Bill & Sandy Stevener Su Refugio - Paraguay

May  6,  2014  

Our  Current  Status  At  the  moment,  we  are  living  in  an  apartment  at  Su  Refugio,   but   we   are   preparing   to   return   to   Costa  Rica  on  Thursday  May  8  and  then  back  to  Paraguay  on  June  1.  Our  iniIal  plan  was  to  be  in  Costa  Rica  through  the  end  of  May  but  things  changed  when  Bill  stayed  in  Paraguay  aKer  aLending  the  opening  of  the  Center  of  Hope.  We  are  going  back  to  Costa  Rica  for  some  final  tutoring  before  returning  to  Paraguay  in  June.  We   are   sIll   waiIng   for   the   documents   to   be  corrected   on   the   land  we  want   to   buy.   Should   be  soon   and   then   we   can   start   construcIon   on   our  house.  

What  Your  Support  Is  Accomplishing…  • We  bought  16  addiIonal  sets  of  sheets  for  the  girls  (some  had  been  using  the  same  sheets  daily  for  3+  years).  • We  bought  10  Bibles  for  the  youth  pastor  to  offer  to  the  youth  at  a  reduced  rate.  • We  bought   sheets   for   the  beds   visitors   use  when  they  serve  at  Su  Refugio  • We  hosted   an   “asado”   (like   a   BBQ   dinner)   for   18  people  to  celebrate  Sandy’s  arrival  • We  bought  MANY  bins   to  help  sort  material,  yarn  and  sewing  supplies  in  the  Center  of  Hope  • We  will   buy  more   tutoring   for   Sandy,   helping   her  learn  detailed  vocabulary  in  various  topics  (sewing,  kni[ng,  cooking,  hair  cu[ng,  etc)  

The  English  Academy        English  classes  started  on  March  8  and  conInue!  We  have  about  18-­‐20  regular  students  plus  we  are  tutoring  some  people  that  cannot  come  on  Saturdays.  Our  three  TEFL-­‐cerIfied  teachers  meet  each  Friday  to  review  lesson  plans  so  that  all  are  in  sync  with  what  they  are  teaching,  and  then  debrief  each  Saturday  aKer  class.  

News  at  the  Center  of  Hope  –  El  Centro  de  Esperanza  

In  these  photos,  Kendra  is  evaluaIng  a  student’s  level                  of  English  and  showing  a                  movie  to  teach  colors  to                  the  class.  

Our  First  Class  for  Women:  Kni<ng!  

In   our   conInuing   effort   to  provide  skills  for   local  women  to  help   support   their   families,   our  first  kni[ng  class  is  scheduled  to  start   on   Saturday,   May   17.   A  woman  who  knits  for  a  living  has  agreed  to  teach  what  she  knows  in  a  series  of  five  classes.  We  will  use  donated  yarn  and  needles.  

What have YOU done? We want to show examples of what your donations for us and Su Refugio have accomplished...

1) go to www.uwm.org 2) click on GIVE you can mail a check to the address shown, or use a credit card… 3) click on GIVE ONLINE (for credit cards) 4) under Designation, select Missionary 5) below Missionary, scroll down and select Stevener, Bill & Sandy – 27668 6) to the right, in the amount area, enter how much you want to spend on the bins 7) click “Add” to finish this part of the form 8) continue to fill out the rest form (name, address, credit card info, etc)

Remember our call for donations to buy bins so we could sort and organize the material and supplies that had been donated? Here are some before and after pictures of the material in suitcases, empty boxes, and empty shelves. WITH YOUR DONATIONS we were able to buy all the bins we needed and Sandy and another “tia” sorted and filtered the donations so now we know what we have and can easily find what we need! THANK YOU!

How to give… Pastor Luis and the 10 bibles YOU bought for his youth ministry!

What we’re doing… BILL: Providing logistics for the Center of Hope and coordinating maintenance around the facilities.

SANDY: Helping to prepare food in the comedor and adapting to life in Paraguay!