WE NEED YOUR HELP TO GO ON MISSION!
This coming July 2025, Grace Community Church of Guelph will send a team of 15 youth along with a few chaperones, to Quito, Ecuador for 12 days of cross-cultural experience and friendship building!
Quito is a beautiful city located in the Andes Mountains just south of the equator at an altitude of approximately 10,000 ft. While in Ecuador we will be working with a church and project located in Carmen Bajo, a poor suburb in Quito. The community of Carmen Bajo was confronted with both social and economic struggles such as child maltreatment, domestic abuse, dysfunctional families, alcoholism, teenage pregnancies, child malnourishment, limited access to education, and unemployment.
This amazing project began in 1995 when a man named Dr. Roy began serving a hot meal and sharing the Message with people in the street. In 2000, Pastor Fabian Erazo and his wife Grace began a church and project in Carmen Bajo. The project continues to meet the practical needs of the community, with a hot meal and tutoring program for more than 150 children. The project also provides scholarship programs for all levels of schooling, child and family counselling, and job opportunities and training. Both the church and project continue to bring the hope of Jesus to this community. Lives are being transformed, and families are being restored.
We are so excited to share that the group will be running a children's camp, a youth camp, and a women's service project! The youth will be involved in teaching, sharing, learning, serving, and loving those in the community of Carmen Bajo. They will also learn more about another culture and country as they explore a little bit of Ecuador.
There is no doubt that these 12 days will be full of challenging experiences and life changing moments. When we return to Guelph, the team will bring memories of the people we have met and the lives that have touched us. Hopefully those memories will encourage us to continue to serve wherever there are people in need.
Please share in this experience with the team! There are many ways to do this, but the two biggest ways we ask is through prayer and financial support. This experience requires funding which supports the costs of our mission. Please pray for the team to serve and love with His love. Pray that Jesus use this experience to shape each team member's heart to be more like Him. We cannot express how much your support means to us. We are so excited to see what God has in store for us and to serve others!
Fundraisers
Highlights
See all activity199About
Who 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!
