jugglers, las puntas, pt 1, and a big prayer request

The following are pictures from a recent trip to Las Puntas with Ramon. Las Puntas are some rock formations that are high up in the eastern range of the Andes mountains (about 4000 meters or 13,000 feet). We went camping up there one night a few weeks ago. Here's some pictures from when we went hiking when we first arrived. I'll share some other pics from the trip later on. This first one has the puntas in the background.

This is the Tablon (which means giant table). You can see the side rock walls.
This was of me up on the puntas. It was so windy up there and cold.

The next couple of pics are of street performers that we've taken over our time here. You can see them at different intersections in Quito at different times. They are usually jugglers, but you can also see dancers, guys doing tricks with soccer balls/acrobatics and/or firebreathers. It's all pretty interesting. Tequila Mariachi band for hire? We saw these guys one day with their sombreros all loaded up in their van. Though Mariachi isn't native to Ecuador (it's a Mexican thing) it is still popular here. There are different bands that can be hired out for weddings/parties, etc.

-Now the prayer request...this story is kind of long but I'll make it brief as possible. There is a friend of Ramon's that was stabbed to death (his name was Juan). He is a guy that I met a couple of times and he used to be in Ramon's gang before Ramon got saved. Well, we had visited this guy and encouraged him to join Libres Para Cristo, this is the foundation we work with that helps drug addicts and alcoholics. He said he'd think about it but never did. Our friend from LPC shared the gospel with him and he made a decision for Christ but really never had a chance to live it out. He had struggled with drugs and alcohol and finally became a victim of them this last Sat. night. His "friends" that he was with ended up stabbing him 22 times. Last I heard, there's not much info on who did it, etc. We're just praying for his family and pray that God will use this opportunity to draw them to Himself. Actually, something similar occurred when Ramon and his family were brought to Christ. This is a pretty common occurrence as a result of alcohol here, is that guys will get together and drink. Most of the time they just fight and beat each other up but every now and then you will hear of a stabbing. This is why we pray against alcoholism and its negative effects. Just pray for this family and community. We are actually planning to visit Juan's family later today.