I promised myself I wouldn’t comment on or compare Bolivian weather to Saskatchewan weather or Canada in general anymore…or at least do it less. But come on…blizzard warnings and near whiteout conditions? You’re killing me! =) So all I’m going to say is blue skies and +35…nothing more. Oh…and white fluffy clouds. Now I’m done…

Not sure if I’ve said much about Christmas or New Years yet. Suffice to say that they were both lots of fun. Both involved good food and ridiculous amounts of fireworks and/or other things that exploded. I was entertained. Or at least I was once I suspended my North American sense of what constitutes safe and not safe. Or more specifically safe and ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! not safe. Giving 150 street kids boxes of fireworks, sparklers and firecrackers (one of which was called the “Mother-in-law killer” and was bigger than three of my fingers put together) falls pretty heavily into the category of… Actually, I’m not entirely sure such a category even exists.

But as long as you kept an eye out for flying sparklers (they last much longer here and are lots of fun to randomly throw up into the air and then see where they land…as I learned quickly), and ignore firecrackers exploding inches from little fingers, and pretend you don’t know that all the fireworks you see were made by the lowest bidder and probably won’t make the approved height of 30 feet…or even 5 feet…but will more likely fire parallel to the ground….it was all good. As a side note, for those of you who are into things that explode…there are crazy amounts of such things here. Stuff that doesn’t even exist in North America! There’s this one thing (sorry, don’t know the name of it) but it crackles when you rub in on cement or anything rough, and eventually it ignites and jumps all over the place ‘til it’s done. If you cup your hands around it and shake it, it sounds like popping popcorn in your hands. It’s pretty cool.

At midnight on New Year’s Eve Miguel gave five of the guys these special fireworks that fire three fireballs into the air and make an unbelievable amount of noise. They sound like gunfire going off. As the guys lit them and lifted their arms, preparing to fire them into the air, Miguel suddenly yelled, “NO!” One of the boys was standing under the lip of the kitchen roof and was aiming his straight at the ceiling. Miguel has these guys trained pretty well, so when he yelled, all five instantly threw their fireworks onto the ground in front of them. These things are designed to go off 30 or 40 feet in the air…and they still deafen you. Imagine, for a moment, them exploding a foot and a half in front of you. Miguel nearly had a heart attack he laughed so hard. It was kind of funny….once I made sure I still had all my toes…

In case you’re wondering, Christmas Eve wasn’t just all about fire and explosions. Most families here begin their celebrations December 24 at midnight with a huge feast. After they’re done, they head out to visit family and friends until the wee hours of the morning. At the home we had a great program and time of singing before our meal. All three homes were together (both guy’s homes and the girl’s home). The guys prepared an amazing drama presenting the birth of Christ, complete with some of the best costumes I’ve ever seen. Then the girls performed some of the dramas their drama team knows.

And then as we all sat there in a big circle under the stars and sang and worshipped together. As I watched some of the older guys sing with their arms around the shoulders of the younger ones, everyone with big smiles on their faces…I realized once again how much I love being here. It was a good moment! =) It’s not always easy…and sometimes I miss home and family…but it’s a blessing to be able to be a part of the work that God is doing in these young guy’s (and girl’s) hearts and lives.

Some prayer requests and things to be thankful for….

Right now we have a truckload of little guys in the home (six to ten year olds). They all arrived just before Christmas, and if life proceeds as it has in the past, most will head back to the streets within a few weeks. These kids were looking for someplace to be for Christmas (it’s a difficult time for many of the guys…not having family to go home to), but the draw of the streets is still pretty strong in their lives. There are some amazing little guys in this group, and I’ll be sad to see them leave again. If you could pray that they find a home and some stability with us, and that they will be able to sense the love and grace that God has for them, that would be great. They need to experience God’s healing. It’s hard to imagine what must have happened to push a six year old to live on the streets, but that’s reality here.

Before Christmas some of our older guys were struggling being here. Then, for different reasons, three of them left. All are guys that have been at the home for years. The good news is that they’ve all come back. They now have shaved heads…one of the consequences here for leaving (I actually think it’s a good punishment. They’re all pretty proud of their hair, so it’s hard for them. But for most people, hair grows back!), and are trying to get back into the routine of life here. Please pray that this will be a turning point for them. A couple fo the guys especially need to figure things out and decide what it is they want. Both are gifted guys, but they’re struggling a lot (drinking and sneaking out at night…probably some drugs). The other fellow I’m not as worried about. He left thinking it was time for him to be a man and get a job. =) It didn’t take too long for him to figure out it wasn’t such a great idea.

And finally something good. =) I’ve written before about one of my buddies asking you to pray for him. If you remember, this fellow took off last July for a couple of months. I could see that he was pretty angry about a lot of what had happened in his past (his dad leaving…his mom dying). When I got back from Canada in August, he’d returned to the home as well, and we started having a Bible study together. He’s had a few rough moments since then…he told me recently that he almost left the home again in December when school finished for the summer…but that he thought about some of the things we’d talked about (the future…how God has a plan and a purpose for his life) and decided to stay.

Anyhow, the first week of January, most of the older guys and girls from the homes went to a Bible camp for a week. This guy did NOT want to go. Later we were talking and I told him I could see it written all over his face. He was surprised by that, and I said, “Why do you think I gave you all our cookies?” The guys visiting me from Saskatoon and I had stopped at the camp on our way to Cochabamba and I could see that he was having a tough time….so all I could think to do was give him all the Oreo’s the guys and I had bought for our road trip. He thought that was pretty funny. The guys…not so much. =)

But that first night he said he enjoyed the singing and the speaker a lot. The whole week ended up being a great experience for him. He told me Monday night after getting home that for the first time in his life he feels God’s joy and peace in his heart (he was so excited and talking so fast I could hardly understand what he was saying!).

Honestly….he’s like a different kid. Yesterday in the afternoon I was looking for Daniel’s guitar (one of the guys visiting me) and there he was playing choruses and another fellow and him were singing away! It was great to see. I know he’s still going to have tough days, and he knows that too. But still…he’s turned a corner in his life and relationship with God. He’ll be able to look back on this time and remember in the difficult moments that God does have good things in store for his life. Often that’s a hard thing for the guys to believe.

So I’m encouraged. I really need to learn more descriptive words in Spanish…I just keep saying I’m happy! Happy’s the only word I know! =) But I am… It’s been great to see how many of the guys are reading their Bibles at night and asking questions about spiritual things. I’ve started some one-on-one or small group Bible studies with different guys and that’s been lots of fun.

Once again, thanks for listening! I’m going to write more about some of the adventures the guys from Saskatoon and I have had this past month. It’s been great. Flat tires in the middle of nowhere…run ins with the police…living in my little house…it’s been entertaining! But another day.

Have a great week everyone….and enjoy that snow. Sorry…had to say it! Thanks for praying.

Ken