What's going to happen...

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I had lunch today with one of the guys who's asked to move in.  I was thinking that I'd tell him he needed to wait another month before moving in...even if I had to help pay for his rent...while I thought and prayed about this a bit more.  But the conversation went well, and some of the concerns and questions I had were answered.  I talked to the guys here at the house about the situation, and we agreed that he should be given an opportunity.  So he'll be moving in tomorrow.  It seems that he understands his mistakes and is trying to make some changes.  So...I guess we'll see.


This probably means I'll let the other fellow move in as well.  As I said, his situation is fairly serious too.  And as the saying goes...in for a dime, in for a dollar.  Or something like that... =)  Or maybe it’s something about falling into the deep end of the pool...

At any rate, when I last spoke to this other fellow, he was pretty emotional (very unusual for him) and as we prayed together, he was crying a lot.  I'm actually more confident about this guy.  He tends to be a bit of a follower, and that's gotten him in most of his trouble.  He comes from a very poor home, and I think he's embarrassed by that.  He ends up over-compensating and going along with just about anyone who says, “Let’s go do...” whatever.  But I think for the first time he’s realizing where that could lead him and what he could lose.

The other factor in all of this, is that by taking these two guys in, I will probably cause more problems with the home where I used to work (where these guys are from).  I’m not a part of that ministry anymore, and really have no connection with them...but there’s not too much doubt that this will ramp up the tensions that exist there.  That’s not at all what I want for sure.  But in the end, I have to do what I feel God is leading me to do.  Absolutely these guys have made mistakes.  But...we’ve all done that at some time or another.  They have no plans to return to the other home, and so I have to ask myself what’s best for them.  In my heart I believe that continuing to work with them is the right thing to do.  I guess we’ll see about that too... =)

So again, I would appreciate prayer regarding all of this.  I still need to figure out what to do with the other guys who want to stay here.  And the truth is, our resources are a little bit stretched at the moment.  So I need to take that into consideration as well.

It’s good to know that people back home are praying about this with us.  That’s encouraging!  If you have any thoughts or whatever, please let me know!

Well...I guess I should go figure out my financial stuff.  I'm backed up for about...oh, six months. 

That should be fun...

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A big prayer request...wrapped up in a novel...

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I’m facing a bit of a dilemma right now, and I could use some prayer.

A little background first of all.  While I was in Canada, one of the guys here decided to move in with family.  That was a good decision on his part.  He was making some bad choices and causing problems in the house...I was actually thinking I might have to ask him to leave.  In the end he recognized that the lifestyle he was leading was not going to be possible with us, and so he left.  We’ve maintained good ties with him and we continue to pray for him.  He’s come back for supper a couple of times, so that’s good.

One other fellow moved in with his family as well.  That was a better situation.  I would have enjoyed having this young guy continue with us, but living with his parents was not a bad choice.  Over the past year or so, he’d built a good relationship with them (after not really knowing them for most of his life) and felt like he wanted to be closer to them.  The only thing I’m a bit concerned about, is that he hasn't come to church since he left.  He has a girlfriend and a young son, and they were all coming to church each week.  I could really see God at work in them.  But since he left, he’s been working Sunday mornings, and we haven’t seen him.

The third situation was the most difficult.  We’ve known for awhile that someone was stealing in the house.  I was fairly sure it was one of the two guys who’d moved in recently (this past year).  We’d had no problems at all before that.  This caused a lot of stress for the rest of the guys.  Stealing was a bad problem in the home they came from, and to have it start up here was making them angry.  In the end there'd been enough things stolen, that we made the decision to ask a friend who’s a police officer, if he could help us out.  We told the guys what was going to happen, and that the guilty party had two more days to come clean.  It was a tough decision, but we couldn’t allow the situation to continue (at that point we’d lost close to $1000 worth of money and stuff).  No one confessed, but early in the morning of the last day, this young fellow took off (with a full backpack).

It was one of the saddest moments yet for me.  I really like this guy.  It sounds weird I know, but I truly think he has a good heart.  He just got caught up in temptation and his past.  The most interesting part of this story, however, is what God did in the midst of all of this.  That first night when I spoke to the guys and explained what was going to happen, one of the guys especially, was upset.  He was angry that, after everything the guys had received, someone was choosing to take more.

At the end of the meeting, I asked him to pray.  He started off kind of quietly, but as he prayed, he prayed more and more fervently and with a lot of emotion.  When we were finished, he came and talked to me.  His whole body was shaking, and he told me that he felt that the Holy Spirit had spoken to him, and that in the end, God would make everything clear and we would know what had happened.  I put my hand on his shoulder and said that, then we could have peace and know that God was going to deal with this.

After he left I was like, “Okay God...you need to deal with this!  We need to know!”  =)  I don’t know about you, but sometimes it’s can be a bit stressful when you go out on that limb of faith with a young Christian.  But I felt like it was the right thing to do.  Did I trust and believe that God had spoken to this fellow or not?

