Covenant Bible College Ecuador

Week 33

2007-05-05T10:10:00.000-05:00

This is the final week update for this blog. Last weekend was our commencement weekend. Most of the students had family and friends come down to celebrate with them and take part in the weekends activities. On Friday afternoon we had a lunch all together and thanked our national staff for all of their hard work through out the year. On Friday night we had our ministry arts (or Windows) concert where the students demonstrated their talents from through out the year as well as telling stories and sharing about how this year has impacted them. Then on Saturday we had our Baccalaureate service in the morning and the faculty spoke to the class and at night we had our banquet.

On Sunday morning the students took their families to the churches that they have been attending and then on Sunday afternoon we had the commencement ceremony where the president of the Covenant church, Glen Palmberg, spoke.

Soon after it started to rain and then pour and very shortly we did not have power (something that happens quite frequently). So, the family and friends got to experience what it is really like to live here while they ate a truly candle-lit dinner and were encouraged to ration their drinking water and toilet use (our water system is on an electric pump and so when there is not electricity there is not water for anything). I think that everyone really did enjoy it though and the power was back on in time to do dishes. After Sunday the students started to leave to either go home or travel with their families and they had to say goodbye to one another for one last time. It has been a great year and we will miss one another a lot.

I just wanted to thank you again for faithfully checking this blog and for you support and prayer of our students over the last year. They can use continued prayer as they take the next steps in their lives and continue to strive after what God has in store for them.

I am planning on leaving this blog up as long as it can be, so you can come back to it as you wish. I have been told that once you click on and open the photos you can save them to your own computer, so please feel free to do that with any that you wish to have.

Photos: The whole class; Alexis and Azurlee Bevan and their parents; Greta Espe and her family; Hannah, Mary, Tess and Mandy; Elin and Heidi; Jenni and Elle; Glen speaking

Week 32

2007-04-26T10:48:00.000-05:00

This last weekend was our final retreat. We traveled together to a town called Banos. We had group events but also plenty of free time to play. Banos is one of the major tourist towns in Ecuador and there are many fun things to do there. Our students did everything from renting ATVs and bungee jumping to hiking near waterfalls and relaxing by the pool. We ended our weekend with one last community communion service. It was a great weekend.

The other photos I am including are also from last weekend. Before we left for retreat we all went out for ice cream and ice-skating. We had a great night the Minnesota kids pulling everyone else around on the ice and then starting a snowball fight with the shavings for the skates. We stood out just a little!

Yesterday and today family and friends started arriving for our commencement weekend. I will update this blog one more time after the weekend is over.

Blog fans of the week: Anders and Kristen (for your many words of wisdom)

Photos: Kira, Bob and Mandy riding on top of a bus called a Chiva to the top of one of the mountains surrounding Banos; Karianne being a part of a flame throwing show that we saw (no one was hurt); Alex, Peter, Elle, and Elin doing a skit about the year during one of our night sessions; one of the waterfalls we hiked to (if you look closely you can see people on the look-out points, they are all students, and this gives a good perspective of how large this waterfall is); we went across the gorge in a basket/cable-car thing and this is it going; Hannah, Luke, Tyler and John pretending to be afraid of the basket ride; John on a large tire swing that we found; Greta, Elle and Elin getting excited about skating; Mary, Hannah and Ellen showing off their Minnesota skating skills; Azurlee, Anna and Tess forming a train

Week 31

2007-04-21T11:31:00.000-05:00

This was a week of last for CBCE…it was our last week of classes and finals. It was also our last week of doing our children’s ministries. We made all of our kids tee-shirts and gave them a little treat and then said (a very tearfull) goodbye. One thing that made leaving each of these sites a little easier is that in the last few weeks people have stepped up to take over each of our three ministry sites. So, we will be leaving them all in the hands of Ecuadorian churches, which is very exciting. This weekend we will leave for our last retreat and then family and friends of our students and CBCE will start arriving next week to take part in our commecement programs. We should be keeping quite busy!

Prayer: Safe travel for our community and for those that are traveling to see us. For Michael Bachman, who was able to come back for a few weeks when his mother’s health seemed to stabalize but who has now returned home again because last week she lost her battle with cancer.

Staff Profiles:
The professor staff profiles can be found on our website www.covenantbiblecollege.com (under CBCE and then “the team”).

There is one other couple on staff that run the office and property (and everything in between). They are Andy and Jenell Pluim. They are from a small town near Edmonton, AB, Canada and have lived here in Ecuador for the last seven years. Before that they were farmers in Alberta and they will be returning to Alberta following this school year to return to their farm and be near their kids and grandkids (“ the cutest kids in the world”).

Photos: The group at Las Palmeras with thier shirts on; Kira with some of the kids in La Merced; kids at La Merced; Mandy saying goodbye to one of the kids at Las Palmeras; one of the other kids from Las Palmeras; Molly with one of the kids from La Montana; another kid from La Montana; Pluims (during Kids College)

Week 30

2007-04-15T16:39:00.000-05:00

This was the last week of regular classes and next week will be a mix of classes and finals. We are starting to have a lot of lasts. We have community worship together twice a week and because we are getting close to the end of the year this last Thursday we did a bit different. We all went up to the cross on one of the hills that over looks La Merced and we had a time of worship through music and then prayed a prayer of blessing over the town and the people that have blessed CBC over the last seven years. It was a very sweet time and all of the mountains that surround our valley were out and beautiful.

This was also the last full weekend off because we leave for our final retreat next weekend and the students took full advantage of it. One group traveled to Mindo (a city in a cloud forest), another group climbed one of the local mountains (Corazon), another group went on the train ride to Cotopaxi park (you get to ride on the top of the train) and hiked near the Illiniza Norte and Illiniza Sur (two other mountians), and other group went hiking closer to La Merced all day.

Prayer: Please be keeping the students in prayer as they finish up their classes (finals are Thursday and Friday).

* To these students and their parents I am very sorry that they were not previously profiled. *

Student Profiles:
Name: Alexis Bevan
Age: 20
Home Town: Breton, AB
Hobbies: Outdoor activities and writing
Favorite thing about CBC: Friends, the classes and the scenery
Future Plans: Studying journalism at SAIT in Calgary, AB

Name: Azurlee Bevan
Age: 23
Home Town: Breton, AB
Hobbies: Hanging out with family and friends and outdoor activities
Favorite thing about CBC: Living in a new culture and classes
Future Plans: Return to working as an RN in Alberta.

Name: Ellen Peterson
Age: 20
Home Town: St Paul, MN
Hobbies: Tree-hugging, music, hiking
Favorite thing about CBC: Being in Ecuador and the people here
Future Plans: Attending Concordia University, St Paul

Photos: The whole group worshiping around the cross; Our group praying over La Merced; Greta, Alexis, Mary and Hannah at Corazon; The group climbing Corazon; Cassie, Micah, Shane and Alex at the summit of Corazon; Holly, Azurlee, Kira, Mandy, Holly and Annalea at the Illinizas; the group hiking around the Illinizas; Alexis; Azurlee; Ellen

Week 29 - Part B

2007-04-11T18:40:00.000-05:00

Part B
As promised, we are featuring photos from this past weekend of adventures. Most of the students traveled around Ecuador. We had a group go to Tena (a jungle town) where they went rafting and did other water sports.

