I NEED YOUR HELP TO GO ON MISSION TRIP ECUADOR JULY 2025! For longer than I can remember, I've always loved when someone tells me that I have made a difference in their life or have impacted them in a positive way and now I have the opportunity to do just that on a larger scale and do it for those who have not been blessed as I have. Thank you for helping me help others. - Sincerely, Gabe Salgado
This coming July 2025, my church Grace Community Church of Guelph will send a team of 15 youth along with a few chaperones, to Quito, Ecuador to the Carmen Bajo Community Church for 12 days of faithfulness and love serving to people in need and friendship building!
The Carmen Bajo community is a poor suburb in Quito, Ecuador. The community of Carmen Bajo is suffering with both social and economic struggles such as child maltreatment, domestic abuse, dysfunctional families, alcoholism, teenage pregnancies, child malnourishment, limited access to housing, education, and unemployment.
This amazing project began in 1995 when a man named Dr. Roy began serving a hot meal and sharing the Message of God with people in the streets of Carmen Bajo. And this put a vision in the heart of Pastor Fabian Erazo and his wife Grace, they founded a church in Carmen Bajo. The Carmen Bajo Grace church principal goal is to share God's Grace and provide the practical needs for the community.
The Carmen Bajo Grace Church serve hot meals and provide tutoring program for more than 150 children every day of the week. Carmen Bajo Grace Church also provides scholarship programs for all levels of schooling, child and family counselling, job opportunities and training in diferent kind of labors. The Carmen Bajo Grace church brings the hope of Jesus to this community, life are being transformed and families are being restored.
I am excited to share that my group will be running a children's camp, a youth camp, and a women's service project! We will be involved in teaching, sharing, learning, serving, and loving those in the community of Carmen Bajo.
There is no doubt that these 12 days will be full of challenging experiences and life changing moments for me and my team. When I return to Guelph, I will bring and share with you memories of the people that I have met and the lives that your generosity help me impact. I am faithful that those memories will encourage you/ me to continue to help/serve wherever there are people in need.
I am asking to share with me and my team this experience ! There are many ways to do this, but the two biggest ways I am asking is through prayer and financial support. This mission requires funding which supports the costs of entire serving project.
Please pray for us to serve and love with God's love. Pray that Jesus use this experience to shape each team member's heart to be more like Him. I cannot express how much your support means to me/us. I am grateful with God's for providing me with this opportunity and to see what God has in store for us and to serve others!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Gabe
Highlights
See all activity19Who is Grace Community Church?
Please visit our website https://www.gracecommunity.ca/.
To put it simply, Our goal is for people to . . . Follow Jesus. Love God. Love Others.
What is the Carmen Bajo Project?
I would like you take you back to 1995 to Quito Ecuador and how this project began. One day, a Jewish doctor in the city saw some kids begging in the street for food in the north of Quito. He began bringing them food frequently until one day, the kids weren't there. He asked around in search of where they went just to find out that the municipality had moved their families and other families in their community to a different area of the city. This area on the side of a mountain became known as Carmen Bajo. The Jewish doctor reached out to another doctor named Doctor Roy. Seeing the need in this community, Dr. Roy began visiting Carmen Bajo every Sunday afternoon. The doctor and his family would bring sandwiches and a big pot of oatmeal and would stand on the dirt street by their car offering food to those in need and telling them about Jesus. There were just a few families coming at first, and then the crowds came. The community in Carmen Bajo was confronted with many social and economic struggles, such as child maltreatment, domestic abuse, dysfunctional families, alcoholism, teenage pregnancies, child malnourishment, limited access to education, and unemployment. Mothers had to lock their children alone in the house from early morning to late night while they were working all day cleaning homes. No one in the community finished elementary school or continued on into high school or secondary education. Dr. Roy reached out for local help, and in stepped Grace and Fabian Erazo. Grace and Fabian began the Carmen Bajo Project in the year 2000. They began renting a small room and eventually bought the first piece of land. Here is where they constructed the first building to help feed the community physically and spiritually. In order to make this a reality, Fabian and Grace looked for assistance to implement programs to help provide education, tutoring, scholarships, child and family counselling, job opportunities and training, spiritual growth, outreach events and of course food assistance. This project continues to transform lives and restore families. For example, when the project began, it was rare for a child to complete high school let alone elementary school. About 16 years ago, the first child graduated from high school. Today, 19 young adults have graduated from university. Many of the graduates continue to give back and serve in Carmen Bajo. Another example of change is in the quantity of teenage pregnancies. This was extremely common and considered normal. Pregnant teens would drop out of school, and more times than not, the father would abandon her and the baby. Now, although there are still teenage pregnancies, the number of pregnant teens has dropped substantially. Marriage was also unheard of, but in last couple of years, there have been the first marriages in the community. Over the years, God has used the project to provide a sense of belonging and hope for kids, youth, and adults and provide an opportunity to break down the barriers of poverty. Every program and initiative in Carmen Bajo has been made possible thanks to donations from people like you. Through your generosity, the Carmen Bajo Project has been able to impact lives of different generation in this community, and we encourage you to continue being part of it!
