Today we went to Buen Pastor to finish up some service work for the week. We walked in and greeted all of our new friends. We walked into the church and had our devotional. Today's devotional was lead by the youth minister Señora Ana. She talked about her ministires and how God has impacted her life in wonderous ways. She is resigning and is not going to be the Youth Minister any longer. She was very emotional and so were her youth. She talked about how God calls each of us to serve in different ways. She mentioned that her calling was towards the youth. The reason why is because the youth are the people who change the community. They are the people who change the world around them. This really spoke to me because I realized the immense value of what I came here to do. I am the youth and I am here to help change the world.
The day went along and we were assigned to our jobs. I was put in a group with Madeline and a Quito Quest intern named Destiny. Mrs. Strayer also accompanied us for the job. Our job was to paint the office green, so we moved all the furniture and got to work. We began painting the walls, and as we started to get into the job, Destiny and I had a very meaningful conversation that consisted of ways to be a better person. This talk really made me realize that I am more than just an oxygen-breathing, walking chunk of flesh. I am a human being who has a purpose. We finished the talk on a happy note, talking about our family history and culture. The room was almost halfway done and Destiny put on some old Disney channel hits. It was so much fun to sing and dance around while getting our work done.
We went downstairs for lunch and smelled the delicious Ecuadorian cuisine. We ate our lunch and had a quick break after lunch. This "quick" break actually lasted for about one hour. In this break, we danced salsa and bachata with the Ecuadorians. Personally, this was one of my most favorite parts of the entire day. I was partnered with my now good friend Jorge. He taught me how to correctly salsa and bachata. Along with Jorge, I also danced with Pablo. This was a great experience for me because I was really able to immerse myself into my Latina heritage and culture.
The break ended and it was back to work. I continued working on my painting and finished quite quickly. I went downstairs and saw my favorite little boy in the whole wide world. His name is Jamie and when he saw me he ran up to me and gave me a giant hug. He kissed my entire face for a solid thirty seconds. It was the sweetest thing ever.
As time went on, the day got harder and hotter. Once Jamie left it was time to start youth group. Our youth group lesson was about dancing and how we can praise God through our dancing. I taught the Ecuadorians a little dance that I had learned at my dance intensive from the previous week. They caught on pretty quickly, and it was fun to see them dancing.
Our day ended with going into Father Juan Carlos's house and dancing even more. This was the best part of my entire day becasue we were all in one small space enjoying the magic of the music. We had a delicous grilled dinner that filled our hungry bellies. We said our goodbyes and got on our bus. We got back to the hostel and had our nightly debrief. All of us talked about how our day went and how we can work even harder.
Now that this blog post is coming to a close I am realizing the importance of what we have done this week. I am so proud of our team and all the things we have accomplished together and by ourselves. Now as we depart from this outstanding country I hope we can all use the things we have learned to make a difference in our hometown and the world around us.
(written by Emilia Minton)
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