to Ecuador
to Ecuador
This ministry is designed to reach Ecuadorians in areas without the Gospel, guide them to spiritual maturity so that they become, in turn, passionate believers carrying out the Great Commission. In other words, our objective is to create disciples who will become missionaries, teachers, ministers, and disciplers who will multiply themselves through evangelism and discipleship. "Total World Impact".
This program has the following major objectives:* To carry the Gospel to unreached areas, and help create a conservative Evangelical Christian presence in these communities, through Bible studies and churches.
* To train all believers in Christian basics such as evangelism and foundational doctrine.
* To help Ecuadorian believers mature and discover their spiritual gifts, and identify the missionaries, teachers, ministers, and other church leaders from among these believers.
* To identify specific needs, share these needs with the church body around the world, and address these needs.
Needs such as :- The lack of hymnals, bibles, Sunday school material, study books, and tracts.
- Specific training targeted at leaders of children, youth, women, men, families, or VBS.
- Literacy problems/solutions.
- Construction projects.
Addressing these needs:
One way is to actually come here with a short term mission team and work along side us, in a new mission area, establishing a work, or with a local church, or at the Orpanage "Jardin del Eden". Take a look at our Short Term Misson Teams page to get an idea of what it would be like to come here and work with these beautiful people.
We have provided a "pastor's library" ; critical study books such as a bible dictionary, commentary, Study Bible, and concordance to each church we have worked with, as well as key lay leaders, is another way.
Sponsor a child at Chambitola, providing for their school needs. In the Indigenous farming community, many times the families decide between food on the table and educational needs of their children. You can bless one of these families that attend the church at chambitola by sponoring a child's educational needs for $20 per month. Please visit the webpage for further info.
For our first three years, 2003 - 2006, we worked with Candelaria Baptist church and some of its daughter churches, mainly centered around a community north of Quito called "Calderon".In 2005, we started discipleship at Linaje Escogido church in the Cusubamba area, about an hour from the Calderon area. In 2006, we went even farther out, focusing on New Life church of Chambitola in the "Cayambe" area, an indigenous farming community named for the local volcano.
In 2007, we weened ourselves from the first group of churches in the Calderon area, with limited involvement at "San Jose Alto", to concentrate exclusively on the Cusubamba and Cayambe areas. Out of our years of discipleship in the Calderon area, we raised up a group of volunteer missionaries, and began evangelizing areas without churches near the Cusubamba area. we began carrying the Gospel into closed areas where persecution at various levels still exists today. The villages above Linaje Escogido church, high in the mountains, are where the missionaries were working and facing this persecution.
In 2008, we found ourselves in these same areas and one new one: "La Victoria" in the Quinche area. (See a full report for our work a little farther down the page.) We continue our discipleship at the two churches, and in the areas where we are evangelizing with new Christians. As our ministry continued to grow and take shape, a specific model began to take shape. First of all, we began emphasizing weekly, systematic discipleship for our ministry team. Secondly, a distinct pattern of entering an area without the gospel, evangelizing, identifying a home for Bible studies, and forming a "body of believers" began to take shape. We started forming teams within our ministry, each with a leader; all being Ecuadorians. Our ministry also started a school sponsorship program for some of the needy children at Betania church in the Chambitola area.
In the Spring and Summer of 2008, we have also become involved in a new work on the Galapagos Islands.
2009 had us working in the community of Cusubamba, just below Linaje Escogido church, and expanding our work into the Galapagos. We are still working with Linaje Escogido church, and at a more limited level, Betania church in Chambitola. We began a home church service for those of our ministry team who were interested, mainly as a means of "living out" what we hoped to plant in our ministry work areas in the near future.
In 2010 we switched our focus exclusively on areas without churches, and growing our ministry team in both quantity and quality. These areas are La Rosalia and San Vicente of the Cusubamba area, and La Victoria of Quinche. They have grown past simple Bible studies, into budding spiritual families. We rented a "mission house" in San Vicente where they have prayer service, Bible studies for three separate age groups, Leader discipleship, family and marriage couseling, do regular visitation in the area, and hold home church-style worship on Sunday morning. Our work on the Galapagos Islands has been put on hold. We had hopes of planting an Ecuadorian missionary from our group there, but it has fallen through. Great Commission Baptist church (our home church) is officially sponsored by our sending church this year, and our weekly discipleship program in Quito continues to bless our ministry team.
