More Than A Box

The Bible study group (Beth, Eileen, Susannah, Ivan, Pato, and myself) wanted to do something during the holiday season to reach out to someone in the community. We took a week to pray about who we could minister to and how we could be a blessing to them. The next week when we met, Pato shared that he knew a very poor family who we could bless. So we decided to purchase a large box filled with various foodstuff (a bag of rice, candy, beans, etc...). These boxes are sold in all of the larger stores in Ecuador and a very common gift to give to families who are in need. We also added a few extra items that we had in our homes ready to give away.

So, Thursday evening we walked over to their home and waited until all the family was assembled. We greeted each other, shared our names, what we were doing in Ecuador and just spent a couple minutes getting to know each other. It is always humbling for me to be invited into someone's home and given a priviledged chair within an impoverished home. We let the Ecuadorians do all the talking...1) since we didn't know exactly what we were supposed to do or say...2) their spanish is obviously much better than our own!

We presented them with the box and Pato explained that we just wanted to bless them at this time. Then, Ivan shared with them that while we want to bless them with this material gift we also wanted to share with them an eternal gift. He then went on to share that the birth of Jesus is the reason why we celebrate Christmas, but the gift does not end there. He spoke about how God has given us the gift of eternal life through the death of Jesus on the cross for our sins. He then asked if any of them had ever heard about this gift before and two of the women said they hadn't. He asked them if they wanted to recieve the gift of eternal life. He shared with them the scripture and then led them both in prayer, accepting Christ into their hearts and lives. It was so amazing to be there and to be a part of that! Please keep them in your prayers that this decision would be heartfelt and they would find a church to help them to grow. We are giving them each a copy of the Bible and we plan to continue to keep in contact with them. Our Bible study group would like to do something material to bless them hopefully once a month. More importantly, we hope to continue to share God's love with them and see them grow in their love for Him. Whether we show them love through a friendly greeting in the street or a bag of rice, my prayer is that they see God's love through us and really believe in their hearts that He is the one true God.