There was one other guy who was also especially upset.  He was pretty sceptical that we’d ever know who’d done this.  I’d talked and talked to the guys, and no one had come forward.  In the old home, no one was ever caught for stealing and the situations were never resolved.  So he was of the opinion that I was being a bit foolish in saying that this would be figured out.  The night before the guilty kid left, this guy was reading his Bible and praying.  He told me the next morning (before he knew what had happened) that, for the first time in a long time, he’d gone to bed feeling completely at peace.

So in the end, when we talked about all of this, I was able to point to specific moments when God was working, throughout the experience.  I explained to the guys that we were never alone, even in our anger and frustration.  It was cool to see how God...and really for one of the first times that they recognized...had spoke them in a powerful and direct way.

We also had the opportunity to talk about how we were going to respond to this...how important forgiveness was.  Not just for the kid who left, but for us as well.  I started to say that our things were not as important, and before I could finish one of the other guys said, “...as this guy’s life...”.

Exactly.

Interestingly enough...that got put to the test the next Sunday when our young friend who’d left, showed up in church...wearing all new clothes and a new pair of shoes.  We were all a little surprised to say the least.  =)  But the guys did great and talked to him as a friend.  I did sit down with him later and spoke to him fairly strongly about what he’d done.  I’m not completely sure it’s completely sunk in...what he’s lost.  We’ll continue to pray for him and work with him...but he won’t be able to live and study here.

Well...my “little background” turned into a bit of a novel.  Suffice to say that I now have three empty beds and five guys who want to move in.  I have to make some decisions in the next week or so...and it’s really tough.  What I choose is going to deeply affect the lives of each one of these guys.  A couple of the guys have made some bad choices in the recent past.  I can see the potential in them, but I’m not sure it’s fair to put the guys who are here at the house through another potentially difficult situation.  And yet...the situation for both these guys is serious.  If they don’t move in here, they’ll lose...well, everything.

One of the other guys is in another home, but his situation there is deteriorating as well.  The home isn’t that well run, and the other day two guys returned drunk (and probably high), picked a fight with him and broke his nose.

The last two guys are very deserving and I’d love to help them.  They can both probably survive on their own, but in jobs that they hate and that will, in the end, take them nowhere.

So...yea. I have no idea what to do.  Put up a tent in the backyard?  For sure I’d appreciate your prayers.  I need a lot of wisdom and discernment.  As well, if you could pray for these three young guys who’ve left us.  They all have great potential.  I know that God will continue to work in their live, but it’s going to be a difficult road.

Thanks everyone, for taking the time to read this. And as always, for praying.  I'll keep you updated on the situation...

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Ken's Home Movies - Part One: "Things that explode..."

When Bolivians celebrate Christmas, they do so a little more...enthusiastically?  That’s probably the best word.  There are, of course, similarities to our North American celebrations...Christmas Eve church services, a big Christmas dinner, visiting family, opening gifts...

Of course, one difference would be that their Christmas dinner is served at midnight on Christmas Eve and after that (around 2 AM or so) it’s off to visit family and friends for the rest of the night.  They also roast a big pig, rather than a turkey for the big meal.

Oh, and there’s one other difference.  They also fire off an insane amount of fireworks and fire crackers.  I remember driving home one night after Christmas dinner (at around 3 AM) and thinking it was like being in a war zone.  Explosions all around me and people firing Roman Candles at my truck as I drove by.  It was pretty entertaining.

That first Christmas in my house in El Torno (the little town in the country where I lived when I first came to Bolivia), I shared the experience with David and Rudy...the two guys who were staying with me.  Well...it was mostly David and I.  Rudy got up for about four minutes and then went back to bed.  David and I entertained ourselves for the better part of an hour.

What was funny, was that it was the first time firing off Bolivian style fireworks and firecrackers for both of us.  First time for me ‘cause...well, I’m Canadian and we’re (sadly) all about the safety.  First time for David because he grew up on the streets and didn’t exactly have the funds to go out and buy them.  He knew some of the pyrotechnics we used that night, but most of them were new to him too.

I came across some video the other day, that I’d saved on my computer.  It made me laugh.  So I put it together and it’s the first of my series of “Ken’s Home Movies...”.  The second installment will be...well, whenever I feel like making another one.  Could be tomorrow...could be in a couple of years. =)

I broke the video up into four parts to make it a little easier to upload to Youtube.  All together it’s about nine minutes long. It’s all mostly entertaining (to me anyhow...), but if you don’t feel like watching all of it...at least watch the last two.  They're the funniest...

Anyhow...here we go...

In Part Two I demostrate that I'm not always the best missionary ever.  I think I
was kind of bitter towards my neighbours that night...

