Go figure...

Remember when I was whining about being sick from food poisoning?  As it turns out, I should have been whining about being sick from Typhoid.  Which feels about the same but sounds much more impressive.  =) 

I spent the night in the hospital last night, but now I'm home and feeling a bit better.  It'll be fine I'm sure.  It's not a really bad case at any rate, so it's treatable without me going into the hospital for the next few days.  I've got my meds and I'll be back to the doctor on Thursday.  So no worries...
   

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Ancient Chinese remedies...

Ivan, one of the guys in the house, is studying to be a physiotherapist. A couple of months ago, he got a part-time job working for a doctor who specializes in physiotherapy. In all honesty, I imagine he explained the details of the job to me, but truthfully I was either not listening (it happens) or I just forgot. Either way, I...didn’t remember the details of the job. Remember that...it’s important.

So when he asked me last week if I wanted to go see his boss to get a treatment for my back (which has still been bothering me), I figured...why not? It can’t hurt can it?

Okay, remember that too...it’s important.

So this morning I dragged myself out of bed to head down to the office. I really, REALLY didn’t feel like going. I got what we think was food poisoning last weekend, and I’m still not feeling that great. Yesterday the doctor pumped me full of meds and I felt much better. Today the meds wore off and I feel pretty lousy again. I guess that’s the beauty and pain of drug induced recoveries. At any rate, my stomach was feeling nauseous and the last thing I felt like was being poked and prodded by some doctor I didn’t know. But I knew Ivan had pulled some strings to get me in so...I went.

I waited in the waiting room with a group of little old grandma’s who were quite enjoying discussing their various aches and pains. I figured I could probably win that conversation, but I let it go. Finally it was my turn and I went into the office.

First of all...let me tell you about the doctor. He was the quintessential little old, Chinese doctor from every karate movie you’ve ever seen. Seriously, this guy could have made a fortune in the Chinese cinema. He gave me the little head bow and motioned for me to sit down. It turns out he didn’t speak much Spanish. Most of his instructions to Ivan where hand signals mixed with the few Spanish words he did seem to know.

Let’s see now...what else? How about his office? It was considerably smaller than my bathroom. I have a fairly large bathroom, mind you...for a bathroom. But not for a doctor’s office. There was a counter, the bed, two chairs, a table...and six people! The doctor, Ivan, me, a helper lady...and two of the little grandma’s from the waiting room (who were still getting worked on by the lady).

And of course there was incense burning everywhere. I don’t normally mind incense too much, but with a stomach that was already borderline ready to let go with yesterday’s supper? It was a bit much. Oh, and the two little old ladies were still jabbering away about who was suffering the most.

I still won.

I felt a little bit better when the doctor tested my blood pressure and used the fanciest little machine I’ve ever seen. It was pretty cool. When he was done he pointed at the brand, Panasonic, and said, “Chinese!” and gave us the thumbs up. That made me laugh.

Then he got me to lie down on the bed and he started the poking and the prodding. He determined where I was the sorest and got Ivan to start working those areas over with a little electric vibrator massage thingy. That was good. I liked that.

After a few minutes of that, friendly Chinese doctor guy explained that he was going to, “Blah blah blah be hot...blah blah blah Chinese.” So yea, essentially I got the words “be hot” and “Chinese” out of the conversation. What does one think of when “hot” and “Chinese” are used in the same sentence? Tiger Balm, of course. I figured I was going to get rubbed down with some kind of ancient Chinese heat rub. I was good to go with that.

Then without ANY warning, my pants got pulled halfway down my butt. For an old guy, there was some strength there. My face definitely got a bit of a burn going. You know...I probably would have cared so much if, say, the two little old ladies weren’t sitting a foot and a half away from my feet. I’m not totally sure, but I swear there was a pause in the chattering Spanish when my pants got yanked down.

So now I’m lying there trying desperately not to lose my breakfast (not that I’d had any but it seemed my stomach wanted to try anyhow)...it’s about a hundred degrees in the office...half my naked butt is hanging out three feet from a group of little Latin ladies...you’d think it couldn’t possibly get any worse than that, right?

Okay, those of you who know me know that this little story hasn’t even gotten going yet.

I felt movement in my lower back area, and then before I really knew what was happening the worst pain I’ve felt in awhile shot straight through my back and into my abdominals. I was like, “HOLY COW THEY’RE STABBING ME WITH BURNING NEEDLES!!” I caught a whiff of what I’m pretty sure was burnt flesh and then WHAM another burning needle was plunged into my back. This was so not the happy little massage with a soothing heat balm that I was expecting.