We had a group go to Cuenca, the third largest city in Ecuador and the most colonial city. We had a group go the beach and sit in the sun all weekend.

We also has a group go to Mindo, a town that is in a cloud forest. They all had a great weekend!

Photos: Cuenca; Mandy, Alexis and Tess in front of some ruins; a bridge in Tena; the girls that went to Tena (Holly, Natalie, Cassie, Heidi, Elle, Jenni); Anna and Molly on the beach; Happy Easter from the sunny beaches of Ecuador

* This next week we will have more staff profiles as well as two students profiles...I am very sorry Bevans.

Week 29 - Part A

2007-04-08T22:18:00.000-05:00

Part A
This is going to be another two-part week because most of the students are traveling this weekend for our Easter break and there will be photos and stories of that coming in the next few days.

We had classes and ministries as normal this week through Thursday. On Thursday we had a Holy Week service and our cooks prepared traditional Ecuadorian Easter food (it is a soup that had twelve grains in it as well as many other things). Then the students had a free day from classes because of the Easter weekend.

A group of us stayed around campus and tried to take part in the local traditions of Holy Week here in Quito. On Thursday we went to a concert, on Friday we went to the Good Friday parade, and on Sunday we went to a charity bullfight.

Photos: Ellen and Kira with their kids at the La Merced ministry site; Alexis with some more of the kids; The Good Friday parade (it is filled with men wearing purple or dressed as Jesus and carrying crosses); Part of our group at the parade (Andrew, Kria, Annalea, Luke and Kylene); The bull fight; The "Adventure Squad" (the people who stuck around all weekend and went on random adventures including the bull fight) - Laura, Kylene, Holly, Elin, Andrew, Luke, Kira, Azurlee and Annalea

Week 28

2007-04-01T19:42:00.000-05:00

This week was sort of a wacky week. Classes were all changed around due to the professors being out of town on different days, and because Tuesday was one of our all day ministry days for the term. We spent the day with the children from a local orphanage called For His Children. Part of our group took their toddlers to the Quito zoo for the morning and the other half of the group stayed behind to hold babies. It was a fun day of hanging out with little kids, going for walks with them, feeding them and helping to put them down for a nap. The students are still well into the traveling mode, but this weekend seemed to take a little break as the students spent most of the weekend studying and writing papers. There were several groups that got away for a night or two in Quito, and a group of adventurous guys who spent a cold cramped night on the side of a mountain. Today was the begining of Holy Week. There are things going on all week long in Quito, so today a couple of us went into old town and marched in the Palm Sunday parade, it was a fun and exciting clture experience.

Prayer for this week… This is a heavy week for papers, so prayer for motivation and the ability to stay awake and focus in class. Pray for safety as the students set out to explore the rest of Ecuador over our long weekend for Easter. Prayer for finishing well.

Staff Profiles: The Deans
Name: Andrew Harvey
Age: 27
Home Town: Fort Collins, CO
Education: CBCE, Bachelor of Art in Philosophy from Colorado State University
Future Plans: Moving to Vancouver, British Columbia and attending Regent Seminary in the fall.

Name: Annalea Egging
Age: 25
Home Town: Portland, OR
Education: CBCE, Bachelor of Science in Nursing from North Park University
Future Plans: Moving to either Bellingham, WA or Denver, CO and working as a labor and delivery nurse

Name: Holly Slattery
Age: 25
Home Town: Elk Mound, WI
Education: CBC Colorado, Bachelors of Science in Physical Education from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Future Plans: Moving back to Wisconsin and teaching physical education.

Name: Luke Oliver
Age: 24
Home Town: Winthrop, WA
Education: Bachelor of Art in Bible from Westmont University
Future Plans: Moving to Dallas, TX, getting married in January and then moving to Scotland to attend seminary.

*Our lives are fairly up in the air and so those future “plans” may change at any moment. We are hoping to be doing whatever God plans for us next.

Blog Fan of the week: Jane Auger
Thanks Jane for your years of supporting CBC and our blog.

Photos: Natalie and Child at For his Children; Shane (Cassie in Background); Girls at Orphange (Left to right: Anna, Becky (Mary's sister), Mary, Hannah (Standing), Mandy, Laura, Wagon, Molly (standing), Heidi); Laura and Heidi; Tyler at Zoo; Tess; Palm Sunday Parade; Andrew (w/ Wendy); Annalea; Holly (w/ Sheila, and Mary); Luke.

Week 27

2007-03-25T15:02:00.000-05:00

This week started with a trip to the circus! It was quite the experience to go to a traveling Brazilian circus in Ecuador. There were trapeze artists, lions, clowns and men that drove motorcycles in a metal globe.

The rest of the week was fairly normal. We had classes and our Wednesday ministry day during the week. Our children’s ministries have been going very well and they are a highlight of the week for our students and (hopefully) for the children as well.

Over the weekend groups spent time in Quito, went horseback riding on one of the local mountains and a group traveled to Tena (one of the towns in the jungle).

Prayer: Praise for Michael deciding to return to our community. Please continue to pray for his mother and her health. Continue to pray for the details related to the closure of CBC and selling all three properties owned by CBC.

Student Profiles (*These are the last two student profiles, we hope that you have enjoyed getting to know our students):

Name: Elle Sandquist
Age: 18
Home Town: Redwood City, CA
Hobbies: Cooking and eating, dance parties, shell collecting, being as Swedish as possible
Favorite thing about CBC: Wednesday ministries and living in a different culture
Future Plans: Attending North Park University in the fall

Name: Molly FitzPatrick
Age: 19
Home Town: Mason City, IA
Hobbies: Piano, stationary, reading mysteries, dance parties, journaling, sun bathing
Favorite thing about CBC: Playing with the kids on the mountain during our Wednesday ministry
Future Plans: Attending North Park University in the fall.

Blog Fan of the week: Kelly FitzPatrick (sister of Molly)
Thanks Kelly for your year of supporting CBC and our blog.

Photos: The circus; Mary, Cassie, Holly, and Micah enjoying the circus; Elle and Jake and some of the kids from their ministry site at La Montana; (random photo of the week) Caroline, Elin, Elle, Jenni, Karianne, and Molly having an random dance party in their room one night; Elle; Molly

Week 26

2007-03-18T18:32:00.000-05:00

This week was much more low key than the last couple of weeks have been. We have had a lot of rain and spent a lot of time reading and chilling out with one another. This week we had a few visiting friends from North Park and they went with out students and did fun things over the weekend.

One group went to Mindo and stayed in the jungle and went on a waterfall hikes and hung out. Another group went on a train from Quito to the Cotopaxi park.

Prayer Requests: One of our students had to leave at the end of the week to be with his mother who has terminal cancer. Both he and the community are mourning his absence and the uncertainty of his return.

