void.

I had a chat with a friend yesterday about street kid ministry. She's starting something with a group of kids that live at another bridge, and God's given her some wide open doors to build relationships. It's really exciting to me!

We got together to talk about that, about some of my experiences, and about methods for doing this ministry. It made me realize that I still have more questions and concerns than answers or inspired ideas.

Because of the hundreds and hundreds of hours I've spent with the kids, I feel like I really understand them. I understand how they think and view the world. I know what motivates them and what controls them. I know where they go and what they do and why they do it. But I still don't feel like I have any kind of simple solution for how to best help them leave behind the streets because when I look at the problem, all I see is a huge void where the Church should be. I'm just always reminded how lost and hurting this world is, and it absolutely breaks my heart that so many of us who say we are Believers choose to ignore and avoid the spiritual battleground that's right in front of us.

And I am mostly convinced that nothing will ever change in Bolivia until the Church starts doing her job. It's not about another center or home... What the kids need - what the world needs - is a devoted community of believers that will bear each other's burdens, care for the hurting and forgotten ones, love unreservedly, and confront evil social systems. It's not a utopian dream but something to fight for.

Anyway, here are some photos with a couple of the boys: