Coming through Singapore Changi Airport, security requires travelers to scan their thumbprints. As the SEAPC medical team recently hurried to catch a plane, one by one they went through the automated system.Except for me. After three tries, my thumbs still didn’t scan. They sent me onward to the next level of security; no thumbprints. At the final stop—where the truly suspicious are herded—I don’t know what happened. After the third try of my now-sweaty thumbs, and multiple computer clicks, the officer permitted me to run for the gate. This happened in and out of Singapore as we traveled to our final mission destination and home again.Although these incidents were unnerving, there were other fingerprints all over the trip—the fingerprints of God. There’s a song by this name written by Steven Curtis Chapman:

I can see the fingerprints of GodWhen I look at youI can see the fingerprints of GodAnd I know it's trueYou're a masterpieceThat all creation quietly applaudsAnd you're covered with the fingerprints of God.

Our destination for this outreach was sensitive, and as such must remain confidential to protect those who serve on a regular basis. The principles and goals were the same as always: provide basic medical care to the least and the lost and show them Jesus through prayer. For the first time, we were part of a larger group out of Singapore, a team of dedicated believers who made us feel welcome. The fingerprints of God were all over them, from their prophetic teaching, to their prayers of healing, to their compassion. The medical team served in ministry with them, learning and growing as the Holy Spirit moved in a powerful way.The medical outreach happened in a large development outside of a major Asian city. Local people who had been living on the riverbanks in abject poverty were relocated to government-built housing. Here they have apartments, pre-schools, plots to grow vegetables, playgrounds, and a local Christian organization that quietly provides help. Although it is a vast improvement to previous conditions, the people are still desperately poor. And they do not know Jesus. Because of this, it is a condensed area where unrest easily foments.Usually we follow a protocol of triage, examination/diagnosis, treatment/medicine, and then prayer. This clinic began with prayer, leaving medicine to fill in. And so our jobs were made easier, because God touches everyone who reaches out to Him.The number of healings is not quantifiable. A blind woman received sight. Yes, she went from a dark world to one of light. A child with conjunctivitis had the infection, itch, and redness disappear from both eyes. Pain was relieved. Joints were renewed.A man whom the ministry team had met on a prior visit came to see them. He had been in a wheelchair and was unable to walk when they prayed for him one year ago. At that time he stood up on his own. This year, fully restored, he walked into the clinic to show us that he is healthy, strong, and now able to work and support his family. The fingerprints of God were imprinted on his legs and in his huge smile.Our three person medical team treated 150 sick men, women, and children in two half-day clinics. From hypertension, to diabetes, to skin rashes, they received care. A man with probable tuberculosis and lung cancer needed more than we could provide; we lifted him to the Lord and referred him for testing. No one who had been healed through prayer required medical treatment. When God’s healing occurs, man’s intervention is not needed.

The other component of this trip stretched the medical team, as the Singapore contingent, led by Jeff Yuen, shared their prophetic ministry with local churches. What at first seemed unlikely, unbelievable, and just plain strange became a huge blessing as God poured out His Spirit.I have never been involved in receiving a Word of Knowledge and confess that skepticism is my default mode. But after sitting in a teaching by Pastor Yuen, it made perfect sense as he unpacked Scripture and pointed to Jesus.He taught, “Scripture says he will pour out His Spirit on all flesh. Acts 2:17: ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophecy, and your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.’ What we need is simply flesh. Prophecy is the voice of God. He says they will prophesy.”He explained that we are the access point. “The gift activates you. You learn to activate the gift. You become the gift to activate others.”Then came the time to pray for God to send His vision to those of us gathered together. A local woman came to partner with me.I bowed my head and prayed. “Lord, this isn’t my thing. Help me to see what you want me to see.”The only thing that popped into my mind was Christmas. The song, I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas, hit my mental playlist.“Lord, please, send me some kind of real vision.” I tried my hardest to force something meaningful until the time ended for prayer. Nothing. Clearly not my gift. I turned to my partner. “I’m sorry. This is all new to me. The only thing I thought about was Christmas.”Her face went slack. “Christmas is when all my problems began.”From that opening, we were able to pray together to lift her problems to the Lord. Had I just received a Word of Knowledge? Clearly, something happened. Something suspiciously like God communicating with me on her behalf.At the next teaching, I saw the word “OCEAN,” accompanied by a sun-drenched, glassy sea that turned dark and angry with roiling waves, lightning, and thunder. The team then stood in front of a church full of worshippers to tell what God had revealed to them. Anyone for whom this had meaning was invited to come for prayer. The only interpretation I could think of was that perhaps someone had experienced a change from a good life to one of strife. Lame. Vague. Embarrassing.Mortified by my total lack of prophetic ability, I waited for it to be over. A line formed in front of me. One after another, people shared their personal journeys of lives lived well that had become storms of epic proportions: A formerly active woman now in a wheelchair due to an autoimmune disease. A man recently unemployed who could no longer feed his family. A young woman facing a government tax interview and financial ruin the next morning. A young man who became involved in drug addiction and criminal activity.Am I a prophet? Hardly. But I am now open to God working through me both medically and prayerfully. And I sometimes think that what He really wants is for His people to show up and get out of His way. Because He is the one who is important.Imagine a window smeared with fingerprints. That is an illustration of this mission trip. The fingerprints are all God’s. They covered the team from Singapore. They covered the local outreach that visits the government housing on a regular basis. They covered us. And we transferred God’s fingerprints to those we met and served. It became a mosaic of beauty, grace, and mercy that melded modern medicine, spiritual healing, and prophecy to reach those whom God provided to receive His care.Through God, we are all “a masterpiece that all creation quietly applauds.”All praise, honor, and glory to the One who holds us in His powerful hands.

