After a crazy and exhausting week, we were ready for a relaxing Friday night. We had even thought about having a little team time and playing cards or watching a movie. However, as things usually go here in Ecuador (or on The World Race), there were other plans in mind for us.
As we were finishing dinner, Luis (our host father), asked if we wanted to attend the memorial service of a young boy named Jefferson. We had spent some time visiting Jefferson’s parents because his stepmother just had a baby last week, but we had yet to meet him since he lived in another city with his mom. We had no idea what to expect, but we were more than willing to pay our respects to the family and offer them some support and comfort.
After dinner we rushed to clean up, piled in the back of a truck, and headed out to the site of the ceremony. When we arrived there were probably 40 people there already. Some were standing around talking and others were sitting in silence around the large dirt lawn. In the middle there was an open casket covered in white candles that gently rested on a few wooden boards. None of us walked up to the casket, but instead we sat down and gathered in a circle to pray over Jefferson and his family.
I’ve been to more funerals than I can count, but this one was different. After about three hours of waiting, some people came by and offered us juice and bread. It was around this time that we also saw a newspaper article being passed around about Jefferson’s death. There was a short article and vivid picture of his body to report that he had been shot in the neck. Luis came to sit by me and I asked him if we were going to have a ceremony that evening, and he said he still wasn’t sure. In El Reten, if it is common knowledge that the deceased person was not a believer, then they choose to remain silent when there is not much to say. In the US, our funerals always seem to be biblically focused and encouraging for those left behind, no matter how the life of the individual looked. So are we better off convincing ourselves that our loved ones can recieve salvation just to comfort ourselves, or remaining silent knowing that their odds are slim, and that only the one true Judge has the answer?
About an hour later, some men showed up to set up a tent, more candles, and flowers around the casket. Finally the family members asked for a ceremony, so our team prayed for the family and lead a couple songs before Luis gave a message on Salvation and a life in Christ. After five hours, we finally left.
I didn’t cry at the funeral, but my heart was broken for this 15 year old boy who was brutally murdered and robbed of a lifetime of opportunities. He never knew what it was like to truly have a life in freedom and never knew His creator who desperately longed to call him son. It made me realize even more that our time here is not in vein. I may not always have all the wisdom and knowledge or perfect answers, but I am here because I know the greatness that comes from living a life in Christ. I know many people see “Christianity” as a set of rules, but I see it for the liberation and restoration that it brings. My prayer is simply that we will be used in ways beyond belief, simply to show the world the truth of our Savior…
"When the time had fully come, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, Abba, Father. So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir."
Galations 4:4-7
