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Sunday, January 17th – Central Park

My brother has a funny routine he does with cards and acting in the style of Charlie Chapman. It brings the whole crowd in and gets everyone involved. In between performances we have to train and practice our routines. To be able to execute a performance as we want to takes a tun of work and practice. My brothers and sisters are working on a Tae Kwon Do choreography now (we are 2nd degree black belts) and it takes a lot of focus and work to get all six of us doing the same exact moves to the same exact…

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Saturday, January 16th – Marcado Central

The center market is packed with people most every day and especially on Saturday. We reach thousands of people from all walks of life down town . I think some of the most beautiful people I have met are homeless and I have become friends with some of those that can always be found in the same spot down town. One guy, whose name is Ronaldo, has no legs due to polio and its really hard for him to move out  of the sun, yet he still always has a smile and upbeat attitude. Another man, named Leo, has a…

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Sunday, January 10th – Market and street performer fair in Central Park,

On Sundays there is a busy park we go to.  Pretty much everyone goes there so it is a great way to reach the whole city. We do many different theater acts and magic routines that contain simple but profound messages, like one about a little boy with a kite. The boy decides he wants to become important and to become important he has to grow up and give away his kite. After  he “becomes important” he realizes that he has changed and no longer cares about the many things that are truly important, like forgetting about himself and loving others. Eventually he…

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Monday January 4th – City Center Public Event

It is our desire to not only talk about the Fathers great love, but to show it through music, laughter and by weaving a message through dance and theater. Thats why besides  constantly walking the streets and sharing the Gospel to the multitudes down town, we also use a performance of music and dance that draws large crowds and allows us many opportunities to get invited into places we otherwise could not. Maybe one thing we do will reach the 20 year old body builder guy who has not given God a second thought. Maybe one thing we say will reach the 60…

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Thursday December 24th – Christmas with the homeless

On rainy days or during the weekends and holidays when the normal crowded streets are empty, it is really sad and eire to look up and down the sidewalks and see the homeless moving about like phantoms, trying to survive. We met whole families living under the freeway bridges. Some people have complete “houses” set up under the freeways including pictures put up on the cement and a tv they saved from their house. Because of severe flooding, many were driven out of their homes and just took what they could before they lost it all. I don’t know if…

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Tuesday December 22nd – Christmas in the Largest Prison

We performed an event for Christmas inside a prison, for the children of the prisoners. It’s heart breaking to see their sadness as they come out from visiting their fathers or brothers and it was a privilege to bring them an escape and a little hope and laughter. We were able to give the kids little gift bags and toys. I gave this one boy a chess board and he was so grateful  treating it like I gave I’m the keys to a car. He said he would play with his dad when he came to visit him in prison, and…

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Wednesday December 16th – Flying Out

And so the adventure begins! Besides all the items formally mentioned, we also had our personal belongings, musical equipment and other supplies we need. So needless to say, we had a lot of heavy, awkward boxes to get from point A (the US),  in and out of rental cars and motels, through the airport, on and off three connecting flights, to arrive at point B (Porto Alegre Brazil). By the time we landed at 2:00 am in Brazil, we were dead tired and crashed in a small cheep motel until morning (bringing all of our lovely boxes in and out of…

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November 2015 – Preparing to return to Porto Alegre

We are extremely grateful to the individuals and companies that decided to donate products to us so we can help those in need. We are bringing back little toys, stuffed animals (local thrift stores and salvation army most always donate some lightly used stuffed animals to us. One time, the company TY blew my mind and gave us a lot of brand new little beanie babies) , tooth brushes, soap, sanitary kits (many in prison have no access to sanitary items), rain ponchos, (it is rainy season in Brazil so many of the homeless have no cover), some chess boards, (which…

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September and October 2015 New York/ Philadelphia

We returned to the Sates in August to take care of some things and replenish our supplies. We took a few months to work on the streets of New York, Denver Detroit and Philadelphia. Sometimes we found favor with managers at fast food chains such as Taco bell, Wendy’s and dominoes and were able to get food discounted, or buy some and have them match what we bought. We were able to take a lot of hot meals to people that really needed it along with some kits containing sanitary items for them. So many tragic stories. So many veterans…

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Traveling the World

Hi, my name is Ruth. We just back from a trip to Asia and previously my family and I drove through South America beginning in Colombia and traveling through Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and then into Brazil. We spent time in every major city and numerous small villages bringing our presentation and message to the prisons, orphanages, homes for the elderly and disabled as well as many special events. The following is a detailed accounting of our work and service for others. We never ask for money, but from time to time will stop and work jobs to raise the finances we need….

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Thursday, July 23 – Central Prison, Brazil, Performing for the Guards and staff

After the director saw the performance we did for the prisoners, he asked us to perform for an event they had for the guards and staff the following day.  We were able to bring them laughter and encouragement as well as trying to encourage them to treat the prisoners fair and just. It was really cool doing our Capoeira dance here in Brazil (where it originated). We always get people to participate in a “Roda” (which in short, is a circle in which you play Capoeira with another person while others stand around and clap to the rythmn). In some countries we…

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Wednesday, July 22 – Central Prison, Southern Brazil, Second Presentation

After our first performance in the morning, we then moved all our equipment to another section of the prison to go directly into a patio. There was this one gate you had to go through, (kind of like a turning door that you go through at a bank or certain stores, the kind only one person fits in and you have to keep walking to get out except this one was really narrow and made of bars) anyway, we had a hard time fitting our speaker through it and it took a good 20 min to finally figure out the…