Eventually they worked their way down my butt with the burning needles. Of course they did. All I could think of was how badly Ivan was going to suffer when we got back to the house. Even though he couldn’t see my face, I’m pretty sure he was picking up some kind of mental signals and/or radio waves emanating from my head (maybe there were even those squiggly lines you see in cartoons when someone is really angry), because he kept patting me on my shoulder. Maybe he just instinctively knew that no one would be happy having burning needles jammed into their body.

Then not so friendly Chinese doctor guy told me to roll over onto my back. He started with the poking and the prodding again...which didn’t seem so bad after the red-hot needles...and asked me if my stomach hurt. Stupidly I admitted that it did (well, it did) and he turned back to his little tray of surprises.

Low and behold, it turned out they weren’t jamming me with burning needles. It just felt that way. In fact, what they were actually doing was LIGHTING ME ON FIRE! I kid you not. They were taking a little square of green paper, putting it on my BARE flesh, putting a little tepee of what looked like dry moss on the paper...and then using the incense stick to LIGHT ME ON FIRE! They even blew on it...which I’d felt before on my back, but which I'd thought was supposed to be soothing me...you know, cooling off the burning needle. But, no...in reality, they were trying to get the flames burning better!

He did it three more times on my stomach and then poked me in the ankle and asked me if that hurt too. I’d already flinched when he poked me (this guy seriously knew every sore spot on my body) so I couldn’t really lie and say that, “No, in fact that didn’t hurt...I was just flinching ‘cause that’s what I do after someone tries to light me on fire!”

Actually, come to think of it...that’s exactly what I should have said.

So I got two more little bonfires on my ankles too. And they hurt. A lot. I think part of the problem was that the doctor was using me as a guinea pig to teach Ivan how to do this. When the doctor did it, it only hurt a lot. When Ivan did it, I wanted to beat him silly with his own arms. I forgot to mention that after the little fire was going, somehow they quickly stamped it out with their thumb, driving the heat...and pain...down into your skin without actually leaving a burn mark. All they really did was scorch my stomach hair a little. I’m pretty sure there was a technique there that Ivan didn’t quite have the hang of. But you know...I’m so glad I could give him the opportunity to practice a little.

When I was finally told I could get up, I watched the helper lady do the same thing to one of the little old grandma’s hands and the lady didn’t even flinch. That was so not my experience. Honestly. It made me want to cry.

As I pulled my pants up, the doctor asked me if I was going to come back again. I said sure.

I lied.

Ivan walked me to the front door of the building and asked me if I was okay. By then I mostly was, and I knew Ivan had only been trying to help. So I told him it was all good. The funny thing? As I walked back to my truck, darn it if my back didn’t feel better. I don’t know though...when I was a kid and my brothers or I would cry about a hurt arm or leg or something, my Grandpa would punch us in the other arm or leg or wherever and then say, “See...you’re arm doesn’t hurt anymore ‘cause you’re not thinking about it.” I’m not sure if the same principle isn’t at play here. Is my back really better? Or am I just distracted by the burning sensation...

Oh...I forgot to mention something. When I got back to my truck I pulled up my shirt to see if there were any burn marks. There weren’t, but I found that the doctor had filled my bellybutton with salt and sealed it with two crisscrossed band-aids.

I kid you not.
 

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Being sick is lame...

I have the flu.  It's been four days.  It's dumb. 

Well...I'm assuming I have the flu.  I have flu-like symptoms.  But I've never had the flu for four days in my life.  Gravol has become a good friend.  At any rate, tomorrow we're going to the hospital to get Yimy's bandages off, so if I'm still feeling sick, I may talk to a doctor as well.

Until then...feel free to pray. 
 

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Some things to pray for....

Think back (waaaay back for some of you) for a moment to when you were six or seven years old. Or if you have kids, think of who they were (are) at that age. Think about what your biggest worries were or how you spent your days. What made you happy or what made you sad.

Now imagine what it would have been like if you were alone...if you had no parents or family, no house to live in. If you had no idea where lunch or supper was going to come from, or where you were going to sleep that night. Imagine spending many of your most formative years living without any adult guiding or helping or teaching you.

