Day 11: Goodbye Leda, Hello San Alberto
Dear Readers can you believe it? We have already reached our last day in Leda. It’s bittersweet leaving but, this day was quite memorable as we could finally go fishing on the Paraguay river. Our group was bursting from excitement, we were ambitious and supportive of each other. We had the incredible opportunity to use The True World Marine, the boat Rev. Moon designed, giving us even more room to inherit his spirit as we went fishing on the wide river.
Rapidly distancing ourselves from the shore we glanced at the dark horizon and we knew rough waters were coming. The calm river became more violent as the storm caught up to us and The True World Marine started swaying making it difficult to keep our balance. Nonetheless we were not giving up, our eyes pierced with determination and we continued fishing unfazed by the rain or strong wind. Our patience and endurance beared fruit in the end as we went back to the farm with a bucket of piranhas, catfish and other species of fish.
In the afternoon we went pacu fishing at one of the ponds in Leda. Strong arms were very much needed to bring in these huge fish. The shiny scales of the pacu sparkled in the bright sun as we tried to lift them out of the water using our fishing rods.
The morning of our departure arrived way too soon and sadly, we had to say goodbye to this mesmerizing Garden of Eden. We had a short stay but packed with love and care from the Japanese missionaries, beauty and adventure from nature, enthusiasm and plenty of awesome experiences.
Janelle Gimay, a 2nd-year participant, shared a few words about her experience in Leda, “Despite our first eventful days in Paraguay, I only started making a deeper connection by heart during my time in Leda. From learning about its history of missionary work and getting to personally experience the nature and the residents, I was able to gain a deeper understanding of God's heart for humanity and the natural creation.
As our boat headed out we took a last look at this beautiful land of Leda, shining in the morning sunrise. Our group is on their way to San Alberto, until then many hours of traveling is awaiting us.
Bus rides can pass by without not so much happening but we practiced taking ownership by making our own schedule for the rest of the trip, therefore there was no time being bored. We spent our time studying the Divine Principle, giving lectures and discussing, we also participated in guided reflection, singing practice and giving our testimonies to each other.
Arriving to San Alberto Mr. Nakata and his wife warmly greeted us at our hotel. After settling down we took a short walk to the nearby center and with a delicious welcoming dinner Mr. Nakata talked about his vision for this town, his plan and shared how are we going to contribute for this vision. We will visit villages of the guarani people and do service projects and connect to the community.
Filled with experiences from Leda we are looking forward to these next five days in San Alberto to apply what we learned so far and we are preparing our hearts to serve this community sincerely. Stay tuned for our next adventure!
Generation Peace Academy
Dori Takacs
Blogger, Paraguay