Imagine living in the middle of a civil war zone; unable to find a job to feed your five children. No schools are available for the kids because they were all closed. Or imagine being the widowed mother of seven children in a poor village with no school nearby and difficulty in finding enough funds to survive.These are the situations in which two families found themselves in Myanmar in 2015.At a time when things looked their worst, God brought these families in touch with Charity Children’s Home in Yangon. Out of love for their daughters, both families sent them away to live at the home so that they would have the chance for a future by receiving nourishment, healthcare, and education. They didn’t care that the home was Christian and that they were Buddhist. They just wanted better futures for their daughters.So, in May 2015, both girls—Khin and Kyane—arrived at the home. Naturally, it was difficult at first to go from living with their families to living with approximately 250 others on a huge campus. Having food, clothes, education, and the opportunity to play that they may not have had before helped, but what helped the most was the joy that they found because they saw Jesus’ love.Fast forward almost four years. These two girls have adjusted very well. They are healthy, happy, and very smart. Both of them do very well in school. Khin is now 16 years old, and Kyane is 14. They can play and experience things that they would never have before. They have been able to find things that they enjoy doing, like badminton for Kyane and reading for Khin. They have dreams for their futures: Khin to be a pastor and Kyane to be a teacher.Recently, both girls participated in a public essay contest focusing on environmental conservation, especially concerning waterways, sponsored by the Yangon Water Bus Company. Out of the 197 boys and girls who entered the contest, Khin won first place, and Kyane won third. It was a great honor. Between the two of them, they won 800,000 Kyat (526 USD). Each received a trophy as well.

The even sweeter part is that when asked what they wanted to do with the money, both girls said that they wanted to share their joy with all of the other kids at Charity Children’s Home by purchasing a special meal for all of them called biryani.Biryani is an Indian meal made of colorful rice and chicken. I’ve heard that it is oily and has a strong, delicious taste. The staff was very proud of them, for not only winning the competition but thinking of their brothers and sisters in Jesus at the home. While the staff honored the girls’ wishes to use the prize money celebrate with all of the other children, they also set aside a certain sum of money for the girls to do with as they pleased to celebrate their achievement.Two girls who were just barely surviving a few years ago are so blessed right now that when they win a large amount of money, their first thought is of others. Their lives have been truly changed through prayer.