Student Profiles:
Name: Reid Englund
Age: 19
Home Town: Shoreview (Twin Cities), MN
Hobbies: Surfing, sports, and long walks on the beach
Favorite thing about CBC: The friends that I have made here
Future Plans: Attending North Park University in the fall.

Name: Karianne Gwinn
Age: 18
Home Town: El Cajon (San Diego), CA
Hobbies: Singing, sewing, hanging out with my family
Favorite thing about CBC: Laughing a lot with my friends
Future Plans: Attending Seattle Pacific University (probably) in the fall.

Photos: Laura and Ellen in Mindo getting ready to ride across that ravine in that basket; Shane, Dan, Elle, Micah, Cassie, Natalie, Kjel, Heidi, and Jake at Cotopaxi after riding the train; Natalie, Cassie, Heidi and Elle enjoying the view; Cassie and Reid skim-boarding on our lawn during one of the down pours we had this weekend; Reid; Karianne

Week 25

2007-03-12T09:34:00.000-05:00

This week was basically just filled with preparations for Kids College. This weekend was Kids College (a retreat put on for fourth through sixth graders). Our theme this year was the journeys of Paul and the campus was turned into ancient Athens. The kids were put into “family” groups with two parents for each group. Through out the weekend the kids went to “secret” worship, played games in the Olympics, made candles and other crafts, watched Greek theater and much more. Over all the weekend went really well and the kids all enjoyed themselves.

We could use prayer for all of us to get back into real life after Kids College and continue to process the changes that have taken place in our community over the last few weeks.

Student Profiles:
Name: Tim Prikkel
Age: 19
Home Town: Rolling Meadows
Hobbies: music, woodworking, sports
Favorite thing about CBC: The closeness between the staff and students and their willingness to be an integral part of our lives here.
Future Plans: Attending North Park University in the fall.

Name: Mandy Hjelm
Age: 19
Home Town: Batavia, IL
Hobbies: watching soccer and making puppy chow
Favorite thing about CBC: The community at CBC and the culture here in Ecuador
Future Plans: Attending North Park University in the fall.

Photos: Reid and one of his students on one of the low-ropes course elements that the students put together; John (as Paul) telling stories to the children as Laura paints what he is telling; the cafeteria set up for eating family style and sitting on the floor as they might have done in Athens; Michael and some of the children during on the games; Karl and Elin's family group; Jake and Luke acting in the Greek theater production; Mary and Michael washing the feet of the children in their family during one of the worship sessions; Tim; Mandy

Week 24

2007-03-04T20:02:00.000-06:00

As you have no doubt begun to hear, we have had some difficult circumstances come to our attention in the last few days resulting in the dismissal of 5 of our students. As you can imagine, this has been an extremely difficult decision and not one which was entered into lightly. The students have returned home and this has left a great hole in the community and also in the hearts of their friends here.

The one thing that has been filling all of our lives here at CBC (and has been greatly affected by the loss to our community) is preparations for Kids College. This Saturday was spent doing a work day and run through for the weekend. Next Friday through Sunday there will be around 80 fourth through sixth graders on campus living through the journeys of Paul.

We would appreciate all of your prayers for Kids College and the continuing adjustments that are being made within the community as we all cope with our loss.
*Note: If you are someone who faithfully checks this blog every weekend, know that it will not be coming out until early to mid week next week due to Kids College. Thanks for your faithfulness to our community!

Student Profiles:
Name: Peter Johnson
Age: 19
Home Town: Chaska, MN
Hobbies: Soccer and golf
Favorite thing about CBC: Going to our ministry site and working with kids each week
Future Plans: Attending North Park University in the fall

Name: Tess Calderbank
Age: 19
Home Town: Penticton, BC
Hobbies: Sewing, reading, writing
Favorite thing about CBC: Meeting new people and being in the Ecuadorian culture
Future Plans: Go home and work for the next year

Photos: Andrew, Elin and Caroline decorating the library to be the sleeping quarters for the boys; Anna and Laura helping to create a market place; Cassie, Greta and Kylene messing around; Jenni costuming Mandy; Kylene and Cassie working in the shop; Peter; Tess

Week 23

2007-02-25T16:04:00.000-06:00

This week was filled with meetings and work days for Kids College (the weekend retreat that the students are putting on in a couple weeks). The only other things that we did this week was celebrate Ash Wednesday with a service and a group of us went to one of the local museums.

The main thing that we did this week was play in the annual Turkey Bowl. This is a flag football tournament with the English speaking community of the Quito area (it normally happens around Thanksgiving, but the date was changed for this year). CBC has played in this competition every year and this is only the second year that we have WON! It was a long, hot, fun day of playing and watching games that ended with a victory.

Student Profiles:
Name: Heidi Steinman
Age: 19
Home Town: Visalia, CA
Hobbies: Painting, crocheting, Ultimate and handstands
Favorite thing about CBC: I like the teachers and when it rains at night (especially the Thunderstorms)
Future Plans: Attend community college at home.

Name: Kira Yeversky
Age: 18
Home Town: Dewittville, NY
Hobbies: Painting, knitting, and reading
Favorite thing about CBC: Being in Ecuador, speaking Spanish and hanging out with all of the amazing people here
Future Plans: Attending North Park University in the fall.

Photos: Trevor; Holly, Andrew, Elin, Caroline, Bob and Dan on the side lines; Shane, Hannah and Trevor (playing against our friend Chris); Kylene; The Fun Team ( Dan, Peter, Elin, Caroline, Holly, Anna, Mary, Tyler, Alexis and Andrew); some of the cheerleaders (Heidi, Mandy, Kira, Holly, Molly, Annalea, Jenni, Greta and Laura); The "A" Team(Judson, Reid, Trevor, Luke, Shane, Cassie, Alex, Micah, Hannah, Michael, and Karl); The Winners; Heidi; Kira

Week 22

2007-02-17T12:56:00.000-06:00

One of the things that we often do here at CBCE in our small groups is go over our highs and lows for the week. So, this week I thought that I would share with you our highs and lows as a community.

Our highs for the week were Valentines Day and a Carnival water fight. On Valentines Day the girls got up early and surprised the boys with a huge, great breakfast in their rooms. That night the boys planned a beautiful, fancy dinner for the girls. It was a fun day of celebrating each other.

During the month of February Ecuador celebrates a holiday called Carnival, which basically involves throwing water on anyone and everyone. On Friday our kitchen staff started a huge, campus wide, water fight. All of the students and most of the staff were involved (we were all soaked). Later the boys got the girls again. It was a very fun day as well.

Our low for the week is the announcement of the closing of CBC. If you have not previously heard, both CBC Ecuador and CBC Canada will be closing as of May 31, 2007. These closures are related to decreases in student enrolment and the financial concerns that come along with that. Many questions, conversations and tears by the students and staff met this announcement. Getting used to this major change will take time and processing for us as well as the greater CBC community. On the CBC website (www.covenantbiblecollege.com) you can find information to help answer questions, links to email addresses, as well as a message board where comments can be posted to the greater CBC community. Please feel free to contact us with any further questions or concerns. We appreciate all of the ways that you all have been praying for us over the last 22 weeks and ask that you continue to remember us as we finish the last term of Covenant Bible College.

