Goodbye Catherine

A couple of days ago Catherine Alexander, a friend from Scotland who has been sent from the Vine Trust to volunteer here with Scripture Union, came to her last day here in Peru. For the last eight months she has been working in our schools program and at our boys' home at Kusi. She is a teacher by profession, so she spent all of last year teaching English classes in the schools as well as working with and tutoring our Girasoles. Everyone who I talked with at Kusi had only great things to say about her. She gave up a year of work and job interviews to sacrifice her time down here in Peru. She loves God, and she loved her work with the kids. She will be missed down here, but I know that God will continue to use her back in Scotland. Please join me in praying for her and in praying that God will provide a solid job for her as she begins the search.

 Saying goodbye to Catherine at the airport

Jesús and Ronald Move On!

Last week I had the pleasure of returning one more time to the Peruvian Amazon with a small group from Boston. The group came to see the different construction projects as they try to seek God's will for a possible short term trip from their church. On the day that we planned to go and visit Puerto Alegria (Scripture Union's Girasoles boys' home near Iquitos) we got to see a whole lot more than construction!

It just happened to be the day that two of the boys, Jesús and Ronald, were graduating from the program and moving back to Iquitos. We had the pleasure of attending the goodbye party for the two guys. They both graduated from high school last December, and now they are moving back to Iquitos--about a 20 minute boat ride down the river--so that they can continue onto technical school. The party was a blast. Gene, the house father, went and bought cakes and a bunch of other special treats for everyone to share. We played games, sang songs, and just had fun. We also had a time of prayer for the two boys, asking God to guide them and protect them as they move back to the big city. It was really great to see and reflect on how far God has brought them from the streets of Iquitos. Only He is responsible for the changes in their lives!

The goodbye party for Jesús and Ronald

Jesús will be studying computer systems while Ronald will be studying industrial welding. Ronald also has a paid internship that goes hand in hand with his industrial welding courses! Their move back to Iquitos marks another important point in Scripture Union's ministry in the jungle. The two boys will not just be back on their own. Instead, they will be moving into our Casa de los Tigres, meaning "House of Tigers." In their culture, calling a man a tiger is a high compliment. It means they are strong and able people. Scripture Union owns a house that eventually will have a capacity to house up to 20 young men as they graduate from our boys' program and move on to higher studies. They will be given significantly more freedom at the Casa de los Tigres, but the house will still have a Scripture Union staff worker to supervise them and to maintain a Christ-centered atmosphere. This is an exciting time for us because Jesús and Ronald are the first two people who have graduated from Puerto Alegria to Casa de los Tigres!

Please keep the two of them in your prayers as they begin their classes this week. They have both already given their lives to Christ. Pray that God would protect them as they take this big step back into the city. Pray for good friends and good community to surround them. They are both excited to begin their new life in the city, but at the same time it was difficult for them to say goodbye to the life that they have gotten used to in our Girasoles home in Puerto Alegria. Jesús has lived there for nine years and Ronald has lived there for 4 years. Pray for their adjustment, and pray that they would apply themselves as they study. These are exciting times for these two boys, and I can't wait to see how God continues to work in their lives!

Jesús and Ronald taking the boat ride to move into Iquitos for good!

Needs for our Cusco boys

I want to thank so many of you for your continued emails and messages asking how you can support the recovery efforts for our boys in Cusco. As I have mentioned before, we are very thankful for one large donation from an individual that is going to cover all of the reconstruction expenses. We hope to find a new piece of land near Urubamba to begin reconstruction as soon as possible.

Apart from the construction, though, there are many other needs that we have for these boys. Unfortunately, when our home collapsed, many things were destroyed or carried away by the flood. Sadly, there was also some looting that took place. We were able get a lot of furniture out of the house before it collapsed, but because most of our furniture is wood much of it was badly water damaged. We have now come up with a list of needs for our 42 abandoned boys in Cusco. In response to so many of you who have asked, here it is:

Our most immediate needs are the following:

• We have decided to move the boys back to Cusco's Sacred Valley as soon as possible (within the next week or two). In order to do so, we will be renting a building in Urubamba as a provisional place where they can live while their new home is being built. We do not yet know what the final monthly rent will be. It will most likely be somewhere between $350 and $530 per month. We anticipate needing the building for 12 months.
• We need approximately $250 to cover the cost of an emergency trip to Cusco that Hector, the house father, had to make.
• The boys come back from summer vacation and begin school in March. They all need shoes and uniforms before they return to their classes. The uniforms cost approximately $70 per boy (including shoes). In addition to that, we would ideally also be able to supply the kids with backpacks and basic school supplies (approximately $45 per boy).

Other needs include the following:

• In the kitchen/dining room virtually everything was lost. We need a new refrigerator and a new blender. We also need new plates, bowls, cups, mugs, forks, spoons, knives, and kitchen utensils.
• Basically all of our electronic equipment was also lost or stolen. We need a new TV, DVD player, computer, stereo, and large speakers.
• Tables, desks, and chairs for the dining room and study room.
• The boys left most of their belongings at the home, and virtually everything has been lost. They lost all of their clothing except the small amount that they traveled with (sizes 7 to 16). Many of the mattresses were destroyed. We need new bunk beds, sheets, blankets, and towels. We also need new dressers for the boys' clothes.
• We have also lost most of the boys' school supplies--backpacks, books, dictionaries, etc.
• Hector and Maritza, our house parents in Cusco, have also lost virtually everything. They lost the couches in their living room, their refrigerator, beds and mattresses, stove, wardrobe, hand tools, etc.

If you are interested in helping support our home in Cusco, then please send me an email (bgreenman@latinamericamission.org), or give be a phone call (248.677.5252). We anticipate other unforseen costs and needs as we work through this difficult situation, but we know that God will continue to provide for these children. I still find myself in awe to think about how he protected them from being at the home during the time of the flooding.

As always, even more important than any monetary donation are your prayers. Pray that the boys would see how God is always protecting them and watching over them. Pray that they would be able to make the adjustment from their old home, to their provisional accommodations, and then to their newly constructed home. Lastly, please pray for the house parents and all of the Scripture Union staff in Cusco. Pray that God would comfort them as they deal with the loss of their belongings, and pray that God would give them strength and wisdom as they provide moral support for the boys at the home.

Thank you all for all of your prayers and support!

Business Trip, Amazon Hope, and Update on Cusco

We have officially started work team season here at Scripture Union Peru. Last week I had the opportunity to host a small group of businessmen from Scotland who were potentially interested in supporting our ministry. It was a very different type of group than any that I have previously experienced. Rather than coming to do medical ministry or construction, this group came to simply become acquainted with all of our programs around the country. They had the opportunity to see three of Scripture Union's boys' homes in addition to our school for the deaf in Lima and our Amazon Hope medical ministry in the Amazon River near Iquitos. I really enjoyed the group, and I was very excited for the opportunity to go and see one of our medical boats in action for the first time.

