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!