Today was Janell’s birthday. So, we left Nathan with our friends and went to Italianni’s. We tried to go there last night, but there was a HUGE wait. Tonight was a great night to go out and have dinner. Anyway, happy birthday, Janell. I look forward to spending many more with you.
One day while we were in Quito, we went to a busy area for lunch. They gave us each $10 and the assignment to use that money to impact someone’s life. Janell and I went together, so we had $20.
We were looking around for someone to impact, and we saw this lady with a baby on her back. She was selling ice cream from a cart in a park. We thought it would be great to buy all of her ice cream so she could go home. She was talking to another vendor, so we went up to try to talk to them about their jobs, etc. He was her husband. Their names are Gloria and Franklin. We bought $20 of their ice cream, which was 40 bars. They said they could now go eat lunch because they had made that money.
We thought we could make an impact on people by giving away the ice cream bars, too. So, we walked through the park giving away ice cream. There was one particular group of teenagers sitting up on one of the slides. It was a group of about 10. We approached them, but only two stayed to talk to us and get the ice cream. The rest took off a little ways away.
At first, they thought we were selling the ice cream and refused it, but when I told them it was a free gift, they took it with a weird look on their face. They asked why we were doing this, and I told them just because God loves them. They were fairly stunned. It was the first time anyone had ever given them something for nothing, and they couldn’t really understand it. They wanted to know more about the church we were with because no church had done anything like that for them before. So, Russ came over and talked to them more about what’s going on in Quito with the church, etc.
I don’t know how much of an impact we had on their lives, but they impacted the way I think about the church. We need to be more interested in giving than receiving. We need to be more focused on people than our programs. That is how we will impact others. It’s amazing how $10 goes a long way.
We made it back yesterday from Quito, Ecuador. Despite the advertising on our hotel’s website, we had very little contact with the internet while we were there.
The trip was fantastic, and we’ll be posting some highlights here in the next few days. Right now, it’s time to catch up on work, sleep, and laundry. Thanks for praying for us while we were there and for giving so we could make it to the summit this year. The picture is of us standing on a mountain 4100 meters (around 13,000 feet) in altitude.
Tomorrow morning we leave for Quito, Ecuador. We’re going to be meeting with others who are training youth leaders in Latin America. It should be a great week. It’s our first time to South America, and we’re looking forward to being with people who share the vision and ministry that we have here in Mexico. I’m gonna try to keep you updated as much as possible while we’re there. Thanks to those who donated to help us go on this trip.
I just came across the Liberty University Campus Church Sermon Podcast on iTunes. It sure brings back some memories. Just seeing the name Rob Jackson on the list of speakers made me want to listen. Of course, I subscribed to it so I could listen to it on my new birthday present (watch the video).