Our medical ministry in Iquitos is centered around two medical ships that Scripture Union acquired through our relationship with the Vine Trust in Scotland. Our ships include full time Peruvian crews and doctors, but we also receive a number of medical teams each year from the United States and the United Kingdom. I have been coming to Peru with Scripture Union since 2001, but this week was my first opportunity to see the medical program first hand.

The day began at 6:45am as we boarded a small speed boat and prepared ourselves for a four hour ride down the Amazon River to catch up with the big boat. We met up with an American team who was on the boat attending to patients needs and sharing the message of Christ's love with them. Any of you who know me know that I am quite nervous around anything that has to do with blood or needles, but I kept my distance from the doctors while they were with the patients, and I really enjoyed the day. The small jungle towns that we reach have no other form of medical care available to them. We are able to do dentistry, ultrasounds, prescribe antibiotics and other important medications, and even preform minor eye surgery. Our medical program has changed many lives, and through the work that we do attending to peoples' physical needs, the door is also opened for us to minister to them spiritually!

We were welcomed at the village, and the local people painted our faces as they showed us their traditional dancing and artwork. Honestly, I kept thinking to myself that the entire day seemed like a program off of the Discovery Channel. After the dancing we had to get back onto the speed boat in order to make it back upriver to Iquitos before dark. It is rainy season right now, and that means there are a lot of logs and driftwood floating throughout the river. Definitely not a journey one wants to have to take after dark!It was a beautiful day, and a great week in general!

 Flying past Huascaran (Peru's tallest mountain)

 

 On the Amazon River

 

Little boy in a canoe

 The locals showing their traditional dances

 

Scripture Union's Amazon Hope 2

 

At the helm (I forgot I was wearing face paint still!)

Please Keep Praying for Cusco

I have really been encouraged by hearing how many of you are praying for our boys' home in Cusco. I continue to praise God that everybody is safe. For now, the kids from Cusco are still at our campsite on the beach, but we are in the process of identifying new land so that we can reconstruct our home. Thankfully, a very generous man has already volunteered to cover all of the construction costs, and we will be able to begin the project as soon as we acquire the right piece of land.

I know that a number of you have asked how you can donate to Scripture Union in support of the Cusco boys. While the construction is covered, we lost a number of clothes, materials, and equipment. Your donations are more than welcome. Anyone interested in making a donation can make a wire transfer to us using the following bank account information:

BANK: BANCO CONTINENTAL BBVA 

 ACCOUNT NUMBER: 0011-0154-01-00012667   

 SWIFT: BCONPEPL

PHONE: 511 4332671

After you make the wire transfer, you MUST send a confirmation email to me (bgreenman@latinamericamission.org) and to my boss (peruworkteams@gmail.com).

I have embedded a video below showing the destruction of our home. If you can't see it for some reason, then click here.

A Visit from Aaron and Lauren

Only a few days ago two of my friends from IWU, Aaron and Lauren, were married. Living in Peru there are a number of things that I have had to give up, and one of those things is the opportunity to attend most of my friends weddings. I was really sorry that I couldn't make it, but there is good news. They have decided to travel around South America for their honeymoon, and Lima, Peru is their first stop. Over the past couple of days I have had the honor of showing them around some of the sites in Lima and taking them to Kawai--one of our boys' homes on the Pacifc Ocean.

I know that it sounds kind of funny that I have been hanging around with them during their honeymoon, but we have had a great time. They have been an encouragement to me in the middle of some busy moments. It is always a comfort to see some familiar faces from back home. Yesterday we had the chance to go and see some of Lima's most common tourist attractions (the main square; the main plaza; a Franciscan monastery and catacombs; and a park filled with large water fountains). Today we spent the entire day at Kawai. In addition to enjoying the beach and the pools on the property, I had the pleasure of introducing them to the boys in our Girasoles program. We had a great time spending time with the boys and the house parents. It was a neat experience because Aaron and Lauren will soon be starting a job as house parents for at risk children. They enjoyed listening to the wisdom of Scripture Union's house parents here.

I have had a great couple of days catching up and relaxing with old friends. I love showing people around Peru and sharing my ministry experience with anyone who wants to listen. I love to see friends. If you are reading, consider yourself invited anytime!

 

Aaron and Lauren Cloud

 

At the water park

 

Aaron and I

A Trip to the Ocean with Girasoels Ica!

Earlier this week I had the joy of going to the beach with all of the boys from the Casa Girasoles in Ica! I was incredibly surprised to learn that even though Ica is just a short drive from the beach, many of the boys had never actually gone to the beach. It was a beautiful day, the swimming was great, and we enjoyed spending the time together.

It was also a great way for me to say goodbye to the boys in Ica. My time working in Ica has officially come to an end. From the end of this month through the end of February I will have another month full of work teams who are coming to support us here at Scripture Union Peru. After two and a half months working with the boys in Ica, it was hard to say goodbye. It was such a privilege to work with these kids, get to know them, and share God's love. I was blessed by the kids, and I was happy to help at the home and share some of the kids' burdens as some of them began to open up to me. They remain in my prayers, and I look forward to a number of opportunities that I will have to visit them in the year to come.

Here are some pictures from the beach:

In the bus excited for the beach

Augusto and I on the way to the beach

At the beach with the boys

Goodbye to Scripture Union Peru's old Lima center

As many of you already know, Scripture Union's old boys' home in Lima and main office building is being demolished soon. Scripture Union has decided to invest in this very valuable piece of property in order to financially support our ministries throughout Peru. In it's place will go a brand new shopping center. We have moved our boys' program and our offices out to Chosica (a beautiful place just on the outskirts of the city of Lima).

I had the opportunity to go and visit the building one more time a couple of weeks ago, and I thought that I would post some of these pictures for any of you who have been to our center in Lima. It is sad to think of all of the memories in that building, but at the same time change is sometimes necessary, and I am excited to see what lies ahead for Scripture Union in Peru.

The building from the outside

The old auditorium where groups used to sleep on the floor (now with no ceiling)

A pile of rubble on the 5th floor looking toward the Centro Civico

Some of the Girasoles left their mark on the walls

To see all of my pictures visit me on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/billygreenman

Some short videos from Kate

This Christmas, my friend Kate Bruder, her mom, and her brother all came down to visit some of Scripture Union's different street boys' homes. They arrived in Peru on Christmas evening, spent a few days in Ica where I got to see them, and then they traveled to Kusi to bring in the new year. It was a blessing to be able to see some friends from back home, and it gave my family a chance to send some cookies and other Christmas gifts from home!

Kate is a great photographer, but this year she spent more time taking video shots of they boys at the different homes. She posted them on Vimeo, and I thought that I would pass some of them on to you guys!



Sleeping from Kate Bruder on Vimeo.
After a long day of adventures, these boys from Girasoles Ica were exhausted and ended up falling asleep at the dinner table.



Playing from Kate Bruder on Vimeo.
Juan Carlos and Sanchez playing with Billy in the courtyard of the Girasoles Ica home.



