Whitefield Academy Ecuador Mission Team

Day 4 (June 12): First Day of Teaching!

Today was, as the title suggests, our first day of teaching (yahoo!). Some of the different grades welcomed us in the kitchen (we could not be outside on the patio due to rain) with songs and blessings from the kids. Afterwards we jumped right into teaching. Since I was in the office helping Pancho with some work, I was not in the classrooms as much, so here are some words from the students themselves: 

Bailey: “Thankfully we are all over prepared. You never really know what to expect but thankfully this week started out in a really amazing way.”

Ellie: “I was surprised by the connection you can have with people without using words.”

Chase: “Teaching is hard.”

William: “Interactive activities are the bomb. Making kids do the work is the way to go.”

Grayson: “It was hug after hug from Annie’s and my little nuggets.”

Austin: “I had to do labor. And my back hurts because of it.” (in reference to the construction)

William: “I get knocked down. But I get up again.”

Anonymous: “Love transcends all languages.” 

Natalie: “The language barrier is not as big of an issue as you would think. As long as you’re active and engaging the kids will love whatever you’re doing.”

Maddie: “Today was actually really hard. I had to throw all of my plans out the window because they were not at the level of English I had planned for, but we managed to work it out, and I think the students enjoyed it.”

Katie: “Our class threw five paper airplanes off the roof.”

Temi: “We lost five airplanes in a class of seven people—but then we made more so it was okay.”

Jolie: “Third grade was difficult, that’s for sure. Apparently, they don’t like coloring much.”

Maggie: “Even though it was sometimes difficult to understand the kids with the language barrier, it was so rewarding to see the joy on their faces while we played the games we had planned for them.”

Annie: “I lifted a great amount of cinder blocks.”

Dani: “I proved the guys wrong by lifting the 50kg bag of cement.”

Jonathan: “How do they have the ball?!” (He couldn’t figure out the mind game on the bus for a good long while)

Evan: “You want a pop tart?”

Matthew: “Being with kids so grateful made me really humble about how much I have and how much I don’t deserve it.”

Lucy: “Never wear white shoes to a construction site.”

Matthew: “I’ve had enough people talk for one day.” 

Anna: “I thought it was really sweet to see how grateful the kids were for everything especially when I pulled out a pack of markers.”

Dre: “You gotta enjoy the little things.” 

Christian: “I know more Spanish than I thought and less Spanish than is necessary.” 

Stephen: “zzzzz” (Snugs was sleeping when I asked for quotes)

So while this is a mixed bag of quotes, the students are overall positive and willing to try again tomorrow and to work hard. Many of them prayed tonight that they would be able to reach the kids at the school with their spiritual messages (based on verses and themes they’ve chosen to teach each class) even if they cannot communicate easily with them. 

After lunch we went to the construction site where we will be building walls for the new school building all week in the afternoons. We mixed cement, carried cement blocks, and used both to build half of three separate walls. It rained while we were building, but luckily there was a roof to cover us, which was especially fortunate when it started hailing. Luckily Katie had a speaker, so we were able to sing and dance to some oldie music while we worked (think Jackson 5, Hall and Oates, Beegees, “Footloose,” “Beverly Hills,” etc). We did hard work and accomplished a lot, which is a huge help because the building is taking longer to complete than Pancho and Pity originally anticipated. The last group to come down and serve with Amor y Esperanza completed 12 walls! We shall see how many we can get done!

We played mind games (riddle games) in the bus and while waiting on dinner, so everyone’s minds are bent and sharpened. Jonathan and Dani are a little worn out however…it took them a long while to figure out the game.  

Pancho and Pity led another devotional this evening on how our heart can be like a GPS—sometimes we go the wrong way and have to “recalculate” and refocus on God to get back to the right path. We talked about how Jesus was calm, patient, and in control in the story of Jairus whose daughter was dying and the woman who had been bleeding for many years in Mark 5:21-43. Jesus was not in a hurry, asked Jairus to trust him, took the time to stop on his way to heal the dying daughter in order to heal and forgive the woman who was bleeding, and then raised Jairus’s daughter from the dead. They encouraged us to recalculate when we think that things are going wrong because everything has a purpose.

We prayed for each other and shared with each other prayer requests and our experiences from the weekend and day in smaller groups (our animal groups that help us keep track of everyone: Tortugas, Llamas, Squirrel Monkeys, and Jaguars). It was beautiful to see and hear the students’ hearts in the form of their prayers. We had more time this afternoon and evening to hang out with each other, to make music, play games, and laugh—much needed after a hard day’s work.  

Cheers, peace, and grace to you all, 

Alice