In the winter of 2000, Oscar Aguirre, a young Ecuadorian businessman, was leaving church and saw 12-year-old Juan Alpapucho approach him. Juan was a shoe-shine boy, one of Quito’s many, hands stained with polish, faces eagerly petitioning to clean shoes for a quarter – often the only means they have of surviving, many homeless. The beggars at the gate of the church had started to weigh on Oscar’s mind. But as he waited for his shoes to be shined, he suddenly thought, “Lord, here I am, a 33-year-old man, with a master’s degree and my own company, but what’s more a Christian, and here is this little boy cleaning my feet.” And he was ashamed. He asked Juan when he’d last eaten, and the big eyes were round as he replied that he’d had no lunch yet, nor breakfast. So Oscar, despite his schedule, asked Juan to walk with him to the nearby bakery. Juan first refused to enter, saying the clerk would chase him out as street children aren’t allowed to enter the shop, but they walked in together and for fifty cents, Juan had lunch. The next Sunday, Oscar brought him a children’s Bible, and Juan brought three more hungry children. As they got their bread, one of them prayed for Oscar and thanked God for his kindness in buying them bread, and something happened in Oscar’s heart. He approached the English Fellowship Church board, asking for help in starting a feeding program for the area’s poorest on Sunday mornings. He was given time in the pulpit to ask for volunteers. And Pan de Vida, the Bread of Life ministry, was born.

Ten people from different business and missionary backgrounds heard the request from the pulpit. They knew God was showing them the way to answer the ministry need they’d felt to have a more direct means of meeting the needs of those around them, and the hunger and hopelessness of Quito’s poor.

The enthusiastic group had several planning meetings to define what they wanted to do and how. David Tippett, an HCJB World Radio accountant at Hospital-Vozandes Quito at the time, was very instrumental in gaining information from relief groups such as Samaritan’s Purse and The Mustard Seed in the United States and Canada, to give the ministry the basic support. At the same time a large group of committed volunteers here in Quito was gathered together and on February the 4th, 2001, Pan De Vida had its first meeting in David’s driveway. There were less than twenty people attending to it. The menu was scrambled eggs with ham, rice, a banana, a piece of bread and a glass of milk. They sang some hymns and share a short Bible message.

Nowadays, they serve more than twelve hundred meals per month and have reached as many as one hundred and eighty in a single meeting. Many activities have been added to the core program and other people and organizations have joined to make Pan de Vida what it is today.

There have been many challenges along the way, however, God continues to open doors, and funds continue to be given and pledged. But more importantly, a number have given their hearts to the Lord, receiving the eternal Bread of Life.