Student Profiles:
Name: Karl Engebretson
Age: 18
Home Town: Deerfield, Il
Hobbies: Music, ultimate Frisbee,
Favorite thing about CBC: I love the opportunity to study outside of the US and the community that we have here
Future Plans: Attending North Park University in the fall

Name: Hannah Woodbury
Age: 18
Home Town: Lake Nebagaman, WI
Hobbies: Ultimate Frisbee, running, dancing to Thriller
Favorite thing about CBC: The mountains, the people of and culture of Ecuador, and our community on campus
Future Plans: Either attending North Park University or North Dakota State College of Science

Photos: Trevor, Alex and Dan all dressed up to serve the girls dinner; Heidi Natalie and Cassie all dressed up as well with flowers that the boys gave them; all the girls on Valentines day before dinner; the girls making breakfast for the boys; Azurlee being soaked by Jake while her sister (Alexis) laughs in the background; Baxter and Caroline fighting it out (Bax won); everyone playing in one of our fountains after we were all soaked; the students getting Jorge, our incredible driver, as he gets back to campus; Karl; Hannah

Week 21 - Part B

2007-02-12T14:38:00.000-06:00

Part B: Second Term Break

This week we got a break from Tuesday afternoon through Sunday night. Everyone in the community left and either went to the beach or to the jungle in four different groups. Two groups went to two different beaches and played in the waves, relaxed in the sun and ate amazing fresh seafood. The other groups went to a few different places in the jungle (all around the Tena area). Some of the things that they did while they were there was visit an animal preserve, rafting and hiking. Everyone had a great time and wasn’t quite ready to come back and start their new term…

Student Profile:
Name: John Mansell
Age: 18
Home Town: Downey, CA
Hobbies: Climbing trees, drawing, and long walks on the beach
Favorite thing about CBC: Smash pong and inexpensive Coca-Cola
Future Plans: “Was I supposed to have a plan?”

Photos: Micah fishing on the beach; Alex and Ellen hiking in the jungle; Caroline, Andrew, Elin and Peter eating a coconut that they found and opened with a stick; Azurlee, Alexis, Hannah, Holly, Molly, Anna, Kira, Mary, and Mandy after one of their excursions in the jungle; Shane, Karl Nicki, Judson, Cassie, Micah, and Jake enjoying the sunset on the beach; One of the groups that went rafting: Dan, Ellen, Laura, Alex, Tyler, John, Tim and their guides; The second rafting group: Molly, Mandy, Mary, Heidi, Alexis, Hannah, Azurlee, Anna, Holly and their guide; Jenni, Tess, Greta and Elle on the beach; John

Week 21 - Part A

2007-02-12T14:25:00.000-06:00

We had a very busy week this week so the blog will come in two parts.
Part A: Pre-break
We started the week by having a Super Bowl Party. Most of us went over to the Auger’s house (one of the professor’s houses). We had groups cheering for both sides (a few particularly disappointed students from Chicago). We had tons of food and treats, it was a great break from studying for finals (which continued over the next couple days).

One of the other things that broke up the finals was that the students put on a chapel for the elementary students at the Alliance Academy. They are planning a weekend long program, called Kids College, for the 4th through 6th graders that will happen in a few weeks. This program involves a huge amount of planning and work for our students and takes up much of their time right now. This chapel was a chance for the CBC students and the kids to get excited about the weekend.

Student Profile:
Name: Holly Meyer
Age: 18
Home Town: Redwood City, CA
Hobbies: Reading, baseball
Favorite thing about CBC: Living in a community where I have 40 brothers and sisters
Future Plans: Attending North Park University in the fall.

Photos: The whole group watching the Super Bowl; Tim, Peter and Karl (with Elin in the background) watching the game; a couple of the kids at the chapel; Micah, Dan, Karianne, Jenni, Greta and Caroline leading worship at the chapel; Holly

Week 20

2007-02-04T08:52:00.000-06:00

This week was full of finishing up projects, papers and classes for the term. Somehow we found a bit of time through out the week to have some fun as well. A few groups went out to coffee at a couple of local places and we played ultimate frisbee and football. Finals started this weekend (they were pushed up a couple days to allow our term break to be a day longer) and after the first one a group of 17 of us went hiking. We went to an area that has a series of trails and waterfalls to hike to and play in. It was a beautiful day for hiking.
This next week is our term break from Tuesday night to Sunday night. Everyone is traveling either to the beach or the jungle. We could use prayer for finishing up finals and for travel safety.

Student Profiles:
Name: Shane Hoffbeck
Age: 18
Home Town: Eagle River, AK
Hobbies: Music (especially drums) , hockey, football
Favorite thing about CBC: Being in Ecuador
Future Plans: Possibly attending Azusa Pacific University in the fall.

Name: Anna Rosengren
Age: 19
Home Town: Duluth, MN
Hobbies: Hanging out with friends, reading, watching movies, volleyball
Favorite thing about CBC: Participating in the children ministry in La Merced every week.
Future Plans: Probably attending North Park University in the fall.

Photos: Holly with Alex sleeping the library trying to get his homework done; Andrew, Ellen, John, Laura, Elin and Caroline trying out the frigid water; the group hiking; Caroline and Elin in front of one of the waterfalls; Micah helping Alex out of one of the other waterfalls (they are not really in danger); Shane; Anna

Week 19

2007-01-29T16:14:00.000-06:00

This week we hosted a group of high school students from the Alliance Academy. The students that have been involved with the Youth Ministry class over the last term planned a day for the high school students to enjoy that was different than their regular schedule.

ge number of clinic visits over the last couple weeks).

They planned a time of worship, group discussion times, campus tours and a big game (three way capture the flag). The day went really well and all of the CBC and high school students had a great time. We are heading into our last week of classes before finals for this term. Please be praying for the students that they would finish this term strong. Another prayer request would be for protection from injuries and sickness (we have had an above average number of clinic visits over the last couple weeks).

Student Profiles:
Name: Judson McLaren
Age: 19
Home Town: Woodbury, MN
Hobbies: Soccer, baseball, eating ice cream
Favorite thing about CBC: Living in a different culture and my friends
Future Plans: Probably attending North Park University in the fall.

Name: Jenni Husby
Age: 19
Home Town: Tokyo, Japan
Hobbies: Singing, eating ice cream, playing with kids, and traveling
Favorite thing about CBC: Living in a different culture and the people at CBC.
Future Plans: Probably attending Seattle Pacific University and studying nursing.

Photos: A group of the high school students; Micah and Cassie during the big game; Trevor playing basketball with one of the students; Caroline and Heidi; Heidi, Reid, Laura and Trevor; Tess and Kira play fighting; Judson; Jenni

Week 18

2007-01-21T18:40:00.000-06:00

This week we week we read, discussed and heard about the church as community. We all read the book Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. We had a guest speaker come in to speak on Bonhoeffer and his take on a Biblical view of community. The week ended with our 2nd term retreat. We all went to a hotel that has pools and waterslides. It was a fun time of seminars, hanging out and being crazy in the pool.

