During our first year of missionary service in Ecuador we are focusing on building relationships with pastors and church leaders. Recently Timothy and Tim were blessed with the opportunity to take a small group of church leaders from the Breiel Blvd Church of God to the Pisambilla church on the slopes of the Cayambe volcano.
We were delighted to see the current church building and the very beginning of the future church building.
The believers in the Pisambilla church are a hearty bunch, worshipping in a lean-to feeling the breeze from the glacier atop of Mt. Cayambe.
We would love to lead a construction work camp to help our brothers complete the new church building.
From what we understand the salvation story of Pastor Carlos is nothing short of miraculous. It is the kind of story you can read in the book of Acts. It begins with a group from a pseudo Christian cult. They came to the Pisambilla area and preached their brand of the Gospel and Carlos was interested. What they said about Jesus moved his heart but what was written in the book they gave him rang hollow. The mixture of truth and falsehood that this cult preached left him certain that there was truth and just as certain that he did not yet know the complete truth. One day he awoke with an idea, he would go on a walk, he would walk until he found the truth. There is a word, Chaquiñán, in his language of Quechua which means meandering path. Carlos decided that he would walk his own personal chaquiñán, and if Jesus was real he would surely meet him along the way. Carlos said goodbye to his wife and kids and began his search. His chaquiñán eventually took him to the door of a Church of God. As he began asking question after question the Pastor presented the simple Gospel and Carlos accepted Christ as his Savior.
Carlos’ chaquiñán did not end at salvation, finding the truth and accepting the truth always carries with it the responsibility to tell others of the truth! And tell others is exactly what he did. He returned to Pisambilla and told the Gospel story often enough that a church was born. He told of Christ’s love and sacrifice to the point that his community elders accused him of calling into question the “old beliefs” and departing from the “old ways.” Carlos was persecuted to the point of physical beatings. In the face of severe persecution Carlos chose to take the eternal view. He told his persecutors that he would leave the village for a time and if the church he had started survived without him they would know that it was a work of his powerful God, but if the church died then the “old beliefs and ways” must be the truth. During Carlos’ absence….the church grow.
It is a privilege to have our ministries intersect with the ministry of the Pisambilla Church. Angelita is the director of the Children of Promise program in Ecuador. The Pisambilla Church has eight children enrolled in the program. Timothy is the director of the Seminary and is honored to have Pastor Carlos and some of his older kids in class.
Of course, when we speak of our ministry we always keep in mind that our ministry is actually an extension of your ministry and we are both simply carrying out the ever expanding ministry of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! So thank you for your trust and support.
With love, 
The Downings
(If you would like to partner with us in the ever expanding ministry of Christ, please click here.)