Even now, it’s difficult for me to imagine what that would be like. It’s so foreign to me. I don’t think it’s possible to have those kinds of experiences without there being scars left behind...emotional, spiritual and even physical scars. Those scars don’t go away easily.

Fortunately our God specializes in healing. In the past six months here at the house, we’ve seen God bring more healing and changes in the guys, than probably in the two years prior. Many of the guys have grown significantly. And of course that’s something to be excited about. But there are challenges that go along with this kind of healing. It’s often accompanied with pain and discouragement. Dealing with the past is not an easy thing.

Satan is alive and well in the culture of the streets. Sometimes his work is subtle and conniving. Other times it’s overt and in your face. In the last week or so, we’ve really seen the results of that. Last February we discovered that one of the guys was dealing with...well, demonic possession is really the only way to put it. You can read about that experience here.  (I just re-read that post and realized I changed some of the details to make it sound like it was someone from outside the house.  Since then it's become fairly known here that it was one of the guys.  So...just ignore that part.  At the time it seemed like a good idea...). 

Last week it happened again. I was talking with him about another topic, but when I encouraged him to pray and take spiritual authority over what was happening in his life, it brought out the same demonic influences. The passage in Matthew 12 that talks about demons returning to a house they had occupied comes to mind. I don’t think we were careful enough or prepared really, for the aftermath of what happened the first time.

I woke up two of the guys, who joined me in praying for this young guy. It was pretty much the same experience as last time. One thing I’d noticed in February, was that it seemed the demons were responding to things I said in English (this guy would react to things I said in English, even though he doesn’t understand the language)...so I tried that again.

Many times this young guy would suddenly fall asleep and wouldn’t respond to anything. So in English I just said, in the name of Jesus he needed to wake up. I didn’t shout or yell...I just said it in a normal voice. His eyes popped open and he jumped like someone poked him with an electrical cable. It was interesting... the other two guys with me both noticed what had happened as well.

By about 3:30 AM we were all getting tired and we reached a point where things were calm, but I wasn’t convinced, resolved. We packed in and I called our pastor to come and pray with us during the week. He did, and he, myself and this fellow sat down one afternoon to pray some more. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but again, as soon as we began praying for him, everything manifested the same as before...although maybe a bit less intensely.

We prayed for about an hour with him, and eventually he was fine. He was able to pray and speak normally, and he seemed much more at peace. We put a plan into place to help him more over the coming days and weeks, and to watch more closely how he’s doing.

A few days later he did have another tough night, although I would classify that night as a spiritual attack I think, not the same as before. But it was intense for sure...uncontrolled fear and depression...that sort of thing. It was very emotional. But we worked our way through it, and he was able to pray and take spiritual authority over what was happening to him. Once he did that, he became quite calm very quickly.

Then as that issue was resolving itself, another one came up. A different guy and I sat down to work through the “Steps to Freedom”. It’s a series of steps that help you deal with things in your past and experience freedom from them. People have different opinions on the effectiveness of these steps, but I’ve found them to be very helpful in identifying personal issues and helping a person understand them and move on. For me they’ve been very useful.

It’s interesting though, each time I’ve gone through them with someone, a different step or area has come to the forefront. I’m never quite sure what to expect. The night this fellow and I started going through the steps was no different. It usually takes about three hours to get through all seven steps. In three and a half hours that night, we made it through step one. Obviously I can’t go into details, but suffice it to say that I was once again surprised at Satan’s ingenuity. How he manages to insert himself into a person’s life in order to wield influence is incredible sometimes.

Again, it was good what took place, but man, I came out of that emotionally drained. And we have six steps more to cover. We didn’t even get to the big ones yet. The first step is usually the easiest...the warm up step, shall we say. =) The biggest victory that night though, was that this young guy opened up about some things from his past...things he’s never talked about. Trust is a huge issue for him, so that night was a major breakthrough.

Finally, Saturday night another of the guys came to me and told me about some things he’s been experiencing. As he spoke, I realized that there were some strong demonic influences in his life as well. Horrific dreams, waking up and not being able to breathe or move, the sense of someone else in the room with him. He’s another of the boys who’s had some strong satanic involvement in his past life on the streets...very similar to the first guy. So we’ll need to sit down this week and talk about some of it as well, to see what exactly is happening.

