Finding Genuine Connection: Gabriel Garcia’s Journey in Ecuador
Episode 1 | 15 Minutes | Jul 18, 2024
In this podcast episode, Sofi interviews Gabe, a college student who went on a short-term team trip to Ecuador. Gabe shares his experiences and the impact the trip had on his life. They discuss the close relationships formed with the team members and the local community, the cultural differences they encountered, and the lessons learned about love and purpose. Gabe also talks about the importance of preparation and the role of spirituality in cross-cultural service. He expresses his desire to continue serving and connecting with people from different cultures in the future.
In this Episode:
The impact of short-term mission trips on personal faith and growth.
How to effectively prepare for a mission trip, from spiritual readiness to team dynamics.
Insights into Ecuadorian culture and the valuable lessons learned from a small village community.
Practical advice for future mission trip participants on maximizing their experience and contribution.
The importance of building meaningful connections and how they can transform your perspective.
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Gabe Gabriel Garcia is a passionate youth leader and first-year student at Gordon College in Massachusetts, majoring in Christian ministry with a pastoral concentration. With four years of experience in youth leadership at his church, Gabe is dedicated to fostering meaningful connections and sharing the love of God. His impactful short-term mission trip to Shandia, Ecuador, highlighted his commitment to cross-cultural service and deepened his understanding of love and community.
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Hello, everyone. My name is Sofi. I work with the mobilization department and we recruit and coach people who serve with One Collective, just walking them through their journey and helping them discern their process before they go on to a short-term team. So we're starting a brand new podcast with One Collective, where we interview people who went on a short-term team trip. And today we are here with Gabe, who went on a short-term team trip, and we're going to hear a little bit about his trip.
Meet Gabe: A Passionate Youth Leader
So hi, Gabe, tell us a little bit about yourself.
Hi, nice to meet you. Um, well, my name is Gabe Gabriel Garcia. I'm a college student at Gordon College in Massachusetts. Um, first year freshman, excited, passionate. Um, I am really passionate about youth. I've been a youth leader at my church for the past four years. A little bit about myself, I'm here majoring in Christian ministry with a pastoral concentration on track to get my master's in divinity at some point. But that's where God has taken me and that's where I'm trying to go.
Amazing. I love it. That's awesome.
Gabe's Short-Term Mission Trip to Ecuador
So tell me a little bit about the trip that you went on, where, and when did you go and who'd you go with?
Of course, yeah. We went to Ecuador, to a small village called Shandia. And that is close to a city called Tena. But the village of Shandia has a population of around 350 people. So really small, really close tight-knit community. Um, we went with a team of 13 of us. Um, 8 girls, 3 guys and 2 leaders. So we were also kind of a very close team together, which was a unique aspect and I believe it helped us a lot when we were over there.
Yeah, that's so cool.
Building Bonds and Impactful Moments
Um, are you close with the people you went with now? Like, uh, do you guys, obviously you guys really bonded over the trip?
We are super close now. We have regular hangouts every week. We study together a lot, even though we have different classes all over campus. Some of them are seniors, juniors, sophomores, from every grade. And we still find time to get together to talk about our experiences and really still process what we went through and what we learned because it was super impactful for us.
Yeah, that's amazing. I'm sure it was a really impactful trip. Um, what was one of your favorite moments from the trip specifically?
One of my favorite moments was watching my friend Luke being climbed on by three children. They were all trying to get on top of his shoulders and they were fighting, just trying to climb on top of him. But that was my favorite moment because it really shows how connected we got with the children over the short time that we were there.
Yeah, no, for sure. I love it. Kids can be crazy, but that's amazing. Um, my next question is, how has God been at work since this trip in your life or as a result of this experience?
