Urgent Prayer Request

I have an urgent prayer request for you…

I am hoping to get my haircut for the first time here in Bolivia later TODAY. So please pray that I will not leave bald and that I will be able to explain the kind of cut that I want in Spanish. J-Burns…tell Miss Bertha at Great Clips that I held out as long as I could. But it has been about six or seven weeks since I have had my haircut and I can’t stand it anymore.

I do have a couple of real praises for you though…

Check this. So I think I have mentioned my friend Grover to you before. Well, he is a missionary to the states (Cleveland, Tennessee) and he is from Bolivia. He is from the city of Oruro to be exact. Oruro just happens to be the site of the second largest Carnival celebration in South America (behind Brazil). So last Thursday we packed up and took a $3 bus ride about three hours outside of La Paz to spend a few days at the Carnival celebration. We stayed with his parents and they were great. (Quick side note for my mom: mom – just fyi I have been losing weight since I got to La Paz because I am walking a lot but Grover’s mom fed me so much that I am putting on the pounds again so don’t worry)

There were way too many drunks at Carnival and I got hit with so many water balloons (A tradition during Carnival here…and if you a gringo you are a prime target) but we had fun. My praise is that God allowed me to experience this celebration and really see how much paganism and idolatry is part of some of the culture here in Bolivia. The idolatry is really mixed with the Catholic Church here. It was a good experience and I praise God that I was able to go and learn more about my new culture. Pictures of Carnival will be online soon…

The second praise deals with the ministry that I visited last week called Word Made Flesh that I mentioned in my last post. This is a ministry in El Alto, a suburb of La Paz and probably the poorest area of La Paz. They minister to street prostitutes and their kids. Well, I was able to work with some contacts back home in the states to secure a donation for this ministry. Praise God. This donation will help the ministry subsidize the lunches for the girls and their kids. The girls pay a little for lunch but it is no where near enough to cover the total cost. This ministry is working hard to reach the street girls and their kids with the love of Christ and I can’t tell you how much joy I feel inside to be involved in a small way and help them get a donation.

I really think God has given me the vision to promote the needs of the Christian organizations working with at-risk kids here in La Paz to foundations and donors outside of Bolivia. There are many needs here and I believe that there are many people outside of Bolivia who want to help. The problem is that the needs just need to be documented and promoted in a clear, concise way. I envision a virtual catalogue, maybe a website where a potential donor could go and view a list of different needs at different giving levels and donate if God lays it on their heart. It is the same model that Samaritan’s Purse uses where you can go to their site and buy a goat for a family in Africa for $70 except this would just be focused on the needs in and around La Paz for the Christian organizations working with at-risk kids.

A perfect job for a marketer turned missionary don’t you think?