I know everyone has been wondering where I’ve been for the past few months. So let’s get that out of the way before I talk about my news. Miguel and Edly went to the States the end of October for 6 weeks and Miguel (or someone…no one seems quite sure who) put a block on the phone to keep the boys from making random long distance calls. Unfortunately he (or whoever) forgot to pass on the code, so we weren’t able to use the phone…and I wasn’t able to get online with my computer. When I did make it into the city to use an internet café, I usually had one of the guys with me, so I felt bad making them wait. I checked my e-mail (so I was getting your messages), but I didn’t have much time to write back. Then in December I was off to Cochabamba with the guys on the missions trip (more about that in a minute), and again didn’t have much time to respond to my messages. So my heartiest apologies for dropping off the planet.

Well, that feels better…I was getting tired of all the “ARE YOU DEAD?!” subject lines on my e-mails. Things are going well here. There were a few rough spots before Christmas, but I think we’ve been able to work through many of them. Miguel and I had a long meeting last night with Corina (one of my friends here who speaks excellent English and Spanish) translating. We cleared up a few miss communications we were experiencing, and on the way back to the home had a great conversation about some things we’d like to see happen here. As a result, we’re starting a weekly youth group night where the guys can invite friends from the community (probably girls) which I’ll be leading. As well, I’m starting a class on the care and usage of computers (we had 5 computers donated over Christmas). It’ll be a good challenge for my language skills. There are a few more ideas on the horizon, but I’ll fill you in more as they happen.

First of all, my happy news. I have a vehicle! A missionary friend who’s home in the States has loaned me her truck. It’s a 1985 Chevy Blazer that now has a Toyota diesel engine. It also used to be an automatic but is now a standard.

It has a few quirks.

I learned fairly quickly that when driving through big mud puddles that steam from the engine is able to come right up through the hole where the gear shift is and if you happen to have your hand resting on said gear shift, you get a bit of a scalding. Trust me, you only do that once…okay maybe twice (but the second time was late and I was tired). I was warned that Heather fixes the truck on average every couple of days. Obviously it likes her better than it likes me. It only let me drive it for a couple of hours before the clutch cable broke and left me driving in second gear until I could find a mechanic. Driving here is dangerous enough without having to rocket around corners and weave in and out of traffic without slowing down. Oh wait…I do that anyhow. Fortunately mechanics are many and very cheap. It cost me $8 to get it fixed and we were once again on our way. Since then I filled up the tank and got her washed and looking pretty (I also call it “her” now), so I think we seem to have come to an understanding.

I also have a house! It’s been a bit of a journey trying to find something. I live away out in the middle of nowhere, so there’s not much available in the way of housing. Call me crazy, but I’ve been holding out for running water and flush toilets. The house is near the town of El Torno (for those of you who know), out in the country…at least it smells like country. It’s a bit farther away from the home than I wanted, but I’m only renting, so it’ll do for now. It’s nothing very fancy (and does need a bit of work) but it has potential. When we first drove up to it, my reaction was something like, “Oooohhhkaayyyy…” But after awhile it started growing on me. Hey, it’s got a roof and a floor (albeit dirt right now) and running water and a flush toilet. I’m just happy to have someplace. It’s been a bit stressful living at the home 24/7. I love this place and the people here…but some days it’s a bit much. All of these guys have varying degrees of issues, so I told a friend some days it’s like trying to live with your somewhat dysfunctional youth group in the church basement.

But God is good and He knows my needs here. He’s provided what I need and I’m very thankful (I think I may have teared up a bit when I drove the truck for the first time…). Thanks to all of you who were praying about this with me. I appreciate it.

So the missions trip… This group wasn’t quite as prepared as the group last year, so there were a few bumps in the road. Overall, they did fine though. We helped Julie (my old boss) at the drop in centre. Our work project there consisted of laying sod (which, as it turns out, is a really bad thing to say if you’re from England…which Julie is. So then we called it turf). I had a this-is-definitely-a-different-culture moment when the turf arrived. Somehow I had pictured nice neat rolls that we’d just give a little push to and the grass would nicely roll into place. When the dump truck arrived and the box started to go up to dump the grass, my first thought was “Don’t do that! You’re going to break up all the rolls!” As it turns out, turf in Bolivia consists of a thousand pieces ranging from 3 inches to a foot or so across. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle to put it all down. The fact that we were dealing with three or four different types of grass didn’t help either. It’ll be interesting when it comes in no doubt.