Sanchez and Pampachay from Kate Bruder on Vimeo.
Sanchez being silly with Billy while Pampachay practices in the background.



Sanchez Greetings from Kate Bruder on Vimeo.
Sanchez, from the Casa Girasoles Ica home.

Happy New Year and a Million Thanks!

Happy New Year to everyone reading this blog. I pray that 2010 will be even better than 2009, and I pray that God would continue to do great works this year. Here in Peru I spent New Year's at Scripture Union's Casa Girasoles in Ica. We had a really fun time with all of the kids. Augusto hired a clown, and he did a great job with the kids. We set off a bunch of fireworks as did the rest of the country of Peru. Right when the clock hit midnight the whole city of Ica was filled with the booms of fireworks. It almost sounded like we were in a war zone. After the fireworks and the clown show Augusto opened 2010 with a short Bible study. He talked to the kids about the importance of loving each other, helping each other, and encouraging each other as a family. One other tradition here in Peru is that they make a big doll out of old clothes that represent the old year gone by. Sometimes they decorate the doll with symbols that represent the old year, but our doll was simple. He didn't even have a head! As we begun to burn it, though, the boys had the perfect idea for burning a symbol of the old year gone by. All at once they ran and got all of their old homework and notebooks and set them ablaze on top of the doll. It was a huge fire! To finish the night we sang a few praise songs together, and then it kind of turned into open karaoke. I lasted until about 3:30am, but some of the kids stayed up singing until 6:00am! I have posted a few pictures below, but I encourage you to take a look at my entire photo gallery on Flickr by clicking here.

Clowning around for New Year's

Lighting the doll on fire

Goodbye 2009!

I also want to take a moment to thank everyone who took the time to think of me this holiday season. I arrived back at my apartment yesterday for the first time since Christmas, and the doorman greeted me and said, "Billy, thank goodness you're back. Your mailbox is overflowing and we don't know what to do with it all." In total I received more than 40 Christmas cards from the USA, Canada, and Scotland! My mom reminded me the other day that I have now spent pretty much all of the big holidays away from home this year for the first time. It wasn't easy, and I missed friends and family. But what a blessing to have friends here in Peru to celebrate with and to have friends from home constantly encouraging me with cards and notes! I was really overwhelmed as I stayed up until 1:00am last night opening and reading all of my Christmas cards. Thank you so much!

I also have to give props to my mom and sister for sending me the most creative Christmas greeting of the year. They sent me shortbread Christmas cookies, and each cookie had a letter on it made out of sprinkles. I had to promise not to eat any of the cookies until I decoded the message. My sister didn't trust me, though, so she sent on blank cookie to eat while I was working on the message. You can see what it says below!

Thanks Mandy and Mom!

Prayer Request
As I reflect over the Christmas season and the great encouragement that I have received from friends and family, I cannot help but think of the kids in Scripture Union's homes throughout Peru. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this time of the year is particularly difficult for the Girasoles because as everyone begins to focus on family, the boys are constantly reminded that they don't have a regular family. For me it was difficult to spend Christmas away from family, but I can't imagine the heartache of having to spend Christmas knowing that you really don't have a family that loves you. Some of the boys have been noticeably depressed over the last month, and I know that a few of the boys in our homes have chosen to leave the program over the past month--at least in part, due to the depression that comes with the season for them.

Pray that God would give the children strength to continue to move forward this year, and pray that God would work in mighty ways in the lives of these kids--even the ones who have chosen to leave to program to go back into the streets. Pray for me and even more so for all of the full time staff at our boys' homes. Pray that God would use us to speak truth into the lives of these kids as the world around them fills them with the same old lies-- "You don't matter to anyone;" "You are worthless trash;" "No one cares about you or about what happens to you." Pray that God would break these lies in the lives of the children, and they they would be filled with His unending love. Pray that they would find true healing in the only possible place--a personal relationship with Jesus. 

Christmas

I hope that everyone had a very merry Christmas yesterday. I passed it in here in Peru, and thankfully I was surrounded by many friends and lots of good fellowship. It was difficult to be away from my family for Christmas for the first time in my life, but having friends here was a huge blessing yesterday. I actually got to celebrate Christmas twice!

My first celebration was a more traditional Peruvian celebration with all of the boys in Scripture Union's Casa Girasoles. Augusto and Nancy spent most of the day of Christmas Eve out an about buying presents and preparing the turkeys. The kids were excited all day long anticipating the Christmas celebration. For many of them, this was their first Christmas at the boys' home. A number had never even tasted a turkey.

In Peru, most people celebrate Christmas right when the clock strikes midnight.We were no exception. It was a struggle for some of the littler kids to stay awake, but they were not about to miss out on the Christmas celebration. It was really a beautiful time together. Around 11:00pm Augusto assembled all of the boys in the dining room, and we had a time of praise and worship. We sang together; we thanked God for the gift of sending his son to save us; we prayed that God would renew our spirits. Augusto also reminded the boys that while we celebrate Jesus' physical birth on Christmas, that alone is not enough to save us. He reminded them that Jesus must also be born in each of their hearts.

When the clock struck twelve, two huge turkeys came out of the kitchen, and the celebrations began. Augusto really went all out--there was probably about 50 pounds of turkey to feed about 45 people! I was served an entire turkey leg. I have never eaten so much turkey in my entire life. The traditional Peruvian turkey dinner consists of the turkey, paneton (fruitcake), and home made hot chocolate made from scratch. It was delicious.

The Girasoles before Christmas dinner in Ica

Cristian ready for his first ever bite of turkey!

After dinner, it was not yet bedtime--it was time to open all of the presents. The boys were excited for the presents. Brittney and her family had brought a ton of presents for the boys on Thanksgiving, and they were dying to open them all! In addition to that, God really blessed Scripture Union with specific donations for the boys' Christmas celebrations in all of our different Girasoles homes. Augusto and Nancy bought new shoes and new clothes for the boys. The kids were overjoyed to open their gifts, and it was such a blessing for me to see all of this. I have heard the specific stories of many of these children. They come from the streets, from gangs, from abusive families, and from lives full of pain and rejection. Yesterday in the early hours of Christmas morning they had the opportunity to just be normal kids. For them their gifts are not just another toy in their overflowing toy box. They are a rare luxury, and even more importantly, they are a symbol to remind them that they are loved and not forgotten. It was a beautiful night, and it was a great privilege for me to share in the celebration with the boys.

Ready to open the gifts!

 

Sanchez, our youngest boy in Ica

Miguel Angel with his new toy!

As we began to wrap up the party in Ica around 2:30am on Christmas morning, I realized that it was about time for me to leave. Paul and Marty Clark, the directors of Scripture Union Peru, had invited me to their house in Lima for an American Christmas dinner! I was on a bus by 4:00am for my five hour journey back to Lima. I arrived, rested for a couple of hours, and headed out to Paul and Marty's house. Every year, they have a tradition of inviting missionaries and other foreigners into their home to celebrate for Christmas. Being away from my home, it was a real blessing to be invited to their home. We had yet another huge turkey dinner, and it was great to meet other experienced missionaries here in Peru.

