I
n the last few hours of the Ecuador Summer Team mission’s trip 2014, a single event changed my perspective on missions that has impacted me ever since. It was late afternoon on the very last day in Ecuador, and after the team had lunch together we gathered to spend the last few bittersweet, precious moments together with our dear Ecuadorian friends who had spent the last two weeks with us in ministry.

I was invited to sit in on an interesting meeting. One of the girls from Muisne named Noemí, a friend that my sisters and I had met in 2012 and have been friends with since then, was called in by Eddie and Jannie Chow to discuss her future. Noemí started telling us in Spanish about how she was unable to go to college because of her financial situation and because she needed to help her grandmother manage the family business in order to help provide. As I sat there listening to Allen Graham translate Noemí’s story, I realized that even after three years of getting to know her and spending time with her, I never realized how difficult her life really was. I knew that she grew up in a broken home and that her family was split apart, that they did not have much money and that life in Muisne is far from easy. But I forgot. And the reason that I forgot about all of these terrible things that happened to Noemí and the harsh circumstances that she faces on a day to day basis is because of her contagious joy.

Noemí is like any other average college-aged girl. She has dreams and aspirations, she wants to get married; she wants to be successful. But what really exudes from her life is true joy that stems from her deep trust in Christ. Despite her dark past, family issues, poverty, and sacrifices, Noemí loves God, and that is evident in the way that she cares for everyone around her, by the way that she boldly shares the Gospel, and by the way that she sings praise songs with abandonment. Upon meeting her, you might never be able to tell that Noemí has suffered much, and that is a testimony to God’s saving grace in her life.

As I listened to her story, I thought about how much Noemí was teaching me in that moment, about trusting God through suffering, about the true source of joy and about reaching beyond myself and my personal problems to invest in others and bring them to the truth. She was teaching me about missions…real life encounters with real people to meet their real problems with the real love of a very real Savior. Missions is more than raising enough financial and prayer support or preparing VBS or going to a far away country where they have strange food and speak a different language. Missions is about uniting people all around the world for a singular purpose of worshipping a powerful God.

The conversation came to a close, and at the end, we were able to tell Noemi that the EST team would be sponsoring her college tuition. She was so surprised and thankful that she immediately thanked God and we all broke down in tears. As she hugged me, she said “No voy a olvidar.” I won’t, neither.