Santiago, Chile ~ THANK YOU!

Tomorrow, I will fly to Santiago, Chile where I will be able to see the combining of two of my greatest passions, college ministry and international missions. Thank you for being a part of my journey.

I have spent the past two years at Point University as a campus life minister(CLM). A CLM has the same responsibilities as a Residents' Assistant, but also does much more. A CLM is responsible for leading Bible studies, planning events, and investing in students. I have loved this opportunity to be an intentional part of students' lives as I let them know that they matter to me and God.

The past two summers, I have spent my time serving as a camp counselor at Camp BlueSky in Kenya and teaching English in Ecuador. I have never felt more purposeful as I do when I am abroad serving God. God has given me a passion for reaching out to new cultures.

I cannot wait to see these two come together!

This past week, I have been participating in an International Campus Ministry class at Point University. Everyday, my team of 5 other Point students and I have learned about different college ministry elements. We have learned about Global Youth, relational ministry, issues on the mission field, outreach and discipleship, etc. These lessons have been preparing us for our time in Santiago, Chile, May 18th to June 1st. We will be working with Chilean college students at a ministry called El Oasis. El Oasis is a Christian campus ministry, similar to Feast at Spring Road Christian Church, that exists to love college students to Jesus Christ. El Oasis holds weekly events, Bible studies, free dinners, English cafes, etc. Through authentic relationships, students of all faith journeys are invited into the community at El Oasis where they are loved by Christians. This love and community makes even the most dedicated atheists desire to know the reason why Christians continuously love them.

During these next two weeks, I will spend my time getting to know students in Santiago and loving them like Jesus would. My team and I will help plan and lead events at the ministry. As part of our class, we took a field trip to the Christian Campus Fellowship at Georgia Tech on Wednesday. During our lunch break, my team and I were given the task of making a new friend on campus. I had to walk up to people in the dining hall, strike up a conversation, and get to know them. I will be doing this same thing as I minister at El Oasis.

I am so honored and excited to be able to take part in attracting college students to El Oasis and, ultimately, Jesus Christ.

Thank you for supporting me financially and supporting me with prayer.
Please keep my team and the students we will encounter in your prayers.

For more information about Globalscope or El Oasis, visit http://cmfi.org/whatwedo/globalscope.

Please feel free to comment; I would love to hear from you!

In Christ,
Kaitlyn Groover

Home

I've been home for over a month now. Coming home was an odd transition. I struggled to find my purpose surrounded by selfish Americans (myself included), but God quickly revealed to me that missions is everywhere.I am back at school and I love being an RA getting to know the new students. The biggest lesson I learned in Ecuador is that it is all about people and not about me. SO here I am in West Point, GA with a fridge full of food in a fully furnished apartment with electricity, air conditioning and running water loving the people that God has put in my path. No matter where I am, I am on mission. While I secretly would love to be back with my Ecuadorian family and I am blessed to be able to love people right where I am!

Thank you so much for your love, encouragement, and financial support!
KAITLYN

Slow Down, Love People

Last Wednesday I taught my last day of school. This week the kids have exams. I’m a little nervous about their English exam! I can’t believe it is over. I have had an incredible experience teaching here. I have gained so much hands-on experience as I prepared my own curriculum and planned for school each day. Teaching has been an awesome way for the kids here to get comfortable with me and with Karen. This has opened doors for us to invite more and more children into the church. The kids have also been excited to show off their English to short-term teams that come here.

Every single day here I am reminded that life is all about people! Jeanette, the missionary I live with, and I were waiting at the bus stop having a conversation when we were interrupted by Maricela, one of our church members. My American mindset says “wave and keep having my conversation,” but I quickly remembered that Jesus would have stopped and talked to her. I have learned that God presents us with opportunities to love on people, we just have to recognize them when they happen! Even if that means missing the bus and having to change our plans a little bit! Today when I was in Montanita, 2 towns over, for lunch and a waiter I recognized stopped me in the streets and talked to me. The waiter, Darwin, has served Ben, Garrett, and I multiple times and he started asking me about where I live and why I am here. I invited him to church and he asked about learning English. I have always taken my language for granted, but I feel so blessed to know something, in this case English, that can be used to minister to people. If I had been insistent on rushing to lunch I would have missed out on the opportunity to show a little compassion to Darwin. We have discussed starting an English class at the church soon. Hopefully, Darwin can get connected to Christ by learning English.


