Lisa And Abel Guillen

Dear Friends,

Well… we're halfway through 2007 already and it's time to catch you up on what's been going on here in Paraguay…

The most exciting news is the arrival of Daniela Nicole, on the 27th March, weighing 6lbs 4oz. After a really lovely pregnancy and a 'really-not-too-bad' birth, we see that God's blessing on our family continues as our beautiful daughter grows and develops at an amazing rate. She delights us by waking up in the morning with a gummy grin, and chats away (well, coos really) while we have our breakfast. Please pray that God will help Daniela adapt to her new routine as Lisa goes back to work, and continue to keep her in excellent health, especially during the cold weather that we are experiencing at the moment.

Lisa has come to the end of her maternity leave with mixed feelings. She really wants to stay at home with Daniela, but at the same time is looking forward to seeing her colleagues and students at school. The school has been really supportive of Lisa in her new role as a mother, and have arranged her timetable to enable her to be in school for the least time possible, teaching a total of eight hours a week. Please pray that God will give Lisa wisdom and energy to balance both roles and be both the mother that God wants for Daniela and also the teacher that He wants for the students in San Andrés.

Abel is settling into his role as 'Super Daddy' with delight, and is juggling a hectic work schedule with his ministry with the young musicians at church and still has time to play 'peek-a-boo' with Daniela. His recovery from dengue fever (a not-very-nice tropical disease which wiped us both out for a couple of weeks back in April, but thankfully didn't affect Daniela) is not yet complete, so he finds all this quite exhausting sometimes, but Daniela saves her sloppiest kisses for him, which makes it all worthwhile! Please pray that God will restore Abel to full health and give him a double portion of energy to manage all the different responsibilities that he has.

Lisa and Abel continue to work with the young people at Vida Nueva church. Although Lisa has taken a step back from the ministry since the birth of Daniela, she supports Abel in his work with the group of young musicians that he has in his care. The group is growing and so far this year has seen several younger musicians join the group and some of the older ones leave as they start university. The group is now regularly ministering on Sunday in the main church service now, as well as the youth services on Saturdays. This is a reflection of their increasing maturity, both as worship ministers and musicians. There have been hard moments too so far this year, as the teen years are not easy ones and a dose of 'teen drama' is never far away! Please pray that God will bring to light the issues that He wants to deal with, and that He will give us wisdom in the process.

After almost four years of paper-chasing and passport-sized photos starting at the Paraguayan embassy in London and continuing here in Paraguay, Lisa's Paraguayan documentation has finally come through. The first week of her maternity leave was rather manic, as her permanent residency was approved at the end of February with a time limit on how long she could take in processing the next phase! As Lisa went from one government ministry to the next, God went before her opening doors and softening hearts where needed. Documents were issued on the spot where they normally take a week or more, and Lisa was ushered to the front of several queues as people saw her sizeable bump! Gaining permanent residency has been a difficult process, which has caused Lisa to lose her patience on more than one occasion, but it has been a time of growth for her. It is not easy to wait on God's timing even when we know that He is in control, and Lisa has seen Him work on her impatient character through this process. But we learnt that when it is God's time, doors fling open before you. A four year process, where it had seemed that we had reached a dead-end, was completed in just one week… So now we can start on Abel's documents for the UK!

Since the last letter we wrote we have moved into a little cottage, and as the move took place a week before Daniela was born, we really saw the amazing friends that we are blessed with! Lisa was able to orchestrate the entire move while Abel and a taskforce of family and friends did all the work! We are now about to move for a second time, as Abel's mum has recently started chemotherapy for leukemia. Although it will not always be easy, we are sure that moving in with Abel's parents in order to take care of them is the right thing to do. Our plan is to live with them for the next 18 months, and then another family member will be able to take over from us when we move to England. Please pray that God's hand will be on Doña Mili as she undergoes her treatment, and pray that we will keep God at the centre of everything that we do, and that these new living arrangements will not be a cause of stress for us as a family.

We also have some exciting plans for the more immediate future, as we will be visiting England at the end of this year. Daniela is very excited about meeting her Nanny and Grandad, along with her Great Nan and a host of uncles and aunties. We are looking forward to seeing you all so much, as we have missed you a lot since our last visit at Christmas 2004. The lovely long Paraguayan summer holidays mean that we will have two months to catch up with family and friends, as well as check out long-term prospects in England. Please pray that we will be able to really make the most of this time and also that God will speak to us clearly about our future while we are there.

Thank you so much for your continuing support, prayers, postcards and love. We can't wait to see you in December. May God bless you, keep you in good health and prosper you in all you do.

Lots and lots of love,
Abel, Lisa and Daniela xxx