Meet Gabriella:
She is 76 years old and through telling you about her, you will also learn what a week of ministry in Uyuni, Bolivia looks like for us. The first time we saw Gabriella was our first day in Uyuni at the church service. She walked right up to the front and started jumping, dancing, spinning, and clapping. The way she worships is a beautiful thing to see. For the next Sundays we are here, we will take over for the kids and youth during church. Mondays are off days for us, but then we saw Gabriella Tuesday-Thursday at 3pm because she came to the English lessons we teach at the church. We were all amazed to see her there. I guess you’re never too old to learn something new. On Wednesdays at noon, we go over to the hospital and pray for the patients. When we got to the hospital, we realized we needed to stop being surprised to see Gabriella. She joined us in our ministry and prayed for the patients as well. Wednesday and Thursday night we hold services where our team leads in music and gives a message. Better believe Gabriella comes to those, too. She even handed out tracks with us on thursday, which is when we do street evangelism. She’s always ready to worship, learn, and pray. Fridays are off days for us and then Saturday we lead a kids group and a youth group. Gabriella even attempted to play the games with us at the youth group.
The moment she humbled us all the most though was when we were doing manual labor ministry. There is a pile of trash and dirt behind the church and we are cleaning it and then leveling out the ground so that it can become a seating area for the kids. There are large clumps of dirt that need to be broken up and moved around. We were all working hard when out of nowhere we heard Gabriella say something that left us speechless, “Quiero trabajar” (I want to work). We were all unsure of what to say, but it didn’t matter because she didn’t wait for our permission, she immediately started picking up clumps of dirt and moving them. I’m not talking little clumps ether, I’m talking use both hands and put your back into it sized clumps. I’ve noticed that she is unable to open one of her hands all the way, too, making this task even more difficult for her. Then someone left a pick ax unattended, she ran right over, swiped it up, and started hacking into the earth. It was incredible.
Watching Gabriella worship, serve, pray, learn, and so obviously love the Lord has been so inspirational to us. We all hope that the light of Christ can be that evident in our lives now and at that age and that we won’t let anyone stop us, just like she does.