I still laugh at my sound effects I used (and, ahem...still occasionally use...) when I didn't know the Spanish word.  If you listen, at the beginning of the video you hear me say, "Phishrt".  This is the universally accepted descriptive noise for the word "throw"...which is an important word to know when playing with things that explode.

Also...this is where we started blowing up bigger firecrackers and for some reason
I started saying "Holy cow" a lot.  I guess I felt the need to express myself...





Part Four makes me sound like a bit of an idiot. But it's also the funniest. For some reason my voice got really high and squeaky when I got excited. I'm sure it was the first and only time that happened...

That was a very fun night. In subsequent years, I learnt that if $12 buys you some pretty fun fireworks?  $30 takes it to a whole different level...

I love this country.

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Drivin' the bus...

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My friend Corina works with families who are trying to leave the streets. Once a month they hold a church service on a Friday night. The families really enjoy it, singing and learning and being able to spend time together as a group. The tough part comes when they try to head for home. Most of these families have young children and many have babies. On a good day, their bus ride home means well over an hour on two different buses. On a Friday evening, that ride can be even longer. To make the situation even more difficult, buses here often don’t stop for families. Only the adults have to pay, the children ride free, so bus drivers don’t think it’s worth their time or effort.

Corina wrote in one of her update letters that families often wait on the street for over an hour before a bus will stop to pick them up. Imagine having three or four young children (maybe a baby) and having to wait in the dark for over an hour for a bus.

When I read that (last April), I decided that I wanted to help out. Maybe this sounds strange (being that I’m a missionary and ministry is more or less what I do), but I felt like I wanted to volunteer my time somewhere. As well, when God gave me my truck (and a nice truck it is), I said that I wanted to be a blessing to others with it. So when I came back to Bolivia in August, I called Corina and offered to take people home after the church service.

All that to say...this has turned into quite a funny little adventure every month. I take my guys to youth group at our church, before I head over to El Jordan (Corina’s ministry) to pick up people there. I usually wait outside and I know exactly when church is finished, as a wave of little kids come running out of the building to pile into my truck. Last night I had fifteen people (adults and little kids) in the cab of my truck (it’s a double cab, but still...) with another fifteen to twenty people in the box. My poor truck felt like it was driving with the front two tires off the ground.

The first time I drove, I wasn’t really sure where I was going. The back window of my truck goes down, so opened it so people could give me directions. At every intersection or traffic circle I would yell (over the din of thirty some people laughing and talking), “Recto? (Straight?)” and everyone would yell back, “RECTO!” and then the little guy in the back seat who was just learning to talk would repeat, “Recto!” and everyone would laugh. It was pretty entertaining.

Since none of these people have a vehicle, and only take the bus when they travel, some of them get confused as to where they are when we’re driving in the truck. Last night all of a sudden someone started pounding on the roof of my truck...the not so subtle signal for me to stop. I carefully worked my way through the traffic to the curb to let them out. But by the time I got there, they’d realized we weren’t where they thought we were....and so they didn’t get out.

It was a bit confusing, as to what was happening. We were just sitting there. I was pretty sure the pounding on the roof of the truck meant stop. I think, in the end, the people were too embarrassed to acknowledge that they’d made a mistake, and so we just sat there until finally Grandma (in the cab with me) yelled and asked what was going on. There was a moment of silence and then everyone, on cue, yelled, “RECTO!” And off we went again.

At one traffic circle we stopped for a light...right alongside five or six cops who’d been directing traffic or something. I’m thinking there aren’t too many places on earth where you can pull up beside a group of police officers with thirty-some people in your truck, and not even warrant a glance from them. That made me smile.

Everyone was worried that I wouldn’t be able to find my way home (we were pretty far back into one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Santa Cruz). I assured them I’d be fine, and so with thirty or so handshakes and words of thanks, they continued home and I was left trying to decided if I really was fine. Since I’m writing this, obviously I was. But there were a few moments when I just kind of prayed and trusted that God was going to get me out. A couple of times a pillar of flame would have been nice...but in the end, I found my way out.

I really enjoy hanging out with these folks. They’re some of the friendliest and most encouraging people I know. Whenever teams come down from Canada, one of our days is spent dividing up into small groups and going to visit some of these families in their homes. It’s one of my favourite parts of the trip. When you hear their stories and understand where they’ve come from, you realize that their lives are another amazing demonstration of God’s grace and love.

If you have a moment, please pray for these families. It’s not easy for them. Many of the adults themselves, grew up on the streets and now they’re trying to learn how to be good parents for their kids.  There’s no end to the list of temptations and struggles they face.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and to pray. Come back tomorrow (Sunday) and I’ll have something new for you. It’s something I’m calling, “Ken’s Home Movies...”.

I know, I know....who wants to watch other people’s home movies. In my defence, however, at least my home movies involve natural disasters and things exploding...

Thanks again everyone!

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The little, blind nun lives...

