Cultural Lesson # ∞ + 7

The Greeting
Upon arriving here we were told that greeting the Paraguayans when entering a situation is very important. And we noted very quickly that this is true. When Paraguayans enter a room, a property, a place where they will be involved in any type of social interaction they will greet, more or less, everyone personally. This is a correct, a good, and an acceptable behavioural norm here in Paraguay.

The attempt to change my cultural disposition in this regard has been a battle. Upon reading this Paraguayan cultural norm you may be tempted to say, "That's great, and it should not be too difficult a thing to do." However, if you can be honest with yourself and think about the learned cultural greeting aptitude you possess, you "must" agree that this would not be as easy as it sounds (especially if you are from the Northeastern part of the U.S.).

When you enter a smaller church setting do you make a point of greeting every person that is present with a verbal "hello" and a firm handshake? Do you do the same when you are entering a less known setting, let's say like a new church where you are a visitor? Probably not. If you did the folks would wonder, "Who is this aggressive person that has switched roll from visitor to host. However, in the same situation here in Paraguay if you don't do it, people will tend to wonder who is the rude new-comer who has not greeted me.

Currently I'm teaching a class at a local seminary. I visited the campus a few weeks prior to beginning the class. The day I visited I walked from my car to the director's office. There were a few people on campus that day, but no one I knew and no one in my direct path. I taught my first class this past Friday (btw, it's Cultural Anthropology), and I was commenting on the differences between Paraguayan culture and my own (U.S.). One of my students then commented, "That's why you were so 'cold' the first time I saw you on campus about two weeks ago. You went to the director's office, spoke with him and then left. You never greeted me." This student was absolutely right. I acted "cold" comparatively speaking. Had I been culturally relevant I would have greeted everyone within eye contact.

It's important to learn these nuances of the culture and to make the transition as soon as possible. When we don't we can be categorized as being "cold," or some other unwanted characteristic trait due to an unwonted cultural idiosyncrasy.

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Baptism

I have a friend who likes to think through spiritual truths. He once made the "mistake" of asking me what I thought about something he was working through. Now I'm beginning to ask him, "Hey whacha' chewing on?" Last night he sent me his current thoughts on baptism. I responded with my own.

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Good to get your message last night.

"John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins" Mark 1:4.

Baptism (for me) is the time-and-place physical demonstration of repentance. Its when the individual stands forward and proclaims their change of attitude towards sin and publicly aligns themselves with the person, of Jesus Christ, who can change their sin-nature, enabling them to choose to live righteously. This is an act of obedience. Christ's desire was that we baptize (Mt. 28:18-20), therefor we should be baptized.

Baptism is not a once and for all forgiveness of sin (1st John 1). You do not need to be baptized to be saved (ask the criminal on the cross). However, it is a step of obedience that will enable you to experience the victorious Christian life. If we are not obeying Christ in every area we will not experience the power of God in our lives. He won't bless those who are willingly disobeying Him.

"I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit" Mark 1:8.

Alliance Perspective on [Sanctification]: “It is both a crisis and a process, a decision and a development, a turning point and a new direction, it is a continual experience marked by an altar and a road. ‘It is a crisis, a willful event, a decision. It may be emotional or rational, behavioral or aesthetic but it is a turning point, a moment of exchange, a definite and thorough surrender, an altar’” (www.cmalliance.org).

I believe there is another baptism. In the Alliance we call this baptism the CRISIS. Many of those outside of (and even some within) the Alliance will take issue with this as they don't see the word CRISIS in the Bible. But it is a word that is used, such as TRINITY, to describe a biblical (Alliance) doctrine. Christ now baptizes those who depend completely on Him with the Holy Spirit. Don't take me wrong... we all have the Holy Spirit living in us at the point of Salvation. However, all are not walking in the Spirit... totally surrendered to Him. There are those Christians who are grieving the Holy Spirit for lack of a habitual dependence upon Him in their lives. That dependence upon God is the difference between the man in Romans 7 and the man in Romans 8: the man living in constant failure and the man living a victorious life.

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit" Romans 8:1-4.

I just got finished reading a good book about this experience. It is an autobiography of a Pakistani woman who came to Christ and immediately experienced the Victorious Christian life. It is a good experiential story of what a normative Christian life should look like. The name of the book is "I dared to call Him Father," written by Bilquis Sheikh. (This is what I would consider the Baptism of the Holy Spirit).