God has worked so marvelously in my life since this experience. It's crazy to even be able to describe it because the effect that it had on me was life-changing and It seems like such a short time but what I learned and what was kind of deeply rooted out of me was an aspect of love and connection showing through those children. For a lot of time in my life, um kind of felt separated from God and I felt like I had to do these things. I kind of felt like I had to give out love, even though I didn't feel like there was much to love about. But when I went to Ecuador and spent time with all the children there and how they just poured out love, despite their circumstances and despite everything that they were facing, their basic necessities being threatened every day, it was amazing and it was God-given. That love, that love can't just come from nowhere. The love that those children showed, the smiles that they showed every day, how they didn't judge us, no matter what we said or what we did, how they were open arms to us, how they wanted to connect. It was amazing. And it really showed me where specifically the children showed me what it means to love, even when we feel like there's nothing to love.
Yeah, no, that's amazing. That's awesome. That's a really cool perspective and definitely a strong takeaway for sure. One thing that stuck out is you said that, um, they didn't judge you for anything you did or you said, obviously you went into a culture that was very new. Um, it is unlike the Western, you know, United States culture.
Cultural Insights and Lessons Learned
And so I wanted to talk a little bit about that. What were three new things you experienced from the culture there?
I experienced a sense of danger that was different. So all the children there, their sense of danger is so different. Like they would climb basketball hoops, trees, pipes, anywhere, and they would just hang from them. And I'm like, get down, get down. You're going to hurt yourself. And our team leader would be like, Oh, they're fine. Don't worry about them. Also, how curious they were about every single little thing, how they would just grab fruits that they knew were good and delicious. And they would share them with us. Or how they would play soccer, run on top of rocks without shoes, or how they would get water from these little pipes that were blocked by a stick and a little rag. That's how they stop their water from running and how they also got water to put in their little cups. And I was truly amazed to understand how different their lives are, how emotionally intelligent each one of the children was, how they would understand different concepts, understand what we were talking about, share their personal stories that were anywhere from tragic to typical kid stories, even though they're not typical kids according to our standards at all.
Yeah, no, that's cool. Yeah, it sounds like, uh, you learned more from them than they learned from you sometimes and that stuff. Yeah, tell me more about that.
It really taught me most of all what it meant to be a child, what it meant to be that person that's growing and learning and still facilitating life in the village because they go and they help their parents, they help their teachers, they help each other. And when we were doing work projects specifically on the church, breaking the concrete to be able to put down a new floor of concrete, um, they wanted to pick up the shovel and do it with us. They wanted to pick up the metal bar and break the concrete. They wanted to dig up the garden with us to be able to make it new, paint the door, just to help with everything. They wanted to experience something new. They had that curiosity and that passion inside of them and I feel like that's something that in our Western culture can be forgotten quite easily.
Yeah, no, for sure. Absolutely. Yeah, I think that's, that's huge. And again, a very powerful takeaway.
Advice for Future Missionaries
Um, and so moving forward, like as you have processed your trip and understood the process before you went, and then when you were actually there in the field, um, thinking to other people who are thinking about getting involved, what advice would you have for someone who has signed up for a short-term team trip?
The advice I would give is preparation is the biggest part of your trip. Even though it might seem like a little part, the preparation really helped us as a team collectively here at Gordon to be able to understand each other's strengths, each other's faults, who we were trying to put to kind of lead this section or lead another section, who was better one-on-one with children, who was better in a group setting, and all that came with a preparation centered on God. To be able to be in communion with God and with each other. We had to put God at the center of our meetings. We met every Monday at 6 p.m. and we had to put God at the center because he was the only one who was going to be able to guide our preparation to be able to make every minute of our stay over there count and matter. I mean, we wanted nothing more than to connect with these children and show them love that they may typically get or not get depending on their situation, but specifically we wanted to show them the love of God. And how can we show them the love of God without including God, right?
Yeah, for sure. Absolutely.
We would pray together, we would engage in devotionals together, we would fast together, trying to truly understand the purpose of why we were going there, when we were going there, or where specifically we were going, because a lot of us it was our first time. We really wanted to just make sure that every minute we were there, we were truly putting in our every effort, and that preparation was what really helped us.
Yeah. No, for sure. I'm glad you highlighted preparation for sure. That's definitely something that we always want to focus on, um, because you have to prepare for such a big trip. Um, and you kind of touched on this with, um, the spiritual aspect, but beyond that, what other things would you recommend for how someone should prepare for a trip like this?
