Diaconía is an organization that currently serves as our local partner in Paraguay. Together, we seek to empower women to flourish in all areas of life – economically, relationally and spiritually. Antonia joined one of Diaconía’s very first trust groups more than 12 years ago with a friend in her community. At the time, she had only one small table top sewing machine and was making jackets to sell at a local market.
She took out her first loan for approximately $60, sold her small machine, and bought a larger industrial sewing machine. Five years later, Antonia began working with a chain of supermarkets in Paraguay providing clothing to sell in their store locations. Over the years, she has made several different clothing items for the store. Currently, she is dedicated to making pajamas and nightgowns.
Antonia also makes scrubs for medical professionals. While visiting Diaconía, one medical student asked her to make him personalized scrubs for his upcoming residency.
“I’m so excited that my product was taken to another country thanks to the opportunity that Diaconía gave me,” Antonia commented. “I always tell the other women in my group to persevere in what they start because that’s how we get ahead and it’s a beautiful thing. I may not have a big workshop, but I dream with my eyes open!”
With the help of a micro-loan, Antonia has already fulfilled so many of her dreams. She expanded her sewing workshop, put her son through university and built a small roofed area off of her house where she can provide meals for the children in her neighborhood despite her own needs. Through Diaconía’s chaplaincy program, Antonia also had the opportunity to hear about the love of God and be mentored and encouraged one-on-one and in a group setting.
Antonia’s generosity has inspired a pay-it-forward movement in her community, in the Diaconía team, and, we hope, in the lives of each one of our readers and friends all over the world.
It’s amazing the change we can make in the lives around us when we take on a spirit of gratitude and turn it into outward generosity. We continue to thank God for our incredible team, the health and protection He grants us every day and the humbling work He has entrusted to us.
Anastasia, 75, is a housewife in Concepción, Paraguay who lives from monthly government pensions. She dreamed of saving money to purchase a large rustic table to both feed her family and provide meals for the low-income children in her community.
Early this year, Anastasia heard about the opportunity to join a Savings Group in her church. In these groups, communities learn how to save and manage their money as well as how to borrow and lend money from one another.
“I was excited about this because I had never dreamed of having my own savings before in my life,” she said.
While her monthly government pensions were not much, she set aside a little each month to contribute to the Savings Group. Even when her pension payments did not come in time, Anastasia showed her commitment to the group by selling a few of her chickens so that she was still able to contribute and keep saving.
One month ago, Anastasia’s group completed their first savings cycle, and she was able to achieve her goal with the money she saved. She bought the table of her dreams!
Thanks to her Savings Group, Anastasia enjoys meals with her family and shows the children in her community the love of God through the food she provides. With a joyful heart, she now encourages other people in her community to start new savings cycles, invest in themselves and their community and work hard to achieve their dreams.
Meet Miriam Segovia, a manicurist and merchant in Paraguay. For a year she has been taking out loans with Diaconia and using them to buy materials and products for her business. She is also part of a Trust Group, led by her chaplain, Miguela, where she receives encouragement and support through the ups and downs of life.
After being with Diaconia for only a few months, Miriam was confronted with an alarming setback. She started to feel immense pain in her heel.
“I asked my daughter to check it . . . we were surprised to discover that I had a glass stuck in my foot,” Miriam said.
They went to the hospital but the situation quickly took a turn for the worse. The infection spread and her foot refused to heal, forcing Miriam to stay in the hospital for over a month. One day, she thought of her chaplain Miguela and decided to reach out to her. Miguela came right away to visit along with a group of other chaplains who took time to pray for Miriam.
“When I was discharged, the doctors forbade me to walk to prevent the wound getting worse,” Miriam said. “So the chaplains filled out an application and I received a wheelchair from Diaconia to be able to move around.”
