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!