Santa Cruz, Bolivia...a metropolis of 750,000 plus people of nearly unbelievable ethnic variation, where cultures and sub-cultures splice into and through one another at will.  

Literal seas of people fill the streets & markets daily, where tourists indulge in the abundant variety of food, languages, and 3rd world bargains.  But when tropical night shadows creep over the city at sunset; the tourists leave their tempting mélange of endless shops, restaurants, and bars to find their way back to the safety of comfortable hotel rooms.  

For 67% of the people who live here in abject poverty however...life is another story. 

Days pass without eating.  And the darkness that encloses the city each night is, in many ways, more unpredictable and dangerous than anything one might encounter in the northern Amazon. 

Thousands live in the streets; over 60% of them children under the age of 15.  Nightly, people prey one upon another in the shadows.  Like animals, they live-out a real-life urban jungle scenario where only the strong come out ahead at break of day. 

The biggest losers are the children.  Their marginalized lives tell them every day that they are of no value to anyone.  They live.  Most survive.  But you'll never see their fight for life win a prize on any prime-time TV program called 'Survivors.' 

These are the real-world streets of Santa Cruz .  Jesus walks them daily.  He sees it all.  And for the most part, He knows that the people I am talking about here are only loved by Him.