El Refugio – A Summer Full of Ministry Opportunities
Reflecting over the summer we feel really proud of all that we were able to experience with the five teams that we hosted during this mission team season. As a staff it is important to us that we are good stewards of the opportunity to facilitate short-term mission experiences and that we are responsible for the ways we try to creatively mobilize the teams to enhance the work of what we see God is doing at El Refugio and in the communities where our ministry partners are located. And while trying to meet that goal, we also do what we can to foster authentic connections between the mission team participants and the Ecuadorian people that host and receive our groups.
As we have taken time to look back and evaluate over these last weeks, we are grateful to report that we can see how we were, indeed, able to successfully integrate the activities of the mission teams with the long-term efforts taking place at El Refugio and in the communities where our Ecuadorian ministry partners live and serve. In several cases, we were also able to contribute to the expansion of local infrastructure projects and to also support community initiatives that were born out of a strong sense of local ownership.
With every mission team we look at how our programs and projects at El Refugio can be moved forward. In addition to that we look to see how each team can come alongside what is happening locally in our community and how they can be integrated into what is happening in the programs of our ministry partners. We also intentionally look for ways that the team members and communities can take turns in giving to and receiving from one another. And so, this year at El Refugio we were able to finally break ground on the expansion of our water system, to conduct a pretty major renovation project in one of our staff housing spaces, to update our security at the front gate by installing a new door to the property, to stay ahead of the on-going and never ending task of trail maintenance, and to finish the final touches on the alpaca area below the carpenter shop to the point that this month we have now been able to purchase our first alpacas!
ALTURAS / BASECAMP: These are the three-month residential internships that we offer in Spanish and English. In the Bible we see that mountain top encounters with God are a recurring theme. The mountain and tent symbolize how students experience God in new ways over their three months with us and are empowered to live transformed lives as they "return to the valley" and impact their communities.
ASCENSO: This program is designed for Ecuadorian young adults that commit to serving every other weekend over the course of four to six months. Facilitating our ropes courses is a big part of Ascenso, but a carabiner can also symbolize the way in which students "clip" back into their El Refugio community every other weekend.
FRONTERAS / ELEVATION: These are the year-long internships offered in Spanish and English for young adults looking to further develop their leadership skills. Inside the compass needle and mountain there are two arrows. The arrow pointing inward represents our staff's investment in the student and the outward arrow represents the student's investment in our ministry as they serve for a year.
Read more about our mission here: https://mailchi.mp/496176968e53/2k0x7aqifd-17421290?e=4430711cbc