August 2020 Update from the Varga’s

Newsletter Robert and Joy Varga…August 2020.
Dear loved ones and friends,
God bless you and greetings from Paraguay…Since our last newsletter on the very beginning of June,
many things have changed, but before we go into that…
💛The Lord put it on my heart to share some verses from Psalm 33 with you all.
For those of you who might not have a Bible, I typed it out for you! It’s an awesome Psalm.
It helps us to see and put things in perspective, something so very needed in this lost, confusing and hurting world we live in…😖
Our hope and prayer is that everyone gets as encouraged and excited by it as we did, for we admit that sometimes it’s hard to keep our eyes on the Lord when you see the world around you falling apart thru so much sickness, death, violence, and outright hatred and an evil misunderstanding, blaming one another for the many things going on! Only God can help us!!! Read it slowly and let it sink in…
A Psalm of the Sovereignty of the Lord in the Creation and History.
💞💛🌎🙌📖🙏🐏🌷🍉🌲🌴👶👨👧👴👵
(And l would like to add:and thePresent and Future… I also underlined the word all)
1.   Rejoice in the Lord, oh you righteous, for praise from the upright is beautiful.
3.   Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully with a shout of joy.
4.   For the Word of the Lord is right and all His work is done in Truth.  
5.   He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
6.   By the Word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His Mouth…     
8.   Let all the earth fear the Lord, let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him…
9.   For He spoke and it was done; He commanded and it stood fast.
10. The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect…
11. The counsel of the Lord stands forever; the plans of His Heart to all generations…
12.  Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance.
13.  The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men…
14.   From the place of His dwelling, He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth.
15.   He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works…
16.   No king is saved by the multitude of an army; a mighty man is not delivered by great strength.
17.   A horse is vain hope for safety; neither shall it deliver any by its great strength…
18.   Behold the eye of the Lord are on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His Mercy.
19.   To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine…
20.   Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield…
21.   For our heart shall rejoice inHim, because we have trusted in His Holy Name…
22.   Let Your Mercy be upon us, Oh Lord, just as we hope in YOU!!!
Now with this in mind, let’s start our newsletter!
*COVID 19.😷🙃
By God’s Grace, Paraguay had some time to build some special Covid facilities and some extra health centers
before it really hit us. The US helped us in that! God bless you!🙌🙌
Right now Covid is spreading rapidly within the communities and the death toll is climbing.
As of right now we are over 10.000 cases and that is changing daily!   
But the good news is that close to half of them have recovered…
Another serious problem we are facing is that the violence, killings and robberies are increasing daily and the masks make it hard to identify them…
💒Right now all the churches in Paraguay are seeking the Lord in desperate prayer! 🙏
WE NEED TO KEEP OUR EYES ON THE LORD AND HIS WORD, FOR GOOD THINGS ARE HAPPENING AS WELL!!! 🙌🙌🙌
💒*Our church: He takes care of His Own…
As all of you know, our country church (in front of the Methodist Camp) is in between two villages…
The church and the villages were doing great; no Covid 19 cases and we were planning to go back on the first weekend of June…All excited! But, as it says in the Psalm above;
He makes the plans of the people of no effect…
A soldier came from the border between Brazil and Paraguay to visit his family in one of our villages, because his uncle had died. What no one knew was that he (the soldier) was highly infectious with Covid!!!
In no time flat the whole village was infected, for many had attended the funeral.
That same person went to the other village, and unknowingly infected them as well. I say unknowingly, for the Covid test that he took before leaving the border had proven to be negative…On his way back to the border he infected some more people and places, until they finally tracked him.😟🤒😷😖
Half through March, April and May the people had done so well with the quarantine, and they were very upset, for they had to start from zero with the quarantine. Nobody could go in or out of the villages…
📱📲*What’s up? WhatsApp!!!:
Due to that situation, we have been all this time doing our services, counseling, devotions, teaching, prayer and even the Lord’s Supper by WhatsApp.🍷🍞 Who would have thought it would come to that!
In the beginning we thought that it wouldn’t work and we would lose contact with our people, but the Lord showed us once again that He knows how to take care of His church and that He is the One that builds it!
InMathew 16:18 He promised: I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it!!! 🔥
And you know what? The church is doing better than before, more people are participating. Due to the Covid attack our families are bolder in sharing Christ with others,☝ they have problems, and are learning to turn to the Word📖 and find solutions and every week since March they send us two or three audios with testimonies to share in the Sunday service of how the Lord solves and provides in their daily lives.
Here some short testimonies of some of the families…
🏡*David and Lila👪:Build their own little place, one room and bathroom for now, but they are so excited and thankful, the small plot of land was a gift from family and it is close to the church. They are like the early pioneers’ building it with their own hands…their son Jesus (10) is helping them and very proud to do so and it keeps him out of trouble…
😢*Marisa and Blas:😌
Marisa was diagnosed with cancer of the uterus, stage two, last year Dec. She followed up treatment and the church has been really praying for her! Two weeks ago she got news that she is cancer free.  
The Lord keeps on providing her husband Blas with random jobs and they even could share their food with others in need. They have two daughters, Pauli (9) and Anahi (17).🙅 Anahi had gone through a time of rebellion and disobedience, staying out late doing her own thing, drinking, and when Covid came around in their village, she got scared, and started to seek the Lord and follow the services on What’s App. She loves it! She is totally turned around and a real blessing at home! 📚💻She studies at home now and that is part of the change as well. (Away from bad friendships) This year in December, she graduates from high school and is a straight A student.
