All is not lost, however. Some norms remain. People need people. People need connection; to be known. People hunger for genuine connection. This is our goal - to form real connections, listen to their hearts and needs, facilitate cooperation to meet those needs and support an incredibly able generation of indigenous leadership; to give them a voice and encourage the act of listening. This is not a production-based ministry but a slow, people-based lifestyle of service.
This unfolds very differently every day here in Ecuador. Marriage counseling peppers our days. We have many conversations about boundaries with children, selflessness in marriage, nutrition, true rest and more. It is our joy to encourage our friends to dream and to reach for those dreams with a plan.
Discipleship often looks like serving. A friend is in the process of building a house for his family. This is one of their dreams. To have their own home. A small wooden jungle house with no running water or electricity is being pieced together in the corners of a jungle plot.
Connection with this particular friend was tough. His heart had a hard shell around it because of past pains and failures. His desire for connection inconsistent. One might not invest in someone so withdrawn if they weren't thinking with their "people-based" brain. Several times Chris asked to help him build his house. And finally, the offer was accepted.
While these men carried huge jungle trees through deep mud together their heart connection grew. The joking began. The sharing of food and drink. The sharing of dreams and ideas. Carrying one another's burden is a real thing, and, it makes a real difference.