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We have kind of a family joke in my house in Canada...anything ugly or obviously hand-made with very little skill, and someone invariably asks, “The little blind Nun make that?” My mom, who’s usually close at hand, just smiles and nods.

See, my mom used to go to these Foster Parent Association meetings at a convent somewhere in southern Saskatchewan. At that convent there lived a little...and mostly blind...nun who made things to sell to raise money for the convent. My mother, being who she is, got suckered into buying some of the funniest...and ugliest...handcrafted items currently available anywhere on the planet. I think my favourite was a plastic margarine lid...covered with some fairly horrendous fabric and lace...with a plastic toy deer and a plastic evergreen tree hot-glued to it.

I think it was supposed to be a Christmas ornament of some sort (maybe the evergreen tree?). And my mother, again being who she is, didn’t just throw it away as soon as she got home and out of sight of the little, blind nun (who, let’s be honest, wouldn’t have noticed if she’d tossed it the moment she bought it...you know...being blind and all). Nope, my mother dutifully placed that “Christmas ornament” out every Christmas I can remember. For all I know it’s probably still waiting to be carefully unwrapped (although for the life of me I can’t imagine how you damage the thing) and put out on display for the enjoyment of friends and family.

Why do I mention this piece of family history that doesn’t seem to have much to do with life in Bolivia? Well...here’s the thing. I seem to have inherited my mother’s ability to be suckered into buying random things from the proverbial “little, blind nun”.

I’ve learned to just try and stare straight ahead when asked to buy something that I don’t (or will ever) need, and to just say no.  I don’t know if that ever actually worked for those who were trying to say no to drugs.  All I know is, it sure as heck doesn’t work for me.

For example...last Friday I became the proud owner of a leather key chain..ie. a piece of old maybe some sort of leather-ish type material attached to a metal key ring. It likely cost the equivalent of two cents to make and was probably normally sold by the kid for twenty cents. I, on the other hand, paid his suggested price of three dollars.  That would be almost fifteen times the going rate. Well, actually not almost fifteen times the going rate, exactly fifteen times the going rate. The kid promptly packed up shop and went home for the day. He’d made his daily quota of key chain sales off one slightly soft in the head gringo.

To be clear...I didn’t actually go to him to buy that “key chain”. He came to me in a restaurant while I was eating. I want to make sure everyone understands I don’t go looking for opportunities to buy stuff I don’t (or will ever) need for fifteen times the going rate. I’m also the proud owner of two pirated (but of course, I was assured, DVD quality) movies that, if you squint and ignore the guy who keeps standing up in front of the other guy who’s videotaping the movie in some random (probably Canadian) theatre...you can kind of follow what’s going on. In my defence, the kid was cute...and a darn good salesman. He also came to my table in a restaurant.

On Saturday I ended up buying a CD from a guy of pretty much every Spanish Christian song ever written. It’s truly amazing how many songs can fit on one CD. Now if only it would work in the CD player in my truck. That guy knows me on sight (he works the place where I get my truck washed). I’m not at the car wash two minutes and he’s at my window with every Christian CD he has available.

I also have a little hand made...purse maybe? And an assortment of bracelets and necklaces I’ll never...ever...wear. Oh and a little bag of what I was told is some sort of medical tea to fix whatever ails you. Don’t worry...it’s not drugs. Well...at least as far as I know it's not drugs. I’m not about to drink it and find out.

The worst moment was when I went to the annual Christmas fair all the children’s homes put on every year, with things they’ve made to sell. Yea...I’ve never gone back. I appreciate the idea, but seriously, how many funny home-made items can my family really use for Christmas presents.

I did make one purchase I like though. I bought a Quechua bow and arrow set from a little old lady in the parking lot of our local market. It’s kind of cool, even though I’m pretty sure it’s not exactly what one would consider an accurate copy.

Oh well. I just tell myself that I’m doing my part to further the Bolivian economy. And I guess the main reason my mom bought all that stuff from the little, blind nun, is the same reason I end up buying all this stuff. It’s simple compassion, really. I’ve said this before, and I’m sure I’ll say it again...I don’t want to let myself become hardened to people’s needs and pain here. Trust me, it’s easy to do...those needs and that pain is everywhere. I understand I can’t say yes to every person out there who tries to sell me whatever funny little thing they have for sale. But at the same time, I want to have a heart that doesn’t automatically dismiss them.

That “leather” key chain? One of the guys saw it on my desk and asked where I got it. He laughed himself silly when I told him. So then I told him he could have it and he laughed some more. But then yesterday I saw his keys and...there it was. Ha ha...I’m sharing the love.

My mom would be so proud...

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An update on the girl's home...

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This is the e-mail Marcee just sent out regarding the future of the girl's home, Cristo Viene Ninas...


I've been advised that the girls and staff can stay on the property until December 15th. This allows the girls to finish their school year and gives us three more months to create a Plan B. 

