This morning the team woke up feeling refreshed from a peaceful devotional the night before. It is amazing how strong God’s love feels amongst the mountains of Quito. We started our day with a hardy breakfast of bacon, egg, and cheese bagels (or parfaits for our gluten-free friends). After breakfast, the whole team loaded on the bus to begin our first day on the trip at Amor y Esperanza.
When we arrived at the school, we were quickly ushered out to the patio across the street from the main school building where the students play. There, all the students of the school greeted their new teachers for the week with smiles and songs of praise.
After the morning assembly, each teaching group split into their assigned classrooms. When Grayce and I walked into our Pre-k room, we were immediately greeted by hugs from some of the little ones and timid smiles by the others. Our class’s theme for this week is “God’s Creation,” so today we learned about nature by finger painting trees and sculpting our favorite animals out of playdough. Trying to communicate with the students and the teachers was a humbling experience that served as a good reminder of the work that will be necessary to make a lasting connection with the children this week. Nevertheless, the Pre-k class was very understanding of our broken Spanish, and continued to be our friends even once it became clear to them that we had no idea what they were saying.
At 12:30, we met in the kitchen for a delicious lunch of homemade burritos, beans and rice. After we were fully nourished for the workday still ahead of us, we again loaded the bus and made our way to the construction site. Nearly every returning member of the team’s jaw dropped when we arrived at the construction site. What had just six months ago been a barebones structure of cinderblocks and concrete was now taken the shape of a real school building. All of the walls are now built and the window frames are placed. For the first time, it is easy to imagine the building crawling with lively children.
While much progress has been made on the building in Whitefield’s absence, there is still much work to be done. Today, we split into three groups, one sanding the walls, one putting stucco on the walls, and the last painting the window frames. The Lord blessed us with beautiful weather for our work, and it was so satisfying to get to see the building coming together.
As we continue on this amazing journey in Ecuador, we ask that you keep the team and the school in your prayers. While the work we are doing is certainly not easy, the spiritual rewards we receive from it are priceless. By God’s grace, though, we come to Ecuador each year to serve others; however, we always return home feeling that we are the ones who are truly blessed.
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