Prayers!!

Karen, the pastor’s wife, is expecting! We are overjoyed, but also anxious because of two recent miscarriages. Please pray for peace for Karen and Luis, good health, and also for the ministry as their family grows.

Ben, a year long missionary here from Savannah Christian Church, has returned to the states after receiving news that his grandfather passed away. Please keep his family in your prayers!

I am preparing to return home on Monday, excited to see all of you, but sad to leave the friends I have made this summer.

Thank you so much for supporting me and giving me the opportunity to invest in the people here!

Here’s a video about Ecuador and my first two weeks here with Georgia Tech! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWn5WrASpQc&feature=youtu.be

Life with Jesus

Dave Stewart, the missions pastor at Savannah Christian, has been here with us for the last week. Twice he has told me it is more important to live life with Jesus, than live life for Jesus. I want to encourage you to live life with Jesus as I try to do the same. It's so easy for me to get sucked into working, working, working all the time and forgetting to focus on my relationship with Jesus. When you are living with Jesus, life for Jesus is second nature.

Here it is all about people. There aren't specified days of the week where we minister to people and talk about Jesus. I'm learning how important it is to use every opportunity to engage in people's lives and show them what life with Jesus is all about.

Life Change in Ecuador!!

How else do you get home from school?

I am continuing to teach school everyday in the school in San Jose with Karen, the pastor's wife and my best friend here, and Allyson, one of the teenage sisters from church. School is going great. We are so blessed to be able to start class with prayer and sing Christian songs to teach English vocabulary.

My friends Allyson, Johanna, and Andrea! The youth group at church here :)

Allyson and Johanna's friends have noticed a difference in their lives and have started asking questions about why they no longer party and why they are always so happy!! Please pray with me for these girls as they continue to learn and strengthen their faith. Please pray that I am the friend and example they need as they get to know Jesus.

This past week the short term team here from Savannah Christian taught in the school in Curia, a huge milestone for us. The school has two teachers, the principal and one other teacher. The other teacher graciously opened his classroom to us, but the principal would not let us into her classroom until 10 minutes before school got out. Then she only allowed us to teach a few of her students. Unfortunately, we are not able to go back this week. BUT the kids learned so much in 5 days and impressed me all week with their English colors and numbers! Please pray as God continues to soften the principal's heart.

This week a group of middle schoolers from Savannah Christian are here. They are leading a sports camp every afternoon in San Jose. Yesterday we took 20 kids over to Curia for camp. The little kids drew pictures of the story that the middle schoolers acted out, David and Goliath, while the big kids played soccer.
When I served in the Children's Ministry at Savannah Christian I had a bunch of these middle schoolers in my small group. It is such a blessing to now watch them lead kids!

Thanks for your prayers and support!!!

3 Years in the Making

I live in the town of Curia and work a mile down the beach at the school in San Jose. The school in Curia is strictly Catholic and for the last 3 years has never been open to Christians coming into the school. BUT last night one of the parents of a child in Curia asked why we had not been teaching English in the school in Curia also. When we expressed that the principal was against it the parent went and got permission from the principal to allow us into the school. SO today for the first time we were able to go into the school in Curia and teach English! The kids were so excited! The principal has agreed to give us a trial run this week! Please pray that the principal is impressed and will continue to allow us to come into the school!

Captured!

Today was a fantastic day at school! Along with Megan and Anna-Kate, I taught the 5th, 6th, and 7th graders. We reviewed family members and numbers to 100. We played hangman, a card game, and raced to the correct number written in chalk on the ground. With the use of skittles I taught the kids how to say "My favorite color is..." The kids are so smart and so eager to learn and impress us Gringos (white people) with their English! The seventh grade class is my favorite. Today we laughed the entire time as we played a game similar to slap jack reviewing numbers!

