Kids Games - Sta Cruz 2009!

KIDS GAMES SANTA CRUZ 2009 has just wrapped up & this year was another outstanding experience for all the kids involved! This is the 4th year Kids' Games has sought to mobilize the church into getting into the community - using sports to have fun, evangelize, & impart biblical truths - in reaching out to kids whom many would otherwise never accept an invitation to come to church.

This year, 4 local churches (including 1 new church who'd never participated before), 1 orphanage (who'd also never competed before), and our 2 restoration homes El Camino & El Alfarero came together to make the event happen.

During the week, close to 300 kids, many non-believers, heard the gospel & received teachings on topics pertaining to this year's focus 'Living Life to the Fullest,' such as: No Small Significance: The Value Jesus Places on Kids, Trusting in God in order to Triumph, Kindness & Helping Others. Enjoy the photos!

Francisco - to Peru & back

This is Francisco from the Reintegration house (& one of the 1st 4 grads from our boys' home). One year & 1/2 into his Engineering degree, Francisco decided to take a semester & deepen his walk w/ the Lord, responding to a desire in his heart to know God more, & enlist in the YWAM Discipleship Training School (or DTS).

He is now on the verge of wrapping up his 5 month DTS. The 3-month lecture phase has been completed. Francisco & his fellow students were then sent to Peru to evangelize & serve in the local church there. Now he & his team are back in Bolivia, he will be heading off to evangelize & minister in a little town out in the country in Eastern Bolivia.

Francisco has received generous donations to pay for his entire school & outreach abroad to Peru. Thanks for your prayers & support of him!

Mauricio Moves: part 3 - Back Home

After deciding to leave the streets, Mauricio came w/ us to the Reception house, where he'd been twice before. The 1st time w/ us he didn't even last one week. His addiction overcame him, & he demanded to leave & go back to the streets, which was very sad for all of us - & was actually one of the only times a kid hasn't made it through the 1st week w/ us at the Reception House. The 2nd time Mauricio completed his week at the Reception house, went to our boys' restoration home, was doing great & then again went back to the streets & drug abuse after 1 1/2 weeks at the home.

Mauricio, this time has come through the Reception house, & has been at the boys home 3 weeks now - already a great victory for him! He was well underweight, malnourished, and had every parasite known to man in his belly. He's been treated for that, & is also getting treated for a fungal rash on his arm - but is gradually recuperating strength, energy & motivation to live & fight for his life.

Please help us pray for him, that Mauricio would allow the Lord to be his true saviour, help him live out real freedom, & triumph over drugs once & for all! Mauricio is super likeable, all the kids at the home love him & want to see him succeed. Last week he participated in & helped the home win several medals at the annual Kids' Games athletic competition. Pray that God's purposes would be fulfilled in his life, that he would come to know Jesus intimately & profoundly, that he would take his place at the home, & just for a continued release from the bondage of drug use. Our God is Mighty to Save! Merry Christmas Everyone!

Mauricio Moves: part 2 - Decision Time

Mauricio flanked from left to right by Larry, superstar Rob Garrison, & Roberto. This was the last time we saw Mauricio on the streets & he made the decision to leave the streets.

Mauricio Moves

This is a photo of Mauricio, who's 13 year's old & has lived like this, under a bridge, & addicted to a smokeable form of cocaine for most of the last 3 1/2 years.

More Grads!

The boys home, 'El Camino' ('The Way') has produced 2 more high school grads! Congratulations to Enrique (left) & Humberto (right), who graduated high school the Saturday after Thanksgiving of 2009. We're very proud of both of these guys, as they've given their lives to the Lord, shown great resilience, developed discipline, been good role models at the home, kicked drugs, & are dreaming big dreams for their future.

They will be moving into the reintegration house early next year, and in the interim will be taking classes at a local technical institute, to become more proficient w/ using the computer & Microsoft Office programs. They will also have to take their college entrance exams at the end of December so pray for them, as they prepare for the next big step in their lives. Enrique wants to study law & go into politics, & Humberto desires to pursue communications.

Reintegrating

Hey, wanted to write a quick update on our boys from the Reintegration house. Again, these are the guys who've come off of the streets, spent years restoring their lives at 'El Camino,' have graduated high school, and are now preparing to become independent young men integrating back into society.