Four men had toiled for a week to drive the “man-powered” auger to a depth of 150 feet. The ancient way of well drilling was all that could be afforded at the Charity Children’s Home. Economic sanctions are supposed to break military dictatorships, but those imposed on Myanmar just heaped hardship on the impoverished, orphans, and widows. Meanwhile, the Generals had air-conditioning, water coolers, swimming pools, and all the guns.Tony and I arrived at about 4:30 in the sultry afternoon, just as the decision had been reached to close this borehole well and start another. They had hit impenetrable rock and found no water. Tired and very discouraged, the four men who had walked in the stalks, driving the auger into the earth with brute force, had thrown themselves to the ground exhausted by their futile effort.Intrigued by actually seeing such an ancient drilling method, we walked over to the borehole. Chung Nung—the children’s home director and our new friend—explained the problem to James Lian Sai, the founder and our old friend.“There is no water. This is the third attempt. One over there, one over there, and this one. Tomorrow they will start over there. We must find water.” He pointed to the failed holes and the new location. “We have to order another tanker to come, for the children must have water.”“Have you spoken to the rock?” I asked with some embarrassment. It was not a good time to preach.“You, rock, you have water. You give up that water for these children, in Jesus’ name.” I spoke in a normal, conversational voice with more hope than faith.The workers snickered, and our hosts looked away with customary Asian hospitality not wanting to tell the foreigner just how big of an idiot he was.We had dinner and devotions, and they returned us to our hotel.It was 3 AM when the water reached the top of the borehole. By morning devotions, it had flooded the yard and workers were feverishly working to cap the well. We arrived at about 8 AM to find children playing in a great pool of crystal clear, cold water.This well continues to serve the children at Charity Children’s Home, and we even bottled and sold the water for many years to support the home’s needs.With every drink, bath, and bottle we thank the Lord for out of the rock came the water for life.

When I was 15 years old, I was part of a short-term mission team that was led by Pastor Mark Geppert to Guatemala to build a church in a former garbage dump in Guatemala City. Our contact person was a young pastor named Hector Zetino. Hector was a former gang member that became friends with Mark and Ellie Geppert during their initial entry into Guatemala after a great earthquake in the 70s.It was amazing to walk down to the work site for the first time and see the people, their homes, and the location for the church. I still remember the road that was a mixture of cement, piles of sand, water, rocks, and dirt. As we arrived at the work site, we saw corrugated tin homes, chickens, kids everywhere, and men playing soccer. But the peace of the Lord was on the team and members of the church as we stood in a circle and started to pray together in unity for the site and the new church building. It was one of my best memories as a teenage kid.The group of people standing together reminds me of the passage in Psalm 133:1, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” The brothers and sisters joining together in prayer and purpose for a new church to be built for the glory of God and to be a lighthouse in a dark place was what the Church globally is called to do.That is what the Lord is calling believers to do: stand together in unity.The team from Pittsburgh was equipped to lay block and build a church, but the greatest thing that they did was to love the people they came to serve. In John 13:35 we read, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” The mission team did dig a footer by hand, lay blocks, and build a church building, but the greatest thing they did on the mission trip was to be a witness to the lost, by their demonstration of love through the works of their hands for their brothers and sisters in the building of the church building for the glory of God.That is what God is calling us to do as believers and disciples of Christ: to love one another and to be Christ’s hands and feet to a lost world.

My introduction to China began in 1950. Mother was a special education teacher and I was a very ambitious 2-year-old. The solution to night time jitters and sleep avoidance was bedtime reading. She had a stack of books heavy on A.A. Milne and an assortment of others published in the twenties and thirties. Before reading a story from my Children’s Picture Bible, we went to the Hundred Acre Wood with Pooh or down the Yangtze River with Ping.For those uninformed (or attached to The Little Prince) Ping was a duck, like me the youngest in the family, who was always last in line to board their boat. Of course, she read and I looked at the pictures. They were China to me.Much to my delight, we began traveling to and working in China thirty-five years later and the first thing that caught my eye were the duck farms. Thousands of little Pings running around. The lines were very real as the proud mama duck led the line from pond to shed and back. I soon found that duck eggs and duck meat were a favorite among the Chinese. In the South we ate specially prepared duck feet and, in the North, we enjoyed the ever present Peking Duck with a very special plum sauce.We heard the news that the government of China was going to build the world’s biggest hydroelectric facility on the Yangtze river at the city of Wuhan. The report was that the riverside population numbering in the millions of people would have to be relocated and that the headwater city of Chongqing would become a provincial capital. With this information and timetable in hand we began a plan that would bring the Word of God to those people before they were relocated.A team was formed from a church in Hampton, Virginia. They were teenagers and leaders who had been trained in pantomime. They performed a 45-minute show concluding in the Passion of Jesus. We worked with them for visas and passage and found ourselves boarding the river boat for the 4-day cruise down the Yangtze from Chongqing to Wuhan. Equipped with giant slingshots, we launched gospel packets from the boat to villages along the way and in the lounge of the boat, we supplanted the band and became the floor show.Thousands of packets were launched and received with glee on the banks. There is no way of knowing how far that word spread, but it must have been significant given the growth of the house churches in the area.Jeff Yonacello played Jesus in the drama. Each day I stood in the wings and watched as Chinese saw the resurrection of Jesus. They were so impacted by these youth, and so deeply touched by their devotion. They opened their hearts to the message, began to read the materials, wept with understanding at the next performance. At each stop on the tour, new people got on the boat. The Lord embraced many.Jeff became a mission aviation pilot and has served the Lord all his life. Others on the team were called to and remained in China serving many ministries.