Last week the first group of the summer arrived. We painted the school. This week my sister, Emilie, is here with the high school group from Savannah Christian Church. Emilie being here is such a blessing. I needed a little piece of home! I love being able to share my life here with her and watch her love on the kids here.

Emilie's group is building a fence around the soccer field in Curia and doing a sports themed VBS everyday.

On Saturday Joanna and Allison came over and we made, I mean burnt, brownies. We started playing a game similar to Scattergories and were having so much fun that we forget about the brownies, but I would trade burnt brownies for laughing with those girls any day!

Yesterday was a huge day here! Five people in the church were baptized. Two of our cooks, Marjorie and Gladys, were baptized. Gladys' husband, Isidro, and two others were also baptized. We had a huge celebration with cake and games as we welcomed them into God's family!

God is capturing the hearts of the people here!

Home Sweet Ecuador

Every day I fall more in love with this place.



I had the privilege of visiting Chimborazo a couple of weeks ago. Chimborazo is the tallest mountain and volcano in Ecuador. It was breathtaking, literally. We drove to 16,000 feet and it got harder and harder to breath. The snow-peaked volcano and the blanket of clouds beneath me covering the patchwork quilt farmland reminded me how good God is.

I have been teaching ESOL(English to Speakers of Other Languages) in the elementary school in San Jose everyday. Two college students from Savannah Christian Church, Meagan and Anna-Kate, arrived last Sunday. They have begun helping me in school. I love teaching alongside them and Karen, the pastor's wife. We play games and sing songs to teach colors, numbers, family, fruits, school supplies, and other English basics.
On Thursday a short term team arrived from Savannah Christian Church. They will be here for a week. It has been so awesome to see the team love on the children here despite the language barrier.

A few weeks ago the Georgia Tech group set up a computer lab in the school in San Jose using computers donated by Point University. I had the privilege of watching the kids use the computers for the first time. They were amazed. I have never seen someone appreciate a computer so much. They shouted "Mira! Mira!" ("Look! Look!") the entire time as videos of sharks and other sea life swam across the screen. Thank You Point! I am so excited that these kids will know how to use a computer, giving them the ability to succeed in high school and maybe even college one day!


I absolutely love the kids here. Their joy is so contagious. We are constantly laughing.
Karen, the pastor's wife, is my best friend here. Last weekend we had a sleepover. We have been learning to surf and I was actually able to ride a wave, once!!! Karen knows about as much English as I do Spanish and she has been so instrumental in helping me learn more Spanish. I talk to her in Sopanish and she answers in English. When I get stuck she is able to help me find the right Spanish word. We are constantly picking at each other and laughing together!

This summer, we are working to create a program for the older teenagers here. Our kids program is growing, but we really want to minister to all age groups. Yesterday, we invited Joanna and Allison, 18 and 14 year old sisters over to make Rice Krispie treats. Dessert is expensive and unrealistic for most families here, so it's a special thing for the girls here to learn to make desserts. I love to bake, so I was so excited to teach the girls. We made the Rice Krispie treats and then played an intense game of Chinese Checkers. God is so good. We had an incredible time, laughing and enjoying our dessert. I now know enough Spanish to be able to communicate pretty effectively and Joanna is taking Enghlish class in high school, so we have been able to get to know each other!

Every Tuesday night we have choir practice. It's definitely my favorite night of the week! About 5 church members come and we practice the songs that we sing in church. It's always hilarious as they laugh as I stumble over Spanish lyrics and we all worship Christ with joy and singing. Joanna, Allison, Jeanette, and I have been leading worship at church. AND the church here is growing. Now 9 families are coming. This morning, 2 new girls came!! In the next few weeks 4 church members are being baptized.

Three ladies cook for the groups whenever short term groups come. I have been able to get to know them, Gladys, Marjorie, Magdalena, and their families, very well. This past week Gladys and her mother-in-law began teaching me to crochet paja. Paja is a palm-like plant used for making hats. I'm a slow learner, but it has been so awesome to sit in these ladies' homes and learn from them. During my first lesson I was sitting in Gladys' mother-in-law's living room and a donkey just walked in the room with us. I just love Ecuador, for real! Even the donkeys!

Thank you so much for your financial and prayer support. God is doing big things here!