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Wednesday, July 22 – Central Prison, Southern Brazil, First Presentation in Theater

We do an act where one of us wears the costume of a homeless man and walks about begging. I am in the back ground acting as an artist, drawing the homeless man. I watch as a man ignores him and won’t help (one of my brothers playing the part) and then finally a young man stops, gives him his coat and cares for him (another one of my siblings plays the part). At the end I, as the artist, show the picture that I have been “drawing” and it is of the face of Jesus, conveying what Jesus said,…

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Sunday, July 19 – Helping the Homeless

I had read things about about this city that said it is one of the richer cities in Brazil, since it is a port city, and so I pictured a developed down town area and a rich kind of atitude. But in reality, it was quite different. There are scores of homeless, and poor, so much so that throughout the city there are make shift tarp houses and tents all over. Even in developed places places like the airport, bus station and shopping markets. One day I saw this man wander in the rain looking through the trash. He stopped…

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Saturday, July 18 – Down Town center, Southern Brazil

The down town center is absolutely packed with crowds hustling and bustling about. Everything in Brazil seems to be big and busy. As soon as we set up our music equipment in the center plaza, a large crowd gathered. We stayed out for hours, performing and sharing many things. We learned how to make these massive bubbles that float up really high and are mesmerizing. Kids and adults just love to watch them in our acts. The crowd was really energetic and listened attentively to all we taught.


Thursday, July 16 – Traveling through Brazil

The most southern state in Brazil is cowboy land, or as they are called, Gauchos and they take their culture very seriously. The land is beautiful, full of livestock, horses and ranchers. They have a cool cultural dance (which we hope to learn a little of) and are definitely a very distinct and passionate people.  One night as we traveled it was getting late and we were looking for a place to stay. After only finding places that were either really  bad, or too expensive, we finally came to a ranch type hostal. The owner was a very kind, elderly rancher…

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Wednesday, July 15 – Crossing into Brazil

Crossing the border into Brazil was super easy! Usually you have to go through one process for people to enter and then another for a vehicle and another for the trailer and usually along the way you run into technical difficulties (that could delay you anywhere from an hour to a day). But entering into Brazil they did not need any paperwork or documentation for the van or our trailer which was awesome and saved so much time. We started this drive so many miles ago in Colombia and after coming so far I cannot believe we are in Brazil! It…

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Friday, July 10 – Rosario Prison Unit 6

They call this prison a concentration  camp because it is so bad. It had rained the day before and so the area we had to perform on was all mud. It was difficult and everything got messy but well worth it and we were privileged to give the men a relief from all their suffering. My brothers wrote a beautiful rap type poem that is about being in prison and a perspective beyond the walls. The say it to a chill/dub step type song my father wrote and it always really connects and touches the prisoners, especially hearing foreigners rhyme…

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Monday, July 6 – Prison in Rosario, Argentina Unit 3

The prisons in Rosario were in absolutely horrible condition and over 100 years old. The day we visited it was freezing. I mean the wind chill brought the temperature into the teens. But despite this lovely weather, the prisoners wanted to come outside to the spot where we performed and did not want to leave. In consideration of them we just kept our show short and then asked them if they wanted to go back inside. They all said no way, they were fine and asked us to do more. I was able to give them each an aluminum survival…

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Friday, July 3 – Down Town Cordoba

For some reason I had pictured Cordoba being a some what tourist, uppity type place, but it was the exact opposite.  Many of the buildings were run down, abandoned and looked like they were condemned. The train station was a wreck and the number of homeless and handicapped on the streets was staggering.  The need was very great and we were able to help a lot of people. The down town center was packed and people seemed stunned that we were giving them a quality show free of charge.   I do an Irish style dance (our family heritage is Irish) where I start playing my…

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Monday June 29 and Tuesday June 30 – Largest Prison in Cordoba, Argentina

When I was online looking up contact numbers for the prison, I came across an article about it that said one of the worst problems in this particular prison were the amount of rats that came in from a near by trash dump. I didn’t think much of it and was just looking for phone numbers so we could receive authorization to get in. However, as we were coming in and out of the prison, guess what we saw lots of? Very big rats. As if prison is not horrible enough, I can’t imagine being trapped in a cell and have rats…

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Friday, June 26 – Prison in San Luis, Argentina

As we left Mendoza and headed to Cordoba, there was a large prison on the way. I was able to find a phone number and after one phone call the director, he set up an event for us with barely a days notice! This is a miracle and God definitely had destined for us to go there.  There were certain patios that could not be combined with other patios but the director figured out a place where we could go so that nearly the whole prison could see us and also brought out the women’s prison. It was an ideal…

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Wednesday, June 24 – One of the Worst Prisons in Argentina

The prisons in Mendoza are some of the worst in the world. In 2004 there was a major incident in this one prison where the prisoners actually held hostage a group of civilians that had come to do a theater act for them. Apparently the president was on the way and they had intended to hold him hostage protesting the horrible condition. Anyway, long story short, eventually the situation was resolved without causalities but this led to a policy which forbids civilians to enter this specific.  They were able to organize an event for us where we could perform inside…

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Monday, June 22 – Mendoza Prison

When we were performing inside this prison, the director and staff abruptly left and we later learned that there had been a death at that moment and they do not know the cause whether is was an accident, suicide or a murder. It was really tragic and brought a sense of sadness to the prisoners and the guards. To think death is so close to us and can steal us at any moment. Many of the men became very sober and really listened to our words and teaching.  This one young man I spoke with only had one arm and had just…

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Sunday, June 21 – Mendoza Center Park

Weekends and days that we do not have scheduled events, we will go to public parks and city plazas. We reach families from all the surrounding towns that come to the center to shop or have fun on the weekends. Children are so precious and we always have fun when they are in the crowd. They love all the stories we tell with our puppets in our home made puppet show (a pop up changing room with a cut out and curtain on it), and they are so bright and get the meaning behind all we do.


