Watching Stories Unfold

Once I met an older gentleman who told me his hobby was People-watching. He would sit in the busy mall and watch people interact, busy moms shop, girlfriends gather and gossip, other men wait patiently or not so patiently for their wives, little children play and run away from their parents and lovers hold hands having nothing to do and no where to go but enjoying the presence of each other. Why does he love to watch people? Because behind each person is a story and as he watches the interactions, his imagination wonders to what lies behind the smile, the face, the person. What is their story?

“What is your story?” is a very interesting question to ask the girls at the Ecuador Hope House, we hear crazy things like how they learn to climb to the tops of tall palm trees to collect the grub worms for their pregnant moms who love to eat them as if they were chocolate for “gringos” or how they fight against the boa who lives at the base of the waterfall down the river. Or about when they walked for four days through the jungle to visit their grandpa who is known to be a powerful witch doctor only to find that he couldn’t cure her baby sisters illness. The stories are wild and some feel as if they would only be read in a fairy tale but then there are the hard stories that make that question nearly unbearable to ask.

At times, I believe our society has gotten real good at not asking the question “What is your story?” because we live in an Instagram world that allows us to filter the truth and only post what sells. Maybe it would do us a little good to look past the filter and into the truth of what lies behind the smile, behind the face, into the story. 

As we look deep into the stories of each girl that passes through our doors one thing is true that we have found, their story is not over and their story has a beautiful future! 

I’m so blessed to have had the opportunity to serve at the Ecuador Hope House for over 14 years and watch so many girls find healing in their story and hope to their future through a Savior that brings restoration and love in a way that only he can do.

You are part of the story too! Through financial monthly support and daily prayers, you are making a difference and adding hope to each girl that comes through the doors. 

Thank you for being part of our beautiful story! 

-Leah Ash Marbut