Whitefield Academy Ecuador Mission Team

Sum '19 -- Day 3 -- 1st Day at Amor y Esperanza

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.

--Annie

Sum '19 -- Day 2 -- Equator

Today was our second day in Ecuador! This morning, we woke up (with some difficulty) and had a wonderful breakfast of french toast and eggs, sang worship songs led by Annie and Maddie, and then had a devotional.

Mr. David started out by talking about laying burdens down on the Lord. He used Matthew 5:11 (oh wait, Matthew 11:28) (little inside joke) as the basis for his devotional. This verse specifically impacted me because it really spoke to the burdens that I (and we all) carry around every day. After that, Ms. Christ and Mr. David washed everyone's feet as Pitty and Lindsay prayed over each person. This was a very powerful example of service and reminded everyone that we are here in Ecuador to serve, not to be served. My favorite part of this time was when the students' feet had all been washed and all of the students circled around Pitty, Ms. Christ, Mr. David, and Lindsay to pray for them. This devotion time was impactful and emotional because it showed the power of God to bring so many different people together to pray for each other.

After breakfast and the devotional, we headed off to the Equator. There, we learned a lot about Ecuadorian culture. We took the tour, had many good photo opportunities, and did challenges on the equator line. A select few managed to balance an egg on a nail and earned the esteemed title of "Eggmaster". Everyone found out how difficult it was to walk straight with your eyes closed on the equator. We enjoyed some delicious popsicles at the "real" equator, and then proceeded to the "fake" equator. There, we enjoyed some nice views and did a little shopping. God's glory was definitely displayed in the huge mountains that could be seen from the large monument at Mitad del Mundo ("the center of the world").

After all that sightseeing, we headed off to Crepes and Waffles, where we enjoyed some of the most delicious food. It was a great time to talk to everyone on the team and enjoy fellowship with one another as we prepare for our first day of teaching and construction tomorrow.

Right now, everyone is relaxing and playing some soccer as we look forward to dinner and an evening devotion with Poncho and Pitty. I know that God is already working in our hearts, and the devotion this morning really prepared me for the week as I was called to cast all my burdens on the Lord. We are all looking forward to starting our week of teaching and building tomorrow!

Thank you for keeping up with us!!

-- Zoe

Equator

"EggMasters"

Sum '19 -- Day 1 — Otavalo

First Full Day in Ecuador!

Poncho and Pitty warmly welcomed us at the airport last night, and we all loaded up on the bus to head to our new home for the next 10 days. We safely arrived late last night at the Seminary where we are staying and promptly went to sleep.

This morning, we ate some delicious pancakes, met the wonderful kitchen staff that will be serving us this week, and had a devotion (courtesy of Mr. David) before embarking on our touristic day in Quito! The first stop included beautiful views of the mountains and some friendly Alpaca’s and Llamas. We then headed to the market at Otavalo where we all tried to use our limited Spanish skills to barter for various goods: scarves, sweaters, llama’s, jewelry, drums, and even some musical instruments. We all got pretty decked out in Ecuadorian gear! Next we headed to have lunch. We watched the Korea vs. Somalia soccer game and enjoyed a nice meal!

In between each of these touristic attractions, we spent time on the bus, talking to locals, walking around, and intentionally observing Ecuadorian culture. For a lot of us, we were witnessing a culture that we have never seen before and experiencing what it feels like to starkly stand out for the first time. Although it may have been uncomfortable at times and not being able to speak Spanish certainly comes with its frustrations, it is a truly humbling position to take. This day was an opportunity to admire a culture very different from our own, but one that is quite beautiful and inspiring. Driving on the bus and merely looking out the window at God’s creation reminded me how powerful God is. He’s so much bigger than we think. These mountains that seem to overwhelm us with their prominence and size don’t compare to the size of our God. After all, they are His creation. The same God that created mountains like these wants an intimate relationship with us. He knows our name. He knows our wants, our desires, our fears, and how many hairs are on our head. Most shockingly of all, He loves us. He genuinely and passionately loves each of us.

