How can I be the one to change a life? How am I supposed to bring up the gospel if nobody can understand me? Who should I talk to? These questions have come up a lot in the past week. Most of the people on my squad have been able to connect with the people here in Ecuador even if it’s someone on the street that speaks only Spanish. But most of my experiences have been me watching and observing others talking to the people here. Until I went to the coast of Ecuador.
It was Tuesday night at 12 am we left in a 15 passenger bus with 10 gallon bags full of snacks and drinks for the ride. Bumping and winding through the earthquake cracked roads of the mountains, we all slept for the 6 hour ride. We woke up to find ourselves on a dirt path in the city of Canoá. We stopped along the road and started setting up. Assembling the tents where the people from the shelter would check in and where the kids would play. Tossing hundreds of kits with all the necessities like food, clothes, toiletries and feminine products into piles for all the people in need.
The process started out slowly, uncomfortable and very unorganized. There were four “runners” who walked people to where we had all the kits and then brought them to where we could pray for them. (I was one of those people). This was my first experience praying out loud to someone I didn’t know and you could definitely tell. It was definitely a struggle for me because I desperately wanted to understand the people but the language barrier kept blocking my connection with them.
God was giving me a challenge and new experiences so I could use them for my future on the race and it was not easy. Most of my experiences with God have been happy and super positive and not to get me wrong this trip was definitely happy and all. But after seeing the people there it was tough for me, all I wanted to do was talk to them and ask how they were doing but I could hardly even do that. They are living in such tragic situations to where they have no where to go and no home. Only the necessities and a tent to protect there heads. My ministry has helped with earthquake relief many times since this disaster and it is amazing to see God working through the volunteers that go to help. My ministry is called Pan de Vida which means Bread of Life. They are such amazing people with caring and loving hearts that give their lives to helping their community. I would recommend checking them out to see what we’re actually doing with them because they are awesome!
Colossians 2:6-7
http://pandevida.org.ec/v2/