When Miguela’s church heard about Miriam’s condition, they began to pray for her and the pastor paid her a visit. Sometime later, and to many people’s astonishment, the wound began to miraculously heal! The doctors were shocked because the only solution had been to amputate her foot. After eight months, Miriam was able to wear shoes again.
Miriam’s healing has brought immense joy to her life! This joy has not only rippled out and touched the lives of her family, but has given her a beautiful story to share with everyone she meets. Her experience serves as a profound reminder of the deep need we have for our communities to surround us and support us in our moment of weakness.
Miguela is one of the incredible chaplains that volunteers with Diaconía, GAiN’s partner organization in Paraguay. The chaplaincy program is designed to provide spiritual support and leadership to female clients who are enrolled in Diaconia’s microfinancing program. By meeting with these clients in both a Trust Group and one-on-one setting, Miguela encourages them that they are loved.
However, her journey as a chaplain hasn’t always been easy.
“When I became a chaplain at Diaconía, I was going through very painful processes in my personal life,” Miguela explained. “My marriage was struggling and my mother had recently passed away.”
Despite these personal hardships, Miguela still wanted to serve the women of Diaconía and walk alongside them as a source of mentorship and companionship.
“When I started going to the Trust Groups with the women, I felt a lot of empathy because they all go through different, difficult situations,” she said.
Although Miguela could emotionally connect with the women right away, she wasn’t able to engage the group on the spiritual level.
“The first group I went to was very reluctant to listen to me and, for a while, I wanted to give up…,” she shared.
Miguela’s perspective was transformed one day when she received a call from one of the group members, Miriam, who asked her to come and pray for her in person. This unexpected breakthrough in a time of disappointment and doubt served to majorly bolster Miguela’s faith.
“This filled my life with hope and once again I realized that God works even when we cannot see,” Miguela shared. “He makes a way even when all we can see is wilderness.”
Currently, there are 211 chaplains volunteering their time with Diaconía. Because of their steadfast and prayerful commitment to the women in their Trust Group, many of these women’s lives are being impacted. Miguela’s story is a powerful reminder that we will face trials and hardship, but we will never go through it alone. Even in moments of doubt, God already has an active hand in the lives of the women in Paraguay.
A summary of our Economic Empowerment fundraisers in Alberta and BC
Over the past month, our GAiN team hosted several fundraising events showcasing our Economic Empowerment strategy in both Alberta and BC. Our guest speaker, Adela Braun, came from Paraguay to share at these events and give first-hand insight to the transformative work that is going on in Paraguay through our partner, Diaconia.
Adela and our team presented on the mission of GAiN’s Economic Empowerment in several unique settings, including a charcuterie evening, craft evening, breakfast and dessert fundraiser, and a yacht cruise. The people that attended each event were full of warmth and curiosity and asked many insightful questions.
Every event included an overview of who GAiN is and our mission, an interactive activity to help people better understand the concept of microfinance, an interview with Adela to hear a few stories as well as time for a local guest speaker to share about their experience as an entrepreneur.
One of the attendees shared, “The activity (game with the boards) at the beginning was really good. Most understand microlending but the game made it more visual and the perfect relaxed way to start the night.“
Monique Lieuwen, Program Manager of GAiN’s Water for Life Initiative and one of the coordinators of the events commented, “The events were so encouraging and incredible to be a part of! It was exciting to have new audiences come and hear about the ministry.”
Our team is full of anticipation for the direction that God is leading GAiN. We are hopeful that through the awareness and support raised by these fundraisers, the mission to empower women living in generational poverty will continue to expand and grow.
When COVID hit Paraguay, the country’s strict lockdown measures meant that many small businesses suffered, resulting in many families struggling to get enough food to eat each day. As a result, GAiN’s local partners Diaconia and Jesus Responde are running soup kitchens to help.
Margarita R. is a chaplain for Diaconia. She meets with trust groups, specifically to share God’s word, encourage women in the trust groups and pray for them. This was needed more than ever, as a lot of these women were desperate to provide for their families. Below is her story about how she was able to walk alongside a woman who had experienced a series of tragic events.
