Stories - by Mike Butka

Last month we started working in Buenas Aires Sur, it’s a place that is in the city and very close to our offices. It’s very poor and has a reputation of being a very violent neighborhood. We’ve built a relationship with a Christian guy named Luis who is in charge of a drug and alcohol rehab center. He has been a good contact for us because he knows a lot of people and is introducing us to them so we can start puentes groups and Life Winds. So last month we asked him if we could start doing “Peace Treaties” with some of the guys in the morning. Forty five guys live there but some of them are able to leave for work so we only have about 25 guys to work with in the mornings. After the first week I (Mike) thought to myself – are we wasting our time – because it seemed like the guys weren’t really that interested. I’m glad God doesn’t give up on us as fast I did with these guys! During the next three weeks I starting noticing changes in these guys, they were on time, attentive, asking questions and seemed like they were enjoying themselves and were interested in learning. After the 3^rd lesson, which talks about baptism, not one person wanted to be baptized, but they had tons of questions about it. So we answered all of them and finished up with the “Peace Treaty” the next week and again asked who wanted to be baptized. Two guys wanted to be baptized the following week. So we bought a plastic pool because remember these guys aren’t allowed to leave the premises. As the team was leaving our offices to go baptize the two, I asked "are all of you guys are going to be baptized?" They looked at me and said no, just two. You guessed it, 5 men got baptized that day! The following week 3 more got baptized. With the ones that got baptized we are starting a discipleship program with them and the rest we are doing Puentes. This is our first experience in Buenas Aires Sur!

The next miracle happens in the Women’s Village! Abuse is very common here in Trujillo! The problem is that these women have no place to go if they decide to report abuse. We have a place that can house 16 women for temporary care. We want to provide care to women who experience any type of violence that have no place to go. We not only will be helping the women that come to the village but we will be doing a lot of preventative work and promoting a city of peace! We had our inauguration Oct. 9^th. It was a success as 75 people attended the 2 hour event. A lot of influential people attended including the mayor of the district, lawyers, the press, and several people who work in the social worker industry. In order for the women to stay at the village they have to go through the legal channels. Even though we are anxiously waiting for the women the work continues. Mara, the director of the village and her team are working hard making contacts and doing a lot of prevention seminars in universities, school and women’s groups. They are also training volunteers. Our goal is to have 100 volunteers by December! As I write this, we have 85! Please continue praying for the Women’s Village and for us to raise money here in Trujillo and in the States. If you’re interested in donating please contact Terri Smith tls0615@yahoo.com.