John and Rachel McDonough
News from Paraguay June 2023
What an eventful time we have been having recently!
We were blessed to receive a team from Elim Ireland's internship program, 'Cultivate', which came to encourage and support the ministry here and to find out what missionary life entails.
They were fully put to work as we finished off the installation of the water tower, plumbing and installing new lighting on the church plot. They certainly got stuck in, especially to the dirt in Paraguay; and learnt a thing or two about connecting pipes and digging trenches! It was lovely to see football being used to overcome the language barrier and made the sunburn worth it to see friendships being formed.
We have been reflecting on how much has changed in the community over the last few months. Not only is there now a growing church, but they have electricity and running water. Something we so often take for granted.
We are so grateful to you who have made these projects possible through your giving. For the church it means we are now ready for winter as the nights creep in at 5.30pm. Now everyone can meet on an evening without using a torch or fire for light.
This year we were able to attend the Elim Missions Conference at the Elim International Centre, Malvern. It was an incredible week of teaching, ministry, connecting with peers and having fun and fellowship - all in the stunning surrounding of the Malvern hills.
Thank you to Elim Missions for putting on this event. It was amazing! We are beyond thankful for the amazing children's ministry that week. It not only meant we could fully participate in the conference, but also taught, engaged and loved on our children. This was a precious gift and wonderful time for all of us involved. We cannot wait till the next Missions' Conference.
Whilst back in the UK, we also had the opportunity to attend the Elim Leaders Summit and visit a few of you all and supporting churches.
The children enjoyed hanging out at the limitless kids stand and participated in the 'Name the Prayer-Bear' competition, which they won at the end of the conference. So now prayer-bear lives in Paraguay and has had the chance to come to church with us in the community and pray in Guarani!
Having this time to catch up and share in person about all that has been going on in Paraguay was a highlight of our year so far. It is so useful for us to be able to put names to faces of the people who have recently started supporting our ministry; and a delight to catch up with those we have known for a long time and who have walked with us on this adventure of faith.
Those meetings were so refreshing and enjoyable, especially when they involved such yummy cake, cheese scones and your hospitality. Thank you.
For those of you we couldn't catch up with this time, we hope to make it to your neck of the woods next time round. We will be in touch to make this happen.
A Thought from Afar
A while ago I was speaking to a friend from another country. They told me about their group of 100+ families that were removed from the land that they had been living on for several years. The land dispute over ownership has resulted in them being removed, their wooden houses being razed to the ground, crops uprooted, and live-stock removed. They were removed from the land and left at a road intersection 160km away.
Jesus prays and asks the Father in John 17 that He would sanctify his disciples in the truth, through his Word, which is truth.
He says “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”
Later in John 18 Jesus says to Pilate: “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”
WE are citizens of His Kingdom
OUR eternal identity is Child of God, Servant / Disciple of Christ Jesus, Citizen of Heaven.
NOT a geo-political land mass;
NOT a culturally defined region;
NOT a linguistically marked sphere;
NOT a politically aligned tribe;
NOT an ideologically agreed grouping.
But we are citizens of His Eternal Kingdom.
That is our full ETERNAL identity.
Here on earth we have no lasting home (Hebrews 13:14), only the city that is to come.
We do not serve our own selfish will or the desires of our heart BUT we are bondservants of Christ (Titus 1: 1-4) working for His will and plan.
We are exiles in a foreign land (1 Peter) waiting for our Saviour’s return (Philippians 3:20)
Speaking to this friend, a brother, who with his whole family was made homeless over the geo-political land dispute;
speaking to a man who has had his live-stock and plantation, food and water, and security taken away from him;
speaking to him whose politicians are now absent, whose government doesn’t have clear answers and whose community (due to cultural and linguistic distinctions) is being excited to the point of riot and violence;
speaking to him . . . . he starts his conversation like he always does;
“Peace my brother, God is good, God bless you.”
He actually is at peace. Sincerely, deep peace.
And he believes 100% and confesses that, even in all that he is going through, God IS good.
His attitude and faith challenges me today and I am convicted to reflect...
Do I always hold, front and centre, my eternal identity not just in word and the songs I sing on a Sunday, but deep in my heart, not holding onto anything as precious?
Do I hold dear anything that I need to be counting as loss?
Do I need to lose anything again?
Does anything distract me, or anything I hold to, distract others from the eternal Saviour, Lord and coming King?
If I lost it all today, what would my response be? How would I face the world?
Would it be: Peace, God is good!
How about you?
GO team Cultivate!
Thankfully, the house that we rent here in Paraguay has been taken off the 'For Sale' market. Our landlord could not sell quickly and has decided to keep it for now. Which is good for us as it gives us a bit of stability again.
We have managed to resolve the problem with our email address, so that is now back up and running, which is an answer to prayer:
info@johnanadrachel.co.uk
Although the website still has a way to go to be up and running... something to do with DNSs that is apparently something that needs fixing... we know it will all be sorted in good time and we look forward to sharing it with you when it is done. (Although the website is just going to be a digital business card so wont actually be a big website, you already get all our news in the form of these newsletters and thoughts from afar!)
Please continue to pray for those in the communities, as winter approaches, that as they will be healthy and that we too will not be affected by the current round of coughs and colds.
Many blessings,
The 4 McDs
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