Samaritan’s Purse tells the story of Luis, a young boy living in Bolivia. His mother left him with his aunt when he was only three years old. After that, he was passed around from one relative to another, often being left alone while the adults worked, or looked for work. He ended up living on the streets when he was 12 where he found trouble with disreputable friends. His seemed to be a hopeless life, hardened by tough circumstances.
We saw this story played out a hundred fold when we were in Bolivia. Young children were left in the care of barely older siblings or left all alone while the mother worked and the father, if there was one around, was off for weeks at a time working in the coca fields.
We had joined the CMA church’s outreach program in rural Las Lomas (Ushpa Ushpa). It was a place of dirt and rocks, adobe houses with tin roofs and straw stuck in rafters to keep out the wind. Clothes were set on the few bushes to dry. Water drums set outside the homes as the only source of water, and an outside adobe artisan oven, the source for cooking. Many homes had only curtains for doors. But through the darkness of hopelessness and despair, shines the light of hope, Jesus.
The children we worked with were eager to practice their math, reading and writing skills in their outdoor ‘school.’ We communicated in our broken Spanish, but for many, the presence of a caring adult who cared for them communicated a special language of its own.
In addition to their academic work, the children sang bible songs, listened attentively to the bible stories.
And they prayed so fervently in their own words when we invited them to pray for their families and their future.
Luis was one of the fortunate ones whose life was touched by those who poured themselves into his life. He says, “I didn’t have a relationship very near with God. Now I feel very close to God. I feel he lives in my heart.”
Will you take a moment to pray that Luis and the GLOW ministries with the other lost children of Bolivia will continue to pursue lives that honor Jesus, and not be hardened by harsh circumstances? And will you pray also for our return to the Bolivian mission field this year? Your prayers matter!
