Rachel Olsen
“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure…” Hebrews 6:19 (NIV)
I was having lunch at a quaint outdoor café all by myself. Actually, I was trying to spend a little time with God so I’d brought along a small devotional book called Daily Prayer from the New International Version. Flipping through its pages, my fingers stopped suddenly when I saw the entry’s title: “Ecuador’s Forgotten Ones.” My eyes ran eagerly across the words on the page:
“You see them on the well-worn, two-foot wide median that divides the city’s busiest street. Vehicles zip past at alarming speeds while preschoolers play tag, oblivious to the danger. But when the traffic halts, these little ones press their dirty faces against closed car windows, begging for pennies. At night older children join them and spit gasoline into the air, lit by matches into flaming, dragon-like plumes, hoping for a coin from a passing motorist. These are Ecuador’s forgotten ones: slum-dwelling children with no hope for a future.”
Tears filled my eyes. I couldn’t shake the thought of the damage that gasoline was doing to their young bodies and minds. But I knew even more damaging was the feeling of having no hope. No help, no anchor, and no future. I silently pleaded with God to send help and hope to these fire-breathing forgotten ones. For I know God has not forgotten them. He sees them. He is their help, their anchor and their hope. And we are His mouthpiece and hands.
My mind drifted to the reason my fingers had stopped on this page in the first place: Mauricio. My husband and I sponsor a young Ecuadorian boy through Compassion International. The Compassion organization had recently taken me to Ecuador to see the children impacted by poverty, and to visit “my” Mauricio. The people I met there – adults and children alike – were so very precious.
The country’s economic structure has been suffering for awhile. A few years ago their government abruptly switched their money system to the US dollar. Overnight everyone’s bank accounts were frozen. Many people were not able to get to any of their money for many months … others never got their money back at all as their banks folded. Even those who were too poor to have bank accounts suffered. I was told that overnight the cost of basic goods including food went up by as much as 300%.
Multiple government leaders have taken office, made drastic or selfish changes, and then defected the country – leaving the Ecuadorian people forgotten. But God has not forgotten them, and He doesn’t want us to forget them either. Someone has to pray for them, someone has to help them, and someone has to hand them the anchor of hope. Someone has to declare to them the words of the author of Hebrews: “We are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation” (6:9, NLT).
God has not forgotten the Ecuadorian people and He has not forgotten you either. Are you in need of an eternal anchor yourself today? Is your soul adrift in the traffic of life? If so, click here to meet your Hope.
Are you able to be God’s hands of hope to Ecuador’s forgotten ones? If your heart is quickened to help a child from Ecuador or elsewhere, click here to find out how from Compassion International. Hebrews 6:10 assures us, “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them” (NIV). Perhaps you can demonstrate to one child that he is forgotten no more.
Dear Lord, my heart aches for your people facing poverty, injustice, and infirmity in this world. Help them, Lord. Be their anchor and hope. And help me as Your servant to know when and how to help them. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
Sponsor a child through Compassion International
To read Rachel’s description of her August trip to Ecuador, visit her blog “My Life in Chapter and Verse.”
Click here to read about our Proverbs 31 Ministry team visiting Ecuador.
Application Steps:
Pray for the children of Ecuador today. Pray for their salvation, their health, their economy, and their leaders. Pray for God to send workers and support to help them. Consider how you can get involved.
Reflections:
Imagine what daily life feels like for one of these children.
Read Matthew 25:34-40 and reflect.
Power Verses:
Matthew 25:34-40, “Then the King will say to those on the right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.' "Then these righteous ones will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?' And the King will tell them, 'I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'” (NLT)
“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure…” Hebrews 6:19 (NIV)
I was having lunch at a quaint outdoor café all by myself. Actually, I was trying to spend a little time with God so I’d brought along a small devotional book called Daily Prayer from the New International Version. Flipping through its pages, my fingers stopped suddenly when I saw the entry’s title: “Ecuador’s Forgotten Ones.” My eyes ran eagerly across the words on the page:
“You see them on the well-worn, two-foot wide median that divides the city’s busiest street. Vehicles zip past at alarming speeds while preschoolers play tag, oblivious to the danger. But when the traffic halts, these little ones press their dirty faces against closed car windows, begging for pennies. At night older children join them and spit gasoline into the air, lit by matches into flaming, dragon-like plumes, hoping for a coin from a passing motorist. These are Ecuador’s forgotten ones: slum-dwelling children with no hope for a future.”
Tears filled my eyes. I couldn’t shake the thought of the damage that gasoline was doing to their young bodies and minds. But I knew even more damaging was the feeling of having no hope. No help, no anchor, and no future. I silently pleaded with God to send help and hope to these fire-breathing forgotten ones. For I know God has not forgotten them. He sees them. He is their help, their anchor and their hope. And we are His mouthpiece and hands.
My mind drifted to the reason my fingers had stopped on this page in the first place: Mauricio. My husband and I sponsor a young Ecuadorian boy through Compassion International. The Compassion organization had recently taken me to Ecuador to see the children impacted by poverty, and to visit “my” Mauricio. The people I met there – adults and children alike – were so very precious.
The country’s economic structure has been suffering for awhile. A few years ago their government abruptly switched their money system to the US dollar. Overnight everyone’s bank accounts were frozen. Many people were not able to get to any of their money for many months … others never got their money back at all as their banks folded. Even those who were too poor to have bank accounts suffered. I was told that overnight the cost of basic goods including food went up by as much as 300%.
Multiple government leaders have taken office, made drastic or selfish changes, and then defected the country – leaving the Ecuadorian people forgotten. But God has not forgotten them, and He doesn’t want us to forget them either. Someone has to pray for them, someone has to help them, and someone has to hand them the anchor of hope. Someone has to declare to them the words of the author of Hebrews: “We are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation” (6:9, NLT).
God has not forgotten the Ecuadorian people and He has not forgotten you either. Are you in need of an eternal anchor yourself today? Is your soul adrift in the traffic of life? If so, click here to meet your Hope.
Are you able to be God’s hands of hope to Ecuador’s forgotten ones? If your heart is quickened to help a child from Ecuador or elsewhere, click here to find out how from Compassion International. Hebrews 6:10 assures us, “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them” (NIV). Perhaps you can demonstrate to one child that he is forgotten no more.
Dear Lord, my heart aches for your people facing poverty, injustice, and infirmity in this world. Help them, Lord. Be their anchor and hope. And help me as Your servant to know when and how to help them. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
Sponsor a child through Compassion International
To read Rachel’s description of her August trip to Ecuador, visit her blog “My Life in Chapter and Verse.”
Click here to read about our Proverbs 31 Ministry team visiting Ecuador.
Application Steps:
Pray for the children of Ecuador today. Pray for their salvation, their health, their economy, and their leaders. Pray for God to send workers and support to help them. Consider how you can get involved.
Reflections:
Imagine what daily life feels like for one of these children.
Read Matthew 25:34-40 and reflect.
Power Verses:
Matthew 25:34-40, “Then the King will say to those on the right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.' "Then these righteous ones will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?' And the King will tell them, 'I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'” (NLT)
Labels: God's Perspective, Serving
2 Comments:
Hello!! Thank you very much for sharing. Actually, I sponsor a child through Compassion Intl, too. :) If I wanted to visit my child at some point, how can I get that set up?
In Christ,
Christine
Hi Christine. Compassion Intl does tremendous work, so glad to hear you're already partnerng with them! To find out about visits, go to Compassions' website, click on "For Sponsors & Donors" and then on "Visit Your Child."
Sweet Blessings! ~ Rachel
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