Saturday, September 8, 2012 – Cotacachi, Ecuador
Today Bruce and I had an early morning meeting in town in support of a scholarship program for local indigenous children. It’s to help those in need with the cost of attending high school. Ecuador provides free public education, but there are still supplies, school clothes, and other items needed. This can be a huge financial burden for some families.
The meeting started late and ran long. But it was all worth it. Just seeing the looks on the faces of the scholarship recipients and their parents was truly heartwarming.
After the meeting, Paige, the Peace Corps volunteer in charge of the scholarship program, gave a small presentation to explain the full details of the program. There was one man in particular who wanted details of how the indigenous families accounted for the scholarship funds. He was not happy with the answers Paige gave. I had interjected, trying to help explain. Several others did as well.
On the way back home, I finally realized why he had so many questions. We (us North Americans) come from a whole different world. We’ve lost touch with what’s really important. We don’t understand the basic family values displayed so easily by the Kichwa. Nothing is more important to them than their family. They have no intention of defrauding the scholarship program. It has been in place since 2005 and there has never been an incident of fraud or abuse.
That same blindness that keeps us from understanding the Kichwa, also keeps us from believing the saving truth about Jesus Christ. We need to stop thinking everything is a conspiracy. I could go on many more tirades – how the breakdown of the family is a huge factor in the breakdown of our entire society; how materialism has distorted our perception. But I’d rather leave you with this one simple thought – Look up to the heavens, see His majesty, and know that He is Lord..
DAILY VERSE: For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. Romans 1:20
