Andy and Lizet Bowen

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.