Monday, June 15 and Wednesday June 17 (My birthday) – Prison in Almafuerte, Argentina

On my birthday we were inside a maximum security prison and did multiple performances for smaller groups because of security. There was a prisoner there who was blind and had a very long sentence. He placed my hands on his head to let me feel where a bullet had entered leaving deep scars. He had been involved in a robbery where he ended up getting shot, almost dying and blamed for the crime when he was barely involved. I just can’t imagine not only being in prison, but being completely blind and vulnerable. I asked him to dance with me when we…

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Saturday, June 13 Crossing the Border into Argentina/Dangerous Roads

The border between Chile and Argentina is located at the top of a pass up the Andes mountains. After we made it up the 29 curves (with a nice sign to count each one) we got in the line to cross the border.  All the mountains were covered in snow, the lake was ice and it was freezing with the wind chill bellow zero. We kept warm with ten cent cups of coffee (which was really black watered down water). In the same window you leave Chile and enter Argentina, so it was pretty simple. The only delay is when…

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Wednesday, June 10 – Prison in Rancagua, Chile

This prison was a long ways away from where we were staying and a long drive. I had come here days before by bus to get authorization and the director had welcomed us with grateful arms. We did two presentations for two groups. It was very very cold within these walls and the mountains were covered in snow. Originally we had a smaller group of around 300 men, but after the director saw what we do, he filled the gym with over 600 men. They were all very had core men and it too work, creativity and sincerity to win…

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Monday, June 8 – Prison in Valparaiso, Chile.

They had planned our event here at this prison for a few weeks, and everything was very prepared for our arrival. They even put posters around the prison so the prisoners could look forward to our arrival. Rarely are things this well organized. It was a very large gym and they filled it with prisoners. We did two performances each for about 400 men. They had it set up like a theater and one of the prisoners managed the lighting which was really cool. We do an act where we use a net to convey all the things that entangle…

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Thursday, June 4 – Largest Prison in Chile

We returned once again to perm for another group of prisoners since this prison is so large. The director was able to combine two patios so we had a large group of around 500 men. They were so very grateful for all the things we taught. They always love the break dance my brothers do and the up beat electronic style music we create brings so much energy and life inside the walls. We met two twin brothers inside who got into crime at a young age. The robbed a market originally because they were hungry and need food but…

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Wednsday, May 27 – Two prisons, a university and city center, Concepcion, Chile

We wanted to visit the southern city of Concepcion but had many events scheduled in Santiago, so we split up and my brothers and sister and I took a bus south. We planed to sleep on the bus there and sleep on the bus on the way back so would not have to stay in a motel (which are quite expensive). We arrived at 6:00 and it was absolutely freezing, I think it was like 10 degrees. We had two hours to kill before anything opened and I had planned to just doze off on some chair in the terminal,…

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Monday, May 25 – Central Park Santiago

I love performing for children and families and we have many acts for kids such as puppets, costumes and magic routines. Is there anything more beautiful than a child’s laughter? This park is a beautiful place and even poor families can come here on the weekends and enjoy many free activities so it is a great opportunity. A family came up to us and told us they had seen us in Bogota Colombia years ago!


Thursday, May 21- Orphanage, Santiago, chile

We had a beautiful time performing for a government run orphanage in Chile. These kids had nothing and no one. The director told me that 70% of them will live their whole lives in one of the homes for children that the state runs. There are three homes, one for children age 1 to 5, one for children 5 to 12 and one for children 12 to 18. They get moved from one home to the next and then when they turn 18, they are on their own. It is so sad because I once met a young man in…

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Friday, May 15 Two Prisons in Colina, Chile.

After our first performance, we had to pack up all our equipment and drive a short distance to an adjacent prison. We were quite exhausted and purely running on the grace of God. Because of all the delays, we had only a shorter time to mount our equipment and perform so we had to really rush before evening arrived. Originally they were only going to let a small number of prisoners attend, but the director knew what we were going to do and allowed an entire section of the prison to attend which was over 500 men. We are black belts in Tae…

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Friday, May 15 Two Prisons in Colina, Chile.

We had to wait along time to get cleared through security since this is a maximum security facility. There were other events going on that we had to coordinate with but it was certainly worth the work. We were allowed to go directly into a patio where the men had very long sentences. So many act so tough and strong on the outside, but just beyond the image they are scarred sad boys and it is our job to try to reach the child within them and give them the hope of the Gospel. Sometimes humor is the key to…

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Wednesday, May 13 Puente Alto Prison, Chile

This prison has a large maximum security section and the director allowed some of the worst prisoners to attend our performance. We do an act where we use a ladder to help give them a visual reference that they can begin to take small steps to make a big change. All though they cannot leave physically, they can “go somewhere” higher and find a “place” within this place. We have to work very hard to be effective and sincerity is our greatest weapon. Many “churches” come in took take advantage of the men and get them to get their families…

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Monday, May 11 – City Centers , Valparaiso and Vina del Mar, Chile

My brothers and sister and I took a bus trip to reach the Northern cities of Chile. We were able to touch and help a lot of people. There was a train you could take between the two cities so we made two teams and then met up together. There were so many homeless and handicapped it was really sad. At a center park we got together a large group of homeless and had enough tin emergency blankets to give them each one for a shelter and also bought them some coffee and snacks. The city of Valparaiso was devastated…

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Thursday, May 7 – Community Center for the Elderly, Chile

We continue to work at different homes for the elderly. Some of the homes are so bad it is really a tragedy, they are neglected, lack basic necessities like heat and plumbing, and smell really bad.  It is winter here and getting very cold obviously being elderly, they get even colder. The ladies that run some of these homes had never seen the survival tin blankets that we have, and once I showed it to them and explained what it was, they were thrilled and said they would put them on all the beds. I was making conversation with an oler man, maybe 80 and…

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Wednesday, May 6 and Friday, May 8 – Largest prison in Chile.

