Missions @ Aposento

Bolivia is expanding its vision for the Nations!

At the beginning of the year, our pastor at Aposento Alto, Dilmar Carrasco, announced he wanted our church to host a missions conference at the church sometime in May of 2010. This was new for the church, but we were very excited that Dilmar was now ahead of the charge in stirring up the local church's heart for the Nations!

The 1st ever Missions Conference at Aposento Alto was held during May 14-16, Friday - Sunday. We invited every church we had contact w/ & also talked it up on the Christian radio. Speakers were invited from Uruguay, the U.S., Ecuador & Bolivia to help infuse Christ's passion for the lost & hurting. Our good friend Susan, from N. Point Church in Alpharettta, GA, even came to share her missions' experience w/ us on Saturday. The focus was to be on 1) Local missions 2) International missions 3) and the church's role in Social Justice issues. Local missions organizations CET, CEC, Viva Network, Crown Financial, Campus Crusade for Christ & YWAM were also invited to set up stands & promote missions efforts in their respective organizations. The Aposento missions' team throughout the conference raised money for the 2010 missions trip effort to Haiti, by selling t-shirts & key chains. Even had a Bolivian folk band the last evening, who led us in a time of worship that roared through the neighborhood.

The Aposento team did an incredible job, decorating rooms in the church to remember God's faithfulness in all the different short-term trips the church had taken over the past 6 years. Patty & her team organized an extraordinary Sunday morning tour of the Nations for the 200 kids who participated, complete w/ passports & a time of intercession for the countries around the world.

Many young folks came forward to make a commitment to 'Go' during a Saturday night youth service. Scores of children's minds were opened to the need, not just in Bolivia, but around the world. And a few brave souls from different churches took the step to turn in their applications for the Haiti trip. Overall, we were very happy w/ the 1st ever Aposento Alto Missions Conference, & we feel confident that many seeds were sown that God is going to grow in years to come!

Do YOU have a Winston Churchill in your home?

Yeah I didn't think so. Well . . . we do.

Yes, the newest member of El Camino is quite the character. WInston Churchill Vaca is 16 years old, & lives every bit up to of his name. Doesn't quite have the bulldog face. Jolly good chap though seriously. Fresh off the streets, lots of energy, trying to fit in & find his place at the home, so keep him in your prayers please!

Joel ... Keep em' comin'

Alright, this is Joel. He's 17 and is the brother of the ever popular Luis Miguel (for those of you who've visited the boys' home here). Joel came to us out of desperation. He'd been kicked out of his house, kicked out of the nice neighbor lady's house, kicked out of his nice friend's house, of his other friend's house, & was now on the streets. I couldn't believe his step-dad wouldn't take him back into his house, so I went with him to 'sort it all out.' Well . . . let's just say there was a lot of profanity & Joel was basically crushed by the end of the conversation, & we were asked to leave.

I won't get into too many details, but the quick version is this is now Joel's past life.

As you've probably figure out already, he's with us now at El Camino (our boys' restoration home), & is basically kicking butt. Really great kid, studying hard to get back into school, super-helpful around the home, respectful - guess he just really needed a fresh start. His dream is to be a physician in order to help folks. Anyway, the honeymoon always wares, & at some point changing our lives always opens up some nasty wounds - so a new face for your prayer list.