Let me know what you think about what I've written here.

Tu amigo y hermano,

J

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I'm back

In one of my blog posts I explained why at times I would not blog consistently. I gave the following reasons

1. I would be on vacation
2. I would be so busy that I could not communicate
3. I would be overwhelmed in the midst of a trial

This past hiatus was due to reason #3. Without going into the details I'll say that this trial increased my faith, my trust, and my prayer-life. If you are reading this entry and you are prone to pray, I would ask that you pray for:

1. Karen and my ability to manage the added responsibilities we currently have.
2. The healing of wounded people in our ministry context.
3. The unity and growth of the Asuncion Alliance Church.

Thank you for your support. WE are TEAM!

Karen Returns Tomorrow!

It's been a while since I've updated the blog. Ministry got a little overwhelming and with Karen being away it just became all the more difficult. But tomorrow at 11:04 we pick her up from the airport (Gracias a Dios!).

Thank the Lord for Skype. Karen and I were able to stay connected with little cost. From what she has told me, it seems everything went well in the States. We are so fortunate to have the home church that we do as they are a constant source of encouragement and support. Karen and Jasmine stayed with a wonderful couple (Chuck and Betty) and she was taken care of by everyone at the church. She was able to attend the Southeastern District's annual prayer conference. She also had opportunities to speak a few time while in the States. Thank you to everyone for taking such good care of my girls.

My time has been a bit stressful. But the Lord gave me moments in between the stress to encourage me. Those times came when I discipled several people this week and was able to see their personal and spiritual growth (Carlos Lombardo is turning out to be a major source of praise. The rate at which he is growing spiritually is incredible... Praise the Lord.)

"Pastor, I've realized that I have not done anything to deserve what God is giving me. I haven't done anything to receive what He is giving me. I read in Corinthians that even my faith is something He has given me. - Carlos Lombardo (new believer)

As well, Carlitos and Jorge are showing enthusiasm for the Lord in their lives and this is filling me with joy. Below is a video of Jorge singing in "English." Enjoy.

Thank you for your support. We are TEAM!

Latchkey Entry #4

Sorry for not updating in several days (Karen). Something came up and I had more responsibilities this past weekend than I had originally thought I would have. But, through it all we fared well. We did eat McDonalds and Burgerking and Shwarmas (Friday, Saturday and Sunday respectively).

Jeffrey was back in school today. As always I asked the teacher how he behaved. She replied by giving me that "Bien, bien." although you really know that there is more to it. She then said after my prompting that sometimes he reacts to the other children, but then calms down quickly. Right as she said that Jeffrey's schoolmate, Jesús, picked up the page that Jeffrey had colored today... WHACK! Jeffrey smacked him up side his head. The teacher then said, "Como así," or "Like this." I talked to Jeffrey, made him apologize to Jesús and give him a hug (I had to threaten him with a nap to get him to give a hug). But other than that, Jeffrey was really well behaved today.

Today for lunch we had stewed chicken with noodles. Lily did a good job of getting Jeffrey to eat. Jeffrey then watched a movie about farm animals and afterwards told me he did not want to watch it again because it was too strong (he was telling me that about several movies in the DVD store last night... I have yet to understand what that means). While Jeffrey was watching the movie, I went out and ran at Seminario (I know, I know. Miracles never cease). When I got back we both went out and bought Jeffrey's tent. José showed me a place that sold them for more than half the price I was going to spend. I'm hoping I have enough birthday money left over for a helicopter ride as well.

Concerning the helicopter ride: The colonel of the army has introduced me to the colonel of the air force and tomorrow we are going to talk about getting Jeffrey and I up in a helicopter. Who knows? Maybe, we won't have to pay for it.

Jeffrey went to bed without problems this evening at 8 p.m. He was actually begging to go to bed in his tent.

Hope you are having a good time at the Southeastern District Prayer Conference. Represent!

Thanks for you support. We are TEAM!

Paraguayan Culture in Music

The following is a video of a popular song in Paraguay that describes the multiplicity of languages experienced here. I've provided the lyrics and the best possible translation that I could make. If you would like to advise me on my translation so that it can improve, please don't hesitate to give me your suggestions via the comment section at the end.

The boldfaced typeset are words in Guaraní. If you are a Spanish speaker you may wonder about words such as, hablás or entendés. These are not type-os, rather they are a form of Spanish known as voseo.

Typical Paraguayan music is more like Polka, whereas this is an example of how the next generation of Paraguayans is changing its musical tastes. I can hear a mixture of influences in this song; such as, Caribbean, Rock, European Rock (reminds me of Falco from the '80s).

Culture continuously changes: "Cultural change is often accompanied by a change in idiom, in language or in ideas about language" (Language and Cultural Change). The following video is an example of how the Paraguayan culture is being influenced by the outside and how (at least from this group's perspective) that change can be a source of national pride.

Soy Paraguayo y Que

Tengo un amigo pobrecito
Que me dijo no te entiendo
Porque hablás como pollito
Y yo lo pregunté, ¿Por qué? ¿Pió? Pió, Pió, Pió, Pió, Pió...

I have an unfortunate little friend
Who told me "I don't understand you"
Because you speak like a little chicken
And I asked him, Why? Peep? Peep, Peep, Peep, Peep, Peep

¿No sé si me entendés?
Aquí en mi país además del Guarañol.
Hablamos el Inglés AINEGUI into you la ichampion Nike
Y un poco de Frances Por ejemplo Somnier se dice CHE KOCHO
Tiene Miedo OCHUCHU Se queja: O LA LÁ
Y en Arabe también Por ejemplo llovizna se dice HAIVIVEVE

I don't know if you understand me?
Here in my country we speak more than just a mixture of Spanish and Guarani,
We also speak English: AINEGUI (there is a bad smell) in your sneakers of NIKE. And a little French: For example in Guarani "Somnier" (which is a mattress company that sounds French) is CHE KOCHO.
You are afriad in Guarani is OCHUCHU.
One complains in Guarani is O LA LÁ.
And in Arabic as well: For example rainstorm in Guarani is HAIVIVEVE

¿No sé si me entendés?
¿No sé si me entendés?

I don't know if you understand me?
I don't know if you understand me?

NAMBRÉ! NAMBRÉ!
NAMBRÉ! luego ANGA NINGO PIKO KATU RAÉ
¿Qué pio lo que tanto?
Soy Paraguay my friend

It doesn't bother me! It doesn't bother me!
It doesn't bother me BECAUSE... (this is a string of Guaraní verb modifiers that really make no real sense, other than to say, "ANGA=Unfortunately, NINGO=Definite Action, PIKO=Questionable, KATU=Seriouisly, RAÉ=Surprisingly) it doesn't bother me because:
How important could it be?
I am Paraguay my friend
(REAPEATS)

In la zona del mercado Se escucha un Koreano:
AJUMA, AJUMA JA MOKO
Y al presidente en Rusia le dicen PUTÍN
Chinito CHINCHILIN
Y OJOKO KO LOKO es arquero en Japonés

In the area of the market you hear Korean:
I've come, I've come, we will drink.
And they say the Russian President (is) "Gay"
In Chinese: "Gay"
And this crazy that is trapping the ball good is the goalkeeper in Japenese.

¿No sé si me entendés?
¿No sé si me entendés?

I don't know if you understand me?
I don't know if you understand me?

Y en Ciudad del Este ja fala portugueis
Y en el sur también le ponen "che"
Y en Villarrica lo bailan del revés
Te van a dar vuelta de la cabeza a los pies

And in Ciudad del Este they speak Portugues
And in the south as well they use "Che" (a distint manner of pronouncing Spanish that is common to Argentina).
And in Villarrica they speak everything backwards (a common stereo-type is that the people of this region do everything "backwards")
They are going to turn it around from head to foot

NAMBRÉ! NAMBRÉ!
NAMBRÉ! luego ANGA NINGO PIKO KATU RAÉ
¿Qué pio lo que tanto?
Soy Paraguay my friend

It doesn't bother me! It doesn't bother me!
It doesn't bother me BECAUSE... (this is a string of Guaraní verb modifiers that really make no real sense, other than to say, "ANGA=Unfortunately, NINGO=Definite Action, PIKO=Questionable, KATU=Seriouisly, RAÉ=Surprisingly) it doesn't bother me because:
How important could it be?
I am Paraguay my friend
(REPEATS)

¿Y cómo se dice "chupar" en barrio obrero?
Ciclón, clón, clón clon clon
Ciclón, clón, clón clon clon
Ciclón, clón, clón clon clon
Ciclón, clón, clón clon clon (imitando el sonido de tragar un líquido)

And how do they say drink (as in alcohol) in the blue-collar neighborhoods?
Cyclone, clone, clone, clone, clone
Cyclnoe, clone, clone, clone, clone
Cyclone, clone, clone, clone, clone
Cyclone, clone, clone, clone, clone
(this is meant to imitate the sound of drining, as in "glug, glug, glug).

