I just spent two weeks with an awesome team from First
Baptist Church of Norway, Michigan working in Quito, Ecuador. We worked with a cooperating ministry there
called Pan de Vida (Bread of Life). The
team would run a Vacation Bible School (VBS) with the kids in the mornings and
then go to work on replacing some old rotten benches in the yard with a new
style of benches made from cement and treated lumber in the afternoons. Pan de
Vida’s main ministry is to feed some of the poorest people in Quito and then
try and improve the lives of a select focus group of their main beneficiaries
who have shown ongoing, concerted interest in improving their lives and
breaking the cycle of poverty they are often trapped in. The kids who attended
the VBS were the children of this main focus group.
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| Francisco and Courtney |
One of the kids I met was named Francisco. Francisco was conspicuous because he obviously
wanted to be loved so badly. He was not shy about initiating interaction with
me and was the first to climb up into my arms—and the arms of most of the rest
of the team. It seemed like Francisco
simply couldn’t soak up enough love. He
wasn’t happy unless he was the center of someone’s attention. One of his
favorite team members was 16 year old Courtney, whose beautiful blond hair
garnered lots of attention all week. One
day Francisco got in this rut where he’d tap Courtney on the shoulder to get
her attention and then point up into the sky.
When Courtney would look up, Francisco would clumsily “tickle” her under
the chin. Francisco would laugh at this
hysterically. It was cute the first five times and crossed into annoying
shortly after. But this didn’t deter
Francisco, who probably did this routine upwards of a hundred times , causing
Courtney to—out of survival—avoid Francisco
part of the day. I watched this and learned.
When Francisco tried the routine on me I let him get a laugh once or
twice and then quickly set him down and went to do something else. I wouldn’t have been nearly as patient with
him as Courtney was.
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| Patti, Francisco and Courtney |
Not that Francisco doesn’t deserve some patience. Like most
of the kids at Pan de Vida Francisco doesn’t come from the best family
situation. His mom is a harsh lady who
likely has a sad story all her own. You can see it in her eyes that flash anger
and fear with just a glance. His father wasn’t on the scene and he has siblings
from other fathers. Love, when absent
from a family, leaves all kinds of holes that get stuffed with poor
substitutes. And Francisco’s missing
love doesn’t always find love. Abuse is
common and addiction is a close companion amongst these broken family lives. I’m
sure Francisco’s love vacuum is huge and sucks like a shop vac.
Situations like Francisco’s aren’t an easy fix. That’s why the folks at Pan de Vida have
plenty of job security as well as an abundance of situations to pray for. While
food and assistance are a welcome gift, the real changed lives come when Christ
shows up. Our team’s job was to pour out
as much love into that group of love-sucking kids as we possibly could. Hugs, playtime and lots of attention with a
loving touch were the tools we used to try and be the hands of Jesus to those
kids. I pray that even though this group
of Michigan Gringos and myself aren’t there any longer, that our presence is
now a fond memory filled with love for Francisco and the other kids. I know
they ate it up while we were there.
I stayed in Ecuador a few days after the team returned to
wrap up the logistics and pay bills for lodging and transport. But it gave me some time to think. In the
middle of the night before I left to catch my flight to Colorado, God kept
reminding me about Francisco.
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| Katie, Francisco, Will and Courtney |
Finally I realized
how similar I am to him. Just like Francisco, I tend to turn toward imperfect
things for fulfillment and spend an annoying amount of time chasing after poor
substitutes for God’s love. I try to
fill that “God-shaped hole” in my life with things like food, acceptance,
material things and even ministry activity. The real deal is Christ. He’s the one that can provide love and
purpose. He’s the only one that can fill the void we feel as humans. Although Courtney and the rest of the team did
a great job, God’s the only one that can love Francisco all the time and
without losing patience. And he doesn’t
run away when Francisco’s tricks get annoying. For God so loved Francisco that
He gave his only son so that if Francisco believes in Him he won’t perish and will
have eternal life. Deep down we are all a lot like Francisco. That’s what Francisco taught me.
