Food fills the stomach. But presence fills something deeper.

Every month in Ecuador, Open Soul Foundation's mission reaches over 1,000 individuals through faithful, hands-on outreach led by Chris and Cindy Parkhurst and a dedicated team of local volunteers. The food distributions are well known and ongoing. But this February, we want to share a side of the mission that numbers alone cannot capture: what happens when volunteers stay.

More Than a Delivery

It would be easy to drop off rice, beans, and oil and move on to the next stop. There are, after all, over a thousand people to reach. But that is not how this mission works. Chris, Cindy, and their team do not simply deliver meals. They linger. They sit with people. They ask how someone is doing and wait for the real answer.

In many of the communities Open Soul serves in Ecuador, people are not only hungry for food. They are hungry to be known. To have someone look them in the eye and say, "Tell me what is on your heart." For elderly individuals living alone, for single mothers stretched to their limits, for families navigating poverty with no safety net, the simple act of someone sitting beside them and praying with them can be the most meaningful thing that happens in their week.

Prayer as Presence

Prayer is woven into every visit. It is not an afterthought tacked onto a food delivery. It is central to the encounter. Volunteers pray with individuals over health concerns, family struggles, financial hardship, and grief. They pray over children. They pray with people who have not been prayed for in years.

For some, this is their first encounter with someone who believes God sees them personally. The good news is not delivered as a sermon. It is delivered as a conversation, often through tears, often through laughter, always through relationship.

A Ministry Rooted in Relationship

This mission began five years ago through the generous efforts of St. Spyridon Church in Loveland, Colorado, and has grown into a sustained, community-driven outreach powered by local volunteers who sort, pack, and prepare every delivery with care. But what sets this work apart is not logistics. It is love. The kind that stays after the bags have been handed over. The kind that remembers names, asks about a sick child from last month, and shows up again the following week.

Open Soul Foundation is honored to sustain this work and to support the people on the ground who make it possible. Chris and Cindy Parkhurst continue to model what it looks like to serve with both full hands and a full heart.

Open Soul Foundation was here.

"The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18