Andy in South America

Hi everyone

Just to let you all knowI am back from Sucre safe and sound – will update with more information in the next few days!!

Blessings

Andy

Hi guys

Tomorrow night (Thursday night) I am catching an overnight bus to Sucre for the weekend, to catch up with the other Stride members I came out with and also Chris our short term coordinator. I will be returning by overnight bus on Sunday night…..

Please pray for the trip – its about 12 hours on the overnight bus (not my idea of fun!) each way. Pray for safety, and also that the time away would be refreshing and fun. I am also hoping I might get a bit of time out which would be good as haven´t had any since arriving well over a month ago.

Will try and post some pictures in the next few days….

Blessings

Andy

Hi everyone

Just uploaded my October 2008 prayer newsletter for everyone to see! Enjoy!

Blessings

Andy

Hey guys

Kinda wanted to share a few things from my first few weeks, in particular the last few days that showed me why I had come…..

1. Sunday in La Paz - On Sunday I took a walk along El Prado and also into Sagárnaga (also named Gringo Alley because it is a tourist hotspot) and I have to be honest it was one of the most depressing scenes ever. First, Sunday is a day when most places shut apart from the expensive restaurants and tourist spots, however it is also the day when you see a lot of beggars and also prostitutes on the main thorughfare. Everyone just walks past ignoring them all. Worse of all on Sagárnaga I saw a group of fellow gringos walk past an elderly lady begging, kick her hat flying with her earnings and then just carry on walking. It was horrible!
2. Shoe-shine boys - Walking through La Paz you pass many shoe-shine boys – some of whom will tell very tall tales to you and others who are very different. However yesterday evening I was with a friend and we passed a shoe-shine boy who couldn’t have been more than about 12 in floods of tears. Everyone else was just walking straight past as if he wasn’t there. When we stopped and chatted (or my friend chatted my Spanish wasn’t really up to!) we found out that a short while ago a group of older shoe shine boys had beaten him up and taken his last few days takings which were his rent he had to pay that evening. It was horrible.
3. El Alto - Many of you will have heard of El Alto – a massive city slum on the altiplano above La Paz where many poor indigenous people live. I will be working up in El Alto quite a bit as there a lot of street children there. It is just impossible to justify this poverty when just two short minibus rides away is Zona Sur – the rich southern bit of La Paz where the majority of the wealthy live. 

Hi guys

Move went really well – the family I am living with are lovely. I know I keep saying it but will get an update done in the next few days – had a few laptop issues!

Blessings

Andy

Hi guys

Tomorrow I move house – in with a local family with three children (although they are more my age than children!) Please pray for the following

• That the move would go smoothly – have lots to move as I have acquired lots of equipment and resources from someone who has just left the team here. It involves hiring a taxi for a while which can be interesting….
• That I would get on with the family and they would with me – please pray that we would all be encouraging one another in Christ
• For language as I will be relying on my Spanish entirely now!!! God has really blessed me in this area, but that he would continue to bless me in this area!

Thanks lovely people!

Blessings

Andy