Missions in Ecuador

As most of you know we have been working for the last 2 1/2 years in discipleship with a mother church and a number of daughter churches in the Calderon area just outside of Quito, Ecuador. As a natural result of our discipleship, we have formed a group of Ecuadorian missionaries from these churches, and will begin a campaign of evangelism this year in the villages above one of the daughter churches, "Linaje Escogido" church where the Gospel is not established at present. The name of this next unreached community is “Cangahua Pungo”. The president of the community’s name is Manuel Salcedo, and he is very opposed to the gospel … please pray that God will change him and allow us permission to enter the community. Otherwise we face the real chance of persecution, and very slow progress, because the community is very much entrenched in superstitions, alcoholism, and idol worship… and they dislike Evangelical Christians.

To establish this "Outpost for the Gospel", God is putting together many things at the same time, all centered at and around Linaje Escogido church, an hour and a half outside the city and up in the mountains.

• We are finishing the church building that has been in progress for 10 years, thanks to their sister church “New Life Bible Chapel” in Harrisburg, PA, as well as many churches and individuals in the Alcorn Baptist Association in Corinth, MS.
• We are also training the church members to be ready to disciple new converts using “the Survival Kit” material from Lifeway.
• We are helping build up the church membership through discipleship programs for women, men, teens, and kids.
• We are training a team of Ecuadorian missionaries to work with the church to evangelize the lost in the next communities up this long and windy cobblestone road on a weekly basis in the coming year, starting with the very next pueblo, "Cangahua Pungo".

We see this as a “training center” as well as an outpost to work from for the foreseeable future, where we can disciple new converts and leaders (until the Cangahua Pungo community opens up enough to allow us to plant cell groups, and eventually a church), as well as reach out to the lost right in the same community of Chinchinloma where “Linaje Escogido” church is located.

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We have realized our goal of $23,000 for the building itself and the land, and praise God for this blessing. However, the church will still need a lot of plastering, electrical outlets in the small kitchen, finish the pastor's office, all the furniture, lights, the rest of the windows, bathroom sinks, etc. and two large retaining walls for the exposed earth from the leveling of the area above the church, as well as some fencing, steps (nothing is flat here), sod, flowers and shrubs for landscaping, etc. Some of the things mentioned are paid for but most are not. So if you feel God prompting you to be a part of this exciting project, click here for more info.

To date, we have all the sanctuary finished enough to hold services, with some of the windows, and a bathroom with real toilets installed (you can't take these things for granted in South America!). The next project is the retaining walls for the leveled ground which will be used as a play field for the youth, an outdoor gathering area for outreaches, and a parking lot. There's still a lot to do, but we hope to have EVERYTHING done, including the exterior things like sod and landscaping, by the end of May 2007.

Thank you for your prayers and support in this great work that God has put in motion. We realize it is a sacrifice on your part and we value you as an integral part of this work. Without you all on the team, this could not be possible, and all of us involved in this exciting project here in Ecuador - the Bond family; the members of sister churches Linaje Escogido, San Jose Alto, Parada Siete, and La Candelaria; my ministry partners Diego, Freddy, Fernando, and Pastor Lisandro of University Baptist church - we thank you and lift you up in our prayers.

 

More Photos

PROGRESS IN PICTURES: The church before our construction began, leveling the ground in October, progress in November, December, two from January.

One of the biggest blessings is the Youth work. There is a team of youth from a nearby community that are discipling the children and the teens in separate groups, and counseling one-on-one, which is seeing many come to salvation.

Here are a number of the workers during different phases of the construction, and Pastor Lisandro, who is a trained engineer, volunteering his expertise.

Here are a number of photos from January 7th of the construction with the roof supports up.

January team photos: a great team of 13 folks from various churches in Mississippi and Texas came to help finish the church enough for it's inauguration on January 21, 2007. Visit their web page for a complete story of their trip.

Here are some photos from the Dedication of the church sanctuary, on Jan 21, 2007, where more than 400 came from at least 8 churches.