And Kendra wins the prize!  Good job Kendra!  I don’t know what your prize is yet, but it’ll be cool.  Philip gets an honorable mention for at least trying.  The rest of you… don’t even get me started….   =)

Here’s the picture with names added….

For those of you who don’t know…Andres (in the red) is the same Andres who’s birthday we celebrated a few posts below this one.  That’s his brother, Jose Manuel.  Roberto Negro is in the front row and Roberto Mairana is in the back.  Also in this picture, for those of you from years past, is Saul (Ticua’s brother) in the front row, sitting down on the left…and Feliciano in the back row, in the white t-shirt (the tall kid, next to Roberto Mairana).  He’s Sandro’s younger brother.  I’d say little brother, except that he’s nearly twice as tall as Sandro!  =)

Alan is at still at the home, but the kid in the back, Jose Carlos, lives on his own now.  He comes to visit us fairly ofthen though.  And again, Roberto Mairana.  And Kendra, you were right about the kid playing checkers…that’s Roberto Negro too.  But the other guy isn’t at the home any more.

Ticua’s not in any of these pictures because he didn’t arrive until the year after this.  Same with Rudy…

Jose Manuel and Andres now…

Thanks for playing…Philip and Kendra…  =)

It’s been fun (and a bit sobering) looking back at these pictures and remembering where the guys came from, and who they were.  It’s more evidence of God’s goodness.  Not too long ago Andres was walking home from university (near the bus terminal downtown) and heard someone call his name.  He looked back, and standing there was his best friend from when he lived on the streets.  This fellow had never left that life.  He was dirty and unshaven.  He and Andres talked for awhile, and this fellow couldn’t believe that Andres had finished high school and was studying at university. 

Andres told me later that he suddenly realized what God has saved him from.  That could have been him.  Many of the young guys in these pictues left the home and went back to the streets.  It’s still a battle some days for my guys, even now.  Thanks for praying for them and standing beside them.  I (we) appreciate it…