I was sitting by a pool yesterday. We had our monthly staff meeting with the people who work at the four homes. Miguel tries to hold them at nice locations where the staff can have fun and relax as well, so this time we met at a local campground. I laid on a lawn chair in the shade of a tree, surrounded by palm trees, the sun sparkling off the water, and I thought, “Wow…this is the life. I bet there’d be a lot of people in Canada who would be really jealous of me right now!” And I smirked to myself.

Then a bird pooped on my face.

I imagine there’s a lesson in there somewhere…but whatever. I just washed my face off in the pool and went back to smirking. It was still better than -40.

I wanted to update you on the two fellows I wrote about a few weeks ago, Ivan and Carlos. God really worked in a miraculous way through your prayers. Two days after I wrote you, Ivan came to Edly and asked if he could talk to us. That night Edly, myself and another volunteer here had the opportunity to talk with him and pray for him. I asked him some fairly direct questions about his involvement with the satanic rituals he’d talked about, and I think it’s going to be alright. I got the impression that most of what he did was to fit in with his gang and that there haven’t been any obvious consequences to his acts. We’re still watching him (more to make sure he doesn’t start freaking out the other boys with his stories), but already there’s been a marked improvement in his behaviour and attitude. As I said though, he’s a follower, and the challenge is going to be to help him understand that a commitment to Christ is a heart issue, not just a behavioural one. One of my concerns here is that too many of the boys learn very quickly how to fit into a Christian environment…how to act and what to say…but it doesn’t go much deeper than that. I don’t want Ivan to conform to life here just because he wants to fit in. But certainly it’s been good to see him asking questions and getting more settled here. And his desire to learn seems very sincere.

As well, Carlos….the last time I saw him before I wrote you, he was a bit of a mess. One minute he’d be crying (he cried for 20 minutes or so in the restaurant and couldn’t talk or do anything…he just had his head down on the table sobbing) and the next he’d just stare off into space. I talked with him and he seemed to calm down a bit, but I was pretty worried when I left him. As I wrote last time, he always said that if his Dad wasn’t around, he wouldn’t have a reason to live. Unfortunately, one of the struggles with street kids is that they make decisions in the moment, without thinking at all of the long-term consequences. So I wasn’t sure what to expect. I just kept praying that God would use his father’s death to help him understand that life on the streets is not what God wants for him. He’s a gifted guy, but he always seems to say no to the calling that so many people have seen on his life. He just wants to live as close as he can to the streets without quite going there.

At any rate, when we got together for supper, I couldn’t believe the change in him. He was cleaned up and seemed very much at peace. As we talked, he told me how he always knew that God was calling him to something more (he thinks maybe it’s to be a pastor) but he’s always said no. Then he said he realized that the life his father lived was not the life that he wanted. Leaving three children orphaned…one on the streets and another in a Home…his life cut short because of a drinking problem. This wasn’t what he wanted for his life.

So he’s decided he needs to finish high school and then maybe go on to seminary. He’d already registered for his classes, so I took him the next day and got him a new pair of jeans and a white shirt (the school uniform). I also got him some nice shoes and a backpack for his books. =) I figure he needs to look good!

He still needs a lot of prayer. No doubt there’ll be many moments when he’s going to miss his Dad and the call of the streets will be strong. He tries to visit his brother as often as he can, which is good….but it also presents a temptation for him. So please pray that he’ll be able to stay focussed. We’re going to try and get together every week to talk and hang out. He doesn’t really have much opportunity to talk to “normal” people…so he needs that. And all of you who are now feeling the need to comment on wether or not I qualify as normal…just let it go…. =)

Anyhow…I’m sitting at the airport making use of the free high-speed wireless they offer and waiting for my team mate Marcee to arrive from Cochabamba. She’s moving to Santa Cruz today and will start work at the girl’s home next week. So that’s exciting. I now officially have a team to “lead”. Not that I’ll probably actually lead…she’s smarter than me and speaks better Spanish….

But she should be arriving soon, so I should sign off. Thanks again for all your prayers and support. I appreciate it a lot. These past couple of weeks have again confirmed for me the power of prayer! Thanks for your part in that.

Hasta luego mis amigos,

Ken

UPDATE: This didn’t get sent that night because I had problems connecting (of course). So I’m sending it now, a week or so later. A cool thing happened the other day though. Carlos moved back to the home. I didn’t think that would ever happen (for various reasons), but it’s actually been a very smooth transition. And it’s great having him here. He’s got a great attitude and he helps the atmosphere here a lot. But please pray that he’ll be able to stick it out. He’s still in the honeymoon “I’ve got lots of food” stage. It’ll get tougher….