To top this off, all weekend I’ve been going through one weird health thing after another. At one point I was like, “Can Satan mess with your physical body? It sure seems like it!” I’m not sure what the answer is to that one, but it’s been strange. Either way, the health stuff had been contributing to me feeling kind of worn out. I’m doing mostly fine emotionally (okay...except for getting grumpy just now when someone ate my food from lunch that I didn’t get around to eating then, but that I wanted now...) and I’m doing okay spiritually as well. I’m just kind of tuckered out. That’s a good Saskatchewan farm boy word.

So if you could take a moment and pray for us that would be great. We definitely need that support and protection. As I said, there are more things we need to do, to deal with the consequences of some of the guy’s involvement with demonic activities in their past lives on the streets. I’m confident of the victory we have in Christ...that’s not a worry at all. But again, it can be draining. In the midst of all of this, the day to day activities of the house and life with ten other guys continues. So there are moments when I feel like I’m getting pulled in a couple (or more) different directions.

So... as I said, the healing continues. God is working and no matter how difficult it is at times, that’s always a good thing! Thanks everyone, for taking the time to read this and to pray. I appreciate it...your prayers makes a huge difference down here. I’ll keep you updated on how things go. By the way, thanks for praying for Yimy and his nose. =) He’s doing well, but he’s getting more and more frustrated and tired of the bandages. They come off Thursday, so that’ll be a happy day.

Thanks again!

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An update on Yimy's nose...

Yimy's back from the hospital and doing fine.  He's pretty sore, but he's being a good sport about it.  Plus I bought him some chicken (he couldn't eat today before the surgery)...so that helped.  He'll be off the soccer field for a few weeks I think.  But other than that, he should be as good as new in no time.  The doctor said his nose was nice and straight now.  I told him she said it would be better than it was before.  =)

A couple of pictures of the patient...

All in all, this little mishap is going to cost us in the area of about $600 US.  That's about $600 more than our budget this month.  =)  If you feel like you might want to contribute a bit to fixing Yimy's nose, just drop me a note at ken.switzer@iteams.org and I'll let you know how you can do that.  We'd appreciate the help.  Thanks!

By the way, last night went well.  I'll explain more in the future, but basically I'm taking one of the guys through the "Steps to Freedom", a seven step dealio to help him understand and make a break from things in his past.  This is a fellow who is dealing with significant spiritual issues, so I wasn't quite sure how it was going to go.  It was fine, but we're not finished yet.  Usually it takes about three hours or so to get through the seven steps.  We made it through the first one in three and a half hours.  =)  So please continue to pray for him and for me.  It ended up going fairly late, and I'm feeling it today.

Thanks for praying everyone.  I'll keep you updated on how Yimy is, and other random happenings.  It rained today!  That was a good thing.  A nice break from the heat...
  

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A couple of quick prayer requests...

This is just a quick note to ask you all to pray.  We've been going through some more intense spiritual warfare stuff here over the past week, and tonight something else has come up.  It's going to be something really good in the end...but the road there might be a little bit rough.  I think that's the best way to put it.  A little enigmatic I know, but that's the best I can do right now. 

If you could pray, that'd be great.  Pray for wisdom and patience for me, and an open heart and peace and strength for the young guy I'll be talking to.  As well as protection for both of us. 

Well...pray for anything that comes to mind really...  =)

Thanks everyone...I appreciate this.  I'm tired and not feeling completely on my game, but that just means it's all on God which is how it should be anyhow. 

Tomorrow they're fixing Yimy's nose.  So you can pray for that too while you're at it.  He's pretty nervous.  Today they attached little sensors to his chest to make sure his heart was fine (they're going to knock him out to do the surgery) and he told me later that every time the doctor did anything, he (Yimy) expected he'd get punctured by a needle.  He was a surprised that everything was as painless as it was. 

Tomorrow, however....

Thanks again for praying!
  

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Yimy's nose looks funny...

There are a million things I should probably be writing here.  It's been an interesting week for sure.  "Interesting", however, tends to mean "Ken get's no sleep".  So I've been pretty tired.  Everytime I start to write something down, I get a paragraph in and then lose interest.  =)  So I have a bunch of sort of started posts...

Anyhow...I'll get to them at some point.  I did want to ask you to pray for Yimy though.  He broke his nose playing soccer yesterday and didn't tell me until he got home from classes tonight.  It's...definitely broken.  So we're heading into the hospital tomorrow to see if they can...well...make it straight again.  I'm not anticipating a happy time for Yimy.