💑*Lidio and Claudia👧👨👶:
Have been living together for 14 years and have three of the sweetest kids.
Brandon is (2) Monica is (9) Lidio junior is (10) years old.
Covid 19 made them reflect on their lives as a couple, Claudia had asked us from the beginning to pray for her companion as she called him, for he likes to drink and didn’t want to be tied down…
She really loves him and he is good to her and the kids.
She asked me in June to really pray hard, as she felt that the Lord said it was time, she wanted to bring Him to Jesus and asked for some advice as to how to go about it…(She had tried it many times before without results and had gotten discouraged.)
That following week he accepted Jesus and to her surprise and delight, he asked her👰 to marry him, for he felt convicted and wanted to do things right. This time the Holy Spirit had touched him!!!👐
They got married for civil law in the beginning of June and as soon as possible they want to have a real church wedding! 💒
Their kids are thrilled and Claudia is so very thankful and praising the Lord, so are we!
👪*Nelson and Andreza:📱📲
Are a young couple with a  4 year old son named; Anderson. She is a Sunday school teacher for the kids of our church and he is part of the men’s group. They have had many challenges but the Lord is faithful.
Andreza got a complete scholarship to study to become an elementary teacher. She started in January of this year and then Covid hit in March…She had never had the opportunity to learn how to use a🖥 computer or how to use different Apps on her cellphone, but she learned quick and is doing a great job, next to that she makes her own soap and makes masks to be able to keep going.
Her husband Nelson is making grills from old barrels, to cook meat and he witnesses to the clients, he led three people to the Lord in July…They were praying for a car, for the buses here with the Covid are death traps!
The Lord supplied a second hand car🚘 (it does need some work) but they are driving it and they are so very thankful and happy!
👦👧👶👸*Children’s day:
The 16^th of August We celebrated Children’s Day.
It’s a special date for everyone remembers that in March 1865 a terrible war started against Paraguay by Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, which lasted 5 years! Towards the end of the war in 1869 there were very few men left to fight and in desperation they sent in women and children…
They fought valiantly, Paraguay won that war in August 1870 but many children died!
That’s the story behind it…So on the 16^th of August everyone blesses and gives gifts to the children…🎈🎉
*We prepared a special service, dedicated to the children of our church by WhatsApp📱📲 and the children each sent in their picture👧👦👶 and their audio thanking the Lord for the many different blessings and how they are doing,🎙 some were too small and sang a song🎶 about being a soldier for Jesus.  
It’s amazing how things work out and how much we are learning to manage things with the help of His Grace…
☝New ideas…💡
As Robert and l are forced to stay home for now, new ideas come up!
Robert has been doing a lot of fixing around the house and catching up with projects.
His latest idea was to put an announcement board in our garden facing the street, next🗨🐦 to Buddy, our talking parrot who always attracts laughs and attention from kids and adults alike.
On this board he puts pictures, Bible texts, 📖and people stop, read, talk, and ask questions.❓❓❓
They are very curious everyday as to what will appear on the board!
 It lights up at night!💡
Robert can talk from a safe distance to the people and kids who come by daily and he encourages them that way.
We are praying it will result in people giving their lives to the Lord!
💁🙆*Moms from the students of the school…
The moms have been really challenged; having their kids at home. It’s far from easy.
I stay in close contact with them by📲phone and encourage them in practical things,☝ hygiene tips😷 and with the Word of God as much as I can📖 and pray🙏 for and with them.
In spite of all the changes and challenges they see God at work in their lives and keep sharing testimonies.
Next newsletter l make sure to share some of them with you all, but the main thing is that God keeps faithfully supplying against all odds…🙌 
😷*Sue and I😷…🙏
 As you all know, my dear friend, prayer partner and fellow missionary Sue Givens has been battling with Lymphoma cancer in the middle of this Covid 19 Pandemic. She has now completed 5 of 6 rounds of💉💊chemotherapy. Her next treatment will be in September and afterwards the doctors will assess if the treatments are completed or if there is a need for additional treatments.😌 We are all so very thankful that God has been with Sue every step of the way and guiding her…During this time, with all the closedowns and staying home; Sue has been able to continue her ministry via telephone and internet📱💻. She is a real trooper! Thank you all for your continuing prayers for her…🙏As friends and prayer partners we keep fighting and keep going! Time is short!!! These last two months 😶l have had three more episodes with terrible back pain, but it only lasted for a short while and I am so very thankful for that.😅 It doesn’t keep me from doing my job, but it keeps me praying desperately and that is a good thing. When that happens Robert is there to stand in the gap👷 and helps out with everything. He is getting to be a great cook as well!💞 I wouldn’t know what to do without him.
*It’s again a long newsletter but we hope and pray it will encourage you all!Do keep going back to Psalm 33 📖when you get down and discouraged! The Word of God is Powerful and He is in charge, no matter what!!! Let us know if you received this letter and thank you all so much for everything you do for Missions and Paraguay and for all your prayers…We couldn’t do this without you!🤗🌎
We are praying for you and love and miss you! Stay safe and healthy and close to Jesus! 💛🙏
A big hug from both of us!  Robert and Joy.💕