Just a couple of quick prayer requests. In the past I’ve asked you to pray for my friend Carlos. He’s one of the first guys I got to know when I came to Bolivia in 2001. Last March he left the home and moved into Santa Cruz. He’s not exactly living on the streets, but he’s only one step removed really. He’s got a room and he works as often as he can, but many of his friends and people he hangs out with are all street kids. So the temptation is definitely there. I meet with him each week, and I’m never quite sure what to expect.

This past week his father died. His dad wasn’t exactly the ideal father figure…but of course it’s still been very hard for him. I found out on Tuesday night, but didn’t have any way to get a hold of Carlos. We just e-mail back and forth, and often he doesn’t have the money to check his e-mails. So it’s a bit hit and miss. I was in town yesterday, and I had written him to let him know I was around and to call my cell phone. But by the end of the day, I still hadn’t heard from him. I figured I wasn’t going to be able to see him…but then God stepped in.

I was playing with my cell phone (it’s new) and I accidentally made it start trying to check my e-mails…every two minutes or so. And then it would text message me to let me know that I was an idiot and didn’t have that service on my phone. A happy, little tune played every time it sent me a message. After an hour or so, I grew to hate that happy, little tune. I went to the place where I bought it, and he tried to make it stop. We thought it was fine and I got back into my truck….and the little tune played. This was costing my money every time, so it was making me grumpy. The guys sent me downtown to their main store. I totally didn’t want to go downtown…it was my third time that day, and the centre is full of narrow, one way streets and LOTS of traffic.

But I went….and found the place and a lady to help me. It took her about 30 seconds to fix it and I was annoyed that the guy couldn’t figure that out. But then as I was walking back to my truck across the plaza, I heard someone call my name. I turned around and there was Carlos coming towards me. Santa Cruz is a big place with a lot of people. God arranged for us to be in the same place at the same time.

I took him out for supper, and I have to tell you that he didn’t look very good. He just kept staring out into space and asking me why God had let this happen. It’s hard to explain to someone who’s hurting that the choices we make sometimes have serious consequences. It’s not God’s fault. Carlos’s father had a serious drinking problem and finally his body just gave up. But of course that’s not what Carlos wanted to hear.

In the restaurant Carlos started to cry and kind of lost it for awhile. I was praying like a wild man. It’s hard enough to know what to say and do in that situation in English, much less in Spanish. I just prayed that God would give me the words. After a while he stopped, and I started asking him questions about his dad and family. Eventually we went on to have a really good conversation and it seemed to me that God was giving me the words to say. I think Carlos was comforted by it. When I dropped him off, he was doing better. We’re getting together again today for lunch.

This is going to be a huge process for Carlos to work though. His mom and sister died when he was younger, and that’s what started him down the road that ended with him on the streets. That’s when his dad started drinking and beating up him and his younger brother. His brother still lives on the streets, and isn’t handling this well either. He just keeps saying that his dad really isn’t dead, and that everyone’s lying to him. Carlos’s younger sister lives in another children’s home and we’re not really sure right now how she’s doing. Carlos always said that if his father died, he wouldn’t have much of a reason to continue living. I can’t begin to explain why he thinks like that after what his father did….but that’s the way he feels.

At any rate, if you could pray for Carlos and his brother and sister, I would appreciate it. They definitely need to experience God’s peace and compassion through this. I’m praying that this will be the moment that Carlos turns his back on the street life once and for all. But that’s not going to be easy. I also need wisdom through all of this. As you can imagine, having these kinds of conversations about grief and loss is taxing my Spanish immensely. But we’re making it so far.

As well, we have a new guy here (well, one of many actually). This fellow is the brother of two of our main guys, Tiqua and Saul. Tiqua went up to La Paz to try and get his birth certificate from his father, so he can go to university….and ended up bringing his other brother back with him. Ivan (the brother) is a nice kid (and looks a ton like Tiqua) but as it turns out (surprise surprise) he’s got some issues. I guess he was very involved in witchcraft and Satanic rituals with his gang in La Paz. La Paz is a city that is rife with this kind of stuff. You should have seen the inauguration of our new president. There were definitely more shaman attending than Baptists. Sacrifices were made to various traditional gods and such. At any rate, Ivan has been involved in blood letting and the drinking of animal blood, etc. Of course we have a concern for what this means spiritually for the home, but bigger in my mind is the fact that it freaks the other boys out. The last time we had something like this happen, a number of the guys left because they were scared. Witchcraft and demonic type things hold a lot of weight in this culture.

So if you could pray for protection for the home, and again wisdom for myself and Miguel and Edly, on how to proceed with this. I’m hoping to get to know Ivan a bit better and talk with him about some of this. As well, please pray that the guys would understand that God is certainly bigger and more powerful than some dog’s blood and pentagrams. They need to move past some of their fears and grow in their understanding of who God is.

