The month of September was so fruitful and exciting that it’s tough to know where to begin. A few weeks ago my parents arrived in Santa Cruz. We traveled to Sucre, a beautiful colonial city where Bolivian independence was declared nearly 200 years ago. We visited a number of touristic spots and ate lunch at the El Alfarero Sucre location.Upon our return to Santa Cruz, my parents joined a four-person team from the U.S. to work on the Talita Cumi home. The team painted the girls’ rooms and living room, installed fans in both the girls’ home and the boys’ home, and fixed a couple of computers. Many of the children got in on the work and fun by cleaning, painting, organizing, and cooking. The finished product is absolutely amazing! Beyond working on the home, the team and I were able to get a lot of good quality time in with the children: taking them to the pool, taking them out for bowling and ice cream, and even bringing the older girls to El Alfarero to purchase jewelry in one of our ministries.

I would like to ask for your prayers in regards to a new initiative that I am spearheading with a few guys. One vital component that is missing at the Talita Cumi home is the presence of Christian men who actively guide, counsel, and walk with the boys. In order to meet this need, we will be launching a mentorship group called “Jetro” (Jethro), named after Moses’ father-in-law who cared for Moses’ family and gave him wise counsel in a time of tremendous difficulty. The mission of Jetro is to respond to the call of God to shepherd young boys by directing their hearts toward Christ. Each boy will have his own mentor who will meet with him on a weekly basis. Every month all of us will meet together to discuss important topics related to the boys’ stage in life. Please pray that we can walk in wisdom as we launch the group, that we would rely on the Holy Spirit at all times, and that the hearts of the boys would grow in maturity in Christ.

My English students at El Alfarero got a big surprise when I brought my parents to the last session of the eight-week course. The last class is always my favorite. First, the students give oral presentations that incorporate much of the material that they learned over the course. It’s eye-opening for them to realize just how much they learned. Then, after their oral presentation, each student recites from memory John 3:16 (in English). It’s a powerful capstone for all of our faith conversations from the past eight weeks. I’ve been quite pleased with the biblical talks we’ve had and I pray that the Holy Spirit continues to do wonders in their hearts.Evangelism at the university continues to be fruitful as we pray for students and invite them into our El Alfarero community. David, a missionary from Chile, and I are striving to strengthen communication and maintain contact with those with whom we evangelize. In order to accomplish this, we created a WhatsApp group specifically designed for the university students. For those of you unfamiliar with WhatsApp, it’s a phone application that allows a group of people to share messages with each other. This new tactic allows us to share information about El Alfarero with the university students and respond to their questions and needs.Please keep Bolivia in your prayers as Bolivians will be going to the election polls this October 20th. Please pray for transparency and a peaceful transition.

Thank you for your prayers.