Right now I am sitting on a straw mat, covered in concrete ash and I smell like dirt. There are dozens of native Ecuadorian children climbing on the windows of our one bedroom living space. There is a huge smile on my face. Welcome to Ecuador. As you look out of our bedroom window the first thing that you see is a 17,000 foot volcano, Cotacachi. As you look out the other side you see another volcano, Imbaburra. Ecuador is extremely beautiful, but there is another side of the beauty.
The children of Illuman roam freely. There is no presence of any parents in the city. The children come to play at 8am and don’t leave until 8pm. I failed to mention earlier that we have no translator. We have had to trust God to provide the communication. Our days have been filled with hand gestures, smiles, laughs and broken spanglish. After two days the Lord has taught me a great lesson. You don’t have to use words to display the love of Jesus.
There is a little boy named Andy. He is about five years old. Every morning Andy is the first to greet us and the last to say goodnight. According to our ministry contact, His parents are not around. Andy is starved for attention. For example, He put his fingers in a closing door and hurt himself just so he could get my attention and care. My heart is breaking for this little guy.
Andy has taught me a lot. Compassion has grown so much in my heart for this little boy. The truth is, Andy is poor, but it is not money that he needs. Andy needs unconditional love. Love is the communication of the soul. So where there is a language barrier, there is opportunity for your soul to speak. 