Juan (2nd from left), is finishing up his 1st year at university studying Electro-mechanical engineering. Abel (middle, w/ white shirt), is taking a heavy load in his 2nd year pursuing his Accounting degree. Raul (far right), is finishing up his technical degree in computer operation & & basic programming; and is also taking classes towards a Computer Engineering degree at university. Francisco (not pitcured) put his college career on hold for a semester, in order to do a Discipleship Training School with Youth With a Mission. He is currently on outreach in Peru w/ the rest of his classmates from the school.

Please pray for these guys as they continue their studies & walking in God's plan for their lives. We'd also like to ask your prayers for us as well, as we're looking at exit strategies & time tables for when the right time is for them to move out on their own.

Training em' up & sendin' em' out

Mrs. Patty Morehead has been on the move the past few weeks. She has just been part of a 3 day training workshop, with a ministry called the International Sports Coalition here just outside of Santa Cruz.

The vision of this ministry is to use sports as a means of spreading the gospel & extending the Kingdom of God. Patty helped give some of the training herself, but also invited speakers from Argentina & Columbia to help kick-start the ministry here in Bolivia & prepare other national leaders with a heart for this ministry. Representatives from churches, from all over the country came to receive the workshops, to later apply them in their communities. Some of the themes taught were: 'Athletics & the Bible,' 'Forming Effective Teams,' & 'Explaining the Gospel.'

The 2nd week of December we will be putting on the 4th annual Kids' Games competition between churches, orphanages, & restorative homes here in Santa Cruz. This event has been a huge success here in the past, enabling hundreds of kids to hear about God's redemptive plan for their life, and really think about how they compete & why God has given us this desire to strive for excellence, persevere, work in a team, overcome obstacles & triumph!

Let the Games Begin!

Patty has recently returned from Sucre (the official capital of Bolivia), where she & a few colleagues were helping to plant a new ministry that uses sports ministry to evangelize & teach Kingdom principles. The idea of sports ministry is to mobilize the local church in using athletics as a bridge to reach out to children & youth who wouldn't accept an invitation to attend church but would participate in an athletic competition if invited. How many kids do you know that love sports?

Partnering with the local church, the competitive events are combined w/ biblical teachings and testimonies from Christian athletes. The ministry also helps teach the local church how to work as a team, have fun, get more involved in the community, be around unbelievers, think outside the box about evangelism & extend the Kingdom. There is actually a global coalition of sports ministries which uses sports around the world to evangelize & disciple. In Bolivia so far, we have held yearly events such as Kids Games, Teen Games & as of last year Family Games in Santa Cruz. For the 1st time now, in the city of Sucre, the Kids Games event was held this year & looks to continue inviting more churches to participate in the coming year! Pics above are from the event.

The Kids' Games event coincided with the South American championships, the Bolivarian Games, which this year was held in Sucre. The Sports ministry team took the chance to street evangelize near the stadium & hand out tracks to spectators.

Military men ... almost out the door

Enrique (left) & Humberto (right), our 2 oldest boys from the boys' restoration home 'El Camino,' have now finished their military service to the nation of Bolivia & are about to graduate high school! It has been a long journey for both of them, they've both been at the home for over 5 years now, & are now getting ready to move on to another phase of life.

Enrique is one of the boys who's blessed & challenged us the most in his time at the home. He is one of the boys that few forget when they meet him. Jesus Christ has done an amazing work of redemption & transformation in his life & he has impacted & helped encourage many a struggling lad at the home over the years. His testimony will blow you away, but unfortunately is a bit long to tell here. Personable, charming, & endearing, visitors to the home have mistaken him for staff on occasion. His heart is to study political science & go into politics - SO HE FOR SURE NEEDS YOUR PRAYERS.

Humberto has always been one of the more quiet boys at the home. He hails from northern Bolivia in the Beni province. Humberto has had to work harder at school than most, but in that has developed a healthy determination that's helped him overcome drugs & many other obstacles in his life. Humberto is not sure what he wants to do with the rest of his life or what he wants to study, so please pray the Lord will guide the direction of his life.

Back from Uruguay!

Patty & the missions team from Aposento Alto church here in Bolivia got back a few days ago from their 09' missions trip to the country of Uruguay! In Uruguay, the team partnered w/ a Mennonite church of about 150 members (a large congregation for Uruguayan evangelical standards) .

Upon arrival, they jumped right into some pretty intense ministry right off the bat, ministering to women & teens battling depression & even suicide. God impressed upon the team that a common thread w/ many of the women & teens was the need to forgive & were able to help many take steps of forgiveness in letting go of hurts from the past.

The team also engaged in prayer walks in the neighborhoods close to the church, organized an alternative halloween event w/ sports, games & prizes w/ the kids, & shared dynamic bible teachings w/ the kids.

