Give A Child Some Water

Quilotoa Lake

The view was exhilarating.

We had been a little weary from all the recent activities at our ministry sites, but this day was meant for rest and a little hiking. We had a family with us on short-term missions and something about them being with us that week just really activated so many things at our sites. Their daughter had heard the Lord months before, “Pray for the Rodriguez family.” Then one day, her mom said, “What if we visit the Rodriguez family in Ecuador and help their ministry?” 

That was all they needed for confirmation. So many things, complicated things, got in the way of staying committed to the plan to travel. However, they just knew that the Lord had already given the call and made it possible. 

We had so many great times, playing with kids, praying with women, and learning dance routines. It truly seemed that God was setting captives free in so many ways. Now we found ourselves in a place called Quilotoa for rest. It is a gorgeous place, a crater with a fabulous view of a lagoon. Some people like to hike down to the lagoon, others like to stay on top in the small town. We all split up in different directions, Freedom, Kayla, and I opted to go on a small hike around the perimeter ridge overlooking the view of the water.

As we came upon a big rocky area, we decided to sit for a while. We were actually in an area where you could see one side of the ridge overlooking the water and on the other side were vast, beautiful landscapes going for miles and miles. We decided to turn our back to the lagoon for a while and enjoy all the mountain ranges visible on this clear, blue day. Off in the distance, we began to see specks moving together in a group. Squinting and shielding our faces from the sun, we realized that this was a group of sheep coming up on a trail in the distance. For a little while it was difficult to make out where the shepherd was until we spotted what looked like a child tromping around, leading the sheep. 

So many beautiful things came to mind. We remembered so many verses about The Good Shepherd. As the herd got closer, we confirmed that a little boy was leading the sheep, making sure to go after the one that strayed. It appeared that he made his way to the right where we could no longer see them, so we decided to turn and face the water again. A few short minutes later we got the feeling of movement behind us. As we turned around, we were pleasantly surprised to see the little boy right there in front of us, in arm’s reach. How did he get here so fast and so quietly? 

The Shepherd Boy

He asked us if we could give him some money. Sadly, we didn’t have any change at all but started asking him questions about the sheep. He stayed there with us, leaning on a stick, his staff. We were enthralled, looking into his deep black eyes, and his ruddy, sun-baked beautiful face. He said, “Yes, I have to leave the others to get the sheep that went away. No, I’ve never heard that God is a Shepherd, and I’ve never heard of Jesus.” I decided to go deeper. I told him about God’s Son, and how we can be a part of His flock. (side note: I thought flock was only used for a group of birds)

“Would you like to know God and His Son?” 

So there, where the desire of God meets the desire of a shepherd boy, as we sat on a rock in a picturesque site, we prayed. I held his little hand while he repeated words asking God to fill his heart, and he didn’t let go when we were done praying. I told him to ask Jesus every day to show him more things. 

Ok. Spanish lesson! The word shepherd in Spanish is pastor. It just gives me chills. I said, “Maybe one day Jesus will ask you to shepherd (pastor) His people instead of sheep.” He nodded his head. The hard-working shepherd boy seemed tired. That’s when I remembered the bottle of water in my backpack. I offered and he took a sip. “Drink it all,” I said.

“Regale?” he asked. It means “to give.” It comes from the word regalo, meaning gift. Our hearts swelled with so much love for this little boy. This hard worker who had come to beg. 

“Claro que si!” (Of course, yes!) I said with a smile, holding back tears. Please pray for him and also pray for the opportunity to make our way to Quilotoa again to find him. We earnestly desire to bring him a Bible, and SmartBox, and bless his family with God’s love.

The Lord has said, “Ask…seek…knock.” There is so much in that. For almost all our needs, ask, seek, and knock. How thankful we are to be able to be here, giving our time, energy, and presence to those we are called to in Ecuador. And we feel that we are still called to be here. And so, we continue to ask, seek, and knock as well. 

We ask you to continue your partnership with us. We wouldn’t be here without the Lord providing through your prayer, care, and financial support.

We ask that you seek out other friends and families who are called to support missions and to share about us serving in Ecuador.

We also knock on doors that seem too big for us, to keep SmartBox going year after year. If you think a local business or your church would be interested in getting involved in bringing the Gospel and school supplies to kids in need, please reach out to us. If you don’t already financially partner with us you can do so through Project SmartBox. <—- Learn more by clicking the link or simply start your SmartBox sponsorship today.

Thank you so much for your partnership,