It all began with a parent reading a book about a little yellow duck and sowing a seed that grew while I slept.

In June of last year, Guatemala was devastated by a volcanic eruption that killed hundreds and left many people displaced. We immediately mobilized a team of volunteers to feed and minister to the victims and rescue teams. The survivors not only lost their homes, but many family members and friends in the eruption.We stood there at ground zero, on top of homes and people buried 20 feet under our feet, with an urgency to do more. As we served and walked with the survivors, the Lord stirred our hearts to commit ourselves to build homes for these 10 families.The Garcia family (name changed for their privacy) was among them.

As we stood in front of the construction site of the first House of Hope just a few months ago, we couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed once again by God’s unfailing love and faithfulness.

We’ve been seeing His love manifested from the very moment that He urged us to step out in faith and commit to helping these families. He manifested his love and provision through a Spanish church in Arkansas made up of humble families who donated the money to build this home.And now the Father’s love was being manifested toward the Garcia family (the first beneficiaries of the project) through this house and we had the great honor of being the vessels of hope and provision of a fresh start for this precious family.We still need to pinch ourselves; we can’t believe that this is really happening! We are humbled and overjoyed to see our prayers of provision for the Garcia family home fulfilled. The initial house plans had to be modified to accommodate the traumatized in-laws that could no longer live close to the volcano and now will have to live with them. The cost of the construction had to increase because of the changes but it’s all worth it to see the smiles on the faces of this family after such heartache and loss.

We are excited to share what the Lord is doing in Guatemala! This past month we have witnessed the favor of God in such a mighty way and we have felt the prayers of our brothers and sisters as we stepped out to do the work that God laid before us. This has been a long process but we know that everything happens in God’s perfect timing. We are truly grateful for God’s faithfulness and for all who have supported us through prayer, words of encouragement, and finances.Building and fostering relationships with pastors in red zone areas is at the core of Asociación Civil Fe y Esperanza (ASOFE), known to you as Faith & Hope Guatemala. This is what we refer to as “Phase 1.” The Lord has given us the honor to connect with some incredible pastors from some of the most dangerous areas in Guatemala City. The impoverished neighborhoods where they pastor are over-run by violence, turf wars, and heavy gang activity. These pastors are the humblest, most passionate, and hard working men we have ever had the privilege to know. They face danger every day as they go out into their communities to prayer walk and evangelize.Pastor E is one of the pastors who ministers in La Limonada. He suffers from stage four renal failure and receives dialysis treatments three times a week but that hasn’t slowed him down one bit. He and his wife hit the streets to pray for their city and have personally visited and taken the gospel to every single home in their community.As we prayed and ministered with them in their neighborhoods, we got to know their hearts and the struggles they face and the Lord is giving us the honor to minister and encourage them. We have had the opportunity to bless their ministries by providing school supplies, computers, school uniforms, and guitars for a small music school at one of the churches. We have also provided sewing machines and helped to start a sewing program for mothers of at-risk youth in La Limonada. We’ve sponsored youth retreats and provided the food for community outreaches. We are so honored to partner with them and their work for the Kingdom! The Lord is bringing unity among these churches and creating a brotherhood among the pastors!We had our first official volunteers meeting for the Center of Hope on Friday, February 22nd. About 55 people came to worship, pray, and plan for the opening of the center. These are the volunteers you have been praying and believing with us for and it has been awesome to see God’s faithfulness in providing laborers for the work in Guatemala! Glory to God! We had an incredible time of worship, shared about the vision, organized the volunteers and assigned coordinators for each group. The following weeks we met with each group to get to know them and plan the curriculum for the classes that they would be teaching.The Lord has blessed us with some incredible people. You can see the excitement on their faces and they are thanking us for giving them the opportunity to serve the Lord with us! This just blows us away. We are the ones who are grateful for their willingness to serve; we are the ones who are thankful for the “yes” in their hearts to transform Guatemala one youth at a time! We praise the Lord for such passionate, enthusiastic people that are giving us ideas and teaching us along the way. We have been emphasizing that Faith & Hope is a family and that this mission and these youths belong to them. They are the hands and feet of Jesus and they are ASOFE. They are pumped and can’t wait for opening day.Finally, as we get closer to the grand opening of Center of Hope, it has been such a joy to finally see the faces of the young men and women that we will have the privilege of serving. Being able to hug them and speak to them made it real. This dream is really happening and God is bringing it all together right before our eyes. We were wrecked by the hearts of these kids and we were able to see the small trees in fertile soil that God had been showing us. We got to love on them and share the vision that God gave us for the Center of Hope over McDonald’s burgers and ice cream, a rare treat that these guys were so grateful for. They are excited to begin their journey at the center of Hope and are encouraged by their pastors who are just as thrilled as we are to see God touch the lives of their youth.We are so honored to sow into the hearts of youth like Jeremy. Jeremy is only 14 years old, and yet he is mature beyond his years and full of zeal to transform Guatemala. His dream is to become a politician in Guatemala because he wants to influence his country for the better to care for kids living in poverty. Jeremy lives in one of the poorest, most dangerous “red zone” districts and yet he looks beyond his own difficult living condition and sees the needs of people who are even less fortunate than him. What an honor God gives us to help fulfill his dreams!