We ended the retreat with a communion service back on campus. This service was an open time for people to express themselves to God in whatever way that they needed to. We set up stations for painting, writing, making a cross, prayer, cleansing, anointing with oil, there was singing and the center of the room was a large cross. We ended the service by serving each other communion and then sharing things that God has been doing in our lives. It was an amazing time for the community to come together and celebrate the ways that God has been and is at work.

Student Profiles:
Name: Micah Rude
Age: 18
Home Town: Crookston, MN
Hobbies: sports and guitar
Favorite thing about CBC: Being in Ecuador
Future Plans: Maybe college somewhere

Name: Natalie Rush
Age: 19
Home Town: Valley Springs, CA
Hobbies: Soccer, yoga and other exercise, music
Favorite thing about CBC: Living with people of the same faith and being challenged and given the opportunity to love people
Future Plans: Going to Azusa Pacific University to study sports medicine

Photos: Hannah, Heidi, Karianne, Baxter, John, Shane, Jake, Reid, Trevor, and Micah doing a pyramid at the retreat; having fun on the waterslides: Alex, Andrew. Elin and Caroline; we had a synchronized swimming competition: (one of the groups) Alexis, Tim, Caroline, Natalie, Kylene, Mandy and Andrew; our communion service (note: the cross in the center looks a little creapy in this photo but it was not in person); Micah; Natalie

Week 17

2007-01-14T16:06:00.000-06:00

We are back! All of the students, faculty and staff made it back to Ecuador safely following our three week break. We had people all over the US, two girls in Canada, one girl in Spain and a few stayed here in Ecuador. Our first week back has been a week of adjusting back at life at CBC. This includes adjusting to the food, doing homework again and being in the sun (the weather has been incredible and there are more than a few sunburns).

This week two different groups went to visit one of the local orphanages to play with the kids living there. We restarted our weekly kids club ministries as well.

Student Profiles:
Name: Trevor Hazen
Age: 18
Home Town: St Paul, MN
Hobbies: Basketball, hanging out with friends, eating and sleeping
Favorite thing about CBC: Mis amigos (my friends)
Future Plans: Attending North Park University in the fall and then start a chain of world famous restaurants.

Name: Kylene Osberg
Age: 18
Home Town: Olympia, WA
Hobbies: Photography and sports
Favorite thing about CBC: Friends

Photos: Studying: Greta and Natalie studying in their room and Luke and Michael reading on our hamocks; just one of the many new tan lines (its not all studying); Holly, Caroline, Andrew, Molly and Laura playing with kids at the orphanage; Micah and John playing at the orphanage; Trevor; Kylene

Week 16

2006-12-18T07:19:00.000-06:00

This was our last week here in Ecuador before our Christmas break. On Sunday the students put on a Christmas program for two local churches. The first service in the morning was in English and the second (in the evening) was in Spanish. The services included drama, choir, small group ensembles, and puppets. Both services went very well. The students spent most of their free time during the rest of the week studying for mid-term exams and finishing up projects.

We also had Christmas parties at all of the ministry sites. We gave out food and candy and other treats along with playing games and having a special Christmas puppet show. We had a Secret Santa gift exchange this week amongst the students and deans.

All but three of our students will be traveling back to their homes in the United States and Canada over this weekend. The other three are staying with family and friends here in Ecuador. They will be away for the next three weeks getting rest and eating their mom’s food. These postings will also be suspended for the next three weeks. If you have any questions or would like to see more photos please check out the CBC website at www.covenantbiblecollege.com.

I would like to thank all of you that have been faithfully praying for us, you prayers are greatly appreciated. A couple of recent praises: all of our students were able to get their paperwork taken care of to be able to leave and return to Ecuador; Greta Espe is recovering quickly and doing very well. Also, thank you for commenting it has been very helpful. Have a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year. Come back and check us out in 2007!

Student Profiles:

Name: Ross van der Harst
Age: 18
Home Town: Clinton, NJ
Hobbies: Juggling, pool, and ping pong
Favorite thing about CBC: The beauty of the country.
Future Plans: Working for a year.

Name: Cassidy “Cassie” Fightmaster
Age: 18
Home Town: Fort Collins, CO
Hobbies: Soccer, knitting, and swing dancing
Favorite thing about CBC: The community of people here.
Future Plans: Either working and saving money to someday have a ranch or attending (and playing soccer for) Colorado Christian College.

Photos: Our choir at one of the concerts; Laura, Jenni, Karianne, Molly, Ellen and Natalie singing at the concert; the whole group waiting to start; Tess and one of the kids from her ministry site; Michael, Alex and Judson with some of the boys at their site; Ellen, Kira and Tim doing the puppet show; a group of kids playing at our Las Palmeras site; Jenni and a couple of kids at her site; Ross; Cassie

Week 15

2006-12-09T13:46:00.000-06:00

This week was a busy week of homework (mainly a big paper for the New Testament class) and rehearsals for our Christmas program. On top of those things most of the class spent hours of the morning on Monday getting Ecuadorian identification called censos (thanks to all of you who were praying about those this week) and then spent the afternoon celebrating Quito Days.

This local holiday involves playing games, climbing a greased poll for prizes, eating traditional Ecuadorian food and a Quito Days Princess (Kira). We went to Otavalo, the largest market town in this area, and went shopping for Christmas on Friday. We also decorated the dorm for Christmas this week and went all out with lights, stockings and a real Christmas tree. This next week will be our last week before our Christmas break!

Student Profiles

Name: Elin Wickstrom
Age: 18
Home Town: North Kingsville, OH
Favorite thing about CBC: The conversations here can be completely fun or completely serious or anything in between.
Interests: Tennis, playing piano, playing card games, and reading
Plans for the future: Tenitivly planning on attending North Park University

Name: Dan Nicholas
Age: 19
Home Town: Syracuse, NY
Favorite thing about CBC: Living in another country.
Interests: Playing guitar, writing, reading
Plans for the future: Probably going to North Park University and majoring in either theology or political science or both.

Prayer Requests: That we have good closure this week on the first half of the year. Safe travels next weekend for most of the students and staff that are traveling to the United States and Canada.

Photos: Quito Days Celebrations: Karen and Caroline in masks that were some of the prizes; Princess Kira; Natalie trying to break clay jars that held candy; Alex in a sack race; Tim and Andrew in the wheelbarrow race; a group of guys climbing the pole; Karianne and Elin in a three-legged race; Elin; Dan

Week 14

2006-12-03T16:20:00.000-06:00

This week was another crazy week at CBC Ecuador. On Thursday night we all made cookies for a party on Friday night and for a present for our Ecuadorian staff (we made approximately 400 cookies). Then Friday night we made 2500 sandwiches for a party on Saturday, ate the cookies we had made the night before and drank hot chocolate. On Saturday we participated as volunteers with an organization called Extreme Impact that puts on a Christmas party in the Quito city dump for the people who work and live there. We helped to run carnival games, do face painting, walked around with puppets and helped to distribute food. All of this plus extra rehersals for our Christmas concert and classes and ministries as normal made this a very full week, but it all got done and went well.

