3
 March, 2010 Happy Fall! While those of y ou in t he northern hemisphere are enjoying spring, we re officially in t he autumn season. It doesn t actually FEEL like autumn (it s st ill pretty hot), but the calendar say s it is! March has been a very busy month. We spent the first part preparing for the arrival of Dr. J . Gordon Henry, and the last two weeks helping him conduct prayer seminars throughout Paraguay and Uruguay . Thankf ully, we got our vehicle (the Mission Mobile) back out of the shop before he came into Parag uay, so w e were able to avoid the buses for all the travel. We still don t have the legal papers for the truck, but at least we can drive it again! We also received some very important paperwork, namely, our permission to remain in the country for 10 years, without having to renew our tourist visas every few months. This is a great blessing, as th e process of renewing is no t only costly financially, but timewise as well. We thank the Lord for receiving our permanent residency and cedula cards after many months of jumping through hoops and cutting through governmental red tape. We are making plans for our visit home in October/November of this year. Many churches celebrate World Missions Mont h in October, so if you d like to have us visit that mont h (or in November), please let us know as soon as possible. We sure are excited about reconnectin g with you all and s haring what God has been up to in our corner of the world. The week before Easter is a very special time here. It begins on Palm Sunday, when Catholics take palm branches to the church to be blessed, then hang them in their homes to ward off evil spirits. School only goes until Wednesday, so lots of families visit relatives for the long weekend. There are many more buses on the road than usual, and travel is difficult. On Wednesday (known as Holy Wednesday here), the supermarkets are full of women buying what they need to make chipa and other traditional foods for the weekend. Chipa is a hard bread usually in the shape of a doughnut, although this week many will make them in the shape of a palm branch. Chipa has a smoky flavor because it s baked in a brick oven ( tatakua ), like the one on the left. The women cook chipa all day Thursday, and that s basically the only activity going on. Okay, not quite. The men are drinking lots of alcohol and preparing to sleep all day Friday, because for lots of people it s a day of fasting in honor of the crucifixion. The streets are quiet, and folks generally stay in their homes on Friday. People d on t speak loudly or run or do household chores, inclu ding cooking. Hence, the chipa is made in advance and shared as gifts to neighbors, friends, and family on Holy Friday. Some of the more traditional Catholic ladies wear black as a sign of mourning. In some neighborhoods, there are processions of people re-enacting the crucifixion as they walk down the street, and singing mournful songs. The sad thing is that the focus here is on the crucifixion, but not really on the reasons for Jesus death. An e ight-year old neighbor told me that he d watched a crucifixion movie at his school earlier one day, and he cried as he described Jesus  wounds. What a privilege to be able to share with him the REASON for those wounds, for His death, and for His resurrection. Many times the traditions we witness open the door to opportunities to shed light on the confusion that religion without relation ship brings. tapé (tah PAY ), n. a way or path (Guarani) Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD... He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his  paths." Isaiah 2:3 The Hagerman Family Carapeguá , Paraguay Semana Santa (Hol y Week)  

Hagerman March 10 Newsletter from Paraguay

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March, 2010

Happy Fall! While those of you in the

northern hemisphere are enjoying spring,we’re officially in the autumn season. It doesn’t actually FEEL like autumn (it’s still pretty hot), but the calendar says it is! March has been avery busy month. We spent the first part preparing for the arrival of Dr. J . Gordon Henry, and the last two weeks helping him conduct prayer

seminars throughout Paraguay and Uruguay. Thankfully, we got our vehicle (the Mission Mobile) back out of the shop before he came intoParaguay, so we were able to avoid the buses for all the travel. We still don’t have the legal papers for the truck, but at least we can drive it

again!

We also received some very important paperwork, namely, our permission to remain in the country for 10 years, without having torenew our tourist visas every few months. This is a great blessing, as the process of renewing is not only costly financially, but timewise as

well. We thank the Lord for receiving our permanent residency and cedula cards after many months of jumping through hoops and cuttingthrough governmental red tape.

We are making plans for our visit home in October/November of this year. Many churches celebrate World Missions Month inOctober, so if you’d like to have us visit that month (or in November), please let us know as soon as possible. We sure are excited about

reconnecting with you all and sharing what God has been up to in our corner of the world.