There are so many kids out there just like Jeremy that are waiting for someone to come alongside them to give them a chance to better their lives. This makes all of our sacrifices, struggles, and frustrations worth it.

In one of the NHO homes, four groups of kids lean in, sharing the story of a little lost bird. In the story, Baby Finds Grace, Baby is a fledgling canary who loses her home and family in a powerful, frightening storm. She is afraid and all alone. The children immediately connect with the little bird. It doesn’t take long for the tears to flow.Dr. Lyn Westman steps out with one tearful young child and sits with her and an interpreter on the swing. Sometimes it's just too painful to talk in a group. It's critical the facilitators recognize when vulnerable children need to be alone to share their pain.Lyn is a psychologist who has been working internationally since 1980. One of her goals is to see church and community workers trained in basic mental health and counseling skills. The program, Understanding People, Mental Health, and Trauma, is a scripturally sound seminar in basic counseling and mental health. In February, house parents and some NHO and SEAPC staff completed 40-hours of training through this program.“We’ve needed this for a long time,” says Tina Tomes. In a survey of house parents last year, they showed mental health and child safety training as their top priorities. With a focus on application rather than theory, participants learn how to help the child in front of them find healing.By the time the house parents lead the children’s workshop, they’ve practiced counseling with each other. They’ve done the same exercise the children are doing now. Many had wept quietly as things they held down for years surfaced and the Holy Spirit touched deep wounds.Lessons from the week are simple but deep. “Imagine this is my child,” says Lyn, holding up a small sponge. She dips it in water and speaks kindly. The sponge soaks up the pure, encouraging words and, when squeezed, pours out clear water. Then she adds coffee and dips the sponge again. This time the words are harsh, but the sponge-child soaks them up just the same. She squeezes, and the sponge pours out brown, dirty water.Everyone closes their eyes and thinks about their own childhood, the things they heard, and the effects of things spoken years ago. All of us have scripts or labels in our heads, placed early on, which play over and over through our lives. Those things may be true, or they may be lies. They may be healthy or harmful.Think about the labels kids in a children’s home might wear: orphaned, abandoned, problem child, unwanted, rejected. But what does God say? That they are sons and daughters, heirs, loved, chosen, accepted.The room becomes hushed. There are tears. The participants soon grasp a new reality; this week will affect them personally. There is a shift, a change in the atmosphere. More than a training seminar; this week will be life-changing.One participant said, “The training is like light coming into the darkness. We understand things we knew nothing about.”Back in the children’s workshop, groups discuss Baby's story. The children express their own stories through drawings and words. Emotions long locked up or hidden inside find their way out.It’s hard, but it’s part of healing. Sometimes we want so much for children to feel better, we rush them through grief and don’t allow them to go through the process. In a children’s home, it’s safe to assume every child has experienced great loss and pain. Even the older ones, who sat smiling through the story, find the tears come when they open up. But this is a safe place, and they are free to let the words and the tears come out. House parents will continue working through this story with the children for another six weeks. Relationships grow deeper with presence and connection.

Little by little, guided by the Holy Spirit, healing takes place.

