Service Project

Greetings!

Our team's preparation took a different yet important turn back on June 12. That Wednesday was the service project day for our team.

The service project has a couple of purposes: to serve others in our community, and to enable us to work together and grow as a team (i.e. unity).

This particular service project involved serving the homeless at Grace Community Church, an outreach called Meals @ Grace. On the second Wednesday of every month, members of Westover Church come to Grace and literally serve the homeless - we gather food together (chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes, bread, drinks, and cobbler for dessert), serve it to a group of homeless seated in the sanctuary, and clean up afterwards.

It was a great time of serving, community, and unity, and we were very thankful to be a part of it. While we often think of short-term benefits or detriments when we're in the midst of any activity, hopefully our service project will have been allowed to impact others and ourselves for years to come. Our plans and purposes are often so short-sighted, we forget about God's ability to use even the most mundane activity for His glory.

Somehow, we hope this service project did just that.



In closing, we'd appreciate your continued prayer and support.

Please pray for:

• Preparations - just over one month to go!
• Trust in God/low stress
• Unity
• Heart for the people and the missionaries
• Ability to serve them well
• Being sensitive to the Spirit's leading when there

Our current support need:

• $16,176.31

P.S. Something interesting we weren't expecting but loved - Jon and Kacie from the Beirut, Lebanon team showed up as well! It was great serving with them. If you'd like to read more about their trip, visit their blog here.



Note: The cost for each team member is approximately $2500.  This will cover food, lodging and transportation.  If you choose to assist us financially, you may do so in two ways:

Online:  Go to www.westoverchurch.com, select “Online Resources,” then select “Online Giving” and follow the prompts.  Please Note:  You will need to enter “Ecuador Team 2013” in the Designation Box, otherwise your donation will go into Westover’s General Fund! 

By Mail:  Return your check in the envelope provided with the enclosed response card to our team treasurer:
(cf. Westover)

To be tax-deductible, your check must NOT include my name, but must be payable to “Westover Church,” and the memo line should say “Ecuador Team 2013.”

Update - Planning and Support

flag of Ecuador



Greetings from Westover's 2013 Ecuador team!

We're very excited about our upcoming trip - only a month and a half away, which is hard to believe. Our team's been having a great time getting to know each other and planning for the trip. We just had our "cultural awareness" meeting, where we each talked about a different aspect of Ecuador's culture, from food to climate to spirituality. It was extremely informative. Some of us non-Spanish speakers even learned a few words!

There are a couple areas where our team could use a lot of prayer - finances and connection with the people.

While I don't think any of us would say that finances are the most important part of the trip, it's not possible to make trips like this without finances. Think of it this way - when you take a trip to see family in another state, what's the most important part? The family you're going to see, of course! But doesn't it take planning and money for the gas and food to get there and back? It's just a natural part of the process. The hard part with any of this is suppressing our natural tendencies to fix things and instead focusing on relying on God. So in the midst of us learning how to trust and rely on God, it'd be great if anyone reading this could pray for us and support is in whatever way is possible. If we do that, God will be glorified no matter what! (To put a number on it, we currently have a need of $17,556 for the team.)

Relating to that, the most important part of our trip is the connection with the people. That's what we're really excited about - seeing not only how God will use us among the people of Ecuador, but also seeing how we'll be changed as well. Members of our team have been on other missions trips in the past, and one of the most incredible parts is that you have no idea how you'll be changed through it. Maybe you'll realize how materialistic you are in comparison to the local people, maybe you'll focus more on relationships as a result of the trip, maybe you'll learn how to trust God - the possibilities are endless! Whatever our goals are, and whatever actually happens, we would love for you to pray for us and the Ecuadorians and what the future holds.

Thanks for reading, and we look forward to sharing more with you!



Stay tuned for an upcoming post about our team's service project.



Note: The cost for each team member is approximately $2500.  This will cover food, lodging and transportation.  If you choose to assist us financially, you may do so in two ways:

Online:  Go to www.westoverchurch.com, select “Online Resources,” then select “Online Giving” and follow the prompts.  Please Note:  You will need to enter “Ecuador Team 2013” in the Designation Box, otherwise your donation will go into Westover’s General Fund! 

By Mail:  Return your check in the envelope provided with the enclosed response card to our team treasurer:
(cf. Westover)

To be tax-deductible, your check must NOT include my name, but must be payable to “Westover Church,” and the memo line should say “Ecuador Team 2013.”