changes in Animana...

As you may remember, I went to the town of Animana last year and had the chance to go back. Last year the kids of the town were horrible. They were mean and had such tough exteriors. You could just see the fact that they had such a hard life and had lived through many things at home. It was a very tough time to have patience and love for the children and teenagers.

This year we were totally surprised with the way the kids had changed. They were so loving and willing to talk and hug and hang out with us. I got to see many of the children I met last year and see how much they had really changed. It was so surprising the way they had opened up and softened their tough exteriors from a year ago.

These are a few of the teenage girls I tried to make relationships with last year and didn't have any results. This year we spent a lot of time hanging out and talking deeply about the Lord. It was a complete change. In the second picture is one of my friends from last year who was the most special to me.  Josue is his name,8 years old, and he comes from a hard family story as well, having lost his dad at a very young age and his mother who doesn't care much about him. As well as last year, he's still the trouble maker of the town, but he remembered what we had talked about the story of Jesus. One day he was waiting for me early in the morning, he had been walking around waiting for me and shooting birds with his sling-shot.  He had a lot of questions for me about the Bible and about who Jesus was. I had a kid's magazine for us to read together. He read to me that morning and his questions continued. It was a great experience to share the love of Jesus with him, that he doesn't see from his neighbors, his friends, not even his family.