Evangelism and Outreach with Faith Baptist Church

After our weekend at El Refugio camp, several days were spent evangelizing in the communities of those with whom we spent the weekend - Santos Pamba, Mayorista Market, and Carcelen. On Tuesday, during the busiest market day at Mayorista Market, the group canvased the market area sharing the Gospel with those who could and would listen. Many were open to hearing the Good News, yet others are still closed to hearing God's truth. Their hearts are hardened. Please continue to pray that their hearts would be softened to God's true Word and that we would one day have the opportunity to share with them the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. On Wednesday, we walked through the town of Carcelen Bajo telling people that we would be showing a free film that evening called "The Hope," and we were inviting them to come. About 60 people saw the movie that evening at the church. Please pray for those who heard the Gospel through this film, especially for those who heard for the first time. Pray that their hearts will be pierced, and that they will want to hear more.

High Hopes on the High Ropes, and Other Team Building Excitement

Part of our discipleship and team building weekend was team building exercises, including high ropes, zip lines and other activities. These activities taught us to trust each other and to work as teams to accomplish our task.

Everyone was tested
beyond our normal limits. We
overcame fears, worked as a team,
and had fun in the process. We
learned a lot about ourselves and each other, but above all, we trusted God to see us through each task.

Discipleship & Team Building With Faith Baptist Church and Ecuadorian Nationals

Our team, along with a volunteer team from Faith Baptist Church, Wichita Falls, Texas, began our week-long discipleship and evangelism outreach emphasis at Camp El Refugio with several of our key Ecuadorian nationals. The team emphasized prayer and team building between several different Quichua and Quichua Mestizado churches in and around the Quito area. Everyone had a wonderful time. Friendships were made, relationships were strengthened, and lives were changed.

The OIKOS House Church Network

The OIKOS House Church Network is a network of house churches in the Pichincha Province started by Steve and Paula King. These churches are a mixture of Quichua, Quichua Mestizado, Mestizo, and Afro-Ecuadorian people groups. Their leaders meet once a week for leadership training and church planting for the network. They also have a joint worship service when all the members of the OIKOS network come together for a time of praise and worship. The house churches have a Bible study format in order to further their knowledge of the Bible. (The pictures show a Baptism during an OIKOS worship service and a praise and worship band at an OIKOS worship service)

The Carcelen Church

The Carcelen Church, La Gloria de Dios, is a Quichua Mestizado church and is part of the ministry of Michael and Cindy Wollett. The Carcelen Church is active in evangelism and has a desire to see new Bible studies and house churches started in their area. Please pray for those members of the Carcelen church, as well as Michael and Cindy Wollett, as they minister to those in the Carcelen area and the cities North of Quito, that they will be a light to those who live a life without the hope of Christ. (The pictures shown are members of the Carcelen church; the praise and worship band; and members doing an interpretive dance during an OIKOS house church meeting)

Celebration Sunday at El Ejercito

The people of El Ejercito were very thankful for all that was done to help their community. The following Sunday, we had a special celebration to give thanks to God for His wonderful works. The celebration included lots of singing, dancing (yes, the Quichua dance in their services), preaching, and a lot of good food -- these are Baptist Quichua!!

Second Baptist Evangelism Team & Community Service Team

The evangelism team had the amazing, but often overwhelming task, of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with the hundreds of people who came through the medical clinic. During the 4 days we were in Manuelita Saenz, many people heard the Truth from God's Word. The children came back day after day because they received something they usually do not get - attention! Lots of attention through games, stories, and just plain ol' hugs and smiles. Each day presented new challenges. It usually does when you are bringing Christ into a neighborhood. Satan tries to thwart your efforts. But each day the team rose above the challenges and the Gospel was shared. Because of the efforts and boldness of our teams, we now have a lot of follow-up work to do in this community along with the pastor of the local church with whom we partnered to do work in this neighborhood. This is such a praise! We have many interested people who want us to come back to visit their homes because they want to hear more about God's Truth. The community service team helped do some renovation projects in the community center/worship center in the community of El Ejercito, a community that we have been working in for over a year. The team worked hard and the people of El Ejercito were very appreciative. They were so inspired by the kindness, that they joined in with some projects of their own to improve their worship center.