This is the largest prison in Chile and highly over populated. There are two separate sections and we performed in each. We do a magic routine where we convey that they can find time, within their time in prison. Beyond just existing, they can invest moments in studying and learning things that will change their future. Afterward a guard told us who grateful he was that we did this act. We also do a magic routine to the song, “Alegria” and as we were leaving, the guards were whistling this song.  


Thursday, April 30 – Central Prison, Santiago, Chile

This a very large prison and we visited it last year as well a number of times. We were able to perform in a large gym and use our projector to play a video backdrop behind us. It gives the prisoners a very high quality show as we play our time lapse photography of the American national parks. They have never seen anything like it. We do a dance choreography to a trance type song my dad wrote and we dress all in neon. It has a message that God is not in a box and brings a lot of…

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Monday, April 27 – All boys School, Santiago, Chile

We performed at a large all boys school. Lets just say, absolute caos! It was obvious that these boys have had no discipline, and no love from their parents. We saw inside a class before we started and the teacher is obliviously writing on the chalk board as the class is going nuts jumping, yelling, on their phones;. NO one cared. It was a heck of a lot of work to get 400 12 to 15 year olds under control and focusing on what we were saying, but in the end it was well worth it and we were able to…

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Tuesday, April 21 – Homeless Shelter Santiago, Chile

We have been working with a large Catholic foundation that works with the elderly and homeless and have done a number of performances for them. This one elderly man I met lost his leg in 2012 when he was working at a construction site and a heavy crate fell off a semi truck and crushed his leg. He said the pain is so severe sometimes he can hardly stand it because his hip bone is barely covered. He has a beautiful little dog that helps pull him and go up to people with a little basket around her neck to…

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Wednesday or friday nights, March and April – Puente Alta, Chile

 We visited the northern town in the out skirts of Santiago and were able to  reach very large crowds. The governor of the city organized an event for us once a week in a large plaza. He payed for chairs to be brought out and publicized our event to the public. We  had some very long, special, (did I say looong), nights there reaching a lot of people from all over the country. 


Sunday, March 8th – Mendoza Prison Escape Attempt.

The director of the Mendoza prisons asked us to visit a prison waaaaaayyyyy out in the middle of nowhere with desert before it and the Andes beyond. There was no lodging around, so he arranged for us to actually stay on the prison grounds in the guards quarters near the dog canals (no, not a quite place).  It was one of the most amazing experiences I have had, the prison was very big and we were inside one fence with three more before the prison. A severe thunder storm moved in and it poured all night with lightning splitting the sky….

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Saturday, March 7th – Mendoza Wine Festival

We have also had some really sweet times of ministering in the down town center at a large plaza. There was a huge wine festival going on that drew huge crowds from all the surrounding villages and cities. It was an awesome opportunity to reach people that we could otherwise not get to. I had a lot of fun using my self made puppet theater and doing magic with my sisters for all the kids.


Thursday, March 5th – Mendoza Prisons

One day I went to a certain prison and asked if I could talk to the director in regards to getting authorization to visit. There was a little window on the door which a guard finally opened after I knocked ten times (like the gate in The Wizard of Oz). He barely listed to what I was asking and then slammed it shut and said no, I could not talk to anyone. After repeating this process a good, oh…60 times until, long story short, I eventually found a door where I found a guy that got a guy that knew a…

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Sunday, March 1st – Helping the homeless Down Town Buenos Aires

The down town center is so very busy and we spent many days walking the streets talking to crowds and individuals and caring for the many homeless that sit in the corners. Everything is pretty expensive here like the taxis, so that means a lot of walking. One day I added it up and I had walked over 8 miles just going down town, running errors and getting groceries(at least I’ll stay in shape right?) The economy here is on the verge of collapse so there is a lot of poverty and even the middle class find themselves struggling. Up…

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Saturday, February 28th- Central Park Buenos Aires, Argentina.

It is summer here, which is when most citizens go on vacation so all the parks and recreational areas are very busy. There is a really big park, (like central park) down town and the directer of the park asked us to perform there every weekend and holidays like mardi gras weekend which was four days straight. He reserved a spot for us and very large crowds gathered each night. Families come from all the surrounding regions to enjoy this park, as many are very poor they are grateful and excited to enjoy our show free of charge. The kids…

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Thursday, February 26th – Juvenile detention center and Maximum Security Prison, Argentina.

There were a number of prisons in a city a long ways from the center that they wanted us to visit. They had planned for us to go up and back three days but since gas is expensive and we also had other events scheduled, we decided to combine these visits into one trip up there and one day, one looonnngggg day. We first went to a prison for young adults, all under 21 and spent a while with them. They loved participating in Capoeira and also learning a little Tae Kwon Do  which we use to teach about the…

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Monday, February 23rd – Women’s Prison Argentina

God gave us great favor with the director of all the federal prisons and he organized multiple performances in many prisons. We made a large screen which we use to project a video on behind us (remember a while ago I told you that we were working on a video with footage of the national parks, time lapse photography with the message of the “Door” and another place). We use this both as a backdrop to our performances and as a teaching tool to explain many things in a visual way. We were able to use this at most all…

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Saturday, February 14th 2015 – Down Town Montevideo.