Nothing can replace being home with my family for Christmas. It was hard to be away. But in the midst of the sadness of being far from them, God provided for my needs. I got to experience the day with other people who were also missing their families or wishing they they had a family, and we were blessings to each other!

Can you say Huacachina?

On Saturday afternoon, we had the opportunity to take the Girasoles to a place called Huacachina. It is literally an oasis in the middle of the desert. Legend has it that a mermaid lives in the oasis, but I'm a skeptic. Anyways, there was a wedding taking place here on Scripture Union's property, so we decided that it would be fun to take the boys elsewhere for the day. We packed lunch and headed out. It was a great afternoon. We got to swim, fish, boat, and sandboard! For those of you who don't know what sandboarding is, I will leave you with some pictures and videos! It is basically snowboarding in the sand. Instead of eating snow when you fall down, you eat sand. Not necessarily the most pleasant experience when you fall, but it is fun none the less.

Abel with his first catch of the day (Banana was the bait of choice!)

In the boats at Huacachina

Alex sandboarding

Huacachina

Miguel Angel Sandboarding

Roberto Sandboarding

Glory to God!

So as I woke up this morning, I was still feeling burdened by the pain that the boys in the home feel on a daily basis--especially as we get closer and closer to Christmas. Augusto began giving the morning devotions as usual, but it was obvious that many of the kids in the room were not feeling into it. Augusto was talking about the fact that we can have confidence in ourselves because God is with us. We can be confident because God is bigger than all of our problems and pain, and he is always at our side. It seemed like the words were falling onto deaf ears. Some of the kids were sleeping, some of the kids were bothering each other, and others were working on last minute homework. But Augusto pressed on.

What happened next was interesting. Augusto asked about five of the older boys if they had confidence in themselves one by one, and one by one, they all gave the same answer. They frowned, looked at the ground, and timidly answered, "No." At that point, Augusto dropped the devotion and announced that he really felt that he needed to pray for the boys individually. He asked us to stand in a circle, and he explained that he was going to come around the circle, and he was going to pray for each of the boys privately. He asked the the boys share the burdens on their heart in confidence so that he could specifically intercede on their behalf.

What happened next surprised me the most. Augusto announced that I would also be going around the circle, and praying with some of the boys. The first thoughts that came to my mind as Augusto explained this were thoughts of fear. What if I messed up the words in Spanish? I felt partially unequipped because I didn't know the specific backgrounds of most of the boys. But just as these thoughts and fears began to run through my mind, I was reminded of Augusto's devotion topic--I can be confident because I know that God is at my side. I barely had enough time to say a quick prayer asking the Holy Spirit to use me before it was time to start praying with the boys.

What a beautiful time in the presence of God. The words came to my mouth, and I had to opportunity to connect with and pray for many of the boys here in Ica. Some of them sincerely opened up to me. One boy asked me to pray that God would help him to find forgiveness for his family. Another asked that I pray for him to be able to resist the temptation of returning to the streets and doing a number of bad things. What a blessing to pray with these kids! What a blessing to be able to remind them that God does love them, that God is with them, and that God has created them with a purpose! It is an incredible feeling to know that you are being used by God to help build his kingdom. It is almost hard to explain, but there is really nothing like it.

The kids in the room changed from being weary and disengaged to a point of vulnerability and fervent prayer in the blink of an eye. The Holy Spirit showed up, and it was awesome! I continue to feel deeply burdened for these kids, but at the same time I feel renewed and full of joy because I know that God is visibly at work in their lives. Glory to God!

A Call to Prayer

A few years ago Paul Clark, Scripture Union Peru's director, shared with me that the two most difficult times of the year for the children in our homes are Mother's Day and Christmas. Tonight I was reminded of this fact by one of the older, tougher looking boys here in Ica as I sat with him and watched him cry in the arms of Augusto, the house father. Respecting his privacy, I will call him Jose.

Jose is one of of the oldest boys at our home in Ica--16 years old. He first arrived at the home close to a year ago. His mother had abandoned him as a child, and he had never met his father. For the years leading up to his entrance into our girasoles program he lived with a few of his relatives in the area, but spent more time out in the streets. He was quite involved with some local gangs, and he has the tough appearance of someone who is in a gang. He is probably the tallest, strongest kid here at the home, and he has a number of scars on his body. He showed me a scar on his leg from an instance where he was stabbed with a metal fingernail file. Jose was also involved with drugs, sex, and many other bad things that come with a life on the streets.

Augusto tells me that when Jose first arrived at the home, he was very hard to work with. He didn't want to listen to anybody, and he was disruptive around the other boys. Little by little he began to change, and eventually he built a fairly good relationship with Augusto. But one day Jose received a visit from his grandma, and she told him that his father was now living in Arequipa (a city about 10 hours south of Ica) wanted to meet him. Jose talked with Augusto, thanked him for his help, and said goodbye. He had to take this opportunity to meet his dad.

Well, he traveled alone to the city of Arequipa and made his way to the address that his grandma had given to him. Before he quite arrived at the address, he walked by a dirty, drunk man who was laying practically in his own vomit. He walked past the man and knocked on the door. His grandmother answered the door and told him that his father was outside just around the corner. He followed her, and she led him right to the drunk man laying in the streets. When Jose's grandma presented the father to his son who he had never met, the father stood up and sobered up a little bit. He said hello, they talked for a few minutes, and then the father left and walked away.

Jose was crushed. Everything that he had hoped to find in his father wasn't there. He came back to Ica angry. He left school and began to work in a local mine. He did not come back to our girasoles home, and he began to fall back in to a life on the streets. When Augusto learned that he was back in Ica, he went out, found Jose, and brought him back to the home. He was sad and hardened, but in the weeks just before I arrived in November, he began to change. He has made a commitment to follow Christ, and he is one of the best behaved kids in the entire home--not to mention, he has some of the highest grades in his classes.

Today was one of the other boy's birthdays. This particular boy does have a father who lives locally in Ica, but he is unfit to take care of his son. The father did decide to come an visit his son on his birthday, and he even brought him a birthday cake. Seeing all of this really struck a chord in Jose's heart tonight. As he watched it all happen, he was reminded that he will never have a mom or a dad to celebrate with on his birthday, on Christmas, or on any other day of the year. I watched this tough 16 year-old kid hardened by the streets break down into tears and bury himself into Augusto's arms tonight.

So I ask you to pray. Pray for Jose, and all of the other kids at our homes who miss their families. Pray that they would come to a relationship with our Father in heaven who can satisfy all of our needs. Pray for Augusto and all of our other house parents--that they would be able to share fatherly love to the kids in these homes. Pray that the kids would find comfort and stability at our homes, and pray that they will have a great Christmas here at the home with their new family. Thanks for remembering these kids as Christmas approaches.

