Many Changes, Many Blessings

No. 34 is our own home that God has blessed us with. We love living here.

We as a family have seen tremendous blessings in the past few months, both ministry and family wise.

On the ministry front, we had the privilege to host many outreach teams; one of those was from YWAM Oxford, New Zealand but we also had teams from churches in the USA (Texas and Michigan) and Venezuela. Every team is very unique and diverse and each one of them always leaves a mark in the children we serve. Sometimes we also get new staff involved in our ministry as a result of these visits. For example, this year we received a volunteer who had been in the New Zealand team the year before. Kristi was a great blessing in our Drop-in Center and in the 24 hour care program.

The picture below may not say much to you. However, for those of us who have been involved long term in this ministry it reminds us of Gods transforming power. Most of the kids in this picture have been with us for many years, they came from the worst backgrounds that you can imagine and are now becoming men and women who fear the Lord. They have become part of our extended family.

Family wise we have been involved in different activities outside of our ministry. Katrina for example is part of the board of directors were our children go to school. She is the secretary and with a group of other parents they make sure, among other things, that the school doesn’t turn away from the vision of providing an excellent education with Christian principles. The school was originally created to teach missionary children and over the years has opened its doors to Colombian Christians who are serving the local church, due to the decreased number of missionaries in Colombia.

Talking about the school, last month Gabriela started pre-kinder. We as parents were a bit concerned for the transition she had to make to become more independent. Thanks to God the transition has gone very smoothly, she loves the school and believe it or not, it was harder for us as parents than for her, to stay for her first full day of classes ( 7 and half hours). Below is a picture of our three “little” children that first day of this school year.

Some of the activities in which I have been involved in outside of the Streetkids’ ministry is being part of the Bogota YWAM leadership team. This has been a new experience for me since God has stretched me to seek Him even more to be able to provide guidance and discernment to 9 different YWAM ministries in the city. I already have had to be involved in a very hard decision concerning the closure of a YWAM school that ran for 25 years.

I have also been involved in an amazing evangelistic program at our church, where hundreds of teenagers and children have given their lives to God. The picture below shows my spiritual children. Yes, I had the privilege to lead these young men to the Lord. They all accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior in a three-day camp that ran our church outside of Bogotá.

The picture below are adults that I was able to present the Salvation plan. Their hearts are harder than the kids´ but I am so happy that three of them are attending church and being disciple. We also rejoice in that our sister in law Claudia also became a Christian at the adult evangelistic camp. She now attends home group and church with us. Please pray for my brother that he also will be open to hear the good news that Jesus is the Savior.

These last photos are of some friends that God gave me the privilege of being present when they received their adopted daughter.

Thank you so much for your part in this ministry that God has given us. Thank you so much for making it possible for us to do what we are doing here. Couldn't do it without you.

I hope that the recent earthquake down in Christchurch has not affected you too much. I had several people contact me here who saw it on the news. We are praying that all settles down Ok.

Gabriela's 4th birthday

Princess, pink and purple are the best

Carlos and Gabriela

Great Visiting Teams

Gabriela

It is a long weekend and we are enjoying some time with Carlos' extended family a few hours from Bogotá. It has been good to get out of the city and relax a bit. There have been a few changes in dates with some visiting teams so this weekend became free.

There has been an average of one visiting team a month this year. This has kept Carlos busy organizing their visits. The first was a YWAM team from Kona, Hawaii. They were with us for 2 weeks and were a great blessing to the different ministries that they visited. Two of the team's members stayed on to be students at the Children at risk training school that started last week. We then had a team from Venezuela, they made huge sacrifices to come ( if you are up to date on political happenings you may understand some of these) and even though they were only with us a week, these university students impacted the lives of many of our teenagers. The last team has been from Texas, USA. They are a church team that have come many times and are an extension of the family. Their church has a goal that 100% of the congregation go on a mission trip in a 5 year time frame. They are like 75% of the way in their 3rd year of this goal. The ministry's USA accountant is a part of this church. It was good for me (Katrina) to sit down and go over the accounting books and see that we have everything balanced. Technology makes the job a lot easier but there is nothing like a face to face conversation. This team also did some videoing for a new DVD of the ministry and took lots of photos for the web page.

These are children who live in the prostitution area

These visiting teams not only come to serve in our ministry. With the schedule that Carlos organizes, an average of 350 kids at risk are reached per team with the gospel in very fun ways. They share dramas, Bible stories, songs, games, and crafts, all with the salvation message included. They have worked with orphans, street kids, children of the prostitutes, children addicted to drugs, etc. Carlos gets overwhelmed every time he works with these teams as there is so much need in this city and the children are the first to suffer. Carlos receives several invitations to bring more teams to different places , it is great that the gospel can be shared openly even in non christian programs.

The Texas team in a very dangereous part of town called "Altos de Cazuca"

The team that arrives next week is doing construction work on the Children's play auditorium. Neighbourhood kids from the prostitute zone have been able to use it for a Bible Club but it still needs some work. Bit by bit it is getting into shape. Carlos was able to be at the first Bible club and said it was great to see these kids involved and listening to the gospel. We plan to volunteer there regularly as they meet on a Saturday so it won't affect our main commitment with the administrative side of the ministry. Between 50 to 60 kids turn up many have never heard the gospel and they are in much need of having healthy fun and hearing that Jesus loves them.

