June 2026

“Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Joshuah 24:14-15

When we arrived in Paraguay, we knew God had called us to serve and support the roles of local pastors. While we felt like we had a good understanding of how exactly we would do that, but God had something more in store! As we have served in Paraguay now for two years, we have seen that in order to aid in sending men and women into the ministry we need to start with helping them understand that the base is a strong church. As we talked with Pastors and ministry leaders in Paraguay, we quickly learned that the greatest need they have as leaders is help in teaching what biblical families look like. With this in mind we began discussing how “Strong Families make Strong Churches” and how we can partner with local churches to speak to these themes.

As we began studying this theme we quickly realized that it wasn’t going to be a quick study. We needed to start at the beginning: The importance of every believer in the church. Then we can discuss how the marriage relationship affects the church, and lastly how the family affects the church. Our first conference was titled “I have purpose in the Church.”

Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday we had open meetings where I (Jared) spoken on: Our purpose as a Body from Romans 12, Obedience to Authority Hebrews 13:17, and Aligning my priorities with those of God’s (Finances) Matthew 6:24. Tuesday I met with the men and we talked about the spiral of the sin of David. Kathleen shared with the ladies on Thursday about selfless service in the local church.

The amount and content of conversations that came from these meetings was truly a blessing. Each meal we were invited to throughout the week was purposed by those who invited us to discuss the themes from the conference that the wanted more clarity and help on. Really, it was such an exciting time for us to be able to dedicate one week to the ministry in Encarnacion and to be used by God in this way. Will you continue to pray for these young couples as they follow the Lord in obedience to His Word.

Looking back over the last two years seeing all that the Lord has done is truly humbling. Kathleen and I have had many conversations the last few weeks about just how blessed we are to serve the Lord to the people of Paraguay. We are also blessed to look out and see all that the Lord has done in the lives of our children. Starting off dear in headlights just trying to learn the language, to making friends and sharing the gospel.

We want to thank each of you for your faithfulness in love, encouragement, and support as we serve the people of Paraguay. We know that this ministry does not exist without strong churches who faithfully pray for the ministry. We want to thank you for praying for the people of Paraguay, for praying for us as a family, and for praying how you can serve the people of Paraguay alongside us in the ministry.

Jaha Paraguay Pe!

The Loucks Family