We decided to spend our adventure day exploring Quito and when it came time for lunch we walked into a Texas Chicken. Three girls from my team decided they wanted to eat there and three others and myself wanted to get empanadas. That’s when Maria came in. She came in and asked if we could spare some change, that usually they give her soup but the boss was there today so they wouldn’t give her any. I told her I would buy her lunch and we went over to the counter and I told her she could pick anything she wanted. She picked a hamburger meal for $3.99, she kept saying thank you and she was crying. I hugged her and I told her that I came to Ecuador to share the love of Jesus and that’s why I was buying her meal. We then left and went to get empanadas and when we got back Maria was sitting and eating with the girls that had stayed behind. We sat down and talked to her and she told us that she had lived in California ever since she was a little girl but how three months ago she was deported and sent back to Ecuador. Where she has been working at a church, parking cars for mass. They give her a place to sleep as well. She was telling us about her son, who was taken from her, but that he found her and she talks to him on the phone every night and that he prays for her. We were able to talk to her for awhile and she offered to show us which bus would take us to the equator.
At launch we were given a cross that a woman makes for every squad and the purpose of them is to give them away to someone while we are on our trip. I didn’t have mine with me and I turned to my teammate, Lauren, and asked her if she had one with her, thankfully she did. I gave it to Maria and told her that God loves her and that we wanted to pray for her and that we would continue to pray for her even after that day. That we would not forget her and that I wanted her to remember that Jesus loves her every single time she looks at the cross. At one point she asked, “why are you like this?” and I responded, because of Jesus and His love. He loved us and saved us and so we want to share His love with the people around us. We shared the gospel with her. Through the tears, we prayed with her, hugged her, and showed her love that she may have never experienced before.
That day was such a good reminder to use every opportunity that comes your way to share the gospel. To show someone the love of Jesus. You never know what the impact is going to be. You never know how something so little might mean so much to someone else. I challenge you, next time you see someone in need, don’t just ignore them, don’t just think that someone else will help them, YOU are the person that can help them.
Matthew 25:40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