“I contacted the president of a trust group called San Vincente and asked the leader for permission to visit the soup kitchen so I could pray for her and her family. She accepted without hesitation.
One day, I was visiting a woman named Zunilda and she shared her very painful past. She lost her daughter-in-law in a motorcycle accident, and then three months later, her daughter and her husband also got into an accident, which left her husband fighting for his life. Thankfully, after a long treatment, her daughter recovered completely.
I followed up with Zunilda once a week to pray, encourage her and her family, and share the Word of God with them. The last time that I visited, she told me about a recent tragedy with her nephew. He was hit by a car after chasing a soccer ball that went into the street.
Through text messages, I chatted with her and encouraged her to not distance herself from God, but to rest in Him. I explained how we are able to do this, and every week I continue to pray with her and her daughter. I make sure to continue to share encouraging devotionals with them.
The family was filled with anxious worry about the nephew’s recovery. It’s at times like these that they say they are very thankful for the prayers and support they receive from Diaconia.
I was encouraged when Zunilda told me that she is drawing closer to God again. Thanks to Him, she says, her six-year-old nephew is now much better and has returned home from the hospital.”
Your support has helped provide not just physical nourishment, but emotional and spiritual support for women and families that are struggling during this pandemic. Thank you for helping reveal hope and restore life during these uncertain times. Your help is making a huge impact.
To prevent the spread of COVID-19, the country of Paraguay immediately imposed a strict lockdown and managed to keep their cases low. Unfortunately, this put limitations and restrictions on people’s ability to work, worsening the situation for those already living day-to-day and experiencing food insecurity.
Diaconia, Global Aid Network (GAiN)’s Paraguayan partner, was unable to run trust groups due to a ban on public gatherings. Because of strict curfews and other restrictions, many of their clients’ businesses were impacted.
To help alleviate the stress of food insecurity for their clients’ families and others, Diaconia teamed up with Jesus Responde to run soup kitchens in multiple different communities. There are currently 49 active soup kitchens, reaching over 8,500 people.
Gloria Q., an employee of Diaconia, shared the impact that the soup kitchens are having in the communities, as well as the hearts and sacrifice of the women who are serving.
“I have had the opportunity and great pleasure of being able to spend a morning with several [Diaconia] clients who are running one of the soup kitchens. Having someone visit from the organization brings so much joy to the community and they are always very thankful for the both the material and moral support that they receive from Diaconia.
The women commented happily about their day-to-day experiences cooking for so many people in need. They are in a large squatter village and can’t serve every person but are very thankful to be able to reach so many families.
As they showed me their cooking space, I noticed that they had all of their utensils sanitized and clean and several families had brought firewood so that it would be enough when it came time to cook.
While their cooking space is a bit precarious, the women are not discouraged thanks to their positive attitudes and enthusiasm. They have notebooks where they record the quantity of people that attend every day and a small bank for those who wanted to contribute even the smallest coins to purchase meat for the next day.
Many of them work in recycling and have found themselves out of work temporarily.
Miriam, who is a Diaconía client, and Rosa, who is the owner of the house where they cook, are both Christians and are very grateful for the opportunity to share what God is doing in that place.
Every day, they ask the people attending to form a line where they will retrieve their food and, before serving, they share a Bible verse and pray for the needs that they express at that time.
Now, they don’t even have to ask for prayer requests, the people they serve make sure to remind them that it’s time to pray and most of all they look forward to the time of prayer before the food is served.
Rosa even commented that some people have shown up to leave a small piece of paper that has their prayer requests on the days that the soup kitchen doesn’t serve meals.
These women expressed how God works to not only provide supplies and materials, but also works spiritually and how he can change perspectives and mindsets when families hear His Word. Some, maybe only a few, but not any less important, are conscious that if they have even something small to eat at home, they don’t attend the soup kitchen so that those who need it most are able to eat, despite not having enough for themselves.
