MISSION "The fruits of this program are seeds planted in the hearts of Ecuadorians and North Americans alike. These are seeds filled with the transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As they grow they take shape in countless ways – touching lives near and far." -Father Jim Ronan, Founder Rostro de Cristo is a Catholic program whose mission is to provide spiritual and educational opportunities for young people from the United States to live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the people of Ecuador. The program invites participants to: ROSTRO DE CRISTO Lead a simple lifestyle. Build an intentional Christian community. Be in relationship with the Ecuadorian people and reflect on the face of Christ in their joys and struggles. Work with the Ecuadorian people to find long term solutions to the problems of poverty and together seek opportunities to improve the lives of the people. Face of Christ Prayer RdC HISTORY Among a people struggling for liberation of body, mind and spirit….let us see Your face Founded in 1988 by Fr. Jim Ronan of the Archdiocese of Boston, MA, Rostro de Cristo (Face of Christ) is a Lay Volunteer Program of the Catholic Church based in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Despite the oppression of corrupt institutions…let us see Your face Within our work, that may feel ineffective and render us helpless…let us see Your face Within the cycle of poverty that seems to have no end…let us see Your face When struggling with the distance and misunderstanding we feel from those at home…let us see Your face When fighting against the temptation to judge and abandon one another…let us see Your face Amidst the temptations and the apparent solitude of a life of simplicity…let us see Your face Lord, give us a spirit of: service, strength, health, perseverance, humility, patience, love, faith and hope… So that others may see Your face in us. Written by the 2002–2003 Volunteer Community The main purpose of the program is to challenge young people to follow the example of Jesus by living and working among the poor, and by recognizing the face of Christ in them. The lay volunteers and retreat participants are young people from the U.S. who have been called by God to Ecuador to deepen their faith in two main ways: by living and praying in community and by serving others less fortunate than themselves. Rostro de Cristo fulfills its spiritual and educational mission in two ways: by offering volunteer and retreat experiences to young adults from the United States, while also supporting various education, health and other social service projects in Ecuador. From Boston College to Notre Dame to Stanford, since the program's founding Rostro de Cristo has touched the hearts and challenged the minds of over 125 one year volunteers and more than 3,000 retreat participants from across the country. Rostro de Cristo participants are thus witness to the Gospel and a source of hope and light in the community. These experiences will inspire life-long commitments to service, social justice and solidarity with the people of Ecuador and the world. VISION The Rostro de Cristo program brings together the people of Ecuador and the United States in order to: Foster mutual evangelization in the Catholic tradition through a shared discovery of faith. Transform the world based on the Gospel by promoting understanding, justice and appropriate development. Inspire life-long commitments to service, social justice and solidarity in the global community. ROSTRO DE CRISTO P.O. Box 920433 Needham, MA 02492 (617) 552-2281 faceofchrist@rostrodecristo.org www.rostrodecristo.org Experience the Face of Christ in Ecuador RdC RETREAT PROGRAM The Rostro de Cristo Retreat Program has offered over 3,000 participants from high schools, universities, parishes and seminaries an opportunity to live, work and pray in community in Ecuador for a period of ten days to two weeks. and Guayaquil and Hogar de Cristo, an international Jesuit organization that provides affordable housing and social services to the poor. In addition, Rostro de Cristo has founded and runs after-school programs, which groups visit and participate in. Groups live in a retreat house designed and built for the program within the neighborhoods of Guayaquil. Emphasis is placed on being with members of the local community rather than doing for them, building relationships and developing a greater understanding of the reality of Ecuadorians, through visits and dialogue. Retreat participants share activities to maintain living quarters, including trips to the local market, cooking and cleaning. Groups are invited to participate in parish liturgy and make time for daily prayer and reflection. Rostro de Cristo works with various partners across the cities of Duran and Guayaquil which retreat participants may visit, including: Fundacion Nuevo Mundo, a progressive bilingual school for the disadvantaged of Duran It is our hope that through these experiences, young people will touch, taste, smell, see and feel how the developing world lives and be forever changed. The retreat program is thus devoted to inspiring life-long commitments to service, faith and social justice. "Visiting peoples homes, I am not so much marveling at their poverty as seeing them as my neighbors, as potential friends. Every day, I feel incredibly thankful to be here." -Volunteer Theresa Drallmeier Retreat Program Participants Include: COLOMBIA Boston College Cabrini College DePaul University Dominican Academy Fairfield Prep Fairfield University Fordham Prep Fordham University Holy Family University Jesuit High School John Carroll University Magnificat High School Manhattan College Mt. St. Joseph’s Academy Santa Clara University Seattle University St. Ignatius High School St. Johns Prep St. Joseph’s University St. Xavier High School University of Scranton Villanova University Walsh Jesuit High School Xaverian Brothers "This trip has inspired me...it honestly has changed the way I see the world and my place in it." -Santa Clara Retreat Participant ECUADOR RdC VOLUNTEER PROGRAM Over 125 Volunteers have participated in the Rostro de Cristo Volunteer Program which offers young men and women, usually college graduates between the ages of 21–25, an opportunity to live, work and pray in community in Duran and Guayaquil, Ecuador. PERU Over the course of a year volunteers live out Christian values including charity, sacrifice, patience, humility, faith, perseverance, simplicity and love. While in Ecuador volunteers focus on building faith and living in community with each other, and those with whom they work. Participants live and work among the poor, forming relationships with them built on respect and love. Opportunities for ministry include teaching, tutoring, coaching sports, working in soup kitchens, leading retreat groups, assisting in parish activities, working at a hospital for Hansen’s Disease, and visiting orphanages, nursing homes and a local children's hospital. The emphasis in the Rostro de Cristo program is always on being with the people and not doing for them. The focus is on forming relationships, which serve as the most powerful and profound means of expressing God’s love to each other. "...I also felt immense Joy, in spending quality time with the children and families, seeing their smiles, and their parents gratitude." -Volunteer Daniel Gagnon Photos and Captions. Clockwise from bottom left: Villanova University retreat group at Semillas de Mostaza ©Courtesy of Villanova University; Cabrini College retreat participant working with afterschool student ©Courtesy of Cabrini College; Volunteer, Lauren Mackey with patient at Padre Damien's Hansen Hospital; Volunteer, Colie Kruger, distributing vitamins at Semillas de Mostaza ©Diana Clock; Volunteer, Danny Carlin with children on Manos Abiertas field trip to Guayaquil ©Elyse Raby; Front Cover: Children of Valdivia and Semillas de Mostaza, Volunteers singing with Nueva Generacion a local church youth group, Volunteer Elyse Raby reading to students at Manos Abiertas, Church steeple; Inside Fold: Streets of Veintiocho de Agosto ©Diana Clock.