often. When I am upset about something she will invite me to play a game of dice with her. Before I know it I am relaxed and laughing.
Please help us pray for housing for her. We want her to be able to live close to the University and preferably within walking distance. Carolina is not good with directions and could easily get lost in downtown Asuncion. I have joked that I am moving with her to take care of her and I can live in her closet.
November 28th we celebrated Monica’s 16rthday. Of all of our kids she is the one I have noticed the most change in in our time in the Home. She was our complainer and very vocal about her complaints. Not only does she often make positive comments but I have heard her correct others about needing to be more thankful. She has truly connected with the camp Pastor. She calls him her lost brother. It is so encouraging hearing her around the house singing Christian songs and participating in church. Last Sunday Monica moderated the service and often volunteers to read the bible in family devotion time.
Dan has always called Monica “mydoll” and she has always come to him for hugs. On Dan’s Father’s Day card she wrote “Daddy I love you” but had never called him Daddy in person. A couple of days ago she told me she would like to call him Daddy but it just doesn’t come out. She has been calling him “Daddy Uncle Dan”.
The 4-6 of December was Children’s Retreat so Abigail and Miguel got to participate. Our church camps allow our kids to participate for free but they eat down at the house with us. This year we hardly saw them. The kids were invited to eat at the camp and I think the only time Abi came down during the day was to change to go to the pool with the kids.
Kyle and Stephen took the youth group on a hike on the Saturday afternoon so Miguel was a kid for the morning at and then a youth for the afternoon for the hike. We will celebrate his 12th birthday next week so he got the best of both worlds. He also gets to attend Youth Retreat in January. I wrote about the confusion of when his birthday really is. Since his Defense Attorney cannot find any documents for him we are going to stick with him turning 12 this month.As a bonus the Overseer taught youth night after the hike. Everyone was tired but as soon as they came in house several told me how much they enjoyed it and what the Overseer taught.
We are so thankful to have Kyle and Dani with us. It is so wonderful to have Kyle take care of certain things to free up Dan some. Kyle is a super worker and more than once has completed work that would have taken me a day or two and he has done it in a morning.
Stephen and Jessica have been doing great teaching music. When I attended the first Sunday morning Dan lead some choruses without even anyone to play guitar. As I mentioned last month I normally stay at the camp with the kids for service. I attended this past Sunday for the second time and what a difference. I had goose bumps and tears as I enjoyed the worship team Jessica and Stephen have formed. Jessica was playing bass and singing. Stephen and one of his students were both playing the electric keyboard at the same time. One of the churches former youth who has just returned to us was on the electric guitar and sang. A girl I had never even seen before was playing acoustic guitar. The electric guitar player has a non-Christian friend that has asked if he can bring his drums to church and play with them. Thank the Lord for this music ministry.
It was wonderful to see all the people in church. The business woman that I mentioned last time has attended faithfully every Sunday and for the past 2 Sunday’s her husband has attended with her. This for me is a miracle because he never attended an evangelical church not even with their son who is a Pastor. After service the Overseer had a meeting with all the Pastors of Area South to officially present Dan as their new Area Overseer.
Please keep us in your prayers as we are about to enter an extremely busy camping time. Dan is still in construction projects here at the camp and has several big projects coming up. He also has some needy people asking for homes but he can not take that on until after camp season in March.
Blessings – Dan and Gwen