2011 - Our home church and ministry team discipleship in Quito continues to flourish. La Victoria continues to grow in numbers and maturity as well. We have opened a new work, in La Rumiñhaui of Cusubamba, transfering the team and participants from La Rosalia to this new, more populated area of Cusubamba. We hope to see all these areas view themselves as a "church", and begin to turn the leadership slowly over to the local leaders we are discipling. We have experienced a painful loss this year of the Ruiz family, as they have fallen out of fellowship. The work in San Vicente has suffered terribly from this problem, and was eventually suspended.
2012 - 2014 - Our home church and ministry team discipleship in Quito continues to mature. The believers at La Victoria have become a church, and we continue to do weekly outreach and discipleship in that community in conjunction with the local believers. Two additions to our ministry family, Washington Borga and Lucy Rhon, have greatly enhanced the depth of our maturity in terms of evangelism and discipleship. The Cusubamba area (La Rosalia and La Ruminahui), and the Quinche area (La Victoria) continue to be a weekly focus for us. We continue to work with Betania Baptist church, and Jardin del Eden Orphanage as well. Individual and group discipleship continues to be a focus during the week here in Quito. Last but not least, Jose Panama has become a special leader, who has started his own, independent ministry in the Calderon area. This includes weekly discipleship meetings, evangelism, special outreach programs, and special events.
Detailed explanation of our work below the map.
Map of Ministry Areas
Chambitola | Linaje Escogido church | La Victoria | 3 Communites above Linaje Escogido
| Cusubamba
Click on our different work areas in the map above for a detailed report on each.
It has always been my philosophy that Nationals can reach Nationals much better than we (North Americans) can, and should be involved as much as possible. The real backbone and success of our ministry, right after God in importance, are my national partners. Meet these wonderful men and women that God has put in my path to bless me.
Diego Leon. Gifted teacher and wise couselor, and small group leader. Adult focus.
Freddy Garcia. Gifted musician, small group leader, and youth minister.
Small Groups
We are involved in small groups as a principle model to build accountability, leadership skills, and Christian maturity. For 2 years, starting in 2005, we were personally involved in three churches in the Calderon area, added a fourth (Linaje Escogido church) in early 2007, and a fifth at Chambitola in Fall 2007. This is an interactive format, held during the week to build up the members of the church. In 2008, we left all of the churches in Calderon to work in other more remote areas without churches. Small groups continue to be the backbone of our ministry.We ask you to be praying for these groups and churches to continue producing mature leaders, and multiplying. We continue to use the small group, interactive model as the principle means of growth in our ministry.
Things I've learned and Experienced
I have learned much over the past years of ministry, and have changed ministry partners a number of times. I have learned that it takes time to build relationships with people of another culture; more time than my western mind anticipated. I've learned how to share resources more wisely, that the doctrine of many people and churches here is very confused, and that I am in a very different culture which does not have much interest in time, doctrine, studying, long-range planning, giving, or "going". I've learned that just because I've come to do God's will and "help" the lost and hurting here in Ecuador, it doesn't mean the people are overjoyed to have me here, or are going to treat us with respect or even kindness (although many do). I've learned that I need a lot more patience, perseverance, love, understanding, and help from the Lord than I came here with. I also realize that I need your prayers even more than I thought I would. I have been betrayed by close "friends", manipulated by "Christians" for personal gain, robbed by pastors, persecuted by other missionaries who have a distorted view of what working for the kingdom of God means, and experienced relentless and overwhelming spiritual attacks. I haved been humbled in ways I never imagined, and yet God is using me here in unexpected and mighty ways. Missionary life is very unique and full of surprises, intense spiritual battles, disappointments, trials, and joys. It has never been easy or comfortable (mentally or spiritually), even though God has blessed us beyond our expectations. Always exciting, and trying, but NEVER boring...What a ride!
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