A lot of preparation, I guess, just to bring that word back, um, for the advice is really looking at yourself. Looking at yourself, what you have, what baggage you're bringing, and understanding that these children and these people, they know about God. They've heard about the word. There's lots of mission trips that go there every single year. And that was told to us, that when we go, not to treat them like they were children, but to treat them like, as we would treat any of our peers. To be able to understand that we are going there to facilitate a relationship, and we are going there to grow and build and show our character, that 90 percent of our job, or 90 percent of the experience, was us just showing up. And then the other 10 percent would be done by God and the connections and the seeds that were planted. So advice would be looking at yourself. Advice would be making a strong plan for your connection with God. Because as you're over there, you're gonna feel tired. You're gonna feel maybe isolated. You're gonna feel maybe different. But when you have that strong plan of God for support, for love, for filling you up with energy for the next workday, that is really the biggest piece of advice that I could give.
Yeah, for sure. That's awesome. Yeah, I love that.
Meaningful Relationships and Future Plans
Um, you have consistently talked about the relationships you built over this trip, and I'm curious, what was one relationship that meant the most to you, whether it was with a leader, or one of the kids there, or someone else in Ecuador, what was a relationship that you really felt was super meaningful to you?
That's a great question. The most meaningful relationship I feel like I was able to help build was one with a youth named Jimmy. Jimmy is one of the pillars of the community. He's a ray of sunshine every time he walks into a room. All of the kids love him. Everyone loves to talk with him. He's funny. He's kind. But when we got to really talk together, he asked me, what is my purpose in life?
Yeah.
And we got into a really deep conversation where to summarize a little bit what I was able to tell him that I myself have not found my purpose. The only thing I know is that my purpose is within the Bible. And I told him that when he wants to find his purpose, his true purpose, aside from our general purpose of spreading the gospel to everywhere we go, his true purpose will be found in the Bible and within the life of Jesus and his connection with God.
That was extremely meaningful.
For sure, it's a really deep personal question, but I think obviously it had some great impact and produced some great fruit from that conversation. That's amazing. Um, I love that. So the last question we have for you is what will cross-cultural service look like for you now that you've gone on this trip? Um, are you thinking about getting more involved? What will cross-cultural service look like for you in the future?
It will look like understanding the community behind the people who come behind the people who immigrate to the United States. Um, I work a lot with immigrants just in my church and we have a lot of services where we are able to meet these people because they've heard about our church, about the help that we're able to give to get them papers, to be able to get them jobs, and really understanding where they're coming from, what they've been through, their experiences as children. That is an immeasurable and valuable tool. I mean, just for cross-cultural ministry, but just to help people in general. And it looks like being more conscious of what I say, of what I interpret or what I reveal to other people, because my voice and my experience will influence others. There will come a time where I have to use what I've learned about these people, about cross-cultural ministries, about what it means to be from a different country and then come help them or from other people to come from their countries to search for a better life. Because when we say they search for a better life, I mean better life from what we hear better life, but not a lot of us take the time to really understand what they're coming from. And I want to go deeper. I want to go back to Ecuador. I want to go back to the village and spend more time with them. And I want to really grow a ministry where we're able to effectively connect with the people who need help, who have been through this, without that, you know, that superficial level of, Oh, you're an immigrant and I'm here.
That's a beautiful answer. Well done. Yes, that's awesome. I think that is a really, really important takeaway as I've continued to say over this interview, but I think you're really taking this trip to heart and seeing how it can influence your ministry in the future and in the now. And I think that's beautiful and I think that's great.
Conclusion and Final Thoughts
That was our last question. I've loved learning about your trip, and I've loved learning how God has worked through it. So thank you so much for answering my questions and joining us. I absolutely loved hearing your story and hearing about your trip, and I think this will really benefit future short-term team workers. Ultimately, this is overall a great testimony to God's work through you and how he is working in the world. So thank you so much for joining us. I hope you have a lovely rest of your day and we will talk to you another person soon. Bye.