Gourmet Dining in Quito

Our dinner this evening was prepared by our college students. Raphael, my guy, is attending culinary school, so oversaw the cooking of a fabulous 6 course meal. As you can imagine, we couldn't be prouder of them. All of them come from the Refugio and are the first group to break out of the cycles that held kids in poverty before. It's true, not every kid is going to make it out of poverty for a number of reasons. But these kids had a dream, worked hard, tolerated the ill-will and taunting of their classmates and are seeking to make a new life for themselves. They don't have families or homes to fall back on and all of them are making it financially because someone from St. Mark is helping them pay for school and they are not allowed to make bone-headed mistakes and stay in the program.

If most of the kids we see at the Refugio are living under the pressures of crushing poverty, it is your help that gives them a respite, a place to go and find a meal (probably their only meal of the day) and an adult who doesn't beat them, who loves them and who encourages those who dare to dream of a better life. This happens because some people who live far away in a strange place called Virginia care enough to help make it happen. And some believed enough and are desperately trying to break out of a cycle that sucks so many back in. And because they were with people who loved them (even when parents wouldn't our couldn't) and demanded that they do their best (because charity without expectations only leads to dependancy and not responsibility and freedom). And because some people in that far away place loves them enough to help them, their dreams are becoming reality.

Tonight, one of the girls who spent the whole night chattering away, wanting to know what it was like to be a priest who wasn't Catholic and what the differences were and was a little frustrated with my lack of Spanish skills (she is working to be a lawyer, wouldn't you know) finally got to the nub of the issue; why was I there with her? Because Jesus wanted me to be there with her. She finally stopped talking for a while and sat there with a smile on her face. That's what it is really about, isn't it? We're here because Jesus has called us here.