Andy and Lizet Bowen
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We both grew up in families that loved and served Jesus. Lizet was born in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, where her parents pastored in local churches and taught at a Bible institute. Her parents were sent as missionaries to Paraguay when she was a teenager. I (Andy) was born at Tenwek Hospital in Kenya, where my parents worked for 30 years as missionaries.
We both believed in Jesus from a young age and sensed a call to Christian service. Following studies at Asbury University (Kentucky), I was sent as a missionary to Paraguay by WGM. Returning there for a second term following graduate school studies, I met Lizet. We were married in Asunción, Paraguay, in 2002.
We began the Guarani-Jopara Institute for Missionaries in 1999 to help missionaries learn Guarani, the heart language of over 80 percent of Paraguayans. We have also been involved in one-on-one discipleship and using biblical storying methods to teach Scripture to Paraguayans.
Our three sons—Lucas, Timothy, and Joseph—were all born in Asunción, Paraguay.