Go Friends,
Hello from Ecuador! After many months of planning and preparation our family has arrived safely here in South America. We couldn’t be any more excited about the season we find ourselves in. We are so thankful to the many of you who have partnered with us in this new chapter of Go.
We arrived in Quito a week ago today and have been busy getting established since then. You may or may not know that we opted not to do a “pre-trip” for this move, we decided instead to treat our first month in country as the “pre-trip” and just figure out where we’d be once we got here. Originally we thought we may live in a smaller village closer to some of the indigenous people groups but in the course of our planning some of the people we knew in the area moved away and we feel it is important for us as a family to be near a community of people we trust for the sake of Zion. So we have decided to base in Quito where we have taken Go Teams before and as a result have many friends. Basing in Quito will allow us to minister not only to those in the city but to travel out to various villages on a regular basis.
Last week we spent much of our time searching for an apartment to live in which will also serve as our offices for the time being. We looked at many different places and are pleased to announce that we have found our South American home! It’s a great little 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment, in a safe neighborhood, and even has a little place for Z to play out back!
Our first goal in this initial phase of establishing our base is: Community Integration and Needs Assessment. During this initial phase we will be establishing relationships in the local community, serving and volunteering, and assessing the needs that we feel we are to be involved in. We felt strongly in our hearts prior to coming, not to presume to know the needs. We are here to serve the people and see what doors God opens for us to make Him known.
We’ve been staying at a little cottage for international people immigrating to Ecuador, and in the midst of apartment hunting this week we have had the opportunity to make some great relationships that we feel were not by accident. We had the pleasure of taking one young couple, Jeremy and Jennifer here on their first mission trip, on a tour of the city and we were able to share our mission stories and encourage them in the season they are in. We also met a great couple who are now retired and living in Cuenca, Ecuador and in addition to being fellow ministers she is a respiratory therapist and has helped me tremendously in combating some asthma related issues I had upon arrival. So thankful for the way God coordinates things!
Tomorrow we plan to move in to our apartment and our offices will then be up and running!
We encourage those of you who find yourself in a similar season of charting new courses, to have faith, trust Him, and…enjoy the journey. J
Journeying Together,
Greg, Christa and Zion Baca