On Friday, July 10th, Diane and I are off to the Mennonite World Conference gathering in Paraguay. For those of you who don't know, this happens about once every 6 years. It was last held in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe (2003), and previous to that in India (1997). The one previous to that is the only one Diane and I have ever attended - Winnipeg 1990.
We look forward to meeting many old and new friends; old friends from our connections across the Mennonite Church over the many years, and new friends as God gives opportunity to build relationships with some of the almost 6,000 people who will gather. I understand that there are 7 people going from my congregation alone (Sherbrooke Mennonite Church in Vancouver), although some of these have roots in Paraguay and are also taking opportunity to "go home".
I don't know what opportunities I will have to get on the internet, but if I do, I hope to send some updates as we go along. We are part of a tour group. We start in Iguazzu Falls, Brazil, arriving on July 11th. We will take a bus from there to Asuncion, Paraguay, visiting Mennonite colonies along the way (Apparently these folks have developed amazing dairy operations, and supply a good portion of the milk for the whole country). The conference is from July 14th to 19th. After that we will go to Menno Colony and stay in the community of Loma Plata. There are several friends who are formerly from Sherbrooke Church who live there, and we already have plans to meet them. On July 22nd we return to Asuncion, and on the 23rd, Diane I go our separate ways from the tour group.
We are making a 3-day visit to Brazil. Our main interest is to go to Curitiba, where friends from Sherbrooke Church have roots. We have already hooked up with a sister of one of our friends who is a travel agent there. She has set up our travel itinerary, and the bonus is that we get to also stay with her family.
We arrive home in Vancouver on July 27th.
Talk to you from out there.
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