We also helped the kids in their classes each day (the Centre has games and activities for the first hour and then Bible classes for the second hour). So we played games, sang songs and helped everyone prepare for the various Christmas programs Julie had planned. The Centre has grown to accommodate around 150 kids each day. Which is a lot! I was kind of expecting bedlam (having been a part of a few VBS’s in my day), but it runs fairly well all things considered. The night of the big Nativity play we really only had one minor hick-up when the head angel was accidentally hit in an unfortunately place by the angel next to him. He was a very expressive young fellow and if I’d only been a bit quicker with my camera, you could have enjoyed the moment with me.

Our other project was painting a children’s orphanage (12 rooms). That was a ton of fun let me tell you. There’s never a dull moment when you mix paint and 40 kids under the age of eight. It looked awesome when we were done though. It was a good moment when some of the kids came home and saw the finished project our last day. First their eyes got huge and they just stared. Then they grinned and you couldn’t stop them from talking. The guys really loved those kids. I think it really affects them to be able to help out children who live in a similar situation to theirs, because they know what that help means. I’ve come to realize that I don’t really understand completely.

Of course we did all the fun stuff too. We got to go inside the giant Christ statue that overlooks the city. We walked around the main Plaza and watched all the artists. We did a prayer walk one night and prayer walked ourselves right into the middle of a huge political rally. It was a bit of a moment for me. It was the political party that doesn’t like Americans very much (and whose leader did actually win the Presidential election). While we all know the differences between our two countries….these subtleties are lost on the average Bolivian. So to be surrounded by thousands of placard-waving, slogan-chanting people was a bit unnerving. But it was fine. We ducked into a restaurant and had supper. By the time we were finished, they were too. Evo (our new president) was actually at the rally that night. Had I known, I might have been tempted to try and get a look at him…so it’s probably best I didn’t know. He’s the first indigenous president in all of Latin America, so he’s been kind of famous (he was on the latest cover of Newsweek).

To finish off, I want to go back to the beginning of our trip. I had an interesting revelation that very first night. We were having supper in a chicken place waiting for our bus to Cochabamba, and I looked over to see a couple of the boys putting half their food onto a serviette for a young street kid who was kind of hovering nearby. If you knew how much these guys like to eat, you’d realize what a sacrifice that was. So I said I could afford another plate of food for this young fellow ($1) and the team invited him to join us. The guys started telling him their stories…that they were all ex-street kids too. One of the guys (Sandro) pointed to each of the guys and explained where they used to live…that one lived at the bus terminal, and those guys in the plaza…that guy on Calle Beni.

I’m not sure which of us had the more dumbfounded look on our face, this street kid or me. I forget sometimes that these guys used to be in the same situation as all the other scruffy, dirty window washers and street kids. That they slept on benches and sidewalks…that they begged and stole to survive…that they had that same timid, scared look in their eyes, and that they had to run and hide every time the police came by, lest they end up in jail simply for not having parents or family to take care of them.

It opened my eyes for sure. Now they’re clean and dressed well. They’re soccer players and musicians. They have dreams of going to university and being doctors and architects and professional futbol players (okay, more of them have that last dream than of being doctors and such, but still…). It’s amazing what God can do with a life when He’s given the opportunity. And it’s sad to me that so many of the boys will walk away from that opportunity. But I guess we all do that at different times to varying degrees.

Thanks for your prayers for these guys…and for me. Please know that God is responding to your prayers and many good things are happening. I’m continuing to build solid relationships, and I’m feeling much more at peace about being here. So God is good! =)

As a side note before I go…it’s the rainy season here and it’s ridiculously wet (at least until the sun comes out and dries it all out again). Today we nearly lost the bridge near the home because the river was so high (which would effectively strand us in the middle of nowhere). Traffic was backed up for miles because the water flooded so high over the highway in a nearby town. Dry river beds can become rapids in a matter of minutes…and then go back to nothing. It’s crazy!

But anyhow, I’d better go. Thanks for listening and take care everyone! I’ll write again soon…of course….

Ken

PS: Okay…put this one in the category of things I didn’t know about life in Bolivia. On the way to Cochabamba, I decided to use the washroom before we got on the bus. I was standing at a urinal doing what one does at a urinal, when I heard a cell phone ring behind me. Imagine my surprise when I heard a woman’s voice answer the phone. As it turns out, it’s completely acceptable for the ladies who clean the bathrooms to do so whenever they please. I didn’t know this. But you get used to these things. Now I don’t even thing about it. Who would have guessed….