Today Sunday, the 20th of July, we spent the whole day in the rural eastern part of Paraguay. We got up, at 05;30, and saw the brilliant sunrise coming in from the East. Note it in the picture below. It shows the sun rising above Cuidad del Este, Paraguay, from the Brazil side of the Friendship Bridge. To the right of the sun, is the Arab Building, with its gold mosque dome, at its base. The picture was shot from the balcony of our apartment, about 240 feet above the street, on the 22nd of 23 floors. Every morning we are reminded of HIS creation, and faithfullness, and perfect timing as we see this scene played out for us.
After driving almost three hours we arrived at the rural home of Celia's family. She had not seen them in 2.5 years. Her mother had never seen the new baby Rumina. They are VERY poor, and a 12$ bus ticket is not within their reach. Iracema and I helped them buy the tickets for this much needed trip home to see the family. Their desire was to tell them the Good News. They had met Jesus, and their lives had been changed.
In the picture above please observe Iracema explaining to Celia's mother Antonia the plan of Salvation, with the Billy Graham tract, STEPS TO PEACE WITH GOD in her hand. Sadly she said NO to the Gospel invitation!
Celia's brother, Elpedio, however did accept Jesus Christ as his personal savior PTL!! He is sitting in the middle of the photo... Please pray for him...
Above is a one hour "Evangelistic Church service", in the shade of their three room home where about 8 people now live... . I gave them three Bible Stories straight out of Luke 15. The lost sheep, the lost Coin, and the lost son. In all three , something of great value was lost, the owner was worried about it, and sought it out, and there was great joy upon the reencounter. Surely the son of man, has come to seek and save that which was lost ( Luke 19:10). What a privilege that we too can do this, for the lost in the world. Have you?? told anyone about the change Christ made in your?? life this past week? Why not, if the answer is no? Tell them your story. How your life was before knowing Jesus. What to hear another amazing thing?
Celia and Zepherino went out and did door to door witnessing in over 200 homes the 4 days they were home. WOW!!! is all I can say. How a new babe in Christ shall lead them/us. Pray that the Lord will give you too, a passion to see the lost won, and reconciled with the father...
Here we are served a traditional lunch of manioc root, and manioc root breaded pastries, filled with ground beef, a cool aid type beverage, and a type of cornbread made with fresh cheese (called SOPA PARAGUAYA). Celia is on the right. The girl in the middle is her sister Noelia, and she is 17. She prayed to recieve Christ with us as well. PTL! Please pray for her as well.
At the end of the day we went to visit Cepherino's brother Miguel in a high security prison. He is 29, and has been in and out of jail, over 20 times. Cepherino had not seen him in over a year. He did not know of Cepherino's conversion. How emotive it was for me to see him weep and pray over his younger brother. He desparately needs the Lord. While there I ministered to several inmates. In one cell (8' x 4'), I saw 4 men, and they has one single matress on the floor, for all to sleep on. I guess they sleep in shifts. One of them begged me for about a dollar. I shared the Gospel with them. They looked like caged and pacing animals.
Here we are served a traditional lunch of manioc root, and manioc root breaded pastries, filled with ground beef, a cool aid type beverage, and a type of cornbread made with fresh cheese (called SOPA PARAGUAYA). Celia is on the right. The girl in the middle is her sister Noelia, and she is 17. She prayed to recieve Christ with us as well. PTL! Please pray for her as well.
At the end of the day we went to visit Cepherino's brother Miguel in a high security prison. He is 29, and has been in and out of jail, over 20 times. Cepherino had not seen him in over a year. He did not know of Cepherino's conversion. How emotive it was for me to see him weep and pray over his younger brother. He desparately needs the Lord. While there I ministered to several inmates. In one cell (8' x 4'), I saw 4 men, and they has one single matress on the floor, for all to sleep on. I guess they sleep in shifts. One of them begged me for about a dollar. I shared the Gospel with them. They looked like caged and pacing animals.
At 11.PM, we arrived back home, exausted but filled with the Glory of the Lord. Thanks for all you do to love and support us!
In His service, THE KUNKELS