Student Profiles:
Name: Laura Faye Prentice
Home Town: Bloomington, MN (Home of the Mall of America)
Age: 20
Favorite thing about CBC: The lack of winter weather and playing with small children on Wednesdays
Future Plans: Finish as an art major at North Park University and then become a “starving artist”

Name: Tyler Lage
Home Town: Sheffield, IA
Age: 18
Favorite thing about CBC: All of the different ministry opportunities
Future Plans: Majoring in engineering at Iowa State University

Prayer Requests: Safety and energy as we finish up this first half of the year. We are doing out Christmas concert this next weekend. With the visas that we have to be able ot live here in Ecuador we need to register with the country and there have been problems with the system for the last few months so that at this point most of the students and a few staff members do not have the proper paperwork to be able to leave and reenter the country. We have attempted a few times and will be continueing that process this week and could use prayer that it would be able to happen sooner than later because we are all leaving within the next two weeks.

Photos (from top to bottom): A group of us carrying boxes of extra food from the party at dump to distribute to more people; Deb, Laura, Baxter, Alex and Kira and the puppets that they carried around at the dump party; Luke and one of the kids at the dump party; Molly, Reid and Jenny making cookies; Dan, Laura, Mandy, Tim, Molly, Kira and Holly making sandwiches; one of the kids at the dump party; Laura; Tyler

Week 13 - Part B

2006-11-26T11:20:00.000-06:00

Part B
Most of the community left at midnight on Wednesday night to start the 6 hour drive to the beach. They stayed in cabins on the beach and had a wonderful time. They went body surfing, skim-boarding, went for long walks and collected shells, built sand castles, played cards and other games as well as having a bonfire a couple of the nights. Some of them were also frantically reading the Old Testament because it had to be finished by the time they got back. They came back sleepy, sun burnt and (hopefully) ready to finish up their time here before Christmas!

Student Profile
Name: Jacob (Jake) Dybzinski
Age: 19
Home Town: Fort Collins, CO
Favorite thing about CBC: Being able to be in a different country and being apart of a community that it real with each other and how it has helped me grow in my walk with Christ
Future Plans: Work and finish up a bachelors degree in elementary education

Photos: Everyone praying before cooking their dinner over the nightly bonfire; Tess playing in the waves; Heidi doing a handstand in the water; everyone on the bus; Ross, Jenni, Judson, and Nicki; Jake

Week 13 - Part A

2006-11-24T15:27:00.000-06:00

Part A
Due to the fact that this has been a very busy week I have decided to do two different blog entries for this week.
Natalie Rush and Cassie Fightmaster have started playing soccer regularly on an English-speaking team that participates in a girls soccer league in Quito. They have been having a great time and their team is doing good as well. A large group of us went to watch them at their last couple games.

The boys felt lonely for the states at Thanksgiving time and put together a game of touch football in our field. There were not quite enough of them, so Micah Rude played on both teams…I am not quite sure how that works but they made it work.

On Monday and Tuesday night groups of deans and students made pies for Thanksgiving and then Wednesday the real work of cooking the whole meal was done by our wonderful cooking staff. We had a huge Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday night before most of the class and staff left to go to the beach for the weekend. There will be more to come about the weekend….

Student Profile:
Name: Greta Espe
Age: 18
Home Town: Roseau, MN
Favorite thing about CBC: The people
Plans for after CBC: Probably school in Colorado for elementary/special education

Prayer Requests: This past week Greta Epse hurt her back in an accident and was hospitalized for a few days. Everyone was excited to welcome her back to campus and she will be continuing to rest and heal here until she goes home for Christmas break. She could use prayer for a pain free and quick healing process.

Photos: Trevor, Dan, Reid, and Ross at a local hotel pool; the crowd cheering and then Cassie and Natalie playing in their game; Trevor, Jake, Luke, Alex, Michael and Andrew playing football; all the girls and all of the boys at our Thanksgiving dinner; Greta

Week 12

2006-11-18T10:06:00.000-06:00

We had our last normal week here before everything get crazy with Thanksgiving and Christmas preparations. Students had classes, went to their ministry sites and hung out in the evenings. It was nice to be able to just have things on a regular schedule. We have a lot going on in the next few weeks. We will be heading to the beach for Thanksgiving and then preparing for our Christmas production, then midterm exams and then heading home for a few weeks.

Student Profiles
Name: Caroline Elia
Age: 18
Home Town: Stow.OH
Favorite thing about CBC: The people
Future Plans: Attending North Park University next year.

Student Profiles
Name: Michael Bachman
Age: 23
Home Town: Berea, KY
Favorite thing about CBC: Getting to work with local children during out ministry days each week.
Future Plans: Finishing up bachelors degree.

Photos: (from top to bottom) moving our basketball hoop onto our new basketball court; Baxter and Margie Swenson team-teaching one of the second term classes; Trevor and Dan ready for the down pour of rain that we have been getting every afternoon this week; Caroline; Michael

Week 11

2006-11-12T18:11:00.000-06:00

This was a crazy week at CBCE. We had final exams and projects presented on Monday and Tuesday followed by celebration dinners. The new term and new classes started on Wednesday morning.

Thursday was another day of new classes but then Friday was a free day to have a long weekend. The students all took full advantage of the long weekend. Quite a few students traveled. One group to Guayaquil (the largest city in Ecuador) and another to Mindo (this is a small town in a cloud forest). A group of 19 students and deans climbed Cotopaxi (the tallest active volcano in the world) on Saturday morning. They came home to a home-cooked meal made by some of the students that stayed behind on campus. Still other students stayed closer to campus or spent the night at a hotel in Quito to be able to spend a bit of time away and a group spent Sunday at a hot springs called Papallacta. It was a great weekend and everyone came back safe and sound.

One of the mothers that regularly reads this blog suggested that we do student profiles so that you can get to know the students a bit. I am going to do a couple each week, in no particular order.

Student Profiles
Name: Alex Melin
Home Town: Cambridge, MN
Age: 19
Interests: Hunting, long walks on the beach, drawing, reading and sports, playing, and his Bible
Favorite thing about CBC: The people and breakfast
Future Plans: Retiring for life

Name: Mary Elmstrand
Home Town: North Branch, MN
Age: 19
Interests: berry picking, sudoku, ultimate frizbee, meeting new people
Favorite thing about CBC: E4 group (her small group) and learning dances with the other girls
Future Plans: Probably attending the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire

Side note: While we have 12 students from Minnesota Alex and Mary are fighting for the role of “strongest Minnesota accent.”

Prayer requests: Bob Auger (the director of CBCE) is traveling in the states right now, the students are starting new classes and continued prayer for health and safety.

