I (Jody) have fallen two or three times a year here in Quito, mostly walking to or from work. As closely as I watch the sidewalk, I still manage to trip over some unnoticed obstacle. Usually I stumble, fall forward, and skin my hands and knees.

But ten days ago, instead of a forward-motion fall, I had a face-plant fall. My nose and my chest hit the ground hard.

I managed to crawl to some nearby steps and huddle there, trying to recover. My chest hurt enough that I found myself sobbing. This is not good, I thought. I was about 15 minutes into the 25-minute walk to work. Should I call Scott to come get me? But I wasn’t sure I could talk clearly. I felt very alone. I just sat for a few minutes, hoping I would stop crying and be able to function again.

People passed without noticing me. Then an angel named Elisabeth stopped to ask if I was o.k. It was hard to talk, but I told her I had fallen hard but would be o.k. Then I sobbed some more (poor lady). She felt my hands and said, “They’re cold.” She asked me where I lived but I told her I was going to work. She waited patiently for a few minutes. Then she flagged down a taxi, got me into it, and rode with me to work.

She told me she was a Christian and the name of her church. I told her the name of ours. She walked me to our compound’s gate and I told her I’d be fine from there. I told her she was an angel and thanked her sincerely.

I went to Scott’s office and cried some more (poor guy). Then he helped me clean the blood off my face and I went to work for a few hours.

I’m slowly recovering from banged-up ribs, and very thankful my injuries aren’t worse. But the most important thing is that I wasn’t alone, despite how I felt. God was with me, and He sent a Good Samaritan to help me.