EXTRA
I was in prison and you came to visit me.
[Matthew 25:36]
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If you aren’t Ecuadorian, you might not appreciate this story. And if you’re very, very Ecuadorian, with no outsider’s perspective, you might not appreciate it, either. But I’ll try to explain it.
If you aren’t Ecuadorian, you might not appreciate this story. And if you’re very, very Ecuadorian, with no outsider’s perspective, you might not appreciate it, either. But I’ll try to explain it.
The Russian soccer league is on holiday. One of its employees — Felipe Caicedo, Ecuadorian goalscorer — is using his time off to play soccer in his homeland, for charity. (1) A week ago he played in a fundraiser in Esmeraldas. (2) More recently he’s been visiting prisoners in Guayaquil, bringing them food (5000 kg of rice, 280 chickens) and playing in their soccer tournament.
He explains how God called him to do this:
Mira, estaba en mi cama y recordé la Peni Champions, lo leí en el EXTRA y era como si Dios me decía lo que tenía que hacer, y me puse como meta venir hasta acá.
When Stephen read this to me, I laughed for five minutes.
Translation:
I was in bed and remembered [the prison soccer tournament]; I read about it in the EXTRA and it was as if God were telling me what to do. …
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EL DIARIO EXTRA is a tabloid, a purveyor of sex and graphic violence, infamous for its lurid photos and shocking headlines:
¡Pum! contra un camión
Con un arma mató a siete
¡Mató al entenado a “cuchillo limpio”!
Una piedra en el camino … ¡lo mató!
This is Ecuador all over: horror viewed with a certain innocence. It isn’t strange for a Christian to admit to reading this. EXTRA is our most popular newspaper.
Caicedo explains why he serves the prisoners:
Son personas que por cosas de la vida están acá y qué mejor de venir y poder estar unas horas y hacer que se olviden de sus problemas, y si eso sirve de algo gracias a Dios.
(“They’re people who, because of life’s circumstances, are here [in prison]. What could be better than to come and stay a few hours and distract them from their troubles? If this is useful, then thanks be to God.”)
“Life’s circumstances.” Ordinary disasters. Violent porn culled from daily life. One reads it for amusement, then hears the call of God and visits the local prison to comfort the broken.