Hey! While fundraising, I was asked so many times: “so what are you actually going to be doing?” And truthfully, my answer was a joyful “I don’t know!” So here I am answering the question by documenting what a week on the field in Colombia looks like! Enjoy!
Monday:
This morning we had breakfast at the usual time, 8:30, then we deep cleaned our previous living space (we moved yesterday) before helping out in the kitchen until lunch. We also did our team laundry during this time, because Monday is laundry day! After lunch, we had a planning meeting about our ministry on Wednesday and then continued to work with the ladies in the kitchen. Because many hands make light work, we finished early and got the chance to run to the ATM, because I’m running out of cash(pesos) and Colombia is a cash based economy. Then we had dinner, which was SO YUMMY (it was rice and meat and plantains and soup, a very typical meal here). I did a quick change after dinner because of the workout class we lead for the ladies on Monday nights, and then we had a team meeting for feedback! I spent some intentional time with the Lord before taking my nice cold shower and going to bed! Happy Monday!!
Tuesday:
Breakfast at 8:30 as per usual, and today is my dish day, so me & a teammate do all the squad’s dishes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! It’s such a blessing getting to serve our squad this way! After breakfast, we helped in the kitchen until lunch, and then I did some quiet time until soccer with the ladies from 2-4. I had a little free time to read my book(and snack on a pitaya and some coconut granola) until dinner, where we had rice, yacon soup, a little salad, and a chicken wing. After dinner we had team time and feedback and then prepped for our lesson for tomorrow’s ministry! Very successful Tuesday and I got shower and go to bed early!
Wednesday:
This morning I woke up earlier than usual(around 7) to go get a coffee and a cheese croissant and do some Bible study before breakfast. After breakfast, we headed over to the inquilinatos, where we hang out with refugees and their children to preach the Gospel. This week my team had kids, so after a Bible lesson, a memory verse, and surviving a couple punches to the gut(that’s kids ministry for you), we wrapped up and headed back to the foundation for lunch. We had team time for a little bit and had some time to ourselves, so I read my book and went down to the bakery to get some snacks for tomorrow before preparing for the Bronx. Every Wednesday night, after the church service, we pile into something I lovingly call “the chicken bus,” and we go hand out agua panela and bread to the people of the Bronx. We sing worship by the side of the line the people stand in, and spiritual warfare is so present there that some people won’t enter the line to get bread because the name of Jesus is being sang over them. The Bronx is such an eye-opening place and serving there is the best way to spend a Wednesday night.
Thursday:
Thursdays is ATL (Ask The Lord) day!! This morning we woke up at 5 am to catch a bus that would take us to Rio Claro, a river about 3 and a half hours from where we were staying. We stopped for breakfast at a place on the side of the road(traditional Colombian breakfast), and then went cliff jumping, hiking, swimming, and rafting for a few hours in the river area! The ride back was quite bumpy as we were in the mountains, but we made it back in time to celebrate Amy’s birthday with pizza and a fat cookie from the bakery. Tonight we have our prayer burn, where we take turns praying in hour shifts throughout the entire night, and my slot is 6-7 am!
Friday:
Friday is Sabbath, so after my prayer time I went back to sleep. I ate some granola and read my book and then watched a movie with the squad. I called my mom in the afternoon and then did some busywork on my laptop. Stopped by the bakery and ate a pastry and did some more reading, then Sydney & Jada made us dinner! And baked us cookies! Then we spent some quality time with the squad and talked. Such a sweet night with my favorite people. I love doing life with y’all 🤍
Saturday:
Woke up early this morning to do a rooftop workout at 6:30, then went down to the bakery to do some Bible study until breakfast at 8! After breakfast, we have a meeting about our morning ministry, and then we’re off to go pick up kids for ministry! We have dancing and snacks for the kids when they arrive and shortly after we split up into small groups. Me & Eutiva, our squad’s Beauty for Ashes(women ministry) specialists, work with the moms every week to share the Gospel and encourage them in faith with lessons specifically geared towards women. We provide lunch for the moms and kids and then walk them back to their homes. After lunch, I had about an hour before teaching, so I called my sister and got to have some sweet time with her before teaching an English class and then helping teach a piano class. Then we had dinner and a Saturday night youth church service. Afterwards, we hung out on the roof with the youth, and then I came down with a friend, got checked for lice(there is ALWAYS a risk with kids ministry, I witnessed a lot of lice crawling on heads today but luckily didn’t get it), started a sourdough loaf and socialized a bit before taking my lovely frigid shower and going to bed.
Sunday:
Today is church day, and service isn’t until 10, so I got to sleep in a little bit. I went down to the bakery, finished my book and ate a ham and cheese croissant with my coffee, and did my quiet time before church. Because it’s all in Spanish, I get an English translation via WhatsApp phone call and listen to the sermon through my earbuds. Then I grabbed a quick lunch before heading up to do childcare for parents who are in discipleship groups in the afternoon. After chasing a bunch of kids around for a few hours, I headed up to chug some liquid vitamin c and take quick nap(I’m definitely getting sick again) before squad church, our own personal church(in English), and then dinner. Then we had feedback, announcements, sourdough, and then planned our lesson for ministry(inquilinatos) tomorrow. Before going to bed, I gathered my laundry in a packing cube for laundry tomorrow, showered, and finished up this blog! Aaaaand that’s a wrap for this week!
Thanks for reading my Week in the Life! Pleeeeeease reach out to me if you have any questions at all! I did the best I could to document what I did, but that was a VERY shortened version of what life looks like every day! I couldn’t write out all the in-between moments of prayer, encouragement, or physically having to lift ourselves up off the ground even if I tried. It gets exhausting some days! But it truly is something I’m so grateful for. I’ve learned to be crazy flexible and have open hands all the time, because life really does change all the time here, even if we have established a schedule. I can’t believe it’s already been a month in Colombia, only a few weeks until Ecuador!
With mild exhaustion, lots of immune supplements, and a whole lotta love,
Camille Curtis
