ANDRES!

Another prayer request for u guys. Above is Andres. He's 17 and is hooked on cocaine, smoking it as a freebase several times a day. Andres is from the northern part of Bolivia, but has lived on the streets for several years & now hangs out w/ the older, tougher street population under a bridge of one of the busy streets in town. He's expressed an interest to come off the streets, but hasn't come to the place of doing so as of yet. Please pray for him & that the Lord would restore his life & break his life-damaging addiction.

Never Dull

Life here in general is rarely predictable or dull. Some surprises we experience are wonderful; others, while unavoidable, are a bit more . . . um . . . painful. Photographed above is Mauricio, one of our boys from the boys' home 'El Camino,' who after a freak soccer accident at school shattered 2 bones in his ankle & wound up in the Emergency room late last Wednesday night. He had to have reconstructive surgery, with metal pins & plates inserted into his right ankle, after trying to make a valiant save on goal during his team's match. He's now recovering back at the boys' home and Lord willing, will make a complete recovery. As these things usually do, we did take quite a hit to the ole' wallet. In assuring he'd get adequate care we took him to a private clinic, where in the end we racked up a thousand dollar plus hospital bill for the all the tests, meds. & surgical procedure itself. It was definitely worth it, as the operation was a success & looks like after a few months on crutches, Mauricio will be healthy again & back to normal!

New Blood in the Family

Alejandro is our newest boy in El Camino, the boys' restoration home! He's 10 years old & comes to us after having run away several times from a very abusive situation at home with his mother & step-dad. Alejandro was found sleeping in the market by himself, in one of the poorer areas of the city. He's one of 7 kids, and was not going to school so he could 'take care of' his younger brothers & sisters in his family's 1-room rented space. His step-dad would lock them in the room until either he or his mother returned late at night. When Alejandro didn't take care of his younger siblings adequately enough, or had fought with them during the day, his step-dad would take a hammer and smash his fingernails.

Alejandro has just finished a week with us at El Toborochi (our reception house for street kids) & is currently spending his 1st weekend at the boys' home. Please pray for him & his adjustment to new life at the home. We are very happy to have him & know the Lord's going to bring much needed healing to his life. He accepted Christ as his saviour while at the reception house & is excited to make new friends at the home!

HELP! - Rescue Mission

This is a picture of young Daniel, pictured above, shaking hands on a promise to LEAVE the STREETS 2 weeks ago. Dirty, malnourished & very vulnerable to abuse from older kids, Daniel WAS optimistic about leaving the streets & his glue-sniffing addiction, but renegged on his decision to come off or even speak to us these past 2 weeks.

Daniel needs your prayers. HE'S CLOSE, but hasn't fully come around to taking the 1st step towards recovery & freedom. As you can see he's very young, probably 12 years old, & has already been the victim of abuse & is addicted to at least one substance. His future can be bright & we want to ask for your prayers that the Holy Spirit would indeed him to decide to embrace a new start to life & God's work of redemption & restoration.

Raul Lazarte (Junior) & Luis Miguel go under . . .

. . . & come back up!

Yes, these two guys from our restoration home, 'El Camino,' were baptized yesterday at the local church where they've been attending here in Santa Cruz. Both Luis Miguel & Raul have come a loooooonnngg way since 1st joining us. We've known Luis Miguel for close to 7 years. He came & left the home several times before coming back for good nearly 4 years ago now. Luis Miguel graduates high school this year & plans to attend college afterwards. He's a bright kid. 2 of his interests include philosophy & hip-hop/reggaeton music, & as many of you know he even writes & performs his own songs. God has taken him through a long maturation process he's still going through. We have high expectations & believe the Lord has great plans for his life.

Raul 1st came to us 5 years ago. He was much smaller back then, and attended Patty & I's wedding! He left shortly after & went back to the streets, & returned about 1 1/2 later with renewed vigor & determination to get his life back on track & finish his studies. At the home, Raul came to know the Lord and has been growing significantly over the last 3 1/2 years. Raul has a big personality & loves being the life of the party. He's one of the guys of influence at the home. I've personally seen him encourage & give words of wisdom to kids who're struggling or thinking about going back to the streets, & literally seen them change their minds and stay on the right path because of his words. Raul's in 9th grade this year & has also been instrumental in encouraging his younger brother, Angel, to leave the street life. Angel is currently locked up in a youth detention center, but will be released later this year & plans to join us at El Camino following his release!

