Tuesday Night In Ecuador
Dinner with the Casa Gabriel boys is the joyful, jostling, noisy, laughter-filled time you'd expect when seven teenage boys come over for dinner. Phil and Debbie, who have been deeply invested in the boys for over a decade, running the Casa G ministry, host the dinner every Tuesday night. Many of the boys affectionately call them Mom and Dad, returning Debbie's sweet smile and wrestling laughingly with Phil.
Plates were passed, grace was said over the meal, and the eating and conversation began. Voices rose in playful teasing and elbows bumped and pushed around the table that was happily full. Glasses were refilled, food was enjoyed and devoured, before plates were cleared and taken to the kitchen. Afterwards, the boys all gathered in the living room and a visitor, a girl named Izzy from the UK who was spending her gap year working at another local ministry, told her testimony. Though she knew some Spanish, Izzy preferred to speak in English with Phil translating. Her story of redemption - how God had taken a firm atheist whose life boasted incredible pain and had filled her heart with love for Him and a longing to serve Him - was incredible. The boys listened attentively. A few even clapped when she finished.
Next was game time. A card table was set up and Izzy and I gathered around along with several of the boys and were dealt into a rambunctious game of Uno. Some of the boys had different ideas about the rules than others, and passionate debates in rapid Spanish ensued. Phil pulled out a few snacks which the boys could take as a prize when they won a game. Cards were tossed and slapped onto the table good naturedly, and delighted was the boy who shouted "Uno!" before anyone else. The victor waved his bag of chips of bottle of chocolate milk proudly, while the other boys laughed and reshuffled the cards for a new game.
When it was time to go, each boy slapped hands in a manly shake, and leaned over to us girls for the traditional quick hug and kiss on the cheek. There is a loyalty and a love which one can sense between the boys and between them and Phil and Debbie. It was more than camaraderie: they have come from difficult, painful pasts, from a life on the streets, and have found a place to belong that is good, a place that is helping them move forward with their lives in a healthy way. They have been shown Christ's love and it means something real and tangible to them. Dinner on Tuesdays isn't just another meal. It's a place they belong. It is family.
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