Harold, a middle-aged Go Trip participant from Sweden, was walking along the streets of Santigo, Chile—a heavy stack of colourful Esperanza magazines tucked inside his leather briefcase.

As he approached the city shoreline, he spotted a man sitting on a bench. He sat down and humbly introduced himself. 

As Harold reached out and shook the small hand of his new friend, he couldn't help but notice how it trembled. And as he looked into the man's eyes, he saw they were bloodshot. That was when he discovered Hector had struggled with addiction while suffering years of chronic pain after a severe car accident.

Harold began to pray for Hector, and it wasn't long before they were both wiping away tears from their eyes. After a pause, Harold asked if they should continue to pray together.

Hector replied, “No, you must be too busy.”

Harold quickly corrected him, "God is never too busy for you, and neither am I! "

Before he parted, Harold wrote down an address and pointed Hector in the direction of the local church the GO Team had been partnering with. Harold described the church as a place where people make time for each other, and intentionally care for one another, as Christ does.

Hector smiled, “Tomorrow I will go there! ”

Later that week, Harold reflected on the experience explaining, “that’s what Jesus would have done had He been in Santiago. And I think it was a blessing to both Hector and myself. One strength of this method is that when we leave Chile in a few days, we depart with a secure feeling that the church will continue to take care of Hector. We leave knowing that what was planted here will continue with the local churches. I think that’s a wonderful way of working."