Menos dos, agrega cuatro

We've lost two boys at the institute. The eldest, Facundo, has been transferred to another place. The next in line in terms of causing the most trouble, Dario, has gone, but I do not know where. I'm very saddened by this news because in my prayers for them, I have been most fearful for their future. Seeing their poor choices when we are all playing together makes me wonder how easy it will be for them to make more poor choices as they age.

I can only hope for their sakes, and pray with all my heart for the Lord to protect them. Even when they don't know why their plans to do wrong fail, in the end they will be able to see it was Jesus walking with them, protecting them all along. May more workers cross paths with them to lead Facundo and Dario to this truth!

But as I wrote, we get to add four more: Joe, Franco, Fabrizio y Brian. I have yet to meet Brian (I was told of his arrival two weeks ago, when I had stayed home due to illness); I did meet the rest of them today.

I praise God that the institute trusts our group to bring the niños each week to the local park for some fútbol and snacks. This time, we played mono en el medio, or monkey in the middle. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of stealing the ball from Rodrigo uno, as he was lining up for a monster kick to another person. My fault was that I kicked it before he could, and it comes from my distaste for ball hogs. He was holding the ball for himself most of the game.

Nonetheless, I need to be more careful with these boys. I'm thankful that Rodrigo only responded with curse words (English curse words mind you), instead of running away or throwing punches. I need to remember how sensitive they are when it comes to soccer. In the moment I prayed for help, and it seemed to get better.

After a little bit of this, we went to a local store to play metegol: foosball. That turned out to be a lot of fun, as we played a round robin like tournament. It costs a peso to play 6 balls worth of a game, but when the store owner learned where the boys came from, he gave us another game gratis: free!

I think what today's ministry boiled down to was a desire for consistency. I'm grateful to get to come for a couple years, but I also think about about the small size of our ministry. Once a week, a couple hours. That's it! What would a better ministry look like with these kids? How can we devote more time, even just once a week, especially in order to see ALL of the boys every week? Right now, the boys change each time, as some are going to school (don't get me started on my desires for the school system here!), or busy with other things that prevent their coming.

I know I can't save the world, but I want more!

"When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were helpless like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.'"

Chau.