Gratitude, by Doug Grady

Recently I went on my second trip to Wellington, AL. My church organized the trip to help out those whose lives were devastated by the storms that ravaged the southeast earlier this year. It is unlikely it would have been on my radar without my first ever mission trip. Today I reflected on the ripple effect from Ironmen in Ecuador.

“Gratitude can turn a meal into a feast.” -Melody Beattie

In June of 2010 I went to Ecuador for 8 days with 11 other men from my church. We built 9 homes in the slums of Guayaquil. One of the things that impressed me most about the homeless families that we met was the sheer joy they exuded. Especially the children. They were happy, truly happy- just running around laughing and kicking a half-deflated soccer ball. I had more money in my pocket than most of these families would see in months. How could they be so happy with so little? How could I be so frustrated and stressed with so much? When things are tough for me I may wonder where my next speaking engagement is coming from. On a good day they may wonder where their next meal is coming from.

Boli Alfaro was one of our leaders. He also happens to be the great grandson of Eloy Alfaro, President of Ecuador from 1895 to 1901 and 1906 to 1911. He posed a couple of questions before giving thanks for our evening meal. Why were we born with so many advantages? Why were they born into such severe poverty with so little chance of ever getting out?

Boli Alfaro, Great Grandson of Eloy Alfaro (President of Ecuador 1895-1901, 1906-1911)

“Why them and not me?” -Boli Alfaro

Why them and not me? How did I get so lucky? It certainly was through no power of my own. Everything I am or ever hope to be was given to me. The country I live in, the family I was born into, the education I received, my strengths, talents and potential... these are God-given gifts. Of course I have the power to choose, but this too is a gift. The sheer magnitude of choices I have simply does not exist for the people we served in Ecuador.

We have been given talents and complain about our faults. We make progress, and remain cynical. We have breakthroughs and continue to be bitter. OK, maybe it's just me.

"Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God." -Leo Buscaglia

Another man shared with me his initial reluctance to participate in this mission trip. His reasoning was that with so many problems in our own country, why go to another to serve? I could relate to his logic. Then I looked at my life. I never did much of anything to serve in my own back yard. It took a mission trip in another country for me to become grateful for what I have at home. It took going to Ecuador to get me to Wellington, AL.

Help us give back Thursday, December 1st 

Start your 30-day trial membership for just $1

note from Doug: I will be returning to Guayaquil June 21-28, 2012 and welcome your prayers and financial contributions. To help out simply click the link below, scroll down to the Ecuador trip, and include my name. Donate $25 or more and I will send you a copy of my book, The Ripple Effect, as a thank you.

Donate to Guayaquil, Ecuador mission trip

Ironmen in Ecuador

“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”  -Proverbs 27:17

Ironmen meet at Peachtree Presbyterian Church every Tuesday morning from 7-8am to teach and discuss ideas and strategies on being better men. From June 11-18, twelve of us went to Guayaquil, Ecuador to build nine homes for the poorest of the poor in conjunction with Hogar de Cristo. This is the fourth year for this trip, it was my first.

Day 1: We arrived in Guayaquil, Ecuador late Friday night after a 5+ hour flight. Half of us had been bumped up to first class, so we weren’t exactly roughing it. I contemplated the irony of our good fortune contrasted with our mission of helping the poorest of the poor. Our accommodations: a serene Catholic retreat center called Schoenstatt Casa de Retiro. We settled in for a big day ahead of us.

Day 2: Saturday morning, after grabbing supplies at the local hardware store, all twelve of us went to the first building site. I have never seen poverty like this first hand. It gave me new understanding of the term “dirt poor.” With the help of our “maestros”, Ivan and Gato, we completed the building of our first Hogar de Cristo home by 4:30pm. What impressed me most the first day was the smiles and laughter of the children in the neighborhood. We seemed to be the local entertainment for the day. We were a bit overmanned at times, and I was able to break off and visit with some of the local children. While language was a bit of a barrier (mi espanol no es muy bueno), we found some common ground in the King of Pop. Yes, Michael Jackson has fans in the slums of Ecuador. The MJ dance off was one of the many highlights of the day. Seeing a mother and her five children smiling on the steps of their newly built home topped them all.

Day 3: On our second day of building we broke off into two teams. Chuck Roberts lead our team and Gato was our chosen maestro. We traveled to a very remote area in the outskirts of Guayaquil to build for an older woman- the sole caretaker of a young boy with Down’s syndrome. She had taken him in when nobody else wanted him. To the side of the building area there was a mattress, a small grill, and a bag of clothing. I was told later that this was 100% of the possessions of this woman and child. By 3:30pm they were smiling on the steps of their new home.

Day 4: We built homes #4 and 5 today. This property seemed a bit more “upscale” comparatively- it was fenced off, across from a school, with a bunch of chickens and a couple of dogs running around. We had a bit of a competition going with the other team to see who could complete the build faster, (we lost this one). We were blessed with clouds sheltering us from the hot Ecuadorian sun and all in all it was a pleasant day of work and mixing with locals. By 3pm a mother and her five children were moving in.

Day 5: Today we toured the Hogar de Cristo facilities. Hogar de Cristo’s mission is to help the “poorest of the poor,” mostly women and children, many of whom suffer from severe hunger, malnutrition, and abuse. In addition to building on average 50 houses per day for the homeless, HDC is producing and distributing soy milk to children in schools, resulting last year in a 20% reduction in the number of children with severe anemia. Luis Tavara, director of HDC, told us the reason he enjoyed working with the Ironmen group every year was because of our smiles. He said our smiles convey hope and possibility to the people we meet in the slums of Ecuador. I thought to myself how great it was seeing the families we met smile and made a commitment to smile more.

Day 6: Built homes #6 and 7. Another “typical” situation- we built for a single mother with five children from several different fathers, none of whom were around. I really enjoyed the kids, especially Esteban. He was a little firecracker- laughing, running around, constantly babbling (although I have no idea what he was talking about) and just having a great time. Apparently no one told him he was poor and he must’ve forgotten that he was hungry. He was just a kid being a kid- a happy kid. Early in the trip Chuck asked us to be aware of where we see God. I see Him in the children. I see Him in their enthusiasm. I see Him in their smiles. I was reminded of that old song… “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red or yellow black or white, they’re all precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.”

Day 7: Each of the two teams completed our final builds today (#’s 8 and 9). I am present to a bit of sadness and a lot of gratitude. More than one out of ten people in Ecuador are homeless. Guayaquil has the 3^rd highest percentage of homeless people of any major city in the world. They are born into it and the vast majority will be in it the rest of their lives. We put 9 of these homeless families into homes, and I grateful to have been a part of it. I am grateful for the men who made this trip happen. I am grateful for my family and friends who supported me in participating. I am grateful for the many blessings in my life. I am grateful to have served. I am grateful for the many smiles of the men, women and children we met along the way.

Day 8: Today we say “hasta la vista” to Guayaquil, Ecuador. I am having a hard time coming up with the proper adjective to describe this experience. It has been humbling, enlightening, beautiful, exhausting, extraordinary, saddening, uplifting...

The #s: 8 days in Guayaquil, 9 houses built, 9 families have homes, 12 men forever changed, at least 1 of them will be smiling more often...

Start your membership

member login

buy The Ripple Effect book