We have been having an effect with the crowds down town in the city center and on the boardwalks and beaches of Montevideo. Even after a long day in the prisons, we headed to the city center to perform at a busy square. I don’t know how my parents do it some times, even when they are absolutely exhausted and drained from the sun they still find more to give. There are many tourists from other countries as well as the locals and we try to put a seed in their heart and show them that there is something beyond just surviving,…

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Friday February 13th – Largest Prison in Uruguay

We were at the hospital late into the night and had had a performance scheduled at a prison early the next morning. We talked about canceling it since we were all really tired, worn down and would have to try to adjust all our dances and theater acts since David could not participate. But in the end we decided to go ahead with it knowing the Father would meet us with His grace and David said there was no way we were canceling on his account.  This prison is the largest and worse in Uruguay and we did a number of presentations to reach…

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Thursday, February 12th 2015 – My brother tore his achilles tendon.

Our next prison was large, more like a little city. We were part way into our presentation and were performing the Brazilian art of capoeira when my youngest brother, David, suddenly pulled up and started limping off. When I saw his face I knew something was very wrong because he would not stop for any type of miner injury. We iced his leg and got him in a chair while we finished sharing with the prisoners and said goodbye. They sent us to a hospital down town and we had to wait a while in the emergency room.  David had torn his achilles tendon…

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Tuesday February 10th – Women’s Prison in Montevideo

I had been in contact with the office that runs the prisons in Montevideo and they organized four prisons in one week. Our first prison was a women’s prison, way out in the middle of no where. It is actually an abandoned hospital and looked like a condemned building. Seriously, it was like something you would see in a World War2 movie after a town was bombed. Because they get practically NO visitors or events here, the guards at the main gate had no idea how to go about letting us in. First they sent us to the back of the prison where…

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Thursday February 5th 2015 – Arriving in Uruguay

We were already tired from a long day of traveling when we arrived at Miami International Airport with a rented van FULL of boxes and luggage, but since we had a late flight, our day was just starting! It is actually a long story, but God gave us great favor with a manager over baggage who really cared about the work that we are doing and figured things out so we could check through a lot of extra bags at no extra cost. It was amazing! God is so good. We were able to bring everything that different companies had…

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Getting Ready 2015

Getting Ready. My family and I have been very busy preparing to return to South America. Both working to save up finances, and working to prepare things that we will give out and do in our presentation. I wrote letters to a number of different companies to request the donation of different things to take back to South America with us. Things such as aluminum survival blankets, (for the homeless and prisoners), little toys and stuffed animals, (for the orphans and elderly), Bibles, Gospels of John and other small things to be used as gifts.  After some time and work, a…

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Friday, July 4th 2014 – Men’s Prison, Uruguay

We had a limited time in Uruguay since we had to book our flights back to the States in advance, so it was like a miracle to get authorization to enter a prison in short notice. This is the largest prison in Uruguay and has had many terrible things occur over the years such as riots, fires and over crowding. It was freezing the day we went but thank God the sun came out and warmed us all up. The men were so grateful and told us no one has ever come to visit them. One man told us that…

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Wednesday, July 2nd 2014 – Village for orphans, Montevideo Uruguay

We were able to visit the orphanage outside of Montevideo and meet with the director. She was very excited that we could offer such a show free of charge for the children. We visited for a while and spent some time with the children and plan to work with them when we return. There were so many precious faces and fragile lives desperately hoping to be loved and wanted.


Friday, June 27th – Maximum Security Federal Prison, Buenos Aires, Argentina

The Argentinean prisons are quit notorious for horrible conditions that violate human rights such as not enough resources like water, food and medical care, overcrowding and in 2008 the global NGO listed Argentina as one of 81 countries where torture is still practiced. Suicides, riots and gang fights have claimed a staggering number of lives as well as prison fires that have ragged out of control killing many. Many have been there for years without having received a sentence. At one point this prison was amongst the worst in the world. It is maximum security and we had to clear…

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Tuesday, June 24th – Complex 5 Federal Prison, Argentina at 10:00am

We drove a few hours outside the city to reach this prison complex, which is the largest in Argentina. Because of Argentines past history in the prisons and due to security risk, only a smaller amount of prisoners were allowed to be together at once so we had to do multiply performances for groups of around a hundred. But it was cool with a smaller group because we were able to spend more time one on one with them. It is so beautiful to see how much these guys appreciate the things we do for them. Even simple things like magic…

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Sunday, June 22nd – Park in a poor district in Buenos Aires

It’s been really cold here but today it was warm and sunny and a lot of people were out. We had a huge crowd full of families and people of all walks of life. They have a really cool cultural dance in Argentina called, “Chacarera”. You do it across from a partner or in a circle and the music and steps are a little similar to an Irish style. We are just learning it but we did it here at the park and a lot of people joined in and helped teach us. We had a lot of little girls…

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Tuesday, June 17th Down Town Buenos Aires (And many other dates in between the dates accounted for)

The busiest street in Buenos Aires is narrow, and packed with crowds of people. It was difficult to find a spot where we could have space to perform and not bother businesses with the volume of our music. We were able to find corners here and there and had to keep a tighter performance but it was very effective and huge crowds gathered as well as many Brazilians and other foreigners who were there on vacation. It was my birthday today, and there’s nowhere else Id rather be. The city of Buenos Aires is so big that many people have…

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Driving through Chile to the Argentinean border.