Well…there you go. Life is nothing if not interesting. I’m feeling a bit tired these days (it’s also been 37 C and up everyday for the past week, so that’s not helping). The younger guys were poking and teasing me the other day, so I warned them that I was hot and tired and didn’t have much patience. They just laughed and poked me more. =) Speaking of the younger guys….ever since I got here, they call me this name in Spanish, “cachoro” and then laugh and laugh. After 6 months I finally remembered to ask Edly what it means. Turns out it street slang for a kid you know you could take in a fight. =) Made me laugh!

Thanks for taking the time to read this and to pray. Talk to you soon!

As I said last time, I have a house now. Or at least I will soon…it needs a bit of work. I drove a visiting missionary from I.T. Latin America by it yesterday and her first words were, “Wow…..it’s… kind of small.”

I prefer to think of it as cozy. And it’s bigger on the inside… One good thing is that I’ll probably be able to reach across the living room to change channels on the TV while laying on the couch. What guy doesn’t appreciate that?

So this morning I took a couple of the guys over to check it out. After the inspection, we went into the little town nearby to buy stuff to clean it up and get it ready to be painted inside. We bought some pails and soap, etc. Then I asked Nico if there was anything else we should buy, and he used a word I didn’t understand. I asked him what he meant, and he started acting it out. I started laughing when I realized that he thought we should buy a hose. Granted it’s pretty bad inside (think house that’s been abandoned for a couple of years)…but hosing it down still seems a bit like overkill.

We also had to sand down all the walls. If you think washing walls to get them ready for paint is a pain…try sanding them. What they do here is build with brick and then cover the bricks with cement. The house was plain brick for most of it’s life (don’t imagine nice North American bricks either. Here they’re much more….gnarly is the word that comes to mind. But not gnarly in the good sense…). Fortunately my landlady decided to cement over the bricks and it looks much better. But as I said, it all has to be sanded. And the guy who did the work got cement everywhere! That was part of the cleaning that needed to be done. But I think we’re ready to paint tomorrow, so that’s kind of cool.

I also have a floor now. Well, I guess I had a floor before if dirt counts. But now the new tiles are in and they look better than I expected. I try to be optimistic…but sometimes it’s hard. Different cultures sometimes have widely differing concepts of what looks goods. I’m still waiting to see what colour my house will end up being when it’s painted on the outside. I’m pretty okay with whatever…except maybe baby blue and anything pastel. Interestingly enough, those are surprisingly popular colours here.

We’ll also start the landscaping this week. The yard’s a bit of a jungle right now. And being that this is South America…that’s not actually an exaggeration. My landlady has hired the guys from the home to redo the whole yard. So I should end up with a pretty amazing garden…once we get rid of the weeds, random piles of dirt and the rusting swing set.

Anyhow, I’ll keep you updated on the progress. I’m hoping to be able to move a couple of weeks from now. I still have to buy all my appliances and furniture though. I have moments of being excited about that process….and moments of complete panic. You don’t really realize how much stuff you need in your house until you contemplate buying it all at the same time. I had a nightmare the other night….I was trying to buy dishes and all I could find were these totally girly ones with pink and blue flowers. Wait…that actually happened. Of course if I end up with a pink house, the dishes would match….

A couple of prayer requests before I go. I’m starting a class on computers next week, and as of tonight I have 35 boys signed up….and 5 computers. If you could pray for wisdom for me as I prepare the classes…and clarity of thought as I try to teach in Spanish. Maybe prayer for patience might be a good idea as well.

As you’ve already read, there are lots of things happening with my house. If you could pray that what needs to happen, would…in a timely manner. I’m anxious to move in and get settled. As well, for safety as I live on my own away from the home. That was the first question my mom asked me…was I going to be safe. I think so…but there’s no doubt that as a gringo (white guy) I tend to stand out a bit.

Finally, on a serious note. The brother of my friend Julie, who I worked with last year in Cochabamba, died unexpectedly a couple of weeks ago. She’s flying home in Feb. 9 for the memorial service. It’s been very difficult for her, being away from family as she works through the grieving process. If you could remember her as well.

As always, thanks for taking the time to read this and to pray. I appreciate the letters and e-mails as well. It’s always great to hear what’s going on at home! Take care and we’ll talk again soon!

Hasta luego,

Ken

PS: It was 37 Celsius today. But before you lament the cold in Canada (although I hear it’s been amazingly nice. But let’s face it…it probably won’t last!), keep in mind that along with the heat comes the bugs. My legs are covered in mosquito bites…..and whatever stupid bug that manages to bite me at night under my blankets!