Cookies, Guitars, and Bibles

Last week was very busy, but very good. I just want to share a few highlights with you...

Christmas Cookies
Paul and Marty Clark, the directors of Scripture Union Peru, invited me to their church in Lima for Thanksgiving dinner, and I happily accepted. Thanksgiving is not a holiday here in Peru, so a good Thanksgiving dinner is hard to come by. The plan was to leave Ica on Thursday (Thanksgiving), arrive for dinner, and then spend a day to relax in Lima before returning to Ica on Saturday. I really enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at church, but there were no Christmas cookies; having homemade cookies is on of my favorite parts. When I shared this with my family, they suggested that I make some cookies for myself, and perhaps for the boys back in Ica. For anyone who knows me, I am not a chef or a baker by any means. Apart from scrambling eggs, I am practically useless in the kitchen. I wanted cookies so badly that I mustered up the strength to try making some cookies. They actually turned out alright, and I shared them with everyone here at the home when I returned last Saturday. They were such a hit that Nancy, the house mother, made me teach her how to make them, and we had more cookies on Thursday. Making cookies was quite a personal accomplishment for me...even if I didn't have to bake them.

My Christmas wreath cookies!

New Guitars
After learning about the music program that Augusto has put together for the boys here in Ica, a group of people from Scotland decided that they wanted to support the work, so they sent a donation to purchase some musical instruments for the home. The catch is that it is impossible to buy any quality musical instruments in Ica; you have to go to Lima. Last Wednesday, Augusto and I did just that. We woke up at 3:30am so that we could be on the bus by 4:30am. After 5 hours on the bus we arrived in Lima and headed straight to the music store. We spent about 3 hours shopping around and purchasing instruments, and then we headed back to the bus station to take another 5 hour bus ride back down to Ica. We got back around 6:00pm When all was said and done, we were able to arrive and present the new electric guitar and the new base guitar to the boys at dinner time. It was a long day, but the guitars will be a great addition for the band. The kids here are all lining up to learn to play guitar!

With the new guitars!

Pampachay band

Handing out Bibles
Augusto's church received a number of Bibles from the local chapter of the Gideons to pass out to people who needed them, so on Friday morning, Augusto and I were invited to enter into some of the schools and pass out the Bibles. We really didn't have a ton of time to talk with the children, and they were public schools, so we were fairly limited as to what we could say in the classroom. But I trust in God's promise that his Word never returns void. By the end of the morning we handed out nearly 200 Bibles to kids and teachers at two different schools!

"So is my word that goes out from my mouth:   
It will not return to me empty,   
but will accomplish what I desire   
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." 
Isaiah 55:11

Handing out the Bibles

A Reason to Give Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who live in the States! Right now I am here in my room at the boys' home in Ica, and I am definitely spending some time giving thanks! While Thanksgiving is not an official holiday down here in Peru, we certainly have reason to give thanks here in Ica. The Lord has really blessed us here today, and I just wanted to share what He is doing.

A couple of weeks ago a girl from Pennsylvania named Brittney had the opportunity to come and visit our boys' home in Ica. She has been living in Ica for the past few months working as a volunteer for the church where Augusto and Nancy (the house parents) attend, and the church's youth group had a big event here that Brittany was a part of. She really didn't know anything about our program for abandoned boys, and because she was so busy with the event that the church was holding on our property, she really didn't have the chance to get to know us very well. But that didn't stop the Lord from touching her heart.

Now fast forward a couple of weeks to this past Sunday. Augusto, Nancy, and I saw Brittany at church. She had just arrived from Lima because she had gone to pick up some of her family and friends who were here to visit. She told us that she was really impacted when she saw and heard about our program for abandoned boys, and she wanted to do something to bless them. She talked with her family, and they decided that they were going to buy Christmas gifts for each of the boys. We were all excited at the idea, so they asked us to come to the pastor's house where they were staying around 5:00pm last night to help organize the gifts. We had no idea what we were in for!

Augusto and I arrived last night at exactly 5:00pm...Peruvian time! For those of you who aren't acquainted with Latin American time, that means that we arrived at the pastor's house just after 6:00pm :-) Personally I was expecting something small for each boy (perhaps a Hot Wheels car or a frisbee). And something small would have been a huge blessing, but they decided that they wanted to buy a nice toy or game for each kid at the home. We walked into the living room, and were blown away by what Brittany and her family had done for us! There were action figures, and firetrucks that had lights and sounds. There were board games and soccer balls. Apart from all of that, Brittany's 5 year-old brother also sent a number of his personal toys with the family to give to the boys because he wanted to donate in some way as well. The other huge blessing was that Brittany's mom brought an entire suitcase full of clothes that no longer fit the little brother. The clothes are just the right size for our two smallest boys here at the home. One is five years old, and the other is six years old, but they are both the size of a kid who is 4 years old. Augusto was sharing with me that when clothes donations are made to the homes, very rarely does anything come that fits these two smallest boys.

All of the presents!

This morning Brittany and her family came to the home with all of the gifts wrapped and ready for Christmas. They played American football with the boys, we went for a swim in the pool, and then they presented the gifts. What a huge blessing for the boys here. I was at the point of tears when I saw all of the presents and the joy on the boys' faces. Really, we all know that Christmas is not all about material gifts or possessions, but to be able to hand one of these kids a present on Christmas morning is doing so much more than just giving him a new toy to play with. When he is given that gift, the message is that yes, his life does matter, and yes, he really is loved by us--and more importantly, by Christ.

 Wrapped and ready to go

The boys with their presents!

"Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him, and praise His name." Psalm 100:4

A Song/Story from the Boys in Ica...

Below are the translated lyrics of one of the songs that some of the boys here in Ica have written to record onto the CD that they are making. The song is reggaton (the Latin American version of rap). Make sure to read all of the way to the end of the song. What a testimony to what God is doing in their lives!

This is my story. This is my reality.

Often times I am tormented in my dark loneliness.

Although I want to remember my family, it is too late

To recover my past happiness.

I was happy as a baby, but that didn’t last for long.

It turned into a dream—not a reality.

As I got older,

Everything began to change.

Day after day my parents argued.

The would fight, and they would shout.

But I never understood,

The cause of all the problems in my house.

Years have passed since then, and I am not a little kid anymore.

Now I am a boy with regret and anger.

I have passed through 1000 problems with my family,

And into the streets I went.

Gangs and evildoers look for me, they pursue me,

And they want to finish me.

But I continue to survive in this city.

I run many risks.

I don’t know what will become of me.

I have bad friends, and they tempt me to rob.

I lose control of my hands; I can’t stop them.

Daily I have to flee from my sad reality.

I can’t accept it; I can’t understand it.

Help me Lord—this could be the end of me.

Only You can work miracles. That is why I believe in you.

Sadly this is my life. I don’t know how to change it.

My only refuge is drugs and alcohol.

I take refuge in these things to forget,

The problems that I carry on my heart.

Standing on a street corner all alone,

People look at me and wonder why I even exist.