As in pretty much all previous trips the team also greatly encouraged the church to accept it's part in the Great Commission and to get involved in what God's doing not only in their community but around the world. Through the seeds that were planted, the church began praying about taking a team to Africa in the future.

The trip ended w/ a Sunday night invitation for those who wanted to give their lives in service to missions & several folks, young & old offered their lives to serve in missions - so we'll see how the Lord uses Uruguay to bless the Nations in the coming months & years!

JONATHAN !!!

Another young life decided to leave a the darkness of the streets and begin a new life to our boys' restoration home 'El Camino.' Above is Jonathan (above in orange shirt, flanked by Mt. Paran men's team), who is 14 years old & has just left our reception house to begin his new life at the boys' home. Jonathan had been on the streets for 2 years, having to steal to survive & being subjected to regular beatings by the police. He is excited, and knows several of the boys at the home from the streets. Please pray for him as he adjusts to his new life at the home, that he will turn his life, will & future over to Christ and choose to walk w/ the Lord daily.

Thank You Mt. Paran Men!

Wow what a week! Blood, sweat, tears, toilet duty, demolition, hip-hop joy, new kids in the Kingdom and that was just like the first 3 days!

We are so very grateful to the Mt. Paran Men's team who came down and really blew our minds with their hard work & incredible love shown to us, our kids, our ministry team, & our church. In the short time they were here they preached the gospel & ministered to those in need at church, loved on the girls at the girls' home & helped make the home safer by installing outdoor lighting, helped revolutionize the bathroom at the boys' home, helped bring a young man off of the streets, started a birthday cake fight & shared the gospel through hip-hop to the young people. Thanks Reg, Scott, David, Ray, David, Ken, Chuck & Ronnie! Love you guys enjoy the pics above.

Answered Prayers

For a while we've been praying for more staff, & married couples in particular to complement our ministry team here in Bolivia. We want to thank you for helping us to pray for this need, & would like to share w/ you that God has been responding in a big way! Above are Gualberto & Fausta, a Bolivian couple who've come on board w/ us & are currently training at both the boys' & girls' restoration homes to see where they might best fit in. They are considering taking on the role of house parents @ one of the homes - & we know this is a huge decision/commitment so please pray for them & for discernment in knowing where the best fit for them is. We are looking for at least 1 couple who would live-in at the girls' home & 2 couples to live at the boys' home.

Launch of the Mobile Medical Post!

It's been a long time coming, but the good news can now be confirmed - we now have a Mobile Medical vehicle for our street work up & running! We have a nurse (Rick from the U.S.) & a doctor (Iris - from Holland) volunteering with us on street visits to attend to the vast array of health needs we see on the streets. The vehicle is a van that's been equipped w/ a dental chair (that's doubling as an examination table), an air compressor & a generator - which gives us the capacity to do dental work (once we find a volunteer dentist : ).

Last week we were able to take Roberto (pictured above) to the hospital to get an x-ray on his broken leg (fractured when he was run over by a motorcycle). Overall, the van is allowing us much greater mobility in the streets to visit more kids & attend to urgent health needs the kids have. We are very grateful & excited to have this new outreach facility - thanks to all who've helped to make it a functioning reality!

Together Again At Last

After having been apart for the last 4 years, Alex who was living w/ his grandmother in the north of Bolivia, is now back with his mom Darlene at the girls' restoration home 'El Alfarero!' Alex is Darlene's only child & was born at a time in Darlene's life when she really wasn't ready to be a loving, nurturing mother - at which time she made really the wise decision, to let her mom step in & help raise little Alex. Darlene has come a long way since then & several months ago expressed her desire to be reunited with her son. Since his arrival, Alex has taken well to life at the home and is a happy, energetic, guitar pickin' little boy!

Please pray for Darlene as she is really just now learning to be a mother, but is so far doing a great job.

Aposento Missions- to Uruguay

This is part of the 2009 Aposento Alto missions team that will be heading to Uruguay next month! As most of you already know, this will be the 5th consecutive year our Bolivian church has sent a short-term missions team out to minister internationally.

So why Uruguay?

Uruguay, unlike its catholic neighbors, is by far & away the most atheistic nation in South America. Uruguay is a small country, made up of largely european immigrants & descendants who for the most part esteem logic, intellectualism, individualism & humanism over faith or a relationship w/ Jesus Christ. And while there is a church presence in Uruguay, the mainstream culture feels they have 'moved on' from professing a belief in or a need for Jesus Christ, and in the last decade have been quite unwelcoming to the gospel.