This is one of the most beautiful drives I have ever taken. The majestic Andes Mountains set behind rolling vineyards and beautiful fields. The road that climbs to the border is world famous (I think its been on one of those most dangerous roads shows). There are 29 steep curves; with a sign counting each one (just in case you forget how long you have to go). The mountains are so steep it’s like a wall of shear ice and there is a waterfall running down the side. This pass is in the shadow of the tallest mountain in the…

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Friday, May 23rd – Women’s prison, Santiago Chile (where the fire was in 2010)

Back in 2010 a fire broke out that killed over 80 men. It was a tragic event that could have been avoided but the cells were so full that everything was cios. Some claim that the guards were drunk and thus could not find the right keys. It has now been transformed into a women’s prison and you could still see and smell the effects of the fire. I wrote an act we do using a song called “Alegria”, which combines clowns, magic and dance. It carries the message that if we care about others, more than ourselves, we find…

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Thursday, May 22nd – High School outside Santiago Chile, 700 teens

Teenagers are a more difficult crowd to get through to sometimes, since they are now at the age of trying to be cool and get the guy or girl to think they are funny. But many of them are very eager to listen and hear an alternative to all the problems they are facing. It takes a lot of work on our part, we have to constantly change things up, sometimes be crazy and fun and then sometimes be really stern. Sometimes let them participate with us, and sometimes just teach them. They are at the time in their lives where…

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Tuesday, May 20th Largest prison in Santiago, The “Oval” – 700 plus prisoners

It took some serious convincing to talk the warden into letting us perform here in the center of the entire prison, but because he had seen the previous presentations we had done at this prison last week, he allowed it and trusted us. All the patios and cells look into this area and so beside the 700 prisoners that were allowed to come into the circle, all the other men could hear and partially see. There are some cell blocks where the men are NEVER let out into the court to exercise. It is really hard to see all these…

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Monday, May 19th – Middle School (ages 10 to 12) Santiago Chile, 600 kids

It takes a lot of work to effectively reach this many kids at the same time and keep their attention focused on what you are saying. You have to go from making them laugh, to then really hear what you are saying. We have some really cool costumes that a company graciously donated to us. We started out by doing a choreographed locking style dance while in the costumes. Let’s just say, the crowd went wild. All in all it went great and it amazes me sometimes the things that ten and twelve year olds say. Some of them really…

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Friday, May 16th Women’s prison.

This was a small prison and we performed for about 100 ladies. They were so grateful to get such a huge production at their place. They danced with us in a salsa type dance that we do and had a lot of fun. We always make some good jokes about how the Latin’s are so much better at salsa than us Americans. One older womean told me she had five kids on the outside that were rarely able to come visits her. Desperate for money, she got tricked into carrying drugs across the border. She had been here five years…

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Wednesday, May 14th – Men’s Prison, Santiago, 2 patios, 300 men each.

This is the largest prison in Chile, holding over 6,000 men. The conditions are bad since they are at double capacity and the food they eat is just horrible. Some of the men were so thin and pale from not getting enough nutrition and in some places the smell is just horrible. On top of all they have to endure, some of these men are missing limbs, in wheel chairs, blind or disabled. One man in a wheel chair named Guillermo, was from the US, had a horrible car accident and now was here. Many I talked to were serving…

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Tuesday, May 13th – Largest School for the mentally and physically handicapped in Chile.

There are around 400 kids, from ages 5 to 26 with all ranges of disability such as Autism, Downs, Epilepsy, Physical handicaps, and some that have suffered abuse so sever it has caused mental damage. Wow! 400 kids with special needs is a lot to handle! They all want to be hugged and get your attention. To hear their laughter and see their amazement at the magic made me want to cry and so many wanted to dance with butterfly wings or participate in some way, there was hardly enough space. Some of them were so smart and quicker to…

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Tuesday, May 13th – Homes for the elderly, outside the Santiago city limit.

We set up our equipment and then helped push all the wheelchairs of the elderly down a ramp from upstairs to outside. It took a while to get them all together and help the nuns since they had to be moved very slowly. The nun told us that out of all the people here, only ten of them have someone that comes to visit them and they were so excited for this special attention and getting their own personal “circus”. One lady told me she had been moved from another home after the floor collapsed because it was so old….

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Monday, May 12th 2014 – Private Prison, Chile 300 men

At this prison all the men are waiting to receive their sentences and can be held up to five years waiting. Some might have their charges dropped, and some can receive up to life in prison. We set up in a big auditorium and set up a bunch of benches and chairs. The men had to be divided into groups because of the different gangs they came from and then each group was heavily guarded with a line of prison guards. My dad does a funny act wearing a monkey costume (that looks so real) and the prisoners just go…

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Down Town Santiago city center (Most of the dates that are in between the dates accounted for, we were down town in the center).

The down town center is so busy it is unbelievable. I have not been to a city this condensed and packed, not even New York is this busy all the time. The weekend we got here there was a big miner’s convention and we were able to reach people from far out cities in Chile drawing huge crowds with our performances. The subway gets so full, people are literally shoving hard to try to fit in and sometimes you have to wait a long time for a train with a bit of space on it. When my brothers and sisters…

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Tuesday, April, 22nd – Shelter for victims of a fire in Valparaiso Chile.

