Andrés and Bethany Donahue

Andrés

I grew up as a missionary kid in South America. I was born in Costa Rica and then lived in Bolivia until the age of seven. The summer before third grade, my family transitioned to serve in Paraguay. While this transition was difficult at first, I eventually grew to love the Paraguayan people and culture and to consider it home.

Upon high school graduation, I came to the U.S. for college, but didn’t sense that God was completely done with me in Paraguay. However, it was important that my calling be my own and not an attempt to replicate my childhood. The Lord gave me this affirmation through a couple of trips I was able to take back to Paraguay.

Bethany

I grew up in Southern California in a committed, Christian home. My parents supported missionaries and hosted them in our home while I was growing up. At a young age, the Lord placed an interest in missions in me. But when I left home to attend Asbury University, I was not yet sure I was called to serve full time.

During my college years, I became involved on the student leadership team at World Gospel Mission’s student center on Asbury’s campus where we helped plan a weekly missions worship service. Again and again, I heard stories of missionaries saying yes to God’s calling and serving around the world. It was primarily through these services that I sensed and said yes to a calling in missions.

Life together

We got married in November of 2021. Several months later, we had the opportunity to co-lead a team of Asbury students on a trip to Paraguay. On this trip, we got to join missionaries and pastors in sharing the good news of Jesus in various First Nations (indigenous) communities. Some of them heard about and received Jesus for the very first time! Throughout this trip, it was evident that “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few” (Luke 10:2) in Paraguay.

After, we sensed that God was calling us to join in the work He was already doing to reach the unreached of Paraguay. We plan to be involved with both discipleship ministry with believers in Paraguay and evangelism in First Nations communities.

A big focus of our first term will be learning Guaraní, the heart language of Paraguayans. Guaraní is also an essential tool for reaching unreached people in Paraguay, as it is the primary language spoken by many First Nations communities.