So, if you can pray about that for him, I'm sure he'd appreciate it.  I'll be back this week I promise, with all kinds of great stories and whatever....  =)

UPDATE:  They're going to do some tests this week to make sure Yimy is fine being knocked out, and then on Friday afternoon they're going to try and fix him up.  He had the option of a local anesthetic or a general (the go to sleep kind)...the local is about half the price of the general, by the way...but the look on Yimy's face definitely said he wanted to be unconscious when this all goes down.  So...general it was. 

You can pray for Yimy...he's definitely nervous.  =)  He's never had anything like this done before.  But the doctor says it's pretty routine and there shouldn't be any problems.  The doctor, by the way, is quite an attractive lady and a Christian as it turns out.  She has an engagement ring, but...well...you know.  I told Yimy he needs to find out how all that is working out for her.  I told him he'd better not get all distracted by the drugs and someone wrentching his nose around...he's got a duty to perform.  Sadly, I'm not holding out much hope.

Anyhow...yea, Yimy and his nose.  I'll keep you updated.  Thanks for praying everyone!  =)
     

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The truck broke again....

These are the moments that try my patience.  Remember when they were fixing my truck and I didn't have it for a whole week?!  Yea, so I've had it back now for exactly ONE week and as I was leaving David's soccer game, once again I had no steering.  I pulled over and sure enough there was a line of liquid on the pavement behind us.  I climbed under the truck and exactly where I just paid them $500 to fix it?  That would be where all the fluid was pouring out.

So...no truck until Monday when my mechanic will be around.  Which is a pain with church tomorrow.  It's pricey to get us all onto the bus...not to mention I'm not a big fan of the waiting.

Oh well.  Such is life I guess.  I think in the last post I mentioned something about how much I enjoy the adventure of never knowing quite what the day will bring.

I think that's what one calls ironic.  Feel free to pray for patience for Ken today...

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The journey continues....

People always tease me about my lack of organizational skills, and honestly...I can't deny it. If you gave me a list of numbers and told me to add them up I probably wouldn't get the same answer ten times in a row. It's the way I'm wired. I'm honestly just not a person who thinks about all the details, or has everything figured out three steps in advance. People know this and it makes them smile. It usually makes them shake their heads a little too and pray for a wife for me. I've gotten used to it.

Lately though, I've been thinking that maybe my unique way of doing things (that sounds much better than “lack of organizational skills”) works in my favour on occasion. Let's take my current ministry as an example. When people find out that I work and live in a house with ten ex-street guys, that I'm the guy who's figuring out the funding and actually trying to keep it all together...they seem...surprised.

Yea, well...me too. I've definitely had moments of wondering how exactly I ended up where I am today, being “Dad” to these guys. You know...it's sort of a long term commitment. It seems I may be down here for awhile. I wish I could tell you how I had this all worked out in my head beforehand, how I did feasibility studies and had budgets and all that stuff figured out before I ventured in.

That'd be great, eh?

The truth is, I knew this group of guys and I cared about them. God put it on my heart to help them. I knew they wanted the chance to study and get an education, and I could see that they needed help along the way. They've had a lot of garbage thrown at them in the past, and they needed someone to come alongside them and help them figure out how to deal with it.

Did I have any money? Nope. Did I know anything about the Bolivian education system? Nope. Did I have a clue what it would be like living with ten ex-street kids and what that might entail? That would be nope and...yea, another nope.

A more organized, detail oriented person may or may not have walked to the edge of that precipice. At any rate, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have done it with such a goofy grin on their face. They probably would have seen some of the struggles and difficulties inherent in running a ministry like this coming.

I, on the other hand, am the guy standing with his toes over the edge of the cliff, admiring the view.

My friend once told me that she thought I was a person who lived in the moment. I was vaguely offended until she explained that this wasn't a bad thing. It's true that my planning for the future will never be my greatest gift. My retirement plan is Jesus coming back. And it's true that I'm not exactly a detail guy. Every three months they turn our power off for a day because I forget to pay the power bill.

But, as my friend explained, living in the moment means you see what's going on around you. You see where people are at, what they're feeling...what they're experiencing. And when you see them in need or see them in pain, with God’s help, you do something to alleviate that suffering.

Well...whether that's true or not, it sounds nice and it made me feel good. God's definitely wired me in a way that causes me to empathize with the people around me. Maybe it's just as well that I don't think things through too much. I think for me, it’d be too easy to get bogged down with the “What if’s?” and the “How’s THAT gonna work?” In my experience, God has those details well in hand.