Some days, they play games and sing Christian songs with the children that come. If they show up early and the food isn’t ready yet, they take advantage of the time to have some fun with the younger kids. And then, after the meal, they go home even more joyful.
After spending a wonderful morning with the women of this soup kitchen, we had a time of prayer—thanking God for His mercy, asking Him to keep transforming hearts through this activity, and for taking care of each person who is exposed daily to COVID-19.
This was such a beautiful experience for me and filled me with such a feeling of satisfaction and, more importantly, joy. I thank God for each one of the women working in the soup kitchens that each and every day are willing and ready to serve their community without expecting anything in return.”
In the city of San Antonio, Paraguay, resident Maria Liz meets regularly with a group of women – all budding or aspiring entrepreneurs. This group is one of many trust groups formed through Diaconia, Global Aid Network’s in-country partner in Paraguay that provides micro-loans and business training to poverty-stricken women. As recipients of micro-loans, these women gather weekly to encourage and hold each other financially accountable to repay their loans.
This particular group calls themselves Valuable Women.
“I heard about Diaconia through a radio station and called their office and that was how, together with a group of women from my neighbourhood, we were able to receive microloans,” said Maria. “We heard about the vocational trainings offered and I immediately took the opportunity.”
Maria attended a crafts workshop, learning specifically how to make embroidered slippers.
“I learned a lot. It gave me a solid income and I have sold a lot of these slippers since then. I am so grateful to Diaconia for creating a place for opportunity and growth for me and many other women in my community.”
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“I struggled to live. I had no money in my wallet.”
Lucia, a resident of Mariano Roque Alonso, is a mother of two, Eladio, 7, and Mia, 6. Her husband lives with her and the kids, but she still carries the burden to provide for her family.
Before she heard about Diaconia, Lucia worked as a manicurist and struggled to make a living. With no money for training, her opportunity for growth was stunted. Her life changed when she heard about Diaconia through her son’s school, where they were promoting free vocational training. Lucia signed up to learn hairdressing and makeup. During her training, her teacher Lorena saw great potential in Lucia and invited her to work at her hair salon.
Today, Lucia has her own small business that has been growing and thriving. This past year, she was able to purchase a small car, which has helped her to be more effective in her work. Never did she imagine that she would ever drive a car, when all she could do before was yearn for a safer way to transport her little children.
Survival is not the goal for Lucia and her family anymore. While she has a growing client base, she dreams of owning her own hairdressing shop where clients can come to her. “I am so thankful for the opportunities that I have access to thanks to Diaconia. It literally changed me and my family’s lives.”
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Maria Carmen, 37, is the mother of three children (a 12-year-old girl, nine-year-old boy and one-year-old boy). Every day she leaves the home before 4 am to collect and recycle trash, leaving her kids with her mother.
When she gets back to the house at around noon, she spends the afternoon cooking food, such as empanadas, milanesas and sandwiches, to sell to her community. Maria doesn’t work out of a building, she goes out on the street to sell her food.
Maria is part of the Diaconia Trust Group called “Jesus Misericordioso”, which means “merciful Jesus.” She learned about this Trust Group through her sister, who was in the group before her and encouraged her to join. Maria Carmen says, “I have been in Diaconia almost four years and I want to continue. I am so thankful for all the help I have received.”
The Diaconia program has helped encourage her to dream big about the future of her business.
“Thanks to [a micro-loan] I am able to grow my business and aim to open my little restaurant locally – that is my dream,” shared Maria Carmen.
The Jesus Misericordioso Trust Group consists of 15 women who live in a squatter zone. Most of them have similar stories to Maria, some of them working through the night collecting and recycling trash.
“[The trust group] has helped me at so many levels,” shares Maria. “I have grown financially and spiritually through our chaplain’s visits. It is really true that we are stronger together.”