A big rain storm swept through the city the other day, knocking out power to different areas. I drove up to one of the major intersections and realized that the traffic lights were out. In a country that will never be known for it’s patients when it comes to driving, it was a very entertaining situation. Chaos reigned supreme. Four lanes of traffic going…pretty much wherever they pleased. As I wound my way through the intersection, I found myself remembering Saskatchewan with fondness. No random speed bumps to knock the axles off your car…no dodging cows and horses and chickens and dogs and people and donkeys and pigs…no getting stuck behind gravel trucks going 20 km/h. Back in August, the day after I got home, I borrowed my mom’s car and drove to Lloydminster to see a friend…I can’t begin to explain the culture shock!

I drove 32 km without having to turn the wheel of the car and 37 km without seeing another person….I clocked it. I noticed at one point that the hood of the car wasn’t latched correctly, and that I needed to pull over to close it. I actually had the thought flash into my head, “Man, if I stop I’m going to lose my place in the traffic!” Then I looked around and remembered where I was. There was a mini-van a half mile in front of me and a tractor pulling an auger a mile or so back. Then the mini-van turned off…and the tractor never did catch up. I remembered thinking how much I loved my country.

My trip home was great, by the way. There’s nothing like being away from home for a year to motivate your mom into cooking pretty much anything you want. It was a good week on the farm. My friend Therese (who flew home to Edmonton with me) and I spent the many hours in the air and in various airports dreaming of that first meal in Canada. We decided we didn’t care what it was, as long as it wasn’t fried chicken or rice. I’ve eaten rice every day for the past 400 odd days, and 85 percent of the restaurants here only serve fried chicken. It’s a bit mind numbing. I walked into my house ready for the glory of that first meal home….and my mom had Kentucky Fried Chicken waiting for me. Wow…words fail. At least there wasn’t any rice. In her defence, she was gone all day with foster kid stuff, and she definitely made up for it the rest of my time home. =)

The main reason I went home was to speak at a youth camp with Pioneer Camps. I need to say, first of all, that I’d forgotten how beautiful northern Saskatchewan is in the summer time. Blue skies…forests…lakes….amazing. The camp was mostly made up of non-church kids, so that was fun. Things started off a bit rough, but the second night we caught a rhythm and things seemed fine after that. I’d forgotten how long it’d been since I last spoke in front of a group…and in English no less.

One night I shared about street kids and what I do in Bolivia. I think for many of the kids, it was the first time they’d been exposed to anything like that. They responded very well however. I’ve started a business here at the home with the guys. They make bracelets and we sell them to visiting teams and people from North America. The guys then get a portion of the money to buy shoes or clothes, or whatever they need. It gives them a bit of spending money of their own. I brought some bracelets with me to Canada, and took them to the tuck shop every day to sell. Everyone at the camp pretty much bought me out. Even kids who probably wouldn’t ever wear South American bracelets bought some, just to support the guys. It was pretty cool. We ended up making over $500 for the guys.

I went home to Canada with sort of mixed feelings…and I came back here with sort of mixed feelings. But I suppose that’s to be expected. I tend to connect with whatever situations I find myself in (one of my friends once told me that I live in the moment…but that this was a good thing!). =) When I left, it was difficult to leave some of the guys in the midst of the tough circumstances they found themselves in. But then…it ended up being hard leaving Canada again too. I forgot how much I appreciate my friends and family, and how much I miss them.

But I think I’ve settled back in here now. I just want to take a couple of moments to update you quickly on a couple of the guys that I’ve written about in the past. When I left, I asked you to pray for Andres and Diego, who had left the home. They’re both back and doing alright, although I think it’s still difficult for them at times. I’ve had the opportunity to talk to both of them at different times about their relationships with God, and while I think they’re learning and growing…they’ve both been making bad decisions lately. My concern is that they’ll get frustrated and leave again, maybe for good this time. I think Andres especially, is struggling…so please continue to pray for him. He’s a good friend, and a very gifted guy. It would be sad to see him get trapped in the lifestyle that so many of the guys fall into here.

David was the other guy I wrote about just before I left. He was the fellow that found out that he was going to be a father…a bit of a shock to him surprisingly enough. =) I’m a bit hesitant to know what to write as I sit here. On one hand, I could tell you how much it seems to me that he’s been growing in his relationship with God, and how much he’s been changing. At times I can really see God healing his past and bringing peace to his life. But…on the other hand, there are moments when I’m not really sure what’s going to happen. David wants so badly to be loved and a part of a family, that he’s having a difficult time deciding what to do. Unfortunately, the mom of the baby and her family are very manipulative, so that doesn’t help. I definitely need prayer to know how to proceed, and how to best help him. It’s tough at times.

But like I said, I can definitely that God is working in David’s life. He prays with much more wisdom and insight than he used to. He knows that God loves him and has forgiven him. He’s thinking about the future, and he knows that God has good things planned for him (although I know this is still a struggle for him). In the moments when the Holy Spirit’s work is not as obvious (and the past couple of days have been rough), I have to keep trusting that God isn’t finished the work that He’s started in David or any of the guys.

