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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Returning to Bolivia and futbol...

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Today we’ll move on to more serious things than nearly dying in the shower....

I wasn’t sure what coming back to Bolivia was going to be like this time around. I went home to Canada a little burned out last April, and when it came time to head back south a week or so ago, I wasn’t sure if I felt completely ready or not. Some years it’s been a challenge to transition back into life here. There are always things I miss about both my “homes”, and in some ways that tension has just become a part of life. Leaving one place for another is always difficult.

To add to all of that, my run of goodbyes started early this year. Some of my friends were leaving Saskatoon for various reasons, and weren’t going to be around when I eventually left. So that added to the sadness...a week of ending conversations with good friends with, “Well...see you next year I guess...”.

At the airport I just said my goodbyes quickly and didn’t think too much about the fact that once again I was leaving. Of course my sisters were late and I had to go through security before they got there. But it was okay...we waved and yelled at each other past the way too serious security people. It was also good to have some travelling companions this year. Three young guys from Saskatoon made the trip back with me, to work with us for a couple of weeks. That actually helped quite a bit.

All that to say, this year’s transition has actually been smooth and fairly painless. That’s been a real answer to prayer. When you’ve been gone for three months, you end up having to jump back in to life here in a hurry. I commented to one of the guys that I’d forgotten how many “crisis’s” we can have in one day. Some of they guys are doing well...others not quite as good. But that’s a part of life here. You can’t have 10 people in a house and not have a little variety in where people are at. Overall though...things have improved greatly since last April. A lot of that has to do with Isabel (my girlfriend). She worked hard with the guys while I was gone, and it shows!

So here are a few pictures and comments to document my first week back in Bolivia...

In the airport with the boys in Chicago.  I take no responsibility for introducing

Jordan (the youngest on the right) to Starbucks.  That's all Jordan (in the middle).

Notice the innocent face?

My birthday serenade.  They come at midnight and sing and bring cake.  It's good. 

 

The guys getting their new soccer gear...

Andres and his jersey...

Yimy and Ronelo...

New shirts...new shoes...new shorts...new socks...

They were a happy crew.

Thanks for praying everyone. I’ll post some more specific prayer requests and stories here over the weekend. Well...probably Sunday. Saturday the guys and I are taking our young gringo friends to the waterfalls for a little swimming and cliff jumping!

And yes...all you Christian School people reading this should be jealous... =)

PS Oh yea...I almost forgot. My latest words of wisdom from taxi drivers story.

I was following a taxi the other day and he had stencilled across his back window, “Only God knows my destiny!”

Okay...I wouldn’t put it quite like that, but I get the gist. I can work with you on that one...

But then above those words, he had a big sticker of Yoda.

Yoda? Really?

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How water and fire DO mix...

I had planned to open my first blog post after returning to Bolivia, with a comment on how ridiculously cold it’s been here. But then my near-death experience in the shower last night kind of pre-empted that story...

Later, after my harrowing experience, I changed my Facebook status to reflect my latest adventure, and there seemed to be some scepticism (Mike Bodnarchuk) as to how one could have fire and smoke mixed in with a normal showering experience.

My friend...I live in South America. We have here, what is affectionately called the “Widow Maker”. It’s an electric showerhead that heats the water as it passes through, so you can have a hot shower. I like hot showers enough that I face my fears of electrocution and deal with it. Truth be told, I’ve had very few major issues with those showerheads...at least once I learned not to reach upwards when washing my armpits.

Last nights adventure, however, was not with the showerhead. It was with the breaker box that sits in the wall next to the showerhead. This breaker box is supposed to be your friend. It’s supposed to shut off if it seems you are being electrocuted.

Last night it was not my friend.

I was happily enjoying my shower when all of a sudden from behind me I hear a hissing and spitting noise...a noise one doesn’t normally hear when one is in the shower. I turned around to see black smoke and flames (electrical flames) shooting four or five inches straight out into the shower. I should mention that the breaker box is not that far from where you stand when you’re in the shower. So it...um...made me tense...

Photographic proof of my "adventure"....

As I said on Facebook, I don’t think I’ve ever exited a shower quite so quickly. And for those of you who asked if I at least had a towel on? When one is running for ones life, one doesn’t think about silly things like towels. To make that situation even more unfortunate, the guys considerately washed my bedroom and the living room curtains while I was home in Canada. That was nice of them...the unfortunate part was that they mixed up the curtains and put mine downstairs and the living room ones up in my room. Well...that wasn’t really the unfortunate part...we’re coming to that. The thing is, living room window is quite a bit smaller than my bedroom window, and as a result, the living room curtains fail miserably when it comes to complete window coverage in my bedroom. There are, shall we say, some significant gaps. That wasn’t even all that unfortunate...until I came barrelling out of the bathroom sans clothing (ie. buck naked).

So once again the gringo entertains the neighbours...

I took Jimmy (our resident electrician) and showed him what had happened. His comment was that the wiring in the house is, as he put it, “delicate”. I have a few other words in mind, and delicate doesn’t even make my top ten.

So, yea...I guess I’m home.

PS Come back tomorrow and I’ll write some more about being back and handing out the soccer gear (very fun) and going to the mechanic to figure out why my brand new back tires have worn down so much in the past three months that the left one actually blew on Tuesday and left us high and dry for a bit. Not as much fun. Oh yea, and if I have the chance, I’ll write about the near riot at the soccer game we went to Tuesday night that all of South America is talking about...

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