This is all not to say that there’s no plan here. There’s a plan. Contrary to popular opinion, I’m not completely oblivious. =) I do think about the future, and I do get excited about what God has purposed for us. I may not always know exactly how I’m going to get there, but I’m confident that God is leading. The name of this ministry, “La Jornada...The Journey” was chosen for a reason. It’s not just about the guys’ journeys...it’s about my journey as well.

We’re all learning and growing as we go.  Down here we'll continue to do our best to seek God's direction and trust that He has the details worked out.  Our job is to pay attention and be faithful to how God directs us.  I've told people many times that one of the things I love the most about living down here is that you're never quite sure what the day will bring.  I think someone once said, “The journey is half the fun...”

That’s been my experience...
 

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One more at the table...

My friend Corina wrote this in one of her update letters last week...

"The reason why Santiago, one of Marco’s boys, came to El Jordan was because he was involved in gangs in his neighbourhood.  But he wanted out...and he wanted to study.  He’s been “out” for at least a year and a half but his old gang is pressuring him to get involved again.  They wait for him after school; they’ve roughed him up...and threatened worse.  The school principal called Marco and wanted to arrange a meeting with the rival school where these other kids are from.

The situation is getting worse in spite of talks with some of the gang members. Santiago’s family has problems with alcohol and aren’t able to offer him support of any kind (we are helping him study – or else he probably wouldn’t even be in school). One option, and the family is in agreement, is to remove Santiago from the hot zone – to enrol him in another school.  Maybe even look for another place he could live at least until the end of the school year.  Please pray with us – that God would lead us in our decisions, and also protect Santiago."

I read that...and prayed.  But it didn't occur to me that there was anything we could do.  Santiago is only fifteen, so he's really too young to live here.  Not to mention we're kind of full.  =)

But then on Saturday morning, Marco called me and asked if it would be okay for Santiago to spend weekends with us.  He'd come over Friday's after school and leave the following Monday morning.  I explained that I was fine with this (what's one more at the table?!) but that we didn't really have space.  If Santiago was okay with a mattress on the floor, then I was okay with him being here.  I also explained that I wanted to talk to the guys about it first, before making any decision.  This is their house too.

So we had a quick meeting Saturday just before lunch, and everyone was in agreement that it would be fine.  Eduardo offered his floor and the extra mattress he has on his bed, and we scrounged up some blankets.  I called Marco, and an hour later we had our newest member of the household.

Santiago is a great kid.  Quiet (but we'll see if that lasts once he gets to know us a bit better) and very polite.  I think he had a good time with us.  He ate chicken twice over the weekend, so he probably thinks he's in heaven.  He went to church with us and played soccer with the guys this afternoon.  I think he'll be a good addition to the family.  =)  I'm going to buy him a better mattress and some new sheets and a pillow tomorrow.  And a few other basics too.  He had no towel or anything.  It was cool this weekend and he had no jacket, so one of the guys lent him theirs.  So we'll get him set up a bit.

Please pray for him when you have a moment.  As Corina wrote, he has a pretty rough family background.  His parents are alcoholics and this problem with the gangs is a tough thing for a fifteen year old to deal with.  I'm glad we've been able to help him out, but there are obviously some issues that aren't going to go away easily. 

Santiago has some good support people around him now though, so that's encouraging.  I wonder sometimes, where my guys would be without the help they've received.  Then you meet a kid like Santiago, who has so much potential and was in such danger of being lost, and it makes you wonder how many other kids are out there like him.  It gets overwhelming sometimes.  But then, I see God at work and I know I can trust that.

One other cool thing.  There's a young guy who's been having lunch with us most days, here at the house.  He's a friend of the guys from their high school days.  He's one of the guys who wanted to move in with us, but we just don't have the space.  He comes from a Catholic family, but has probably only darkened the door of his church three times in his life. 

He came to church with us today and really enjoyed it.  He kept going on and on about how different it felt.  He seems really open to spiritual things, and I'm hoping to take him for lunch this week and talk to him more about it.  I know he's been through some painful family issues lately, and it's been difficult for him.  It's his birthday on Tuesday so we're going to have cake and a bit of a party for him.  Any excuse for cake...  His name is Aquiles, so please pray for him as well.

Thanks everyone!  Have a great week!

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