At this point, I understand that the NACER homes director, Miguel Zuchetti, wants to stick with the plan and not begin construction until next year. This means that we are looking to the government to grant us another confiscated property for our use until the new home is built. 

As a result of the uncertainty, a few girls have ran away from the home. Please pray for Celia, Juana, and More. Pray for the all the girls as it is extremely unsettling to have all that is familiar to you be threatened and unstable. Pray for all the staff and give thanks for their steady presence. Praise God for this grace period that is certainly the result of all the prayers that have been said.

 
Thanks for praying everyone, and please continue to do so.  As Marcee wrote, these kinds of things are difficult at the best of times, and even more so for these girls who've lived a life of uncertainty and instability.  As well, please pray for wisdom and compassion for those who will choose the property the girls will use until the new home can be built.  Past experience would suggest that it might not be a very nice place.  Obviously God is at work though.  This grace period is definitely from Him. 

I'll continue to let you know more details as I hear them.  Thanks again for praying!

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Cultural moments...

      
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Sometimes culture makes me laugh. Sunday night was a good example. If you remember (or if you don’t, just read the previous post) one of the guys here, Ruddy, asked if I would talk to his older brother about his drinking problem. It’s gotten way out of hand and is badly affecting the rest of the family, not to mention this fellow’s two young children.

So...I agreed. Seriously, what else was I going to do? This is causing a lot of pain in the family, and something needs to be done.

I drove over to the house with a fair amount of trepidation. It’s not like I haven’t had these kinds of conversations with people in the past, but this was a guy that I’d met once, two years ago. Somehow I was expected to address his drinking problem and help him understand the seriousness of it.

Yes...awkward would be the word.

One good thing...I did realize fairly early on, that chattiness runs in this family. Ruddy has never had a problem holding a conversation in his life. As it turns out...neither does his brother. The first half hour was mostly me sitting there listening to (and trying to understand) the myriad of stories he was telling me. He’s a very entertaining guy for sure.

Anyhow, in good Canadian fashion, I tried to gently and in a non-offensive manner, steer the conversation in the direction of the problems this guy was facing. We talked about family and his kids, and how important it is to be a good role model, since a father is one of the most important examples a child can have. Yep, he assured me, he understood this and was a great father to his kids. Okay then...

Then we talked about his past and how difficult it was...how he became a Christian and why he left his life on the streets. I tried once again to move towards talking about his drinking problem and so I spoke about how our life changes when we accept Christ, but often there are still issues that need to be dealt with. I was doing my best to be sensitive and gentle but at the same time firm. This young guy again assured me that he knew this and had really dealt with his past and was doing well. Strike two...I was now at a bit of a loss as to how to proceed.

Then Ruddy, who was sitting there listening to everything...as was their mother... interrupted and said, “Well, except for your problem with drinking and getting drunk...”

“Oh yes, except for that.” he says, “That’s really my weakness. I keep getting drunk.”

Well...alright then. Then mom steps in and feigning drinking a bottle and then being drunk, she adds, “Yep, he really has a problem with alcohol.” The young guy solemnly nods again and continues to agree, “Yes, I do...”

So much for all my clever attempts to segue into the topic. With all my Canadian sensitivity out the window, we just ended up talking very openly and honestly about the damage this was doing and how much this fellow was losing because of his choices. The hurt he was causing, not to mention the loss to his relationship with God, which had been quite strong at one point.

In the end it was a good conversation. To those of you who were praying, thanks. I cautioned Ruddy, though, that this was really only a first step. His brother agreed to come to church with us and I hope to connect him with one of the men in the church, to continue to work with him. But it’s going to be a long road, I imagine. It seems like addiction runs in this family. Their father had a serious drinking problem...Ruddy had a terrible problem with drugs, and now his brother. But as I shared with this guy, Ruddy is a good example of what God can do. He’s been clean for over three years, after, as I said, a very serious drug addiction.

Please continue to pray for this young guy. I assured him many times that dealing with this is completely possible, and that with God’s help he can experience freedom.

After talking we had a bite to eat, and of course the stories and pictures of Ruddy as a kid came out. Like most people here, they don’t have too many pictures, but there were a few good ones. I asked to borrow a couple of my favourites, and I scanned them today and tried to clean them up a bit. The quality wasn’t very good, but I was able to get them looking a little bit better. Anyhow, for those of you who know the guys in the house, these pictures are of Ruddy, Sandro, and Sandro’s brother Feliciano. Feliciano is currently studying at a Bible college in Puerto Rico.

Ruddy in the park where he lived and worked as a shoe shiner...

Ruddy and Feliciano, with their shoe-shine boxes...

Ruddy, Feliciano and Sandro....