Having Fun

One of our ministries Bible Clubs called "The Jungle" in the prostitution zone

NEWS SNIPPETS

Visiting street people regular has been hard as there are not enough people on the team to go out. Carlos and a guy from Holland are the only regulars who go. It is not safe to have so few people, so they only get to go when others are available to accompany them. The hope is that the street team will grow and trust can be established with the street people so that they will openly hear the gospel.

This is the place where we are building friendship and trust with the street dwellers. The white against the wall is people wrapped up sleeping.

Carlos is now apart of YWAM Bogotá 3 team, which is the leadership group for the 10 different YWAM ministries in the city. He continues to serve as a deacon at church. Our church has moved so that it could reach more youth. The rented warehouse already has more than 400 people attending.

I have just become a part of the board of the school which our children attend. We really don't like meetings but it is a way that we can serve outside of the children's ministry.

Prayers answered:
We had been praying for a new accountant and auditor for the ministry and God has provided some great people who really know what they are doing and are committed to the work. Other new staff have joined the team also. We still need some key people such as teachers and experienced house parents. There are over 30 regular volunteers and over 400 kids been reached. Three young adults who all lived for various years in a ministry home where all in Chile when the earthquakes happened. Two were able to go and help the victims, the other is married to a Chilean and has a young baby to look after. We are hearing great things of what God is doing in the lives of the Chilean people.

There were times when we weren't sure if this years bi-lingual training school for “Children at Risk” workers was really going to happen, with not enough staff, few students,and logistical problems but it is going well in it's second week with 9 students and 4 staff from 5 nations.

FAMILY WISE
Simon turned 7 this month. He had a party at his grandparents farm, with his cousins and some school friends. He had wanted a pinata, but his mum is not very expert in these and brought a cheap one that fell apart with a slight breeze, sticking tape did the job until the contents were poured in and then immediately poured out. The solution a black rubbish bag. All went well apart from a boy accidentally been hit in the mouth with the broom handle. Luckily no teeth were broken and his parents were present to bring comfort.

Simon's 7th Birthday, Alex is the tall giant in the back

This last month we have been house hunting as miraculously we were granted a loan to buy a house. It looks like we will move to a small town near Bogotá, close to the kids school, were prices are a bit cheaper. We have been renting for eight years and that money will now go to the loan. We have also been looking into other ways to support our selves as our support doesn't cover our daily expenses and with Gabriela ready for school that's another NZ $430.00 a month that we need. God shut various doors and we continue to pray about this need.

PRAYER REQUESTS.

• Our ministry director has heart problems, please pray for his healing and that he will be restored to full health soon.


• For guidance in the house buying process.


• Pray for good health, all of us have had a lot of colds and flu's.

Thank you for your prayers, emails, and support. We pray God's blessing on your lives.

Carlos and Katrina

A New Year Starts

Wow, January 2010 has already come to an end.

We started the year with a week's holiday in a rented house in a nice hot climate. The hot got a bit too hot as most of the day time we had to be in the swimming pool or in an air conditioned room. It was still really nice to be away from phones and Internet. Our kids loved being with their cousins and it gave their parents a chance to relax.

We came back to Bogotá to organise a 4 day training seminar for all of the ministry's volunteers. The Seminar went really well, staff feedback said that it was really good to start the year being focused on a time with God as well some practical training. All of our leadership team were involved in sharing or teaching and most of the volunteers also had an opportunity to share. It was a good mix but most importantly we really felt God' presence with us.

Carlos has been busy with a visiting team from a YWAM base in Hawaii, they are with us for another few days. They have been to various children's ministries as well as helped clean and get the school ready for the start of the year.

I have been in the office, working on this year's budget, organising projects, recruiting more volunteers, (we need at least 6 more key workers) and other odds and ends.

Some numbers: This year the ministry is responsible for the school fees of 27 kids who are attending schools outside of the ministry. There are 400 children involved in the Bible clubs. We have 32 volunteers between full and part timers.

Carlos has had some documents to translate and with church involvement is very busy. Alex and Simon have started back to school. Alex started keyboard lessons last year, he spent a lot of his holiday time teaching himself new songs. It is real nice hearing him play. Simon wanted his two front teeth for Christmas, now he wants all four of them. He has grown a lot but Alex is well ahead of him. He likes playing the drums and is not too keen on school right now. He says it is too much work and he wants to stay home and play. Gabriela is happy now that Simon has missing teeth too. We took her to a dentist to see about getting a false front tooth, she was not too happy about the idea and made everyone in hearing distance aware of that. She is getting ready for school, more independent, we are still needing the money to send her so meanwhile she keeps us company. Spanish becomes her more dominant language daily.

Next month we have another team coming, this time from Venezuela (that is if they can get out of the country). One of our long term team members is having difficulty in returning from lack of transport and riots.

Prayer points:

Give thanks for good health.
Praise that so many children are hearing about God's love for them
Wisdom in the decisions we make.
Wisdom as we pray and seek ways to raise more money so that we can pay our families bills.

With love,

The Paez family