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.

Still a Ways to Go

Our street team is hitting the pavement once again.

This week we uncovered a new group of street kids in a completely different canal in another part of the city. It's a huge canal, underneath one of the main roundabouts in the city. We met new boys Pacho, Carlos, & Christian; and some old friends we hadn't seen in a while like Jorge, Epson, Shirley, Michel, Jose & Freddy. Although their 'sleeping quarters' are a bit more spacious, & there's no bullying from the police as of yet here - the plight of these kids & their blindness to their own destruction just breaks your heart. Surrounded by trash, human feses, rats, & drugs - what begins as a Huck Finn like adventurous existence quickly becomes addiction, disease & even death.

Jorge, a boy we've known for several years, who's now 19, upon waking up, let us know it was his birthday the other day. No sooner had he gotten the words out of his mouth, & another kid piped up & said, 'yeah, this sissy tried to hang himself on his birthday, had it not been for some little kid who found him in a noose & brought him down, he would've killed himself.' Jorge responded w/ silence, head hung low & ashamed. It's a dark reality & a lonely existence. We urged Jorge to let us take him to a rehab center for young adults that morning, and he just was not interested. Pray for him, his salvation & also for Jose, Pacho, Carlos, Christian & the other kids mentioned above. Time is NOT on their side, but God longs to do a redemptive work in them!

Celebrating w/ Darlene!

Darlene (pictured above w/ son Alex) has come a long way. Since coming to the home almost 3 years ago she has given her life to the Lord, had major reconstructive skull surgery, gotten back on track w/ her education & taken on the responsibility of raising her 5 year old son Alex, who up until last year was in the care of his grandmother. Darlene is developing into a fine mother & is also a wonderful cook. She celebrated her birthday this Monday, with all of the gang at the girls' home. Keep her in your prayers that she would continue along the right path & achieve the highest dreams God has for her!

Yolanda - 14 year old Princess!

Yolanda (seated 2nd from left), just celebrated her 14th birthday on Friday! Patty's 4 sisters (2 of them pictured above, Isset far left & Cinthia 3rd from left) & nephew were among several guests who came to wish Yolanda the happiest of birthdays on Saturday. Yoli will be going into private school next year & is growing up fast. Her older sister Lupe is also at the home & for her birthday Yoli's aunt & cousin came to wish her well!

Luis Fernando

15 year-old, Luis Fernando (picture above,) from the boys' restoration home, 'El Camino' last week, went through some pretty serious ear surgery to repair his ruptured, left ear drum. The surgery went well according to the ear, nose & throat specialist and Luis Fernando is back recovering at El Camino.

It was revealed to us after a routine check-up, that Luis had lost quite a bit of his hearing in his left ear earlier in the year. Apparently earlier in his childhood, he had suffered some trauma in the inner-ear which caused the ear drum to tear. The doctor recommended that he be operated on for the situation not to deteriorate any more. Please pray, as Luis Fernando continues to recover, & that God would heal his hearing through the surgery.

VIVA Network - City-wide Day of Principles & Values

The organization Patty helped to get up & running here, Viva Network (formerly called Red Viva), just recently helped get a municipal ordinance passed & funded that declared an official Day of Recognition of Values & Principles here in Santa Cruz! Viva has been partnering w/ the municipality to educate thousands of youth in schools across the city about abstinence, the dangers & realities of drug & alcohol abuse, maintaining one's integrity & other topics related to preserving Christ-centered values & principles for the past 3 years. The day of celebration of values & principles culminated w/ a concert of Christian artists & a ceremony honoring individuals who give their lives to defend principles & values. The event was a attended by a great number of people in the main town square.

Viva Network has worked for years to network Christian organizations together who work with children at risk in many nations around the world. The organization has helped to train, equip, organize & unite Christian organizations working in favor of children - in order to extend God's Kingdom more effectively & collaboratively. Viva also promotes Christ-centered values particularly among kids & teens, in secular & Christian schools throughout the city & country. Overall it was a wonderful event where the attention of the entire city was directed & reminded of our need to preserve a Godly standard w/i society.

WILMA TOO!

So everyone this is our latest girl, her name is Wilma (pictured above, planting flowers outside the reception house 'El Toborochi')! She came to us last week from the government child protection services, with a court order to come to the home. Wilma is 17, and hails from a small town called Comarapa, about 3 hours outside of Santa Cruz.

In an all too familiar story, Wilma was abandoned by her family & as a teenager got in deep with the wrong crowd. This year, she dropped out of school and was living on her own, bouncing around from house to house when she could. Wilma is excited about being with us & asks for prayer help in helping to overcome an alcohol addiction that she admittedly could no longer control. Please pray for her, as she gets acclimated to life at the girls' home. She is a sweet girl, wants to be a doctor when she's older & indeed has a bright future ahead of her.