Days before we arrived in Valparaiso, there was a horrible fire that burned for days and wiped out a whole village. People who already had very little, lost it all. There were local artists and singers performing in the city center, raising money for the victims. They asked us to perform in their spot and help them raise money which we gladly did. We never ask for money when we perform, but this was a special case since everyone knew it was for victims in great need and we were able to raise a lot. The crowd was full of…

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Thursday, April 10th Tent City and down town Iqique Chile.

Because of the severe earthquake in the city of Iqique, half the road was out so only one lane was passable, meaning cars coming and leaving had to take turns, 30 cars at a time. There were tents all over the city, some because they had lost their homes and some because they were too afraid to go back down to their homes.  We performed down town by the area that was hit the worst. It was really busy and a large crowd stopped and listened. Most people come here in the day to shop and work, and then at night…

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Traveling through Peru.

For some reason when I had thought about Peru, I had pictured jungles and green terrain. Not even close. It’s all desert. As far as you can see nothing but sand, I mean not a single structure for hundreds of miles (not a good place to play “I spy”). At one point along the journey in the middle of nowhere, our alternator broke. It’s a long story but God Almighty provided a new one for us in a tiny town on a Sunday! There were signs along the way as we traveled that said things like, “Zone of fog”, as…

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Friday, April 4th – Village for Orphans, Lima Peru

There were around 200 children at this village, most have had a very tragic past and been through horrible things, like seeing their parents killed, to being given or taken away from them because of abuse. It breaks your heart looking into some of these children’s eyes and seeing such a deep sadness and hurt that you know they have been through something tragic, something far beyond their years. They want to be held and hugged and listened to and tickled and told that everything is going to be ok. We have some really cool costumes that a company in the States donated…

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Wednesday, April 2nd 2014 Prison in Caio, Peru

We were not able to get the authorization to perform in this prison in the time frame we had, so my sisters and I went to visit on the day they allow women to visit. We had to wait in a long line and go through a tun of security and check points. They stamp your arm with a number and that’s the place you get in line. We were 217 out of like 600 so not that bad. You have to know someone on the inside and be visiting them to get in. Since we did not know anyone inside, we…

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Saturday, March 29th – Amphitheater in a poor district down town Lima, Peru.

We were invited into an enclosed amphitheater where local artists perform down town Lima. It was a very large crowd and we only had one hour flat to set up, perform and break down. It was a challenge because the people here were used to traditional cultural singing, not high energy, fast paced music and theater, so it was quit a switch for them. We started with a cultural dance we do which is similar to the style they are used to, followed by a magic routine to the old school song called, “De Colores” and then transitioned into our…

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Friday, March 28th – Largest Prison in Peru, two presentations 1,600 men

This prison is one of the top worst in the entire world. It was built for 2,500 men, and now holds between 9,000 to 11,000 men! There are as little as 100 guards to manage and run the place, so lawlessness and violence are common as guards are forced to leave the prisoners to do as they like to a certain extent. Corruption is the norm, and guards will take bribes from the prisoners with money. Out of the 10,000 prisoners, over 7,000 have never received a sentence or seen a judge. So many are put in here for just…

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Thursday, March 13th Chambuca Granda, Lima Peru

It took a lot of work and a special permission to be able to perform here. Most artists will have these spots reserved for years in advanced but they made an exception and gave us time slots once they saw what we do, the quality of our acts and that we do not ask for money. It was different having the crowd so close and a little intimidating to see some of their hard faces. But once we broke the ice and got them laughing, we won the crowd and so won the place to put a seed of hope…

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Monday, March, 10th – La Merced, down town Lima.

Any dates that we were not at a specific event, we were down town in the city center. This was the hardest city to get permission at so far. One of the secretaries told me honestly that the whole permission system is designed to make people give up because they do not want people performing on the streets all though they cannot legally prohibit it. It took a lot of 1:30 taxi rides to this office and that office and a lot of phone calls but thank God eventually we got permission to perform on the streets of Lima Peru on…

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Sunday, March, 9th – A park on the far limits of Lima in the poorest district.

The director of all the parks in Peru heard about what we do and that we don’t charge and so asked us to visit certain parks in poor areas and attend certain events he had organized. On our way to this park we stopped at a little village and bought a bunch of balls, candy, hullo hoops and toys. The guy that sold them to us gave us a cheep price because we told him we were giving them away and he was thrilled to make such a big sale when he usually sells like one thing a day, so…

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Friday, February 28th – Plaza San Pedro, Down town Lima

We do a choreographed dance where we use torches lit on fire. As I was in the back preparing the fire, someone in the crowd knocked over the container of fuel and I did not see it happen. When my brother came back to light his torch, the ground ignited and fire began to jump all over. It was terrifying. In an instant it began to spread and jump to our equipment. Thanks be to God our beloved Father, who protected us and enabled us to put it all out without suffering significant loss or injury. My hair caught on…

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Tuesday, February 18th – Down town historic center, Trujillo, Peru

We stopped at the city of Trujillo, Peru on our way to Lima. The police said they never let anyone perform in the historic plaza which was in the center of the city and the busiest place. After a long morning of talking to all the city officials and authorities, we were able to talk to the guy highest up who said they would make an exception just this once and just in our case and allow us to go where we wanted to go. He even extensively thanked us for the work we are doing and God used him…

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Saturday, February 15th – A little fishing town just inside Ecuador on the way to the Peruvian Border.

