Since being stationed in the town of Mindo for my service portion of SST, I’ve noticed a big cultural difference between U.S. Mennonites and Ecuadorian “Mindo-nites” – pun intended 🙂 approaches to life. There’s a palpable sense of serenity and…
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What is Service?
Mar 03 2022
Students left for their service placements on Saturday morning all arriving by the evening and greeted by their new host families. 🙂
We mentioned previously that last Thursday afternoon we spent some concentrated time discussing/reflecting/anticipating the upcoming transition to service assignments together as a group. We asked students to define service now and then we’ll see at the end of their experience how those concepts maybe change or evolve.
What is Service? (Here’s an accumulation of thoughts from that discussion Thursday)
- productivity isn’t necessarily the goal
- we are all members of christ’s body, everyone has a role to bring / gifts to share
- process of validating hurts, needs, voices and place of belonging in the world
- small lifts can be a helpful impact
- service can be a personal journey, a different mindset, seeking understanding
- sharing connection, culture and friendship
- not about being a savior… compliment and support the work already being done
- community connection
- service is “not my project”
- engagement with energy and interest
- strong listening and participation
- helping with current needs
Photos students sent upon their arrival:
What Mindo Taught Me to See
A Day in the Life: Working on a Flower Farm
For my service, I work in Cayambe with an organization called FACE. Under FACE there are other organizations; Casa Hogar, Sumak, Centro Medico Emmanuel, and Forever Flowers. They work together to help break the cycle of abuse and neglect in…