And they judge me without knowing the true reality.

Lord, You exist. Please remember me.

I didn’t realize that there was another unexplainable love.

I was lacking it; I needed it; I searched for it.

I had never found it, but I know that You will give it to me Lord.

Lord, Your love will fill the emptiness that my heart has had for so long.

They talked to me; they told me about how Your love exists.

My Father, I ask you to give me new life.

I thought that this life was only full of sadness,

But now Your love has grown in me.

For this reason, Lord, I give thanks only to You

Because in spite of all my errors, you took care of me.

What's Next?

Well work team season is over, and the summer season is about to start here in Peru. So what comes next now that I have no international teams to work with? I am glad you asked! After talking with Billy Clark, my supervisor here in Peru, we decided that my next area of ministry would be down in Ica (about 4 hours south of the city of Lima in the middle of the desert). In Ica Scripture Union operates another home for abandoned children, and I am excited to go and work with Augusto and Nancy, the two house parents at Ica.

 In the desert just outside the city of Ica

Looking toward Ica from the desert

I am excited to go to Ica for a number of reasons. First off, I have spent less time in Ica than I have at any of the other boys' homes. I am really excited to build new relationships and to get to know the children and the staff. Second of all, these next two months are particularly exciting down in Ica. Read this report below that Scripture Union sent out a couple of months ago to find out why:

In May a group of volunteers from Telefonica, the Peruvian Telephone Company, asked Girasoles Ica to submit a socially relevant project to their first ever “Contest of Original Social Projects”.

Interestingly, Augusto, house parent to the boys already had an idea in mind; having the boys use recycled materials as instruments. The concept was eagerly accepted and once the telephone company signed on to help fund the project, Augusto and the boys began “band practice”. Old plastic buckets, tins, metal pipes, bottles, cardboard and wooden boxes would do just fine!

All 40 boys participated in the project led by Augusto – even down to the youngest, Sanchez, who is only 5 years old. The group successfully won the Ica area contest and went on to place among the top nine contestants nationwide, which qualified them for further funding and grants.

Thanks to the boys success and unprecedented corporate support, Girasoles Ica will now have a music teacher who will help them record “Pampachay” (Quechua for “overcoming difficulty”) a full length CD of their creative music! A first lot of 1000 CDs will be sold at S/10 each and the proceeds will be used to improve the boys’ educational experience in Ica.

I am excited to help out however I can with this big project that the boys in Ica have taken on. Below is a picture of the CD cover that they are producing during this month. It depicts a person out in a field with a large city in the background. It represents the lives of the boys in Ica--the difficulty that they have overcome is life out on the streets of the cities. 

Even the Tough Times are Worth It!

As I am sitting here ready to write a new post I have to be honest. This week has been one of my more difficult weeks since I have been in Peru. There have been a lot of late nights, and a lot of early mornings.

The week started as usual. I was with a Scottish group all day on Monday at the boys' home, and they were getting ready to fly back to Lima on Tuesday morning. I called the bus driver on Monday night to confirm the transport from the group's hotel to the airport, but he informed me that there was going to be a "strike" on Tuesday. A strike here in Peru is quite a bit different than what our idea of a strike is back home. Basically, when a group of people is in disagreement with any government decision or policy, they will go on strike; this means that they will march in protest, but it also means that they will often block the roads. The idea is that if the roads are blocked, then Peru's economy comes to a standstill, and hopefully the government will start to pay attention. Anyways, my bus driver informed me that the public transport staff was going to strike for a day because they are in disagreement with a new law that increases fines for traffic violations.

The group's original plan was to leave Tuesday morning around 8:30 to make their flight on time. My bus driver told me that we would probably beat the road blocks if we left earlier in the morning--around 5:00. With no other option, I had to ask the group to wake up extra early in an effort to beat the road blocks. Everything was set until about 4:30 then next morning. I received a call from the driver telling me that he couldn't make it to our hotel because people had already started striking and blocking the roads. At that point, there was no more that we could do. The group was going to have to miss their flight back to Lima. The Scripture Union office worked hard to rebook the flights for another day, but the earliest that the flights could be changed to was Thursday. The group was now going to have two extra days here in the Sacred Valley.

Really, from the perspective of the group, there wasn't much of a problem. They would have two more days here in Cusco, and a couple less days at their second stop--Kusi. For me, the delay brought a couple of complications. Originally I was going to have one group leaving Tuesday and a new group arriving on Wednesday. Because of the plane delay, the new group was going to overlap for one night with the other group. We did not have hotel spaces booked for that many people, so I had to rush around Urubamba looking for extra rooms. In the end, I was trying to juggle between two different groups who were staying in three different hotels.

Going to pick the new group up on Wednesday was also an adventure. Normally I take a public vehicle from Urubamba to Cusco when I go to the airport to pick up a group. Because of the strike that was going on, there were no public transport vehicles running. The trek was quite an adventure. I ended up riding in the trunk of a station wagon with two other men. It was a cramped, but uneventful ride thankfully.

On Thursday the group that got delayed finally left, and it was back to the normal routine--or so I thought! One of the ladies from the new group arrived quite sick. She hadn't eaten for a number of days, and she was incredibly weak. On Friday we decided that she was going to need to go back to Cusco to get checked out at a hospital. We left on Friday morning expecting to be at the hospital for 3-6 hours, but when all was said and done she was kept in the hospital for just over 24 hours, and she was diagnosed with Typhoid Fever--a bacterial disease caused by a certain strain of salmonella that is usually a result of drinking contaminated water. It was a nice hospital, and there was an extra bed in the hospital room, so I just stayed the night there, but I was woken up every 30 minutes or so when the nurses came in to check on the lady from the work team. Thankfully the hospital was very nice, and the lady is feeling much, much better now that she has medicine to treat the illness.

This week back in Michigan was our church's Kids' Kamp that the children's ministry puts on every year. I grew up going to this camp, and I loved it so much that when I was too old to be a camper I began working there as a volunteer. To this day, some of my best friends are the families that are involved in Kids Kamp. I found myself feeling a little bit homesick and missing friends and family back home. It was a long and exhausting week, and I think that all of the business wore my immune system pretty thin. I came down with a fever and nausea last night. I won't go into the details, but I was fairly unwell. It must have been just a 24 hour flu or something because thankfully I was feeling much better by this afternoon.

It has been a difficult week, and I appreciate all of your prayers. But as I was feeling down today, God reminded me exactly why it is that I am here in Peru. After taking the morning off to recuperate from my sickness, I made it back to the Girasoles home in the afternoon. Today we celebrated all of the boys who had birthdays during the months of June and July. There were games, songs, dancing, and lots of cake. They even made a pinata! I got the see the joy on the boys' faces as we celebrated their lives and as we reminded them that they are important and loved by God. I left the home today feeling tired but refreshed at the same time. When I signed up for this job, I knew that it wasn't always going to be easy, but I know that even in the midst of the more difficult times IT IS WORTH IT. God has me here for a reason, and he has a plan for the lives of the kids at each one of our Girasoles homes.