Oh yea, I almost forgot...my favourite part of talking to Ruddy's family.  His nickname when he was a little kid, was "Pancita" or "Little Stomach"...  I just about fell off my chair I laughed so hard.  In general, with skin tone and everything, it's difficult for a Bolivian to blush.  But, as I discovered that night...still totally possible!  =)

Thanks everyone!


PS  And one last funny cultural moment. I forget sometimes that I live in a predominantly Catholic country. Tonight I was reminded. I was in line at Burger King, and there was only myself and the guy behind me waiting, so only one till was open. Finally the other guy in line, in a very dramatic and desperate voice, said...

“For the love of Mary and her Son our saviour will you please open another line before I die!”

It made me smile...

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Not much happened today...but I'll write about it anyhow...

  
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Today was a pretty easy day.  No major crisises.  It was nice...I actually got some work done.  I'm finishing up those prayer cards for the guys that I promised to do...a year and a half ago.  Funny how life gets in the way of all our good ideas eh?  Keep an eye out for them.  Hopefully you'll see them before Christmas. 

Then we decided at the last minute to go to a movie.  We haven't done that for awhile.  Most of the guys go away on weekends to visit various family members, so I decided to do something with the three guys who were here.  It makes their weekends a bit more fun.  These guys don't have family or anywhere to go, so sometimes it gets a bit boring for them. 

I've also been going through a stage where I like to hit the gas as we leave our dirt road and pull onto the pavement.  It makes a nice screeching noice that entertains me.  Tonight was especially impressive.  That led to stories of how we do emergency-brake doughnuts in the winter, in empty parking lots.  Oh...and how fast I've ever driven.  To give you an idea of the state of most Bolivian roads, Sandro wanted to know if I've ever gone over 100 km/h.

He was duly impressed with my answer.  =)

That pretty much sums it up.  Tomorrow we're off to church and then I've promised one of the guys I'd go visit his family and try to talk to his younger brother about his drinking problem.  Hmm...  Not sure how I agreed to that one.  Shouldn't be awkward at all.  Some gringo guy you've never met sitting you down for a heart to heart.  He wanted to go have that talk today...at his brother's birthday party.  Yep....that would've been fun...  =)  I suggested tomorrow might be a bit more appropriate.  I get that he wants to help his brother for sure...and I want to help too.  I'm just not sure this is the best way.  But we'll see what happens.  Feel free to pray about that one if you have a moment. 

Thanks for praying everyone.  By the way, I posted a few more pictures today.  They're from our visit to the pool last April for my going away party.  We had a good time...

Hasta luego todos!

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Chicken heads and prayer requests...

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The problem is...Ronelo keeps ditching church. Well, not all the time, but often enough. And he doesn’t call to let us know what’s going on. The punishment that was instituted while I was in Canada, was that if someone doesn’t go to church and doesn’t call to let us know why or where he is...that guy’s cooking lunch for the week. That’s great in theory (the guys all hate cooking)...but not so great in practice. I can’t figure out if Ronelo just can’t cook, or if he’s devious enough to figure if he cooks badly enough, I’ll let him off the hook.

Either way? It’s brutal.

Today for example. When you buy a chicken here, it comes fully loaded...ie. it has it’s feet, head, insides and whatever else still attached. It’s clean and plucked mind you (the insides parts are actually in a nice little bag inside the chicken)...but the head and feet are still where God put ‘em. In our house, we tend to put those more interesting parts aside...mostly because there’s a gringo here who’s not real fond of chicken heads. Imagine how pleased I was when I went downstairs for lunch today and found that we were eating chicken feet/head/innards soup. There were lots of other options for meat to cook, and yet Ronelo chose to use all the leftover chicken “pieces” sitting in the freezer.

I had to dig through my bowl and sort out all the little surprises that were hiding under the potatoes. I put them in the next bowl over...which in the end made Sandro very happy. That ended up being his bowl and he likes all those little...blessings. I ate as much of my soup as I could...and really, it tasted fine. But I couldn’t get over the fact that all those feet had been in my bowl. I fully understand that it was all psychological...but honestly? That didn’t matter much.

I’m not sure what was for supper. I went to Burger King...

I’m thinking tomorrow I’ll cook for Ronelo and he can clean my bathroom. Seems fair.

A more serious prayer request before I take off. The younger brother of one of the guys here, still lives out at Nacer (the boy’s home where most of my guys originally lived). This fellow made a bad decision over the weekend. In reality, he was trying to do something good, but didn’t go about it very well (he went to a party without permission to try and convince one of the younger boys to come back to the home). Unfortunately, because of some of the things he’s done in the recent past, no one really believes he was there trying to help. The punishment decided on, was that he wouldn’t be aloud to continue in school. I have to admit that’s one of the things that frustrates me more than just about anything...when studying is used as a discipline. The way it looks now, this young guy won’t be aloud to finish the school year (which ends in December), and will lose this current semester.

