Week One

I left Atlanta at 6:30 am on Sunday with 13 other college students from Georgia Tech's Christian Campus Fellowship (CCF) and after a 12 hour layover in Miami and a 4 hour flight we finally landed in Guayaquil, Ecuador. We then took a 3 hour bus drive to our home in Curia.

My home here is beautiful. I am living in the home of Carlos and Jeanette Guererro. Their home is right on the beach, literally.

On Monday, my 20th birthday, we woke up and Carlos gave us a tour of the towns we are working in, San Jose and Curia. San Jose is a mile down the beach from Curia. Carlos and Jeanette work closely with both towns. The Christian Center is in San Jose. We walk down the beach every morning to San Jose where we eat our meals. Church is also in the Christian Center. After a tour of the cities we visited the school in San Jose where I began teaching English to the 2nd grade class.

I love the school! Every morning I go to the school to help Senora Lili. My friend Paige and I teach the kids English numbers and we sing songs. The teacher has to hand make all homework and worksheets, so I help with that too.

My Spanish is very basic. I only know the little I remember from high school, but the kids talk to me endlessly. The people here are so gracious and patient as I struggle to communicate with them. Because I usually cannot find the words to express myself I have to show Christ's love through my actions and my attitude. Not being able to speak fluently has forced me to listen more and this has enabled me to quickly learn to love the people here.

Karen, Pastor Luis' wife, is in charge of the children's ministry in San Jose and Curia. She speaks a little English and answers all of my questions and has taught me so much Spanish. I worked with her on Wednesday and Thursday with the children's programs in San Jose and Curia. I will be working with her all summer! She is 24 and I am excited to get to know her better. I love the kids here! They are so loving and always excited to see me.

On Tuesday night, the church had choir practice and my friend from Point University, Tyler and I, sang with them. We sang Hillsong songs in Spanish. Yesterday Curia had a Mother's Day Celebration and invited Tyler and I to sing a duet. We were nervous, but it went well.

This morning we had church. The church has about 7 members. There are two teenage sisters named Joanna and Allison that come to church. I am so excited to get to know them!

Please continue to pray for the people here. Poverty is sneaky here. Most people appear to be well off, but hunger is lingering. There is no industry here, so people struggle to make money doing random jobs to make a living. There is a large Roman Catholic population here that refuses to associate with the Christians. Please pray for my spanish as I learn to communicate better with the people here, to better show them the love of Jesus.

The group from CCF has been such a blessing. Half of the group left this morning. This week, the group worked on repairing a bridge, taught in the school, and got to know the people in the community. They also started preparing a computer lab for the school in San Jose with computers donated by Point University. Yesterday we had a community lunch and invited everyone for a free lunch. It was great to get to fulfill a need and get to know the community.

I feel so loved and accepted here! I am so excited about being able to continue to build relationships and shine Jesus' love here!

So much has happened in such a short time and I couldn't possibly write it all down. Please ask me questions! I would love to hear from you!

En el nombre de Jesucristo,
Kaitlyn