Diego's House

This is Nelson.  He was our self appointed body guard. 

Through these crazy, creepy alleys

To Diego, Armando, Ana, Nicole, and 5 other people's house

Diego has been asking us for several days to go down and look at his house.  He would like us to build him a new one.  Well if anyone needs a new house it's this family.  There are 9 people living in a house I could barely walk through it was so small.  There are only 3 beds in this tiny home and they usually have extra people crashing on the rocky dirt floor.  Here are some of the pictures I took.  There is no part of their house that isn't in these pictures.

This was my first time to go down into this neighborhood.  I had no idea how many houses there were.  The opportunity to reach out to this community is even greater than I thought. 

Two beautiful kittens that were at Diego's house. 

Tonight was a good night.  Just hanging out with our friends.  I talked to Noe (18) for a long time tonight, which we do about once a month, and he promised that he was going to turn his life around, which he does about once a month.  He even gave me the last of his Vodka to prove it :).  He's such a sweet kid that is in way over his head with addictions.  I pray that each time we talk it goes a little deeper and maybe one day he really will be able to turn his life around.  But either way at least he knows someone cares.  I also met a new kid tonight, Moises. He is 15 years old and has been living on the streets since he was 9.   Moises had nasty, nasty scabs all over one side of his face that I asked him if I could clean off.  He came at the very beginning, disappeared the whole time, then came back right at the end so I could clean his face.  It took me almost half an hour to get his face clean but the result was a very very small sore that just needed the chance to heal.  I never feel closer to these kids than when I'm working on a wound.  They rarely show that vulnerability and when they do it's like a window into their hearts.  I pray that they will allow God to fill the emptiness that is so obvious in their lives.

At La Chimbomba one of the girls asked me to help her get off of the streets.  I told her about our plan for a facility and I hope that we are able to make that dream come true for her.

And finally this beautiful picture.  One of the guys at the park where we go when we have left over food was trying to sell this for $5.  I didn't have $5 on me (on purpose) so he sold it to me for $1.50.  We are pretty sure he painted it himself.  I love it, I love the symbolism of it, I love the colors, and mostly I love where it came from. Even in the darkest of places, truly the place we are most hesitant to go, there is beauty and hope.