18 days

18 days into a 4 month furlough, and I'm studying the Word and seeking new life from the Creator.

All Creatures

by Josh Garrels

All creatures of our God and King,

Lift up your voice and let us sing

O Praise Him! O Praise Him!

Alleluia

Creation sent to me the centipede

to witness the complexity

of one hundred legs that were moving unexpectedly

ironically

just as they were meant to be,

they’re fearfully and wonderfully made;

An organism praised in circadian rhythms:

the sun will rise and then the sun will set, and then the sun will rise again,

so lift up your head!

this is life: not a static object preserved and displayed like a relic from the dead

You are not a fruitless tree with a rootless disease

growin’ in a bucket in a rich man’s home

next to the TV tamed and alone

learnin’ to lust for the things you don’t own

like an arm chair warrior who’s been dethroned

Declawed and fixed

fighting for you life with unattended slit wrists.

Don’t let your name get intermingled with the number cause its time to awaken from the devilish slumber,

to freely follow the Forerunner

to the fatherland and rally round the renaissance man

and the wisdom of His ways

and all the work of His hands

catch come as catch can

concentrating on the good words of the Son of Man,

the plan is to withstand the demands of a confused oppressor:

a wolf in sheep’s clothes

with monotonous lectures

and questionable gestures

unequal measures

cultural pressures

and synthetic textures

force fed instead of the most beautiful architecture

of our long lost, forgotten origins:

Unseen fiber in the blood of my King

And that old rock where we confessed our sins

Oh, my God, fellow man

in this great land they all cry out for

full restoration

and this will take

patience

AND THIS WILL TAKE THE TRIBES

AND THE TONGUES OF ALL THE NATIONS

and all of creation groans in anticipation

Waitin’ for the Son of God to be manifest

I can feel it burnin’ in my chest

The liberation for the oppressed

And it’s beautiful like the feet that bring good news…

Its beautiful like this freedom tune

Its beautiful like the power to choose…to change

Beautiful like the long awaited rain

Beautiful like the healing pains

Beautiful like the holy flames…coming down!

All creatures of our God and King

Lift up your voice and with us sing

O Praise Him! O Praise Him!

Alleluia….

new post.

I'm still alive.

I was away from Bolivia for just about 4 weeks visiting the US.

News to come!

la bebita.

One of the girls from the bridge gave birth to a precious little girl on Sunday afternoon, and we're all so excited. I feel super invested in this baby's life because we found out together that she was pregnant, and I've been with her every step of the way. Except for just about 3 weeks, she lived on the streets the entire time she was pregnant. So it's pretty miraculous that she carried her daughter for 38 weeks and that she was born completely healthy. Praise God!

She and the baby moved into her mom's house out in the campo. They own their house, but it's the size of a closet - maybe 10' by 10' if not smaller. And it's mostly made out of bricks and mortar but not finished. The corners are open, and in some places the bricks are just stacked together without any mortar. They have a dirt floor, but since it's been pouring rain every day, their floor is pure mud. On one half of the room, they have a stack of bricks and random pieces of wood that they've covered with foam and blankets. The mom has 3 other kids besides her teenage daughter and new granddaughter, so the 5 of them plus the baby sleep there together.

The conditions are terrible, but that's all they can afford. And the mother/grandmother is a kind, caring woman. She used to live on the streets years ago, but her life has really turned around since then. She's incredibly excited and proud to be a grandmother and has so much she can teach her daughter about being a mother, which is a HUGE blessing.

Here are a few photos:

creativity.

I love how the rainy season always brings out a crazy amount of creativity in the kids. On rainy days, water flows down the canal where they live, so they're forced to find another house.

See last year's rainy season photo here: Hole in the Wall.

This year, they made a tent on the side of the canal and filled it with discarded mattresses and foam bits that they scavenged from garbage piles.

a song for pilgrims ascending to jerusalem.

I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;

indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;

the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

We're pilgrims passing through this world on our way to Zion... We emanate light, life, and hope in this dark place... But we're in hostile territory, and the more we shine in this world, the more the Enemy tries to destroy us...

I'm currently very much aware of the constant danger my loved ones live in - whether they're here or in Kansas...

But the Maker of heaven and earth, the One who created everything that is, will and does protect us from all harm...

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:

1 week back.

I'm still running into kids that I haven't seen since I got back to Coch last Monday... Today, I was crossing an intersection on the concrete median of a divided road (I actually have a picture of the intersection, thanks to my mom) when three boys, who I hadn't seen yet, came running, jumped on me, and about tackled me in the middle of rush hour traffic. Some of the drivers thought I was being attacked until I gave the kids big bear hugs and smooches on their cheeks.

And here are just a few photos of us hanging out in the plaza near where they wash windows...