AFUMC Missionaries Serve in Paraguay this Summer

Five members of Alpharetta First United Methodist Church traveled to Paraguay in July to work with Christian and Angelica Dickson, AFUMC sponsored missionaries. Here are two recaps of the trip written by John Hipes and Brenden Russell, a South Forsyth high school student. Learn more about the church’s Paraguay mission efforts at http://www.afumc.org/dickson.

By John Hipes 

Karen and I recently returned from a wonderful trip in Paraguay. We spent six days with missionaries Christian and Angelica Dickson and their family, along with fellow church members Bruce Johnson, his daughter Hayley, and Brenden Russell. Christian and Angelica are doing great work in a remote area near Yrubucua, Paraguay.  

When we arrived in Asuncion airport, we received a warm welcome from Christian and Angelica. Outside the airport we were introduced to their daughters, Camila and AnnaBelen, along with several other teens and adults traveling to the mission with us. After loading our luggage in the vehicles, we headed down the road to a late lunch. We all had some empanadas and then headed toward the countryside for the four-hour trip to the mission.  

The mission is in rural Paraguay, about five kilometers outside of Yrubucua. The two-lane roads to Yrubucua were in good shape and the only thing slowing our progress were the many trucks in our path. When we reached the vicinity of Yrubucua, we left the pavement for washed-out dirt roads which slowed our progress to a crawl for the final 30 minutes of the ride.

The main building at the mission was quite comfortable, except for the fact that we arrived during a cold spell and the building was not heated. The week before our arrival, the temperatures were in the 70s and 80s; the week after we left the temperatures were in the 80s and even hit 90. For our first three days of the mission trip, the weather was rainy and a bit colder, which meant we dressed in layers and took quick showers in the morning. By the end of the trip, the skies had cleared and the temperatures were returning to normal.

Although the weather affected our work schedule, we kept busy the first day working on the school that Christian and Angelica established located just down the road. Christian, Bruce, Karen and I painted a school room, while the teens painted a storage building behind the adjacent church a bright lavender color. Christian, Bruce and I (with some help from Karen and AnnaBelen) also worked on the tool shed behind the mission building, where we poured the remainder of the concrete floor, patched the roof and built two doors. A neighbor up the road allowed us to borrow his two-horse wagon to haul sand, that we shoveled from the dirt road, to the front of the tool shed. From there we created a cement and sand volcano to mix the concrete. We built the doors using wood posts and planks that were stripped and cut to size with a chain saw and circular saw. The South American hardwood is so hard that Bruce had to drill the nail holes before we could hammer nails in to the wood.

Christian also gave Bruce and me a tour of his farming operation. Christian has introduced new crops and new farming techniques at the Agricenter to help local farmers grow better crops and improve their lives. Just to make the experience more memorable, Christian gave us the opportunity to plow in a bean field with a horse and a one-share plow. While Bruce did an admirable job plowing between the rows of beans, I struggled just to keep the plow going in straight line and, as a result, Christian’s bean harvest will be a little lighter this year.

Aside from the outdoor work projects, Angelica was busy working with the youth at the school and caring for the sick in the community. One elderly woman was bitten by a dog, and Angelica treated the wound. Another elderly neighbor down the road was dying of cancer, and we went to his house as a group to bring medical dressings for his bed sores, to comfort his family and to pray for him. The next day, Karen spent the afternoon preparing and assembling medical supplies and dressings for the neighbor.

On Sunday, we attended a local church about 20 minutes from the mission. We enjoyed praise music and hymns in Spanish and then listened as Christian delivered the message in both Spanish and English. Christian delivered a message that Jesus was a rebel in his time. The message seemed to suit Christian and his life in Paraguay.

There are always surprises on a mission trip. One of the biggest and best surprises was the food. Having been on other mission trips, I was gearing up for the usual rice and beans and mystery meat. That was not the case in Paraguay. Ana was busy in the kitchen all day preparing breakfast, lunch and dinner. The food was fresh and made from scratch and delicious. Everything from stir-fry to barbecue pork tenderloins to homemade pizzas. This is the only mission trip I’ve been on where I gained weight.

Another pleasant surprise was our interaction with the teens. The mission was filled with music, song, laughter and tough questions. John, Danny, Ruth and Camila were all very inquisitive about our lives in the states and especially our spiritual walk. Their questions led to some interesting discussions after dinner on issues such as sanctification and whether once saved, always saved. Almost every day, John or Danny would be playing the guitar and the teens would be singing praise songs in Spanish and English. On our last night, we all gathered around a bonfire for s’mores and songs.

On our last day at the mission, we were treated to a special music and dance program by the children at the mission’s Suzanna Wesley School, located down the road. First, Bruce, Karen and I got to participate in a Bible story about the walls of Jericho tumbling before the army of Israel. Then, the children danced and sang in colorful traditional dresses and costumes.

We spent the final day of the trip in Asuncion. Christian and Angelica invited us into their home for breakfast, and we had a chance to see some family photos (including a Milton High School senior photo of Christian with a full head of hair). Then, Christian and Angelica took us on a sightseeing tour of Paraguay’s capital city, where we visited the riverfront area and downtown museums displaying Asuncion’s proud history.  

Mission trips are often more about the relationships you make instead of the work you accomplish. Spending six days with Christian and his family made this trip a very personal experience. Karen and I had the privilege of witnessing Christian and Angelica’s passion for the people of Paraguay. We could see the difference their school is making for the children, the difference the Agricenter can make for the farmers, the difference their medical care makes for the sick, and the difference their ministry makes in their community. The Dicksons are a true blessing for the community they serve and for the lives they touch, including ours.

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By Brenden Russell

I just got back from a great trip to Paraguay! I spent a month with Christian and Angelica Dickson and their family.  I helped them with anything they asked me to do and enjoyed hanging out with their daughter Camila and her friends. Luckily I got to be part of her quinceanera. It is a 15th birthday party that is almost as important as a wedding, because being 15 is the coming of age for Latin American girls. While I was there I also was able to go to a professional soccer game, which was very fun.

For the last two weeks I was there I got to work with the team from Snellville UMC and the team from Alpharetta in the interior of Paraguay. The team from Snellville was a fairly large team, with about 17 people and plus the people from Paraguay that came down with us, there was about 25 people at the Agrimissions Center, where we stayed. While we were there, we picked beans off of trees in the fields, put in a cement floor in the shed, re-tilled the garden, and since there were 2 nurses there that came with us, we gave every student in the Susanna Wesley school a check up. For these check ups, I was their assistant, helping to speed up the process. One day when one of the nurses was helping a sick family, I was the nurse giving the check ups. I took diastolic blood pressure, pulse, checked their hair, teeth, heart, eyes and skin for any irregularities. It was fun and it made me think about medicine as a career possibility.

When the Alpharetta team came down, it was good to see some people that I knew. While we were down there, the project for the teens was to paint a house behind the church, inside and out, so that there could be a space for an adult Sunday School. We also interacted a lot with the teenagers of the interior and played a good bit of soccer as well. It is always surprising how important God is in their lives down there. Without knowing anyone personally, you can still tell that the Paraguayan people's whole life revolves around God.

My trip to Paraguay was a great experience and I would do it again in a heart beat. It helped me get closer to God and I hope that the Sunday school building we painted can help bring other people in the interior of Paraguay closer to God. Thank you for all your prayers and support!