I had the privilege of spending last week in Ecuador with my friend, Jason Raitz. I wanted to share his recent blog post with you because I couldn’t say it better myself:
Ecuador has wrecked my heart…
I just don’t words. I keep tearing up thinking about the deepest level poverty I’ve experienced in my life and I keep asking myself how do people live there. I keep asking God why I was born where I was and why they were born where they were.
I can’t get the kids faces out of my head. Their beautiful little faces. We arrived by boat to the island of Limones and, what seemed like, every child from the island line the dock and cheered for us. Why did they do that? We should have been cheering for them.
I just keep thinking about how many kids die a day because of poverty. In case you’re wondering, that’s 19,000.
And, here’s what I’m so ticked about…they don’t have to die. They can be saved from poverty.
Ecuador has wrecked my heart….
Watching Bekah walk hand in hand with these beautiful and precious little girls just wrecked my heart. Watching them play with her hair and just truly marvel at her face just wrecks my heart.
Watching Bekah try to process the fact that children live in places that make your stomach turn and your heart sad is something else.
Watching Bekah hug these precious little kids is almost too much for this dad.
I just keep praying that God would put a holy discontent on Bekah’s heart to do something to help the world’s poor.
Ecuador has wrecked my heart…
I just keep praying for forgiveness for the all the precious resources I ‘ve wasted. I am mad that my family hasn’t sponsored more children. I mean its $38 dollars a month! I’m sad when I think about all the money I’ve wasted on silly things that could have been used to literally save a child’s life and release them from poverty.
I just keeping thanking God that my Zach and Madie weren’t born in some of these places. They may have not made it because of their PKU. I stood in a home yesterday that was no bigger than a large houses closet and the kitchen the size of a washer cardboard box and I kept thinking…how would families care for PKU kids here? I don’t think they could.
Ecuador has wrecked my heart…
Being around passionate and inspired leaders like Greg Nettle and Wes Stafford has opened the eyes of my heart to how much God can use regular people like me.
Being around amazing church leaders and seeing God move in their hearts and releasing that because of this trip, churches can be planted. When a church is planted, a community is changed. The light is brought into the darkness.
When that church comes to a community, 200 children are sponsored and released from poverty. A Child development center pours into those children and their families. And 30 people in that child’s life are affected by their sponsorship.
Ecuador has wrecked my heart…
There is a reason that children and the poor were close to Jesus’ heart. There is a reason that they should be close to my mine as well.
I’m ashamed. I’m saddened. I’m angry. I’m disgusted. All with myself. For years I squandered time. I wasted resources. I didn’t care about the poor or children. I’ve could have done so much more.
Maybe Ecuador hasn’t wrecked my heart. Maybe it’s Jesus. Maybe He’s the one who’s doing the wrecking.
I have seen him so many times on this trip. I have seen him in the eyes of our translators as they hug and kiss the families of sponsored children. I have seen in him in the flesh in the pastors of the amazing churches that have been planted here. I have seen him work through the Compassion staff at the Child Development Centers.
Jesus has wrecked my heart.
I am praying somehow, someway He will use me to help others experience what I have experienced in Ecuador.
May God wreck your heart.