Of course this young guy is upset. We called and talked to him tonight, and he said he’s thinking about leaving the home and living on his own. That’s not really a viable option at this point...he’ll end up in trouble or back on the streets. I imagine if this punishment is enforced, there will be pressure on me to let him live here. That would open an entirely different can of worms that I’d prefer not to open. The best thing would be if the director of the home reconsidered his decision and decided to punish this young guy in another way. So please pray that God will work in his heart, and give this director wisdom to see this situation for what it is. If you could pray also that this young guy will be patient and have wisdom, and won’t do anything rash. He just needs to wait for now and see what happens. Unfortunately waiting and thinking about the future is not something street kids do well...

Thanks everyone, for taking the time to read this and to pray. As always, we appreciate it!

PS  That's Jimmy holding the bowl of soup by the way.  Don't want to make him the bad guy when it's fully Ronelo's fault...  =)

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Things are better today...

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This is just a quick note to let you know that things are much better today.  Everyone has those days and everyone gets through them.  But for sure, thanks for praying! 

I spent most of the day with my friend Jorge (our pastor who was in the car accident last January) and his wife.  It was a lot of fun.  Jorge and I are getting together every Monday for breakfast.  Today that stretched into lunch and then most of the afternoon.  My truck's getting some work done on it, and rather than go all the way across the city back to my house, they insisted I hang out at their place.  My truck didn't end up being ready today (big surprise), but I still had a good time.  Then tonight I met with one of the guys who used to be at Nacer back in the day, to see how he's doing.  He's studying at university and has started coming to church with us.  As we were sitting and talking, he hesitated for a long moment and then asked if there was space for him to move in with us. 

It's interesting...for various reasons (a post for another day) we only have six guys at the house right now.  It's been nice...all of them are doing well and in general we've been crisis free.  That's a nice thing.  Of course it won't last...   =)  In the past week or so, I've had four different guys ask to move in.  One's a no brainer...he's a great kid and would be a huge asset for the house.  The other three are good friends of ours, and one especially is in need.  If he doesn't move in, I'm not entirely sure what'll happen for him.  The problem is, I'm not sure where those guys are at exactly.  They've had their share of problems and have made their share of bad decisions in the past.  I'm always willing to give a guy the opportunity to change his life, but at the same time, we've just come off of a situation that was difficult for the guys who live here.  Tossing another one onto their laps might not be entirely fair.

So...it's complicated.  I would appreciate prayer on this one too.  There are moments where weighing and balancing everyone's needs here can be a bit tricky.  All in all, I'm being more direct with the guys who are interested in living here.  They need to know very clearly my expectations.  I mentioned this awhile back, but my friend Corina told me once, in regards to her ministry, "Everyone is welcome to study here.  But they have to want to change.  If they don't want to change, we still care for them, but this isn't the place for them."  That's really stuck with me, and has become one of the first things I share with a potential kid. 

At any rate, there's limited bed space and more butt's than I know where to put.  But with God's input, it'll work itself out.  As I said, for the time being we're doing well and for the most part, peace reigns in the house.

Talk to me tomorrow however...  =)

By the way, I posted a few more pictures today.  Click on "Photos" and then "Celebrations...".  They're pictures of past birthdays and other celebrations here at the house.  I've tried to make those days special for us.  I mentioned this in the pictures, but for many of the guys, before this past year, they'd never celebrated their birthdays before.  For most of them, last Christmas was the first time they'd ever recieved a gift that was wrapped and was just for them.  So it's been fun to celebrate and make those days important.  It's good for our sense of community here and for helping the guys understand that they're important to us.

PS  We haven't heard anything new one way or another for the girls at Cristo Viene.  I'll let you know as soon as we hear a decision.  In the meantime, thanks for continuing to pray...

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Another prayer request...

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Another prayer request...not near as important as the last one...but still... 

I could use some prayer tonight.  Most of you probably won't read this until tomorrow, but that's fine...

I'm not entirely sure what's up, but I'm feeling...grumpy, shall we say.  Part of it's physical...I've been sick and of course that doesn't help.  But for sure some of it's spiritual.  Most days I can handle the silliness/stupidity of the guys.  Today?  Not so much.  One of the guys was giving a bit of attitude earlier today, and like I said, normally that wouldn't affect me much.  But today it threw my whole afternoon/evening off.  I just wanted to smack somebody.  =)  Then I start getting annoyed at little things that really don't matter...

I took off and had supper on my own tonight, and then came back late.  The guy who was being all attitudish (good word eh?) earlier was fine when I came back.  Me?  Still not so much.

Anyhow, tomorrow's a new day and it'd be great if I had a new attitude.  =)  So if you could say a quick prayer for me...I'd appreciate it.