The week before Easter is a very special time here. It begins on Palm Sunday, when Catholics take palm branches to the

church to be blessed, then hang them in their homes to ward off evil spirits. School only goes until Wednesday, so lots of 

families visit relatives for the long weekend. There are many more buses on the road than usual, and travel is difficult.

On Wednesday (known as Holy Wednesday here), the supermarkets are full of women buying what they need to make chipa

and other traditional foods for the weekend. Chipa is a hard bread usually in the shape of a doughnut,

although this week many will make them in the shape of a palm branch. Chipa has a smoky flavor because

it ’s baked in a brick oven (“tatakua”), like the one on the left. The women cook chipa all day Thursday,

and that ’s basically the only activity going on. Okay, not quite. The men are drinking lots of alcohol and

preparing to sleep all day Friday, because for lots of people it ’s a day of fasting in honor of the crucifixion.

The streets are quiet, and folks generally stay in their homes on Friday. People don’t speak loudly or run

or do household chores, including cooking. Hence, the chipa is made in advance and shared as gifts toneighbors, friends, and family on Holy Friday. Some of the more traditional Catholic ladies wear black as a

sign of mourning. In some neighborhoods, there are processions of people re-enacting the crucifixion as they walk down the

street, and singing mournful songs.

The sad thing is that the focus here is on the crucifixion, but not really on the reasons for Jesus’ death. An eight-year old

neighbor told me that he’d watched a crucifixion movie at his school earlier one day, and he cried as he described Jesus ’ 

wounds. What a privilege to be able to share with him the REASON for those wounds, for His death, and for His resurrection.

Many times the traditions we witness open the door to opportunities to shed light on the confusion that religion without 

relationship brings.

tapé (tah PAY ), n. a way or path(Guarani) 

Many peoples will come and say,"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD... He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his  paths." Isaiah 2:3

The Hagerman FamilyCarapeguá, Paraguay

Semana Santa (Holy Week)  

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 As always, we pray you are continually blessed, as you have blessed us and those here we minister to. We appreciate

so much your encouragement and support as we follow God’s lead in Paraguay. You are a part of every work we do

 for the Kingdom, and we’re thrilled to be your partners in God’s plan for this country. 

 ---Ken Christie Camille and Caroline  

God bless you!  ¡Dios le bendiga! 

(Spanish) Ñandejára tanderovasa! (Guarani)  

**(If you are receiving this through the US Mail and have an email address, please send it to us so we can

get our newsletter to you in that way. It is much quicker and more efficient. If you don’t have an email

address, or if you just prefer the regular mail, don’t worry. We’ll keep sending it to you that way.) 

CONTACT INFORMATION 

Telephone in Paraguay:595-985-782-928

Skype number: 864-343-1731 

Donations are received through our local church:

Carolina Heights CoGoP 

 2900 Anderson Road Greenville, SC 29611

(Please write “Hagerman Missions” on check  memo. All donations are tax deductible.)

Email:  [email protected] 

Webpages:  www.hagermans.blogspot.comwww.tapemissions.org 

Dr. Henry took Paraguay and Uruguay by storm! He came here straight from Venezuela, where he’d conducted 12 seminars in two weeks, traveling over 1000 ground miles. Dr.

Henry still hit Paraguay running, and conducted three seminars (7 different sessions) in his first week here. He led two seminars (4 sessions) in Uruguay, and Saul taught one after

he left. The host churches were so hospitable to us, and we made many new friends along the way. We were able to participate not only in the classes, but youth meetings,

leadership training, and many other ministry events. Did we mention that the seminars were interdenominational and brought together people of all different churches to learn how

and why to approach the throne of God in prayer? It was such a privilege to be a part of getting this much needed teaching about prayer out to the church families here, to get

materials for further teaching into the hands of pastors, and to learn what God is doing in other parts of South America.

Iglesia Centro de Enseñanza Bíblica, Capiatá,

Paraguay (Saul, Pastors Jerry and Connie White, Dr.

Henry, us, and Hollie)

The students in Carapeguá, Paraguay (Dr. Henry 

seated just right of center beside Saul)Henry & Tasha Clary,

Missionaries to Uruguay 

(below) Class participation in

Capiatá, Paraguay (left) Ken preaching at San

Fuentes, Uruguay 

(right) Pastors and church

 family in Montevideo

(left) Christie got lots of 

 practice translating….

Students in San Fuente, Uruguay,

demonstrating 5 parts of prayer