Praise God for both of these young men, & for His hand & work in their lives. They're both truly a testament to how God can cause a total 360 in someone's life & then turn around & use them as agents of change in the lives of others!

Roger's b-day @ El Camino

Yep, the big guy celebrated another birthday in Bolivia this April, and we were all present to honor him, thank him, feast on his behalf, and of course smash his face partly into some cake! 21 years ago, Roger & Isha Hulford left their native England & came out to Santa Cruz, Bolivia to launch the ministry we serve in, Operation Restoration, with Youth With a Mission. Although he'll tell you it's taken quite a bit longer than he'd planned for, God has used Roger to bless countless lives and restore hope to many who have been utterly lost. All of his who form part of the team here, stand on his broad shoulders who courageously had the vision, took the risk & answered the call to, 'GO,' before there were any homes or restored lives or any manuals of how God was going to do all this.

Roger's party was legendary. The girls danced, Luis Miguel rapped, the food was great & oh yes there was quite a large pinata that Roger got to bust open. All & all twas' a grand ole time and we got to sing happy birthday in Spanish, Portugese, English & Dutch - complete with the whole hip-hip-hooray chants and everything. Thanks Roger for many faithful years of service!

Darlene & Angela - Summer of Missions!

Darlene & Angela (pictured above w/ Patty) from the girls' restoration home, 'El Alfarero,' just finished up their summer of missions course at the YWAM base while taking a break from school! They both graduate in November of 2011, and along w/ Ninoska, will be our 1st girls to ever graduate the girls' home!

The summer of missions course is basically a mini-DTS, spanning 4 1/2 weeks, 2 weeks classes & 2 weeks in ministry outreach. The course was a huge blessing for both the girls, who were absolutely radiant when we went by to congratulate them just before their graduation night of the course. They are the 1st girls to participate in the program, & all the feedback we got from the base was overwhelmingly positive. We very proud of them & excited about what the Lord's going to do with their lives post-El Alfarero!

Abel ties the knot!

Ok so we didn't exactly spot this one coming a long way off . . . but Abel formerly of El Camino & the reintegration house has become our 1st boy to get married! He & new bride Mariela, decided to get married after 4 months of dating. They met at Abel's place of work, fell in love & decided to not waste any time.

They were wed in a simple ceremony with close friends & family in attendance. Abel & Mariela are both now working during the day & pursuing their studies in the evening, living in a small apt. in the city.

PAOLA Returns

Above is 17 year old Paola, who's joined us for her 2nd stint at the girls' restoration home. She is ultra vivacious, full of personality, knows what she wants and brings a lot of life, energy & fun to the girls' home.

Paola 1st came to us at the end of last year & had been doing well battling her addiction to heavy drugs; but instability in 2 of the other girls (who wound up leaving the home), also influenced her to leave the home.

She is back with us now though, w/ new determination and a strong drive to be reunited w/ her 3 year old daughter who lives w/ the child's paternal grandmother currently. Please help us to pray for Paola's continued victory over drug, stability, new challenges in going back to school and for a continued surrender to the Lord's will for her life.

Latest on Raul O.

Raul Ocana (pictured left) came to have dinner at our apt. the other week. Raul is part of the 1st graduating class from the "El Camino," boys' restoration home now 3 years ago. He had some big news to share w/ us, that he is now dating a girl from his church! As a true gentleman does here, he asked the girl's parents for permission to go out w/ her, is being mentored at church & has also brought his girlfriend to meet the family at the reintegration house. Raul is very happy & well on his way to a successful future.

Raul just finished up the theoretical & practical portions of his coursework in printing & development. He is working part time at a local printing press - in order to study graphic design this year & add more skills to his skill set.

Nestor Arrives!