Street Children and Girasoles

Every once in awhile, I think that I will write a post to share a little bit of background and information about Scripture Union Peru and its ministries for those of you who are not incredibly familiar with the organization. Because I am currently doing work that is specific to Scripture Union's Girasoles program, I want to start this series of posts by explaining a little bit more about this problem with street children that we experience here in Peru as well as in many other parts of the world. I will do my best to explain the issues to the best of my knowledge, but please have some grace with me as I am fairly new to the Peruvian culture. I do not have all the answers, and much of the following information has been gleaned off of other friends, such as Paul Clark, Billy Clark, and many of the house parents in the different Girasoles homes. I will warn readers ahead of time--this is heavy stuff, but it is real. Even in the darkest places, God is working! This is a longer post, but I encourage you to read through it, and learn how you can better pray for these children.

Where do these children come from?

There is not always an easy, clear cut answer to a question like this. Each child is different, so there is not just one blanket answer. With that said, the root of the problem is almost always extreme poverty. Behind the lives of many children on the street is a single mother who is struggling to provide for her family. In Peruvian culture, Latin American culture, and probably many other places around the world there is a definite double standard between the position of the man and the position of the woman in a household. It is culturally acceptable in Peru for a man to be the macho figure who can do what he wants, when he wants, and with whomever he wants. The sociological term for this is "machismo." It is not uncommon, especially in impoverished communities, for a man to have children with a number of different women. While the man goes around doing whatever he wants, the mother is expected to provide for and care for the children. Unfortunately, as is so often the case, poverty turns into a vicious cycle. When a mother can no longer provide for the children on her own, she is forced to attach herself to another, often times abusive, man for income.

So where do the children come from? Many times the reason that they end up on the street is very simple. From the mother's perspective, she can either abandon one child on the streets or try to care for everybody as the risk of starving the entire family. Paul Clark, the director of Scripture Union Peru, often uses the illustration of a life boat. When the boat is full one person needs to go overboard, or the entire boat will sink, and everyone drowns. There are other cases where the new boyfriend of the mother wants nothing to do with children from a different father, so he puts them out on the streets, or he at least abuses them until they run away on their own.

Other children begin spending days on the streets trying to sell small bits of candy, shine shoes, or just beg to try to provide income for the family. Many times, they are expected to bring home a certain quota daily, and if they do not meet that quota then they can expect to be beaten. Even when they do bring the proper amount of money home, very seldom does that translate to food on their plates. Many times the father will gamble the money away with his other friends or spend it away on beer to feed his alcohol addiction. After awhile, sometimes the boy decides that he would be better off living on his own rather than trying to meet an unreasonable quota and still not getting fed.

Once a child is out on the street, what becomes of him?

Nothing good is waiting for a child who is living out on the streets. To begin with, many of the populated cities in Peru have a fairly mild or sometimes downright cold climate. The leading cause of death of kids on the streets of Lima is pneumonia, among a host of other preventable or curable diseases, during the winter months of June, July, and August. Even if disease does not come upon a child, the streets are a world of drugs, gangs, violence, and abuse.

Street children in Peru's culture are the lowest of the low. They are generally feared and hated. Prostitutes would have higher social status than street children. Billy Clark often tells a story of a time when the work with the Girasoles had recently begun. He had taken some pictures with the kids, and he took the pictures to get developed. When he arrived to pick up the pictures, the man at the store recognized that the pictures were of street boys, so he asked Billy why he would be taking pictures of these nobodies. Billy answered and explained the ministry that Scripture Union has here on the streets. The man looked at Billy and coldly said, "You want a solution for this problem? Well I have one for you--one bullet for each head!"

One of the most common derogatory names used to refer to a street boy is "piraña," in English--piranha. The name comes from a common practice that some of the boys have of descending upon an unsuspecting person in a small pack. When they mug a person in this manner, they will sometimes even take the clothes off of the person's back. Because they are known for crimes like this, they are feared and hated. Thus, the cycle of poverty once again begins.

If a boy is living on the street, he is already categorized as the lowest of the low. So what are the chances that this young boy will get a legitimate job to support himself in a country where the unemployment rate is sky high? He cannot get a job, and he is hated by the majority of the people around him, so he goes and finds a hiding place to get away from the hostile world. If it were not for the sharp pain of hunger, a boy might well spend his entire life in hiding, but there a comes a point where hunger becomes so unbearable that he has to leave the safety of his secret spot.

Without employment, the child's next best option is to try to steal to survive. Sometimes this means stealing an apple from the market, but other times the boys will attempt to pick a pocket or grab someone's watch to trade for a plate of food. Some of the children on the streets become incredibly skilled at petty theft. I have spent a considerable amount of time with different boys living in our Girasoles homes, and they have shown me how easy it could be for them to get a watch off of my wrist or a camera out of my pocket without me even noticing.

Unfortunately, many of the kids--especially the youngest ones who are too slow to make a fast getaway--get caught and end up in the hands of the police. While there are many goodhearted and well intentioned people in the Peruvian police force, there are also many very abusive, corrupt police officers. It is hard to know exactly why police are often incredibly cruel to these children, but they are. Perhaps it is just the hatred that the culture has coming out in a tangible form. Maybe it is because these boys make the officers' jobs more difficult and more dangerous. Whatever the reason is behind the cruelty--it is absolutely unjustifiable. I have heard story after story. Boy's have been taken to a dungeon and used as a soccer ball to be kicked around. They have been forced to drink other peoples' urine. They have had water thrown on them and then electrical wires attached to their testicles. Sometimes a truck is filled with the children, and then they are driven out into the middle of the desert and left to find their way back into the city--some make it, and some don't. They have been fed sandwiches laced with rat poison...and sadly, the list goes on.

After facing this sort of abuse from the police force many of the children on the streets are very reluctant to continue to steal to survive. But what is left? No family to provide, no job to earn a living, no stealing for fear of getting caught. What other option is there? While it seems like the end of the road, there is one other option. It is safer in the sense that they will probably not be bothered by the police, but in actuality it can be far more damaging long term. The last option for survival is prostitution. In Peru and all over the world sex trafficking and sex tourism is on the rise. The boys will extend sexual favors in exchange for a small sum of money or just a plate of food. Sadly, I have heard there are some places on the internet where you can book a vacation in Peru that includes the services of these children. Of course it is illegal, but it isn't always easy to keep track of, and corruption means that sometimes a simple bribe is all it takes to keep the authorities off of your back.

At the end of the day after a boy has done whatever it is that he needs to to satisfy his hunger, he will probably scrounge around for a few coins to buy a bag of glue called "terokal," and he will go back to his hiding spot huffing the fumes from the glue. When asked why they huff the glue, they often simply answer, "Quiero borrarme" (I want to erase myself). We have now come full circle. They will hide once again until hunger drives them out from safety.

Scripture Union's program is for street boys. Aren't there any girls on the streets?