For the last seven months, the students at the Central Christian Academy (CCA) in Houston, Pa. have been praying for the children from one of SEAPC’s partner children’s homes in Pailin, Cambodia.To make the prayers more personal, the kids at CCA were each given the name and a photo of the child for whom they were praying. Recently, I got to attend an event called “Arise and Shine” which brought this season of prayer to an exciting culmination for all of the children.Central Christian Academy hosted this special event in their chapel, complete with a live video feed from Pailin so that the kids from both Cambodia and the USA were able to communicate with each other in real time. Excitement radiated as the children realized that they were actually able to see and talk with each other. They had a worship time together, with the Cambodian kids singing a couple of songs in their native language, and then the American kids doing the same. Finally, they sang one praise song in a united tongue, as the Cambodian kids knew the lyrics in English! What a foretaste of what heaven may be like!Next, there was a time of questions and answers. Kids from both sides of the globe prepared questions in advance to ask each other. What was really neat was watching as, during the Q&A session, one of the American kids was able to speak directly with the child he had been faithfully praying for. The little boy’s face absolutely glowed as he pointed to the child he saw on the screen, and then jumped up and down as he held up the picture of that same child! The on-air portion of the Arise and Shine event concluded with a time of prayer as each group of kids (Cambodian and American) prayed for each other.Witnessing the live video feed portion of the Arise and Shine event was enough to get the tear ducts flowing, but what happened at the very end of the event truly hit the mark.Not only were the children praying, but they were also putting legs to their prayers – literally! As part of a fundraiser a few months back, the students of Central Christian Academy held a walk-a-thon. They decided to put a portion of the fundraiser proceeds toward buying school supplies and uniforms for the kids living at children’s homes in Cambodia. At the end of the Arise and Shine event, the kids excitedly presented this generous check to SEAPC.

It was wonderful to see firsthand how many impressionable young hearts were touched that day, but it is even more inspiring for me to think about all the future possibilities for the Kingdom of God that are being birthed by the power of prayer.

The summer of 1976 was hot and dry. Ellie was pregnant with Sam and we were fulfilling our call from the Lord to go to Guatemala. Ellie had taken maternity leave from the Fox Chapel Schools and I had completed my studies at the Western Pennsylvania Bible Institute. I had visited Guatemala on two short-term teams in response to an earthquake disaster and felt we were to move there and start our ministry to the nations. Several families from the church also felt they were to go, so we formed a happy band and drove from Oakmont to Guatemala City.We lived together in a big house in the center of Guatemala City and were referred to as the Guatemala Assistance Project by our home church, Oakmont Baptist Church.We worked for a church in Guatemala under the banner of CEMEC. People had come from many churches and ministries to help the devastated population. The earthquake had destroyed the roads, infrastructure and family units. It was very strong in the city, as though focused on the impoverished peasants.

We formed building teams and began to construct temporary housing. Four walls and a roof needed to be assembled for widows and orphans. There was a young man (18 years old) who knew the city well and would go out and vet the applicants before our crews would arrive to construct their shelter. It took us about 2 hours to assemble the shed-like structures. We pre-cut the wood in a factory donated by a church member. The trucks we drove were running all day hauling houses to building sites where short- term teams were ready to assemble. We worked six days a week from dawn to dusk for the need was great and the time short before the rains would begin.I liked this young man. He was happy and served with joy. We were brought together by his pastor and began to work together daily. I was 28 and ready to be a big brother. He was a rascal and very street-wise with a burning desire to help his people and to present Jesus to them. He spoke little if any English and I spoke no Spanish so we began to teach each other.“What is this?” We would say going through the tool bags and the lunches.“How do you say ‘How do you say’” was our most often used expression.We learned alphabet and read street signs and sang Christian songs. Piece by piece we began to understand each other and, with the Lord’s help, began to communicate.One day a short termer, Bill McConnell, came to me and asked if I had been to the young man’s house. I had not, but on a Sunday Bill had gone over to see how this kid lived. It was a hovel. Much worse than any place we had worked. He and his mother and two brothers and an invalid sister lived in a pile of wood with a dirt floor and drainage flowing in a trench through the midst of it. His mother would buy six chickens in the morning and then walk barefoot to the wealthy part of the city and sell her chickens. She walked miles each day. The hovel was up against a towering cliff and when it shook or rained, dirt would fall down on them. They were squatters on what had been the city garbage dump.He never asked us for anything. He served others all day to gain a meager wage. He suffered hardship. He never took anything from our home. Nothing was ever missing. And he smiled and praised the Lord with every breath.

He is Hector Zetino.