As we spent special time together today, our group definitely began bonding. We sang karaoke on the bus, bartered together, and took lots of pictures. I think God is really knitting our group together in a special way so that we can serve Him better together. Pitty challenged us this morning to ask God to reveal himself to each of us personally over the course of the trip. In faith, I believe that He will do that. When we draw near to Him, He promises to draw near to us.

After a full day together, we are definitely feeling some exhaustion. However, God is preparing our hearts and minds to serve Him at Amor Y Esperanza this week. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us on this trip. Prayer truly makes all the difference. None of us can do this trip if we are relying on our own strength. We are truly helpless to our sinful nature without the power of the Holy Spirit. Although we are weak, though, God chooses lovingly to use us to further His mission on earth. I think that’s one of God’s greatest blessings to us. He certainly doesn’t need our help, but He chooses to invite us into His mission on earth. We are all thankful for that opportunity and are excited to see what He has in store for us in the coming days.

Thanks for following along on our journey!

-- Grayce

Sum '19 -- Day 0 — Airport

The team that left for Ecuador has 29 students and 3 chaperones. But if you are reading this, you are also part of the team. You may have given of time and resources or planned meals or dinners. You may have helped pack or listened through nervous chatter. But the Team is delicately woven with each person. Miles may separate, but it's the prayers that bind the mission. Please keep them up. There's much to be done, and each part is vital.

Micah Blaise Cutty Adria Kaylee Cole Zoe Chase Abigail Maddie Annie Grayson Sarah Kennedy Lilly Jack Alex Matthew Wesley Zach Grayce Justus Annalee Lindsey Anna A Anna B Bryan Jolie Mr David Christian Ms Christ Lindsay

January 11, 2019 - Final day

The team is home safely following a week of fellowship, work, and opening our hearts to the Lord. We were very blessed to have little sickness and few difficulties. The team grew together and had many experiences of the Ecuadorian culture. More thoughts to come, but here are a few pictures for now ...

January 10, 2019 - Work hard, play hard, honor Him

Thursday was a day full of construction work, teaching, visiting the equator, viewing the basilica downtown, dinner at Pims, and pizza back at the seminary.

This video shows the process of plastering the walls. First, a plaster mix has to be made from three parts sand to one part cement. After adding water to make a thick consistency, the plaster is thrown with a trowel at the wall. Once the wall is covered well, the plaster is scraped with a long straight edge. A second coat is added by throwing a thinner plastic mix at the wall with a shovel. After this is again scraped down, the wall is finished off by filling in holes and rubbing smooth with a wooden board. It is a long and messy process.

Isabelle and Chris taking a break from construction.

We are working on the second floor of the school building this week. The foundation is hoping to finish the first and second floors of the building in order to move classes in for the next school year. Pancho and Pitty will be visiting the states, including Atlanta, in early February to meet with donors and do fundraising to finish the building. Please pray for the Lord's leading on their trip!

The students really rose to the challenge of teaching English this week as well. We were planning to focus our efforts on construction, but the school is in the process of hiring a new English teacher. To fill in the gap, students volunteered to teach in pairs. It was challenging because they did not have lesson plans or much preparation. But all the students who took on teaching duties loved meeting the children and enjoyed receiving hugs and high fives. The Whitefield students taught everything from abc's to subject verb agreement to past tense verb structure.

Lexi and BJ team up to teach third grade.

Following a productive morning of teaching and construction, the team headed to the seminary for showers and then to the Equator. Hudson quickly became an egg-master, balancing an egg on a nail. We walked on the equator and felt the difference in balance and muscle strength when standing on the equator. One student was most impressed with the demonstration of how the water circles in different directions down the drain when in the southern hemisphere vs. the northern hemisphere. When directly on the equator, it doesn't circle at all!