I just told the two guys living with me that they had too much energy and it was nice out so they should go outside and play some futbol. Even as the words came out of my mouth I regretted them. I sounded so…parental…

For the first time in two months I drove up to the pumps Monday and was able to buy diesel without waiting for hours. It was a good moment. But no one is completely sure if our fuel troubles are over or not. I’m happy though. I have a full tank today and tomorrow can take care of itself. I also bought new tires for my truck yesterday. I know we’ve all had this experience, but I’m going to complain anyhow. Everything kept costing more than I expected. And then finally when the guy was alining the tires, he discovered that one of my many encounters with speedbumps and/or potholes had busted something that cost me another $50. On the upside however, I decided to treat myself to Burger King afterwards and it was a good meal. The fries were hot and the burger was freshly made. I took a $500 ding on my truck but my $4 BK meal was good so it made life happy. I lead a simple life.

Some things to pray about. It feels like the guys are coming under some spiritual attack lately. I’ve talked to different guys who’ve had similar experiences. Crazy thoughts and worries so strong that they can’t sleep at night or think about anything else. One fellow (one of our older guys) even started crying when he told me because he said he thought he might be going crazy. Another (a very stable kid normally) had his bags packed and was ready to leave when he decided that wasn’t the best thing to do. I noticed that something was wrong and took him aside to talk to him. I’ve been able to explain to the different guys what’s happening and pray with them, but it worries me. For every guy that talks about this, there are probably a couple more who aren’t saying anything. On the upside though, it’s been a good opportunity to talk about who we are in Christ and the authority over spiritual things that we have. So far in all of the situations, after we prayed and took authority over these things, the thoughts and whatnot haven’t returned. It was encouraging to see these guys take that step in their spiritual lives. The one fellow who thought he was losing his mind has gone back to being his old fun self…so that was great!

It did bring up another troubling thing though. It’s hard to know how to say this exactly. All of the boys who spoke with me said the same thing. They didn’t go to talk to any of the staff at the home because they didn’t trust them. Let me quickly say that we have a staff here who love the boys and have sacrificed greatly to be here. Unfortunately something that plagues the church here and most Christians, is the lack of discernment and wisdom when it comes to keeping confidences and not talking with everyone else about what you know. That’s something that the home struggles with as well. The result is, boys who need help are not willing to risk talking with the adults in their lives about what’s happening. I’ve spoken to a number of different boys now with the same results. For the most part, they strongly say that they wouldn’t go to or trust any of the staff with personal problems. It’s really hard for me to know how to address this. It saddens me because I know the staff here want to help and have a real heart for the guys. But at the same time, I know that if I speak to this, they might have a hard time receiving it. So…please pray for wisdom for me. I’m not entirely sure how to proceed with this, or if I even can. But it’s definitely on my heart right now….

Please pray about this and for the spiritual attacks that have been taking place here. As always, I can see God at work in powerful ways in the hearts and lives of the guys, but as always, there’s opposition to that. As I continue to plan for the future and for the new home as well, there have been struggles and discouragements at times. But again, I just keep trusting in God’s faithfulness. I’ll be sending out another update on what’s happening with the new project sometime in the next few days.

We’ve also been having some political issues here in Bolivia lately. They haven’t really affected me all that much, but in other parts of the country it’s been difficult. Please pray for Bolivia and for our leadership. If you are interested in knowing more, follow along at this blog. It’s been really helpful for me to understand what’s happening.

http://democracyctr.org/blog/

Thanks again for praying for me. I sent out another video link, so keep an eye out for it. I think for some of you it’s probably showing up in your junk folder. I have no comment on that.

Have a great day!

Ken

PS: I have to say that I’m a good Canadian (or at least western Canadian). I’ve been conditioned to expect snow at Christmas time. It doesn’t matter how many Christmas trees people put up here or pictures of snowmen on their windows (don’t even get me started on that one) it just doesn’t feel much like the Christmas season. But there are some fun things planned at the home and I hope to help again with my friends ministry as they provide Christmas dinner to the street people in Santa Cruz. I’ll let you know how it all goes….