Photos: (From top to bottom) A group out to dinner after finals; the group that went to Papallacta (Holly, Tess, Andrew, Kira, Azurlee and Alexis); Jake, Micah, Luke and Judson at the summit of Cotopaxi; Heidi, Hannah, Mary, Greta, Alexis and Azurlee climbing up the mountain; Kira, Tess, Michael and Kylene in Guayaquil; Natalie cooking for the troops; Elin Wickstrom, Karianne, Molly and Laura on their way out to Mindo; Alex and Mary

Week 10

2006-11-05T17:29:00.000-06:00

We are finishing up our first term here at CBC Ecuador and everyone is scrambling to do final projects and study for final exams that take place early next week. After all of the projects are done and the tests are written, then we get a long weekend! Keep all of the students in your prayers this week they could use focus and good health.
On Tuesday we took a break and had a night was filled with screaming and laughter. We had a two part Halloween party. First, a group of the boys put together a haunted house in some of the buildings on our property. These buildings are some what creepy on their own and the boys added a story (that they made up about the previous property owner) and jumped out from the shadows and made it scary! They did a great job. Then we all changed into costumes and had a party. There was a costume contest, bobbing for apples, a dance performance of Thriller, watermelon carving (there are not a lot of pumpkins in Ecuador) and lots of great snacks. It was a fun night.

Photos: above - a couple of photos from this week at La Montana (one of our weekly ministry sites); Kira as Puss in Boots; Molly, Shane, Tyler and Jenni as The Flinstones and Aladin and Jasmine; Reid as Batman; Alexis as Caroline (her roommate); Mary as a Greek woman and Hannah as Little Red Riding Hood

Week 9

2006-10-27T09:24:00.000-05:00

This week we had our first all-campus work day. Each term we will spend one day working together in the community or with an organization. This term we worked at the local La Merced library. We painted walls and tables and chairs as well as repairing broken windows and other small repairs.

We have a group of 17 students and the two male deans that are planning on climbing Cotopaxi (a local volcanic mountain) in a couple of weeks. This weekend most of them did a day-hike on Pichincha (another local mountain)to try and get a bit more used to what the higher elevation will be like.

We also had a "pink day" on Tuesday in honor of Molly's birthday.

Photos: Molly, Greta and Jake painting inside the library; everyone painting furniture outside; Michael and Judson moving furniture so that we could paint; Alex, Micah and Shane hiking; the group that went hiking; all the people that dressed in pink

Week 8

2006-10-22T16:32:00.000-05:00

This week at CBC Ecuador was a week of celebrations. We had a ton of birthdays (Dan, Azurlee, Laura and Anna's) which lead to small parties all week long. This weekend we also had an all campus “black and white” party. We started with a party in one of our courtyards where everyone had to wear some sort of black and white clothing. We got everything from dressy to costumes to running gear. We had all black and white snacks (ice cream, Oreos, popcorn, etc). There were even prizes awarded for creativity and such. After we watched a black and white movie outside, drive-in style. It was a fun week!

Photos: (All from the black and white party) the Bevan sisters, girls eating their black and white snack, caped Micah and Jake, most of the girls and Luke, most of the guys and one rebel.

Week 7

2006-10-16T11:31:00.000-05:00

This week rainy season started in full force! We took full advantage of it by dancing in (in our mote) and soccer games in the rain. Our Wednesday ministry sites saw a bit of rain for the first time this week as well, but the kids still had a great time. Midterms continued to keep the students busy during the day and up until all hours of the night. Wednesday after noon was filled with a staff vs. students volleyball, ultimate Frisbee and four square competition (the students came out on top). The weekend was spent hanging out and Bible reading (there was a check-in on where the students are at on Monday morning). On Sunday morning a team of students and staff lead worship at a local english-speaking church and did an excelent job! Sorry the last couple of weeks have been posted later in the week, we will work on that in the next couple of weeks.

Note:
We have loved to receive all of your comments over the weeks. Please make sure that you leave your name on it so that we know who you are.

Photos: (From the top) Greta, Alexis, Peter and Ross studying and taking midterms; a game of "buck buck," dancing in the rain; volleyball students vs staff.

Week 6

2006-10-10T11:21:00.000-05:00

Hey there everybody. This is Luke writing. Annalea is out of town for a few days, so I am covering for her. The past week marked the middle of the term for students, which can only mean one thing: mid-terms (I know, that is sort of a no-brainer). Yes, there was indeed a test last Friday, but nobody really complained too much because they were mostly focused on the approaching long weekend, during which twenty-three of them went to Baños, a sort of adventure town with hot springs and other various activities. Some students tried new some new things: horseback riding for instance, or bungee jumping...HA! Just kidding on that last one. We managed to advise against that sort of...precarious activity. But you should check out the pictures of the horses (or caballos for all of you Spanish speakers out there). They are a little on the small (pequeño) side. This was the first real more-than-day trip away from campus without staff for most students, but it seems that they all survived. In fact, reports about the trip tended to go something like, "Oooouuuuugggghhhhh! Ammmmaaaaazing!" We judged that to be a positive response. Those of us who stuck around here on campus for the weekend had our own fun. We did things like...read...and sleep lots and watch Star Wars. Yeah, it was a blast.
In other news, the CBC Ecuador board was here last week taking care of business. As part of their time here, they talked to students about their experience so far, which allowed time for feedback. They were also able to participate in worship and vespers and several meals. A few even stayed in some of the empty dorm rooms, probably an adventure for them.
Well, that about wraps up the weekly report. God bless you all, and happy Canadian Thanksgiving.

Photos: The La Merced group at their ministry day: playing soccer, giving piggy-back rides, playing circle games, etc.

Week 5

2006-09-29T19:28:00.000-05:00

Another week down...
This week was another great week of ministries, classes and hanging out.

After a week of reading and paper writing the weekend was spent playing (or catching up on more reading). One group went out get Jenni and sushi fix (she grew up in Japan). Another group spent the day walking around Quito exploring the old city and one of the local markets. Another group went up the Teliferico, a gandala that goes up Pinchincha (one of the mountains that sounds Quito). Most went to church on Sunday morning and then came back to campus for our weekend ultimate frizbee that has become a Sunday afternoon staple.

Student Perspective: La Montana Ministry Site

Imagine a small child covered in dirt looking up at you with big brown eyes raising their arms and saying “carca me.” It is nearly impossible to resist. This is why we love la mountana, a dusty school with a rusty playground, a cement basketball court, and children craving attention. Driving up in our twelve passenger vans, bringing legos, balls, a jump rope, bible verse, craft, and sandwiches, children run out to meet us. The pure joy on the faces of the children run out to meet us. The pure joy on the faces of the children is a reason enough to visit these amazing children. Our single hope is that these children would see God through our actions and very few Spanish words. We also go to have a blast, get amazing hugs, and feel God’s love in the simplest form. After all Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:14)
Elin Wickstrom

Photos (from top to bottom) : Girls hanging out in the dorm, part of the group at the top of the Teliferico (I know that it just looks dark but we really were very high up on a mountain), a group of girls at La Basilica in Quito, and the bottom 6 are all from this week at La Montana playing with kids and preforming with puppets (the puppet group went to all of the different sites).

