This month in Ecuador, my team is working alongside another two short term mission teams from South Carolina and England. Although we have lots of people, things aren’t easier.
Pan De Vida is a local ministry in Quito that feeds on average 165 people every Wednesday and Sunday. By providing them with both food for the body and the soul, it is hard not to get deeper involved with the families. We are currently helping building a home for a family while others help prepare and cook food.
There are pictures of us cooking, mixing cement, shoveling dirt, and finished tasked. I shared with some from England the things I’ve seen and pictures I’ve shared. Some even said it looked like a great holiday from seeing my Instagram account. I smiled, looked away, and fought the tears. I feared going home would be the same.
Today I write this to share with you an image I can’t post on social media. As I walked through the streets of Quito, vendors in the road are common. At a red light I made eye contact with a lady carrying strawberries she was selling. I smile and went on. As I walked by some steps I saw a little girl laying on her stomach. Her clothes were all dirty and torn. In her hand, we two cut out images of people out of a magazine, that she was using as dolls.
When I realized what I had just seen, I heard a voice say, ‘what is wrong with you?’ In a second I thought of everything I complain about. I turned around and bought her a toy. Walking away I felt a pain in my chest that I can’t put into words.
There’s no words to explain what I saw. There is no unseeing what is already seen. There is no way to share to image. That’s the pictures that can’t be posted for people to see.
This really isn’t a vacation or holiday. There’s some cool things we do but some times there’s really hard things too. Thank you all for you help and support. I’m still $200 from being fully funded. God bless you all.