There’s an interesting thing I’ve noticed lately with David and a couple of other guys I’ve become close with. I have to keep assuring them of our friendship on an ongoing basis. Things will be going fine, and then all of a sudden all kinds of walls and barriers go up. Guys who were relaxed and open one day will be the complete opposite the next. The first couple of times this happened, I wasn’t sure what was going on. Finally I just started reaffirming my friendship and acceptance of them, and assuring them that no matter what happened, or what they did, we would still be friends. Instantly things would go back to the way they were. But it’s something that I still have to do occasionally with almost all of the guys I’m friends with. I’ve realized that almost none of them have had any kind of long term friendship with a father/brother/youth pastor kind of figure in their lives…so they all hit this point when they expect that I’m going to leave or move on, and they start protecting themselves. Now that I understand what’s going on, it’s gotten easier…but it was definitely a bit confusing there for awhile.

At any rate, please continue to pray for David, and for Andres and Diego. As well, for Julio, another good friend, who left last week. I’ve tried to find out why (he seemed to be doing fine) but no one’s quite sure. Julio has family, but they don’t want him. He’s been at the home for the past 6 years, so it’s sad to think that he’s probably back on the streets after so much time. On a positive note, the other Diego (Spider) has been back at the home for nearly 5 months and is doing really well! He’s a kid that made me wondered if he’d ever be free from the streets. He’d come to the home for a few months, and then the addictions would kick in again, and he’s be gone. When he showed up this last time, he looked like a walking skeleton. But just this week the American team that’s here doing construction on our other boy’s home were commenting on how amazing Diego’s been. He’s working hard, and has been really insightful and helpful. He’s also gotten involved with the futbol team and has been helping with equipment and training. I think he’s found a purpose and a sense of acceptance that was missing before. At any rate, it’s been great to see how well he’s doing. But please pray for him as well. No doubt there will be (and probably are now) moments of struggle and temptation. So far though, he’s doing really good.

That’s about it I guess. Sorry this has been so long in coming, but I hope to get back to regular updates now. I’m also working on a video of my life and ministry here, so keep an eye out for that. My buddy Bryce was down here a couple of weeks ago (which was awesome by the way…lots of laughs and encouraging moments. It was cool to be able to show someone from home what I do here! If you’re interested, he’s got pictures and some video posted on his blog at incipiosermo.com. You’ll have to look in the archives now, but it’s there. He said nice things about me too, so by all means go read it!). =) Anyhow, his church gave me a new video camera, so I’ve been trying to make good use of it.

Time will tell….

Thanks again for your prayers and continued support. As always, it means more than I can tell you. It’s been a rougher last few days, so your prayers have been especially welcome. But God is faithful, and I know that things will be okay. And, of course, whenever I get a bit discouraged, I can always remember that, as I sit on my deck and enjoy the sun….my friends and family are all at home freezing their collective butts off. =) I sunburned today….but I digress…

Take care everyone, and I’ll write again soon.

Hasta lugeo,

Ken

PS: Okay, my cultural “I don’t know what’s going on” story for the day. This afternoon a neighbour lady and her granddaughter came knocking at my gate. We greeted each other politely and then they asked me for…..something…. They kept pointing into my yard, but all I could see was my big pile of bricks. So I was like, “Uh…you want a brick?” I picked one up to give to her, and then it was the lady’s turn to look confused. No, they wanted a…… Finally I just opened up my gate and told them to go crazy (more or less)…my yard’s pretty much all junk anyhow….so whatever it was they wanted, they could have it. They continued talking as they came in, and I finally understood that they were looking for some kind of animal. Given that every beast my neighbours own has wandered through my yard at sometime or another, I figured there was a pretty good chance that whatever it was they were looking for was here.

So as I looked on (I wanted to help, I just wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be looking for) this lady and her granddaughter wandered around my yard muttering in Spanish. At one point they stirred up a stray cat that went shooting past me and out the gate. They didn’t see it, so I thought maybe that’s what they were looking for. I actually know the word for cat in Spanish, but I’ve also learned that…it doesn’t really matter. So I told the little girl that a cat just went past me. She was like, “What colour was it? Was it blah blah blah?” Those would be the descriptive words that I didn’t understand. Now understand that I’m not stupid, and I know how to say “It was a black cat.” But for some reason she just stared blankly at me when I said that.

Then at this point grandma broke a branch off my tree and started poking the grass with it. All I could think of was, “Maybe they’re looking for their pet snake?” This went on for a good 10 minutes and the entertainment value was starting to slide for me. Then suddenly something squawked when grandma hit it with the stick. As grandma started trying to drag it out, whatever it was didn’t want to come willingly. Then, finally, there it was! They weren’t looking for their pet cat (or snake for that matter)….they were looking for their pet chicken! Who had babies! In my yard! Before all you armchair Spanish speakers get all “I knew what the word for chicken was! What’s wrong with you? Don’t you live in South America?!” let me just say that if you think it’s “pollo” you’re wrong. That’s only the word for chickens who’re dead and cooked and about to be eaten. There’s a different word for chickens who are alive and well and living in your front yard. And I’m guessing that those descriptive words that I didn’t understand were probably “speckley”, “fluffy”, “feathery”….chicken words. And when I responded to the little girl’s questions about what the chicken looked like with, “It was a black cat.” I possibly caused a bit of confusion for the poor lass.

In the end it was all good. I got to meet another one of my neighbours, and once again reinforce the community’s opinion that the white guy’s friendly enough….just not very smart.