¿Cómo se dice quiero más en para uno?
Otra copa, otra copa
¡Dame otra copa!
¡Quiero otra copa!
¡Dame otra copa!
¡Quiero otra copa!

How do they say "I want more in "Para uno"? (I think this is a reference to the language)
Another cup, another cup
Give me another cup!
I want another cup
Give me another cup!
I want another cup!

NAMBRÉ! NAMBRÉ!
NAMBRÉ! luego ANGA NINGO PIKO KATU RAÉ
¿Qué pio lo que tanto?
Soy ALBIRROJO ¿y que?

It doesn't bother me! It doesn't bother me!
It doesn't bother me BECAUSE... (this is a string of Guaraní verb modifiers that really make no real sense, other than to say, "ANGA=Unfortunately, NINGO=Definite Action, PIKO=Questionable, KATU=Seriouisly, RAÉ=Surprisingly) it doesn't bother me because:
How important could it be?
I am of the Red & White
(a reference to the colors of the national soccer/fútbol team)
And what of it?
(REAPEATS)

Tengo un amigo pobrecito
Que me dijo no te entiendo
Porque hablás como pollito
Y yo lo pregunté, ¿Por qué? ¿Pió? Pió, Pió, Pió, Pió, Pió...

I have an unfortunate little friend
Who told me "I don't understand you"
Because you speak like a little chicken
And I asked him, Why? Peep? Peep, Peep, Peep, Peep, Peep

Thank you for your support. We are TEAM!

Latchkey Entry #3

Today is Labor Day in Paraguay. The supermarkets were open until noon, but after that everything was closed.

Jeffrey and I had plans to go fishing but today turned out to be the coldest and wettest day of the year so far. A friend warned me about the banks of the river possibly being slippery (thanks Bob), so we didn't chance it. I would not have enjoyed the time had I been worried about Jeffrey being swept away.

Jeffrey and I opted to have a Bugs Bunny marathon. We ate French Toast, sandwiches and Spaghetti.

Again Jeffrey behaved himself... dare I say, I think he is getting easier.

Jeffrey hasn't had a bath in over 24 hours... but it is very cold. I promise tomorrow I'll hose him down in the morning.

A friend of mine sent out the following video to his Facebook friend list. It really is a cute video. Hope that you enjoy.

Thanks for you support. We are TEAM!

Latchkey Entry #2

I didn't do too well with Jeffrey today.

He did have a good lunch (noodles and curried chicken), however it was downhill from there. I left him in front of the T.V. watching Little Einsteins when I went to disciple Carlos at 2 p.m. I returned at 4 to find him still planted on the sofa (for those reading: Don't worry we have somebody staying with Jeffrey during the afternoons). We were at the church from 5 to until 9 p.m. working on PowerPoint for Sunday worship and afterwards attending Wednesday night prayer. We had to swing by the Bostons to pick up a fishing rod so that Pastor Daniel could use it tomorrow if we go fishing. I wanted to stop off and pick up some dinner for Jeffrey before arriving at the Bostons however the traffic was so thick that I had to go straight to their house (there was a concert in Olympia Stadium and it would appear that people are beginning the festivities (partying) for labor day. We did pick up a Cajita Feliz from McDonald's on the way back from the Bostons. Jeffrey ate at 10 p.m. (I am so sorry). We then brushed his teeth (I've done that 3 times since you left... that's pretty good). Jeffrey was ready for bed this evening... he put up no fuss.

I will say this much for our day... Jeffrey and I got along famously. He behaved really well today.

BTW: Today did not climb out of the upper 60s and right now it is 58 degrees.

For those reading the blog: Sorry for the daily overviews, but I'm doing this for Karen.

Thanks for your support. We are TEAM!