Luis Enrique!!!

Luis Enrique (on the streets above, after coming to the home below), is our newest boy at the boys' restoration home, El Camino. He is Lidia's, from the girls' home, brother hailing from the south of Bolivia, from a city called Tarija. Luis Enrique arrived to us on the day of the World Cup Finals and his time with us so far has been a blessing.

He is 12 years' old, was abandoned by his father, & basically totally neglected by his alcoholic mother as well. Left to raise himself, running amuck in the markets & stealing to buy food to survive, Luis E. was taken out of school at a very young age. He is adjusting well to life at the home & has made friends with several of the boys. He is participating in classes w/ the tutor at the home learning to read & write, so that next January, he will go back to school. Pray for Luis Enrique, as he's got some serious wounds from childhood & probably stemming from that, tends to sometimes react aggressively. Learning new habits, everything from personal hygiene, to daily school work, to helping out at the home, Luis has shown a lot of courage & we know he will continue to grow, as he allows God to work in his life.

Renaissance Ladies!

Pictured above is our newly opened art studio, led by local artist Yovana Mamani (pictured far left), who also attends our church Aposento Alto. Yovana has been a delightful addition to our ministry, recently coming on to serve full-time in the ministry, after having graduated from University with her art degree. Some of her students are pictured above Lupe, Ninoska & Luz.

She is currently teaching the girls basic pottery skills, which only makes sense w/ the name of the the girls' home being 'El Alfarero' (The Potter's house). Pottery classes in addition to being a great stress reliever for the girls, also equips them with another skill they'll have before leaving the home. We want to thank CBC Highlands in particular for help getting the art project up & running by donating the equipment (art table, stools, some supplies) for the studio.

Blowing the Roof Off The Place !!!

Stunning! Wow! HOO-WAH!

One of the highlights of this year for me by far, has to be having participated in a worship service led by our boys from the boys' home El Camino, in celebration of YWAM's 50 year anniversary. A packed house got to witness redemption in action, as our boys well on they're way to being restored from a past on the streets; once timid & shy about worship - just let er' rip for one spectacular night!

Gifted musically & standing as a living testimony of God's grace - the guys belted out song after song declaring Christ as their saviour & His love as the answer for their lives. It was high-energy, loud & from the heart, setting the tone for an awesome evening of gratitude & praise for God's faithfulness over the last 50 years.

Sarah back in Bolivia

Wrapping up a season of remarkable guests, we recently had the privilege of welcoming the always lovely, insightful & fun - SARAH LANIER - to Bolivia for the 1st time in 17 years. It was an honor to have Sarah with us for our National Conference, 50 year YWAM anniversary, ministering to our street kids' ministry Op. Restoration team & at the training base as well. Gifted & renowned for her work in the areas of leadership, team dynamics & conflict resolution in multi-cultural teams, debriefing crisis situations, & helping missionaries finish well - Sarah brought the whole spectrum of light in a number of different areas to our team here. Sought after around the world and bombarded by requests for a piece of her time - it means the world to us here that she would take the time to come & serve us wholeheartedly. Thanks Sarah!

Update on Abel!

From the streets, to the boys' restoration home, to high school graduation, and now college and a job; God's redemptive work is exemplified well in Abel's (pictured above) life!

Abel was part of our 1st graduating class from the boys' restoration home, 'El Camino.' Since graduation he has completed the Discipleship Training School with YWAM and is half-way through his accounting degree at university. Abel has also become the 1st boy to officially join the work force, taking a job as a cashier at the local supermarket chain, Fidalga. He is working 40 hours a week and taking a full load of classes. Abel is the 1st in what's to be a long line of victorious lives embracing a new destiny & the life God has for them. Thanks for remembering him in your prayers.

Mt. Paran CORE Final Team

And just like that it's over...

What an amazing summer we had w/ all the folks from CORE! Team 3 was just as exceptional as the previous 2 and we just wanted to thank you all for such a spectacular week. I don't know when I've laughed as much over 8 days, and this team left us & our kids with some wonderful memories to be cherished. Anna Beth had her sweet 15 here, and was a great sport about the ole Bolivia b-day customs. Malik was hilarious, hard-working & insightful. Javon worked his tail off & never tired of giving piggy-back rides at the girls' home or going up for coconuts. Ken & Angie shared the Word & together w/ Wayne were the even keel for the group. Michelle, Kim & Anna Beth were all tremendously graceful, loving & diligent at every task we threw their way. Grace, Raluca, Sierra & Roxana made us proud staying on for 2 trips, helping out at the girls' home, tie-dying away, sprekining espanol, giving away pics & constantly writing notes for the kids, cleaning chickens, varnishing posts - not to mention that Sierra made an entire fence... practically by herself. Thanks you dear, dear friends. We miss all of you & wait anxiously for your return!