HAITI . . . Confirmed

We have shared w/ many folks our desire to have this year's Bolivian missions team go to Haiti. Looks like that's 100% confirmed. We just saw in the news that there's over 100,000 presumed dead in the capital after a major earthquake rocked the capital. The presidential palace is ruined, the legislative building is destroyed, the main cathedral is was also damaged and so are many hospitals & schools.

Please pray for the nature & timing of our trip - & for God's direction in the best way He could use us to help restore hope & aid those in need.

Helping Pastor Dilmar

Hey everyone, Happy New Year! Wanted to send along best wishes & Happy New Year from Pastor Dilmar and his family from Aposento Alto Church here in Santa Cruz. He & his wife Silenny have just had their 3rd child, a 10lb baby girls at birth - Valentina!

Silenny is already back finishing up her degree in Social Work, and for most of last year was doing her practicum with our 2 homes for ex-street kids. She did a great job & we are hoping to keep her on this year as well.

Dilmar is also doing well leading the church, overseeing the Compassion program at Aposento & counseling married couples, single adults & youth from church; all in addition to trying to grow & maintain the church as a beacon in the community.

We want to ask for your prayers &, for those who'd like to bless Dilmar & his family, your support. They are signing another lease on their house, that's 2 blocks from church, knowing that their church salary minus new baby expenses won't be able to cover the rent.

As some of you will recall, they lived at the Compassion center at the church for their 1st 4 years at Aposento, w/ over 400 kids right outside their door all week-long. Unhealthy, & a recipe for family disaster really, together w/ a 2007 short-term missions team, we decided to help them rent a place of their own 2 years ago & have committed to personally help them raise money for their rent last year & again this year as well.

Rent on the house is $150 a month, which is very reasonable given the area & condition of the house. We're hoping to raise this for them this year & also are praying at some point in the future to be able to buy the house as a residence for the church pastor, so any donations that come in on top of the what's needed for this year will go towards a future purchase. We're confident that A Healthy Pastor leads to a Healthy Church.

If you'd like to help Dilmar & his family out w/ a tax deductible gift, please let us know via e-mail: larrywmorehead2@yahoo.com

& we will communicate to you details on how to do that. Thanks & Happy New Year!

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.