You would be so proud of this team we have in Ecuador. They had a short night, and still woke up happy and ready to serve someone! When we arrived at La Comuna this morning, around 60 smiling faces with dark hair were waiting for us! They sang a song for us about Jesus being their superhero, better than Superman, better than Spider-Man. They did motions to the song just like we taught our kids to do at FamJam. It was beautiful. We tried to keep up and dance along with them!
Nancy shared a message with them and we broke them up into groups by age to go to different stations: games, craft, banner making, and Lego. I got to be at the Lego station, and they were so happy to be building!! We talked about how God is a creative God and how He made them to be creative too. And at the end they would each show us their build. It was precious.
One of the interesting things about this Community Center is that it was built by its community. Literally. In Ecuador they have a name for a day when the church leaders call the community together for big projects. Kind of like a Faith In Action day, but for a whole community, and not just one church. Well, this community has worked to put up this structure, and it’s a place for the church to meet and the children to be cared for. This building is probably halfway complete with the bottom 2 floors finished and functional, and the top two floors framed up. It’s built into the hill side, so each floor is a little bigger than the floor below.
The staff here work tirelessly caring for children and helping them succeed in school. They cook hot lunches for them and send them home with sub sandwiches. They go to the food bank to bring back food for the community. They don’t wait for things to be perfect before they start serving. They are such an inspiration to us.
Our afternoon was spent working on SmartBoxes! Hard to explain how much I love assembling a SmartBox. ❤️ Half the team worked on the notes that go inside the box to the child receiving it. Cumberland kids made about 50 of these during FamJam this year! The rest of our team helped put out the components Freedom had purchased and assemble the boxes. We finished 26. Only 174 more to go. In reality, we won’t get to assemble them all, but every little bit helps Freedom and Nancy prepare for SmartBox events this Fall when they will give kids school supplies, hygiene supplies and Gospel material in a SmartBox.
We are happy and tired and resting up for another great day in Ecuador tomorrow!
“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.””
John 13:35 ESV
Nancy shared a message with them and we broke them up into groups by age to go to different stations: games, craft, banner making, and Lego. I got to be at the Lego station, and they were so happy to be building!! We talked about how God is a creative God and how He made them to be creative too. And at the end they would each show us their build. It was precious.
One of the interesting things about this Community Center is that it was built by its community. Literally. In Ecuador they have a name for a day when the church leaders call the community together for big projects. Kind of like a Faith In Action day, but for a whole community, and not just one church. Well, this community has worked to put up this structure, and it’s a place for the church to meet and the children to be cared for. This building is probably halfway complete with the bottom 2 floors finished and functional, and the top two floors framed up. It’s built into the hill side, so each floor is a little bigger than the floor below.
The staff here work tirelessly caring for children and helping them succeed in school. They cook hot lunches for them and send them home with sub sandwiches. They go to the food bank to bring back food for the community. They don’t wait for things to be perfect before they start serving. They are such an inspiration to us.
Our afternoon was spent working on SmartBoxes! Hard to explain how much I love assembling a SmartBox. ❤️ Half the team worked on the notes that go inside the box to the child receiving it. Cumberland kids made about 50 of these during FamJam this year! The rest of our team helped put out the components Freedom had purchased and assemble the boxes. We finished 26. Only 174 more to go. In reality, we won’t get to assemble them all, but every little bit helps Freedom and Nancy prepare for SmartBox events this Fall when they will give kids school supplies, hygiene supplies and Gospel material in a SmartBox.
We are happy and tired and resting up for another great day in Ecuador tomorrow!
“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.””
John 13:35 ESV