Site: Carmen Bajo

Location of site: Behind Comite del Pueblo. Headed N on Eloy Alfaro, turn right at Hospital SOLCA. Go to the T-stop (bakery on the corner), turn left, almost immediate right. Straight until there is a playing field on the left, turn right, at T-stop turn left and then left again (effectively making a horseshoe shape), climb the hill, when you start to go down again there is a road that forks up to the left (it doesn’t quite look passable, but it is). There will be a play ground on the left, park there and then on foot go down the road to the left. The church is at the bottom of the hill on the right.

Primary Contact Person: Fabian Erazo

Site Description: Carmen Bajo is a very poor community situated on the side of a hill. The church building, which is still in the process of being constructed, is three stories tall. The templo and kitchen room are on the first floor; there are also two bathrooms and another classroom. The second floor when finished will have 4 classrooms, two medical exam rooms, a closet and the pastor’s office; the third floor will be a large multi-purpose room and another classroom.
    Most of the parishioners live in the area. Unemployment is high, most jobs that are held are manual labor – maids, factory workers, some ‘profesional’ masons and plumbers. There are always church members around helping out - Silvia, Magdelena, Ruben, Paul, Kenya, Fernando and Mario, just to name a few.
    Pastor Fabian and his wife Grace are the site hosts. They have been working with the people of Carmen Bajo for four years, and have just moved from the southern part of Quito to be closer to the church. Fabian is the pastor of the church and construction supervisor and Grace co-ordinates and teaches the kindergarten and school and other children’s ministries. They are an amazing couple! Their three children are Andrea (18), Santiago (15), Roquel – also known as Flaquita (8).

Ministry Description: Carmen Bajo is a great site for groups of all sizes. Most teams help with construction and with children’s programs. As of this writing (May 2004) there is plenty of unskilled labor needed to help in the construction; projects include landscaping, painting, laying tile floor, laying block, etc. A ‘normal’ schedule is to do construction from 8/9:00am until 3:00pm. Once this building is finished there are plans to start on a second.
    Children’s ministry generally stars around 3:00 or 4:00pm and lasts for an hour and a half or two. Any combination of songs, stories, testimonies, crafts, drama, puppets, hygiene skits, behavior skits and games are generally well received. Any specific ministries or bible studies for other groups are very welcome, for example a youth bible study, women’s group, adults, young men, etc. There is also a day-care center/community kitchen connected with the church and groups are sometimes asked to help feed the children.
    Awana is on Sundays at 3:00 and groups are always welcome to participate and give a lesson. Almost every night there is some sort of meeting or service. The Sunday service is at 4:00 pm and groups are generally asked to give as many testimonies as time allows, sing songs in English or Spanish, and have a Sunday school for the kids. Part of the vision of Carmen Bajo is not just to provide an education, but an exceptional education. An teaching-English ministry would be most welcome!
    Carmen Bajo has just joined with Compassion International so as to provide assistance to even more children. The school there has 40 or so students k-2, and then 110 total enrolled with Compassion - which provides food, medical and tutoring to the children.
    Saturday and Sundays are great days to be there as more of the parishioners are free to participate, but any day is a good day at Carmen Bajo! Teams are welcome for one day up to two weeks.

Ministry Prep: This is a construction site, and an Ecuadorian one at that. Please wear closed-toe shoes and long pants. It can be very dry and dusty and the sun is especially strong for those working outside or on the third floor. Be sure to bring work gloves, and extras if you can. Fabian will share the vision of the church when the group arrives and loves to have a joint devotional time with the group and the people from the church in the mornings. If at all possible plan to have a morning devotion time there, sometime the group leading and other times the people from Carmen Bajo.
    Also, if possible please plan to come and teach a program rather than just do it. This enables them to carry on your ministry after your team has left.

Food: You will always need to bring a sack lunch with you, with enough extra sandwiches to share with the people with whom you are working (a small token that helps solidify the idea that regardless of nationality we are all one team working for the Lord).

Other Comments: The team host should have an idea of the work projects before the team arrives. If there is a specific task that the group is going to do, like build a platform, shelves or play ground equipment, it is helpful to have a list from the team ahead of time to get the correct supplies.