(photo: Jose in yellow. Cecilia (one of our translators) on the far right. And girls who sang for us on our bus. I bought dolls for my girls from them. Plus their baby brother on the oldest sister's back.)Jose was our bus driver. But he was so much more than that. He navigated us safely through narrow winding roads. He jumped in to help wherever he saw a need, without being asked. He was an encouragement to our team. If I could put a face to the phrase "Christian service" it would be Jose's.
When we were at restaurants, he helped the wait staff serve our group (because we were a pretty large party, and that can sometimes fluster waiters/waitresses. Trust me. I remember these things.). When we were on the road, he was a comfort to us with his calm manner while driving (to most of us Americans, they drove in a somewhat crazy fashion). When we were at a hotel with no elevator, he would take the heaviest suitcases up the 3 flights of stairs for the ladies in the group. When we were playing with the kids at VBS, he jumped in to play too (and helped us out. Because the American team only had 2 adults and 1 kid who knew anything at all about how to play soccer.). When we were talking to people in the villages...if they were working (harvesting potatoes, or cleaning) he came alongside them and worked with them. When we were sharing the Gospel, he helped us translate and told people his "story."
It was impressive.
It was encouraging.
It was humbling.
I'm not sure how old Jose is, I would guess somewhere between late-30s and mid-40s. His oldest child (who joined us on the trip) was 10.
He showed our group what the phrase love in action meant and I wanted you to "meet" him.
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