Mr. Nestor Ramirez (pictured middle, flanked by Dona & Ingrid to the left & Patty & Larry to the right) ladies & gentlemen - came to us from a rural, coca (& subsequently cocaine) producing area of the country. He is Juan & Francisco's (of the reintegration house) nephew and is 18 years old. Nestor's story is unique in that he doesn't hail from a big city here, but wound up deep in cocaine & on the streets after attempting to kick his habit & start afresh in a new town. Nestor, like many youths from the coca growing region where he's from, got pulled into the drug trade & actually for many years helped produce Bolivian cocaine from the abundant coca leaf crops. He eventually wound up being shot at and chased by police on one occasion, where he & another friend narrowly escaped. Despite his eventful past, Nestor is quiet, hard-working, eager to study & has a good heart. He accepted the Lord as his personal Savior at the reception house & we'd like to ask you to please help us pray for his complete restoration; as we PRAISE GOD THAT THERE'S NOW 1 LESS DRUG PRODUCER here in Bolivia!

The Hike

Charging up the lush, green mountains - in the amazon basin area of Bolivia w/ 9 of our bravest boys from the 'El Camino,' boys' restoration home was absolutely exhilirating. We took a bus about an hour south of the boys' home & began our hike shortly after lunch. Our path followed a mountain creek bed & was full of phenomenal sights, vegetation, rock structure & critters along the way. It took several hours to make it to the top, but the scenery from above made it well worth it.

On our way back down, Luis Enrique sliced my hand w/ the machete as he was chopping at Lord knows what - lesson learned: Never walk in front of the guy w/ the machete.

As we got to the bottom, the guys jumped into the river & it soon began to pour the rain. We had to jump into the back of a rock loaded truck as it was becoming dark & raining. Shortly after we were fully drenched, a bus came near & we all leaped off & boarded the bus back to the home. It had been an unforgettable weekend adventure.

Cristian's big day!

What a night! Christian graduated 2 weeks after his brother Michael & Roly did, & is the 1st graduate we've had from the public school 'Limoncito.' It was a wonderful evening for Christian as, together w/ his brother Michael & Marcelino, got to lead his entire class in a few different songs they'd rehearsed. He also was paid a rare visit from his mother & brother, and the whole evening was one he'll not surely forget. Congrats Chris! And God bless as you pursue your dream of studying Systems Engineering!

Titus at Aposento

Just before Christmas we were honored to have half of a bible school come and teach members of our church how to study God's Word. The team took us through the inductive study method over the course of an entire week, examining the Bible as a whole & then diving into the book of Philemon to unlock just a wealth of life lessons. Thanks to YWAM - Montana for sending the team to turn not only Aposento on to God's Word, but several other local churches & the YWAM Bolivia training base as well.

2010 GRADS!!! Micheal, Roly & Christian

Alright! We are back safe & sound from Haiti now, from a short term missions trip we took to Port-au-prince. It was a great trip & you can read all about it if you like on another blog we've written w/ pics from the trip at:

http://boliviatohaiti2010.blogspot.com

Things in Bolivia haven't slowed down a bit. There's a number of exciting things that've happened over the past couple of weeks & we're thrilled to be able to share some of them with you here.

We'll dedicate this post to our 2010 Graduates - Micheal, Roly & Christian who have wrapped up their high school requirements & 2 (Micheal & Roly) had their graduation ceremony last week! Christian will officially graduate from his school on Saturday.

Micheal & Christian are brothers and have been with us for 3 & 2 years respectively. While Roly has been with us for 4 years!

All 3 of these boys are really remarkable young men in their own right, & have overcome great obstacles, adversity & trauma really to have achieved this step in their lives. Micheal & Christian have both turned into annointed worship leaders & are continually fine tuning their musical abilities to bless & minister to others. Micheal was asked to lead his graduating class in 2 musical numbers on graduation night. Christian will do the same at his graduation next Saturday.

Roly was also asked to speak at his graduation, & chosen by his peers to honor one of the schools faculty members with a gift from the graduating class. Roly is a leader & has been at the home for several years now. He has fulfilled his military service dutifully & has been an example to the other boys at El Camino in his time there.

All of us would like to thank you for your prayers for these young men, & ask you to continue to pray for God's direction in their lives. Only Christian is certain of what he wants to study - electing the field of Business Administration. He along with the other 2 boys, will be preparing these next several to give their college entrance exam in January & then will be moving out of El Camino & into the reintegration house with the rest of the high school grads/college men.