At the beginning of August, we said “hasta luego” to the Global Partnership summer interns that we have been working with this summer. Zach and Abegale spent 2 months in Ecuador this summer learning and partnering with us and La Victoria, one of the churches we work closely with through a Covenant World Relief Project. The project is called El Buen Samaritano (The Good Samaritan) and it works to continue to support and encourage families affected by the earthquake that ravaged Ecuador’s coast in April of 2016 through small business loans and micro-financing.
Zach is studying international development and Abegale is working on her degree in graphic design and both wanted to explore what putting their classroom learning could actually look like in the future if they pursue life internationally. They came with great questions and willing attitudes and flexibility. They learned about themselves and new customs and culture and that what is learned behind a desk doesn’t always translate the way you think it will. They experienced God through a new lens and came to appreciate the power and ministry of presence.
La Victoria has been responding to the needs, both physical as well as emotional, spiritual and relational, to their community for well over 2 years. Their team of volunteers is dedicated and has given countless hours to see this outreach of their church grow and flourish. Many of them remarked how beneficial it was for them to have Zach and Abegale come. It was an encouragement that Zach and Abegale came to learn from them about community development on the ground. And the volunteers from the Buen Samaritano Project were able to share with them the challenges and the joys that they have encountered over the past few year, an opportunity they do not often have when working among the people that they serve.
And to top it all off, they were so amazing with our kids and were such amazing dish washers for the few days that they were staying with us at our house!
It was truly a joy for us to have this first go at hosting interns and to walk with Zach and Abegale for a small part of their journey as they discern and explore the next faithful step that God is calling them into. Join us in continuing to pray for them as they head back into their studies this semester while processing all that they saw and experienced this summer.
!Dios les bendiga, Zach y Abegale!
And enjoy this little re-cap video that Abegale made ::
Abegale put her great design skills to use by creating a new website for El Buen Samaritano Project.
To support the ongoing work of El Buen Samaritano through partnership with Covenant World Relief,
For more information on Serve Globally’s intern program, click here.
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