Guayaquil, Ecuador

Team Ecuador 2008: I was part of a team of 54 North Americans mobilized by e3 Partners Ministries to Guayaquil, Ecuador, to plant 13 new churches last week. The 54 team members were paired with translators in teams of four to do evangelism and follow-up bible studies. The North Americans were from various states: Pennsylvania, Washington, California, Wisconsin and Florida.

Our 50 translators were from different parts of Ecuador, many of them were young, much like our group from the States. Some distinctive qualities about this team include a mobile martial arts demo team that also presented messages and a clear presentation of the gospel, and as previously mentioned the team consisted of many young people, the youngest being an 8 year old girl, who was also part of the martial arts team.

Our team brought a second suitcase containing humanitarian aid we left behind to the various churches. These items included clothes, medical and first aid supplies, food, personal and school supplies. We distributed 400 new testaments, 200 complete bibles, and 375 tracts.

The majority of the team arrived in Ecuador on Friday night, but I arrived at 1:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. Most teams started with a prayer walk at their site of ministry on Saturday. We had team meetings every morning at 7:30 a.m. which included worship, announcements, instructions and prayer. I met my team members and translators on Sunday, along with the members and pastor of our mother church. We did door to door evangelism at the mother church after lunch.

Introductions: On Monday, I tried catching up to get to know my team and our translators, along with the members of the mother church.

My team of four includes Breanna, 15 years of age from Lancaster, PA; Amie and Gary from Olympia, WA, and me. We were paired with translators. This group just got really close in a few days. God's love was pretty intense, which seemed to just gush out of us.

Breanna’s translator, Yasnaia is a 14 old from Quito, and she has
translated for six of these short term missions trips. Both of these young ladies were impressive. There was quite the transformation in Breanna from the beginning to the end of the trip. I’m so pleased to have Breanna on the team. She was polite and kept to the task of evangelism and discipleship to the last hour. I'm so proud of her for being so brave. Besides Christ,Yasnaia is REALLY passionate about Liga, her soccer team. (Of course, I don't know if I'm spelling her team name correctly, I don't follow soccer).

Amie’s translator is 18-year-old Edison, who has been a translator for the past three years and 18 trips of experience. He said each was a blessing. Amie went to Multnomah Bible College just like me! Our world suddenly got smaller as we found that out about each other.

Gary's translator is Rodrigo from Riobamba. This is Rodrigo's second time translating. His sensitivity and loving ways makes him stand out. Gary was our group leader. This is his third trip to Ecuador with his brother, a pastor from Wisconsin training to be a church planter with e3. Gary and I are both Army veterans.

Then there's my partner in the gospel, Noris. Noris is an English teacher who teaches different grade levels. She is SOOO relational and can be quite the ham, given the opportunity, such as in the classroom. She did not hesitate to autograph shirts when asked.

There’s always a first time: This was the first time I wasn’t in a village. Our church plant was in town and the building is attached to a business that sells car parts. This was the first time I shared the gospel in restaurants and stores.

This was the first time I went to a classroom of kids to share the gospel. Noris, my translator, requested a meeting with the principal, and she led us to a classroom of 40 kids. I don’t normally like to share in such a setting because a group this size can go either way – I could get a heckler or the presentation could go smoothly. It went very smoothly. The atmosphere in the room was great, and the Spirit must have gone before us, because they received the good news with pure joy. All of them accepted Christ. I started out with an introduction and then asked them if their parents or teachers ever had to teach them how to be bad. Good thing they said a long drawn out, “No.” I agreed with them and said they have to be taught how to be good and continued on with how sin came into the world through one man, and how sin was taken away through Jesus. I was mobbed afterwards and was asked for my autograph, even to sign their shirts. When they went outside, they were so filled with joy, they threw their backpacks in the air with delight.

This was the first time I shared the gospel with someone so ready to receive Christ that she started to share her faith the next day and taught follow up lessons at the end of the week with the team. She had gone to a Christian high school and knew the bible, but had not committed her life to the Lord. She received the gospel with joy and plans to use her knowledge of English for the glory of God some day. She and her parents are owners of a restaurant named after her –“Maria Jose.” Nicknamed Majito, Maria Jose found her love for the Word of God after studying it together with us, assuring her of salvation through faith in Christ. Her parents were happy for her.

We commissioned the pastor with the responsibility of the rest of the follow-up for the 97 new believers in his area. He commended us and thanked God for the work, saying it would have taken him 7-8 years to do what was accomplished by the team.

The overall work of the Guayaquil team resulted in 942 professions of faith, 356 seekers, and 363 lessons on discipleship. What a mighty God we serve! Many thanks for sending us, praying for us, and supporting us.

Praising His Holy Name,
Amy