The simple answer to this question is that yes there are girls on the streets, but there are far more street boys. It is hard to know exactly why there are more boys than girls. Perhaps when a mother finds herself in the situation where she has to put a child out on the street so that the rest of the family can survive, she would opt to choose the oldest boy. It could be that she feels that her oldest boy will have the best chances of survival out on his own. Another factor could be that when a mother looks at her young boy, she imagines him to grow up to be just like all of the other men in her life--abusive, promiscuous, gambling, alcoholics who care very little for the well being of the family. On the other hand, the mother want to identify with her young daughter. She might imagine her to grow up going through all of the same abuses, and she may want to try to protect her daughter from the world that she has experienced. For these reasons, the boy ends up on the street, and the girl remains at home.

With all of that said, I think that the number of girls on Peru's streets is growing. There are some organizations who do work diligently with girls from the streets, and Scripture Union has at times partnered with some of these efforts. We have hosted some of these girls at our summer camp programs that we run. At this time, we are just not well equipped to meet the needs of the girls on a long term basis. We would need to have separate facilities from the boys and care for pregnant girls and infants among other resources. Poverty is everywhere, and hopefully we will never become so numb to it that we can just ignore it, but at the same time, because there are so many different problems we have to be really intentional about defining a very specific mission. If we tried to help solve every problem that presented itself, then we would be spread so thin that we would not be effective anywhere.

On a similar note, we also limit the number of boys at each of our Girasoles homes to about forty. The need is so great that we could easily open our doors to hundreds of children, and some places do. But again, we have a very specific mission. We hope to be able to provide not just for the physical needs of the boys, but also mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. We really want the children in our homes to learn what it means to be a part of a loving, Christian family, and that mission would be impossible if we allowed for greater numbers.

How do the boys arrive at the Girasoles homes?

As is the case of many other questions, this one is difficult to answer because each boy has a different story, and there are many different means by which they arrive. To be honest, I am not the most qualified person to answer this question because I have very little to do with this specific part of the ministry. If you ever come to Peru, I encourage you to ask Pablo Lavado, the director of the Girasoles program, or any of the house parents at our different boys' homes. I know that sometime the house parents go out and do street work. They actually go find boys on the streets and tell them about the home. Sometimes word of our homes travels by word of mouth on the streets, and children show up because they heard about us from a friend. There are also times when children are referred to us by different government agencies when a case of abuse or neglect is discovered in the home.

What is the ultimate goal of the Girasoles program, and what have the results looked like?

Before I answer this, I want to reiterate once again that I am not the most qualified person to answer this question. I can say with confidence that the ultimate goal of the Girasoles ministry and virtually every other ministry of Scripture Union Peru is to bring children and their families to the feet of Jesus--the only true means of eternal redemption and transformation. In the case of the street boys, this is often a long process. When you tell a street child, "Jesus loves you," the meaning of the phrase seems so simple, but when you begin to look at it through their point of view, those three words can have a very different connotation. Most of the time, the boys in our homes have very little knowledge of who Jesus is. They have very little experience with any type of church, so Jesus really has no meaning. If they have any image in their minds of who Jesus is, it usually comes from the crucifix that is on display at the many catholic churches all over the country. Jesus is just a dead, bloody man on a cross. The term, "love," is another difficult one to communicate with a boy from the streets. In his world, love is always associated with some sort of sexual relationship. Try to look at it through there eyes--"Jesus loves you," can become an almost gruesome sentence.

While there is a lot of baggage to work through, we still believe that it is important to really explain who Jesus is and what true, unconditional love is. The full time Peruvian staff work day and night to care for and counsel the kids. They really do give themselves sacrificially to this ministry to help communicate this message to the boys. We have also found that the different foreign work teams that come to support Scripture Union also play an important part. A boy who has grown up being told that he is garbage will eventually start to believe those lies. In their mind God loves and blesses good people. Because the foreigners that come all of the way to Peru are usually pretty rich, God must love them. When they think about themselves, they believe that they are bad people, and God does not love them so He has not blessed them. Most of the readers of this blog will know that that way of reasoning is not true, but that does not change the fact that this is the way that the boys perceive the world. For a foreigner (again, a good person in the boys' minds) to come specifically to dedicate time towards bettering the lives of the children sends a loud and clear message to the boys that they are important people and that God does care about them. The short term groups help greatly to reinforce the message that the long term Peruvian staff and house parents are trying to communicate to the boys on a daily basis.

So what kind of results have we seen? As with most ministries of this nature, there are happy stories, and there are sad stories. We have found that no matter how hard we try to help a child adjust to life in one of our homes, there are some who just cannot cope with it long term. Perhaps it is they feel unworthy to live somewhere where they are so well cared for. Maybe after so much abuse, they just cannot grow to trust the Scripture Union staff. Some children have a hard time leaving their addictions to alcohol and drugs, and others just cannot adjust to living under rules and a daily routine after so much time of living without anybody telling them what to do. Whatever the reason is, there are boys who come and then leave our homes. We have an open door policy--we do not keep the children against their will. If we kept them under lock and key, then developing a bond of trust would be next to impossible.

On the other hand, there are many boys who have adjusted well to life at Girasoles. We do have children who I believe have come to a place of genuine faith in Christ. There are some boys (now men) who have graduated from the program and are maintaining a job. Many of our homes are fairly new, meaning that very long term results are yet to be seen, but I know children living in some of these homes who have dreams of being mechanics, bakers, policemen, military, and even pastors! Here in Cusco, our Girasoles home has only been open for just over a year. Most of the boys are between eight and twelve years old, and have a long way to go before they are ready to leave and live on their own. When the time does come, we will not just kick them out and never hear from them again. Just as any family, Scripture Union will always be these boys' family, and we hope to remain involved in their lives.

Other questions or comments?

The questions above are some of the most common questions that I get asked by work teams in Peru and by friends abroad. I know that many of you may have other questions or comments about this ministry. I welcome your thoughts. Reply to this post with a specific question, and I would love to share more.

Prayer and encouragement...

As I promised at the beginning of this very long post, this is not light reading. Even as I write it, I feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the problem. On our own, we can accomplish nothing. On our own, any work that we do is in vain. On our own, we will be quickly drained by the stresses around us. But GOD is bigger than all of that. With HIM we can accomplish anything. With HIM the work we do is for HIS kingdom. With HIM our strength is renewed day by day. Please do not read this post and leave feeling overwhelmed and useless in this world. Instead remember that God is in control, and he has a purpose and a plan. Pray for these children today. Intercede on their behalf that God might reveal himself to each of them--whether they are in one of our homes or not. Pray for the staff that work with the kids on a daily basis, that they may know that their reward waits for them in Heaven. Pray also for the culture here that is so resentful towards these boys. Ask God to soften their hearts--even to break their hearts for these boys. If we remain in HIM, then HE is faithful to remain in us. Be encouraged today by the words from Isaiah 40:27-31...

"Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, 'My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God'? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."