PS  Oh...and I had another run in with my friendly neighbourhood police tonight...of all nights.  I was driving back to my house and was planning to take the long way around (better road) and then I saw there was a police checkpoint set up.  I did a very slow, meandering u-turn (on a big wide road that's mostly ruts and rocks) and started to go down my road instead.  Next thing I know, they've all piled into their truck with their lights on and are chasing me down.  I think I was a bit of a disappointment to them.  I nicely explained that I was a missionary, blah, blah, blah...working with streetkids, blah, blah, blah...  They couldn't find anything wrong with my truck (and trust me they tried), so they lectured me on not trying to avoid the police (which in my heart made me want to lecture them on not trying to shake me down for "lunch" money everytime the saw me...), and then sent me on my way...

It was a perfect ending to a perfect day...  =)

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An important prayer request...

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I heard through the grapevine today, that there are problems with the property the girl's home, Cristo Viene Ninas (run by Nacer Ministries where I used to work) is using.  Some of you are familiar with that ministry.  I didn't have all the details, but then my co-worker, Marcee, sent out the following e-mail today.  She's back home in Canada now, but obviously still has a heart for what's happening with the girls she used to work with.  Please join us in praying for the girls and for the leadership of the home, as they try to determine what the next step will be for this ministry.


Hey everyone!

I just received a phone call from my friend, Andrew, in Bolivia. He works at the NACER boy's home but is involved with all the NACER homes. Yesterday, Loly, the director of the Cristo Viene girl's home, received a letter stating that they have 10 days to leave their present home. The property has been on loan from the goverment for eight years after it was confiscated from drug operators. However, it appears that the original owner has shown up with paper work that allows him to reclaim the place.

This means that 23 girls (ages 3-18) plus eight staff and volunteers could be left without a home and without work unless God intervenes. This brief email is to request your prayers that a solution can be found. A plan of action has not been confirmed to me yet, but when I know more, I will send out more information. As you know, we do have a new property ready and waiting for the CV girls, but there is no building as of yet.
 
 
I'll post more details as I know them as well.  These are great girls, and this is the only home they know.  For sure we know that God has a plan in all of this, but obviously it's still a difficult time. 
 
Thanks for praying!

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So here I am...

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Welcome to the new blog! As many of you noticed, the old blog kind of imploded. Even my mom sent me an e-mail asking what was going on and what she did to wreck it.  =)


Well, mom...it wasn’t your fault. I’m not sure what happened exactly. After a week or so, and some unhappy e-mails from me, the folks at Blog.com finally fixed it. But I’d lost my template and all my changes. By then I’d started working on something new, so I figured I’d just continue on. It was probably time to change things up a bit anyhow.

So here we are. Things will probably change a bit yet here and there. One thing that’s new is the Photos button along the top of the blog. I’ve got some pictures up already, and I’ll continue to post more pics as time goes by. Right now I’ve got pictures up of the guys who live here at the house. I figured it’d be a good way for some of you to get to know them a bit better. I’ll also continue moving older posts over here. In a couple of years or so, I may even finish that...

So life here in Bolivia... Well, it’s been an interesting few weeks for sure. There’s been lots of good things...and a few sad things that have happened. For the first post on the new blog however, I think I’ll focus on the good and leave the bad for another day.

Probably one of the best things was having the three gringo guys visit us from Saskatoon. They came back down with me and spent a couple of weeks here working with us. They were great! Probably three of the easiest and most helpful short-termers I’ve worked with. They found lots of things to do...they kept the guys entertained...they set an amazing example with their hearts and lives...they kept the guys entertained... I’d take them back in a heartbeat. We almost had one of them convinced that he could just do correspondence to finish his Grade 12 and stay here with us. Of course then I’d have had to explain that to his parents... =) But we are still hoping that we’ll see them down here again some day.

I figured I’d put some pictures up of their time here. I promised last time to post some pictures from the cliff-diving escapade. Probably most of you who know them have already seen these pictures, but for the rest of you...here they are...

Josh cliff jumping...

The guys climbing...

Kyle diving through the waterfall...

The guys diving...

Andres, Josh, Kyle and Yimy...

Josh showing off a bit...  =)

The guys on the way to Samaipata...

Josh and Kyle in the mountains...

Looking over the cliff...

These are the moments that remind me I live in South America...

Having supper with my friend Amy in my favourite restaurant in Samaipata...

Our friend, the neighbourhood dog, came to visit...

Another little critter who came to visit...this time in my bathroom...

The drive back down the mountain was interesting as always...

That was our trip to the waterfalls...and then later up to Samaipata, a little town up in the mountains we like to go to.  These photos mostly show the fun stuff, but like I said, the guys worked really hard.  I talked to my friend Corina today (the guys helped out at her ministry too), and she had great things to say about the guys as well.  They left a good impression everywhere they went!  Good job guys!!

Anyhow, that's my first post at the new blog...  Sorry there's no stories about crazy drivers or near-death experiences.  Next time I'm sure.  =)  Keep checking back here and I'll keep you updated with a little more regularity!   

Thanks for praying everyone!

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