Uruguay needs Jesus Christ

The 2009 trip will have as its focus community service - ministering & lending a hand in areas of much need. The team will be partnering with YWAM Uruguay & the local church in Montevideo (the capital city). The team also plans to visit hospitals, pray for the sick and serve in retirement homes for the elderly & in children's orphanages - sharing the gospel through art & drama, helping w/ service projects, & organizing fun activities for kids & the elderly many of whom are seldom visited.

The team is currently raising funds to be able to go by bus, a 2 day trip, and minister in Uruguay. If you'd like to partner financially w/ the team, you can deposit a gift into Patty's account in the U.S.

Wachovia - Checking Acct. #1010199456033

Please pray for the team & the folks they're going to minister to as they prepare for the trip next month!

Went fishing the other day . . .

& hooked a big one.

Say hello to Ivan.

Ivan is 15 & is our newest boy @ the boys' home!

One of the greatest thrills in working w/ street kids is seeing them decide to come off the streets & literally see the light return to their eyes.

Such was the case w/ Ivan, who already has come a long way since coming off the streets & arriving at our boys' home 2 weeks ago. After spending the last 4 years of his life on the streets & addicted to drugs - & having listened to years of prompting & prayers from many folks leading up to one decisive moment - Ivan made the decision to come off of the streets 2 weeks ago & is fitting in nicely at the boys' home, 'El Camino.' Ivan during his time on the streets developed a very serious drug habit, & has struggled a bit w/ withdrawal symptoms - but so far has overcome the urge to go back to life on the streets. Please join us in praying for Ivan that he would continue to persevere, will choose to give his heart to the Lord, & embrace the Life that Christ longs for each of us to have.

Severino GETS DUNKED!

Happy Days! After having received the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal saviour & Lord & 3 months of baptismal classes at the local church - Severino WAS BAPTIZED this Saturday! It was a marvelous day for he & his grandparents who came to the ceremony.

Severino is a young man of many talents. He's the drummer for our worship band at the boys' home, a straight-'A' student at the local private school close to the boys home, and the goal-keeper for the soccer team @ the home. Severino has made remarkable strides since coming off of the streets almost 3 years ago. He's committed to following the Lord & is a great influence on the other boys at the home, many of whom themselves are now interested in getting baptized!

Where our kids come from. . .

The homeless children & teen population here in Bolivia continues to grow. It's startling to see how many young kids, in Santa Cruz alone roam the streets filthy, high, hurting, hungry & hopeless. Most of these kids come from broken homes where many times parents have substance abuse problems themselves & will often send their kids out to help bring home extra income for the household. The great majority of the kids at our homes & those who're still on the streets come from backgrounds of physical, sexual & psychological abuse - & have sometimes been abandoned all together. They turn to the streets as a method of survival and it's there where older kids teach them how to steal, introduce them to drugs, and lead girls into prostitution. What does the government do? Not much really. Police regularly beat & extort the kids, and there really is no concerted effort to solve the problem. Street kids are for the most part looked as a nuisance to society, and from time to time are 'rounded up,' & dropped off somewhere outside the city, only to find their way back the following day.

The men folk

These are the guys from our Boys' Restoration Home for ex-street kids, 'El Camino' (The Way). At present there are 25 boys who've left a life of drug abuse, petty theft, misery, rejection & self-destruction on the streets to start a new life at the home. We're very proud of all of our boys who've shown a unparalleled resilience & determination despite all the pain & trauma they've been through.

At the boys' home the boys are 

Meet All of our precious GIRLS !

Above are pictures of all of our girls at our Restoration Home, El Alfarero (The Potter's House) for ex-street girls. 

After having come from backgrounds of neglect, sexual & physical abuse, drug addiction, and even prostitution from living on the streets - at the home the girls are given love & guidance as they gradually allow God to restore their lives & experience a new beginning. Hopeful that their lives can & will change, girls are counseled & nurtured by staff, are given the opportunity to go back & finish school, & those who are young mothers are instructed & supported as they care for their babies.

BIENVENIDOS! (WELCOME!)

L & P

Hello!  Welcome to our Bolivia blog, where our intent is to keep everyone (who might be interested) better informed in what's going on in our lives & ministry while in Bolivia. We've found that a quarterly newsletter really isn't enough to keep everyone abreast, & really there's so much that happens in 4 months time that it's tough to cram into a tiny newsletter. Thanks for visiting. Bookmark us & come back as often as you like.