As we drove through Ecuador we passed a small fishing town that was just bustling with people since it was a holiday. We pulled over and set up our equipment in a parking lot where I guy was selling crabs, chickens and fish (nice smell in the sweltering heat). In a matter of minuets, a crowd gathered and was cheering, clapping and participating. A national tv crew was in the area and when they heard we were there filmed our whole presentation, interviewed us to broadcast on the nightly news. The reporter said it personally touched her to hear us talk…

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Crossing the Peruvian Border – There are a lot of dogs in the world!

Crossing the border into Peru was actually pretty easy except that where you are supposed to check out of Ecuador was not marked so when we got to the Peruvian side, they sent us back to Ecuador a few miles to check out. No one knew where the office was, which seems weird, but eventually we found it. A few days earlier they had confiscated four semi trucks full of fish because of some document problem, so I’ll just let you imagine the wonderful smell that loomed in the air as we waited for everything to get cleared in 100…

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Thursday, February 13th -Down town Quito, Ecuador

This city was an absolute nightmare to drive around. I think the only other place I have seen roads this steep was in a Doctor Sues book. Everything is one way and the traffic is so bad if you miss a turn you are in for a good hour to get back there. After some slightly stressful driving, we found a busy plaza down town where were got permission to perform for the day. There was a live radio broadcast going on so we had to wait for them to finish, but they asked us to speak on the radio…

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Sunday, February 9th – Left Bogota, heading to the Peruvian Border.

We sold or gave away everything that was not absolutely essential and loaded all our gear into our van and trailer. The previous week, my brothers and I built a small utility trailer with a bunch of used parts we rounded up around Bogota, in order to help us carry our equipment. So try to imagine 8 people, 8 sleeping bags and pads, 8 bags containing our clothes, a tent, camping and cooking gear, all our musical sound equipment as in two speakers, a generator, mixer, bass, two boxes of props, puppets and costumes, Gospels of John, New Testaments, pamphlets,…

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Wednesday, February 5th – National, Food Bank Conference Bogotá Colombia, 700 foundation leaders

We were invited to perform at a theater for the National Food bank. Most of the time our stage is on the streets, parks, school court yards, prison patios and grass fields, but to be on a big ritzy stage, with curtains and lighting was awesome!  The magic routines I do with my sisters become like Cirque Du Sole performances on a stage and you don’t have to work to keep the attention of the crowd because all eyes are on you. The Food bank sponsors hundreds of foundations that work with kids, handicapped, street kids, displaced families and the…

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Tuesday, January 28th – Fixing up Guillermo’s shack and taking him to a clinic

We have known a homeless man named Guillermo for a long time. He is 70 years old and blind. He plays the guitar and sings to make money. A while back we were down town performing on the streets of Bogotá for the Christmas festivals. We were setting up our sound equipment and a large crowd was gathering when my dad looked over and saw Guillermo sitting off to the side slowly strumming his guitar. We instantly paused what we were doing and brought Guillermo into our crowd so he could sing and make money from our crowd. What is…

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Friday, January 24th- Large School in Bogotá, 2 presentations each for over 400 kids.

The schools here are different then the ones in the States as in all grades, from first all the way to twelfth grade attend the same school. So we have a crowd of a few hundred five to eight year old’s and a few hundred teenagers. This is a VERY challenging venue. We want to engage everybody and sow seeds into their young hearts and our performances is for all age groups but for example, there are all the little kids sitting in front who get so excited, can’t sit still, want to be held and touch everything that it…

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Thursday, January 23rd | A Military Rehabilitation center, Bogotá Colombia.

A few years ago we had performed here at this base and they invited us back for a new group of soldiers who were in recovery. These men have had serious injuries from the war and the time they spend in the jungle chasing the drug lords of the FARC. Many have lost limbs due to land mines or have horrible infections from plants and bugs they encountered in the jungle. The General told me that three days earlier he had been up in the jungle with a battalion of soldiers. They had stopped to take a break and set…

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Saturday, January, 11th | Plaza San Victorina, Bogotá, Colombia.

We performed at a plaza where many homeless people hang out during the day and also at a place by the railroad tracks where numerous homeless families live. Besides performing for them, we gave them all some food packets we had made up and some extra clothes we had. Obviously it would be expensive to feed so many people but it was cool, we asked a bakery on our corner if they had extra bread and they gave us a ton! A grocery store donated a bunch of candy, I had brought a bunch of beef jerky I got on…

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Month of December- City Center of Bogotá, Colombia.

For the month of December, many cities in Colombia put up beautiful displays of Christmas lights and have festivals, shows and music. A few years ago we spent the Christmas season in Medellin, Colombia, performing on the streets and by the river every night. People come from all over to see the lights and parades (they get the lights and displays from Europe and have lit fountain shows) so the city is extremely busy. This year we were in Bogotá and went to many parks, special festivals and the main street down town which is closed to traffic and just…

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December 2013 | Village for Orphans, Bogotá, Colombia.

A few years back we spent a lot of time here, teaching English and Tae Kwon Do to the children. These kids have been severely damaged by things that have happen in their past like seeing their parents killed or from suffering abuse. It was so wonderful to return and see “our kids” run into our arms and call us by name. We did a show in their theater of dance and magic, sowing seeds into their hearts that no matter what, they have a Father who wants them. I was so happy to see that even the older kids,…

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A New Frontier; Brazil And Beyond

This summer we came upon an incredible opportunity to travel to Brazil for the first time, at an extremely low airfare; less than half what it normally costs. We were able to bring our music presentation to the streets of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. All I can say is “wow!”. It is another huge country that we look forward to returning to in the future.  So much opportunity. Most of us have become fluent in Portuguese now, by God’s marvelous grace, and we are able to communicate at 100%. One of the highlights of our trip was when…

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