Week 4

2006-09-23T13:25:00.000-05:00

Some of the highlights of this weekÂ
This week was our first week of going to each of our ministry sites and actually working with the children there. It went really well and between the three sites we had approximately 160 kids. At each site we played games, told a story about being heroes of the faith, did a craft and gave out a snack.

On Saturday all of us here at CBC volunteered to help with kids in wheel chairs that were to attend a program called Festininos. This was the childrenÂs portion of the Franklin Graham Crusade that was going on in Quito all weekend. In the end, only one child in a wheelchair came but there were 60,000 other children there.

This weekend in the main weekend of La Merced Days. This is an annual festival that take place in the little town where we live. This is a combo of a fair/carnival/block party including food, rides, music and much more.

Prayer: We are getting out of the honeymoon period and are transitioning into getting used to living here in Ecuador. Continued prayer health - one of the students, Reid, has been not feeling right for a while so he has been having some tests done to figure out what is going on (so far eveything has come back normal, which is great!).

Photos (from top to bottom): Caroline sitting with kids and Trevor playing soccer at Las Palmeras, one of our weekly ministry sites (there will be photos of all of the sites over the next few weeks), some of our girlplayingng handclap games with children that they met at Festininos, thousands of children going down for the alter-call at the end of the program, a groups of our students (Kylene, Holly, Natalie, Anna, and Michael) ready to go into the festival, the festival was held in the national soccer stadium and children filled all of the stands and the overflow were sitting on the field, our whole group, we had one child in a wheelchair show up and a group of our students went to sit with her family (Kylene is there sitting next to the little girl), and La Merced Days dancers and Ferris Wheel

Week 3

2006-09-14T09:40:00.000-05:00

First Paper Due
This week students madly tried to find computers, printers and someone to edit their first papers. The power went out at dinner the night before and screams were heard from all over the cafeteria of "my paper"! The power quickly returned and everyone lived.
Some other things going on this week: Students were able to see their ministry sites this week and pass out invitations to the local children in their area. Another group went hiking (note: Karianne would like me to mention that this is an 8 mile hike and that is really long!) and people continued to explore new restaurants and places around the area.

We had our first "girl's night" and the boys have been figuring out how to get their football fix (a special thanks goes out to their waitress at TGI Fridays where they watched 1.5 football games on Saturday).

For the most part this was just a weekend of hanging out watching movies, reading, soccer and ultimate Frisbee. We have a tough life!

Photos (from top to bottom): Out to lunch at Magic Bean, Peter, Reid and Trevor enjoying pancakes, a group with the purchases from one of the markets in Quito, Laura and El, Jenni and Elle, girls at "girl's night," Nicki, playing cards, puzzle time, and Kira

Student Perspectives:
Futbol vs Soccer
One sweet wicked way us CBCers join in the culture here in Ecuador is by challenging the local Ecuadorians in a little Futbol. Every Monday, Thursday, and any day between, our soccer skills are put to the test. Thanks to our awesome goalie, Micah Rude from Minnesota, we have kept a pretty good reputation and a reason for the locals to keep coming back to play us. With players like Trevor Hazen, Peter Johnson, Alex Melin, and Judson McLaren all from Minnesota, Jacob Dybzinski and Cassie Fightmaster from Colorado, Shane Hoffbeck from Alaska, Michael Bachman from Kentucky, and our deans Luke and Andrew, we have a pretty functional and exciting team that is willing to take on any challenge in our little pick-up games. Jacob Dybzinski, in the front striker line, says that playing soccer in Ecuador Â“has been one of my favorite things.Â” Because our lack of language skills and American soccer fundamentals, IÂ’m sure the locals find playing soccer with us pretty entertaining. Most of the guys we play against have been playing soccer since they could crawl, so I think they have been quite impressed by the fight we put up every game! I would have to say that playing soccer with these guys has been Â‘a dream come trueÂ’ for me (and IÂ’m sure others). To experience this game with such finesse, strength, speed, and flair from these guys has been more than fun, it has been a blessing.
Natalie Rush

Prayer for our community: One of the guys (Michael) found out that his grandfather passed away suddenly this week. Many of the students are or have been sick and injured (minor things) as well. The Franklin Graham crusade is coming to Quito this weekend (Sept 22-24). Our students will be helping on Saturday with kiwheelchair'schairs for the children's program.

(Note: Micah is not actually sick, he is just sitting in a funny position and demonstrating what it looks like to be sick)

Week 2

2006-09-09T11:06:00.000-05:00

First week of classes...
Real life, or something close to it, started this week. Classes began and everyone is starting to get used to what the schedule will look like from week to week. There was still time for fun things like movies, a pizza party, hiking and trips to the store for the last minute notebooks and other school supplies. Photos: (From top to bottom) Ross on his first day of class, the classroom just before the first class started, Laura and the group dancing at the pizza party, a group hiking to the "big cross" in the early morning, the "big cross," Heidi walking a slack line

We will be doing ministry with children together every Wednesday at three different locations in and near La Merced and this week we learned some songs and games that can be used.

Student Perspectives

The Gloves Aren’t the Only things Coming Off!!!
The air blows a little cooler on some of the faces of this years CBCE males. A strange phenomena has manifested itself in the form of the first ever “Beard-Off”. The point of this exercise, is rooted heavily in the pure necessity for males to compete, and is to see who can grow the longest possible facial hair by the day before the Christmas concert. Due to a condition of the competition set in place by Professor Bob Auger, the competition must end the night before the concert and all participants must shave themselves back to respectability. While the idea was first conceived on the first-term retreat, the full potential of this exercise was not fulfilled until every male who had previously sported any facial hair, was clean-shaven and baby faced on Sunday morning the 3rd of September. Some competitors have taken this competition in stride; others have had a hard time dealing with the initial shock and loss. Where will this madness end? Nobody knows, but getting there might get a little hairy.

--Tim Prikkel

Week 1

2006-09-04T14:15:00.001-05:00

This last week was an orientation to life at CBC and in Ecuador.
The theme for the week was Survivor Pichincha. The students and deans were divided into four “tribes” and spent the week learning about La Merced (where we live), San Rafael (the next closest town) and CBC through a series of competitions and activities.
These included an “Amazing Race,” “Iron Chef” and an “Extreme Makeover: Lounge Edition.” The week ended with the entire CBC community going away for a retreat at a camp with high and low ropes courses. It as a packed but fun week of getting to know each other and our surroundings.

Welcome to the CBCE Blog

2006-09-04T14:15:00.000-05:00

Hello and welcome to the brand new CBCE blog. My name is Annalea and I am one of four deans (or resident mentors) living with the students this year. My co-deans are Andrew, Luke and Holly.
We have created this blog as a window into our world here at CBCE. The plan is to update this blog weekly with stories and photos from the week before. Please feel free to leave comments or suggestions for what you would like to see and hear about. Have a great day!
Photos: typical dorm room (some of the rooms have bunk beds) and the view of campus from the dorms