High Refuge

So I have started yet another volunteer placement here in Paraguay, and hopefully I will be here until the end of my time now. I am helping at a place called Alto Refugio - High Refuge in english. This is a place that helps out adults and children who are infected, or affected by HIV/AIDS. It was started by a couple who are originally from Manitoba, but have grown up here in Paraguay.

What do I do there? Basically the question is what don´t I do there. I help out around the office, in the kitchen, with the cleaning staff, with a clothing sale they put on every Wed, go on hospital visits, and help with a program called Dulce Refugio (Sweet Refuge) which works with the children who come in.

It is a beautiful ministry, and I am enjoying my time there immensly. I have made so many new friends, and everyone who works or volunteers there are so warm and welcoming.

There are about 5 people in Alto Refugio who can speak fluently about 4 or 5 languages, and to hear them come in and out of different languages is so cool! Lately I have been feeling that my spanish is ok, but I´m not really sure it´s where it should be after 4 months of being here. Listening to these people though has been giving me incentive to keep up my spanish studying, instead of being content with where it is now.

Campemento

So this past weekend I had the chance to go to a youth retreat, with my church and abunch of other mennonite churchs from around Paraguay. It was alot of fun. Every morning I woke up and found a new muscle that had not been used in awhile, aching from the games played the day before. There were 2 sessions a day, both of which I got basically nothing out of, but it gave me alot of time to think about some things going on in my life right now.

Lately I have been asked quite afew times if I know what I might like to do when I get home. I don´t know if people are asking because it is now 2010 and I will be home in 6 months or what, but honestly no I have no idea what I want to do when I get home. Some days it frusterates me not knowing, because I have always been a person who knew what I was doing the next year - the answere was always school. Now I have a world of opportunities, but don´t know where to start. I know God will reveal his plans for me when he is ready, and until then I try to stay patient (very hard for me to do sometimes). I ask for your prayers during this time!!

Other than that I am really enjoying my time here in Paraguay. I have made many wonderful friends and relationships with those who live around me, and within my church family.