Thursday

Today started with some of the girls getting up early to make sandwiches for our morning ministry. We left early to minister to some youth that live in a tent community and are addicted to sniffing glue. Past experiences before have shown us that their behavior when they are high can be unpredictable, so there were many unknowns. We set up in a fenced in soccer court and Jessica and Steve took the bus to pick up the youth and bring them to us. They arrived wearing dirty clothes, some with no shoes, some with shoes falling apart, and glue bottles in hand. Our team showed no fear and began to introduce themselves. We had brought some shoes to give away but quickly realized there was not enough. One of our team members grabbed some duct tape and began mending their shoes. Transitions from one activity to another was very important because if these youth had to wait around long, they would lose interest and leave. Our team was Johnny on the spot, quickly transitioning from introductions to a soccer game. The sad thing was that they wouldn't even put down their bottles of glue to play soccer. One kid had his in his mouth, huffing it while dribbling the ball. After this we fed them the sandwiches and cokes and while they were eating Matt shared the gospel. We passed out tracts and gave them Bibles, shoes, blankets and more. Many of the youth spoke with our teammates and were really open to wanting to change their lifestyle and learn more about Christ. One pregnant youth that was there gave her life to Christ and said she needed help. We asked the ministry coordinator and she said there was a home that she could live at that would help her get off the drugs. The team decided they would pay for this and she will get the help she needs.
The youth really connected with our team and even asked us back to see where they live. We went and saw tents made of tarps, where they live outside among the cacti and thorns. We sat down and spoke with them. They shared with us that they really want to get off the drugs but don't know how. Our hearts broke but the existence of this ministry and the missionaries that work with these kids give us hope. When we were leaving one of the boys said "thanks for giving us a good day".

After we left those youth, we went shopping in South Americas largest open air market, ate lunch, then went to the Statue of Christ. We finished up the day with a prayer meeting at Kara Kara where half the team prayed and the other half ministered to the children. Rachel sang a beautiful song and Hannah shared her testimony. Tomorrow we will go back to Kara Kara to go door to door and share the Gospel.

A.