Atlee Community Church Mission to Ibarra, Ecuador
November 2004
by Mark Alling
An Extension Ministries team from Atlee Community Church went to Ibarra, Ecuador for the first time in November 2004. There were twelve of us on the team. Husband and wife missionaries from Liebenzell Missions International led our team in Ecuador. We first learned of the work of Liebenzell in Ecuador when we helped repair their missionary retreat center in New Jersey in 2003.
We helped members of Puente de Amor Iglesia Cristiana (Bridge of Love Christian Church) lay the foundation for their first church building in Ibarra. Prior to this time Puente de Amor rented a two floor building across from the police station, holding services in the downstairs hall, and with meeting rooms that housed our mission team upstairs. Liebenzell staff and Puente de Amor families fed us and transported us where we needed to go. They sacrificed their personal beds for us to sleep on in the upstairs rooms of Puente de Amor.
That first Sunday, we went to church services at Puente de Amor in Ibarra and Amigos en Cristo Iglesia (Friends in Christ Church) in Cotacachi, a nearby town. Both of these churches are affiliated with Liebenzell. The Ecuadorians are devout Christians, and fervent in their worship of the Lord. Amazing to us, they sang some of the same worship songs that we do, just in Spanish. One was “Open My Eyes, Lord”, which was our “Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord.” Several of us gave our testimonies of coming to the Lord. They so appreciated our worshipping with them, as did we.
That first construction day, the new church building lot was bare earth. Our team worked side by side with twenty or more members of Puente de Amor, their family members, children and friends, growing in fellowship as the work continued. As one large group of Christian brothers and sisters, during the days we dug the deep foundation holes, assembled the reinforcement bar for the foundation and columns, made the wooden concrete forms, and poured the concrete, all by hand. By the end of the week, the foundation was poured, except for part of one side because we all ran out of wood for the forms.
More importantly, during the evenings we went to Men’s and Women’s meetings at the church, and to small group meetings. These are called Core groups in Puente de Amor. The Men’s group meeting dealt with “What Bible verses are important for Men?” There were twelve of us and 40 or more Ecuadorian men, ages 7 to 70. The Puente de Amor men knew their Bibles and came up with many verses, but the main focus of the meeting became how men are to treat their wives. We knew that verbal and physical abuse to wives was a common cultural problem in Ecuador, but these men had left that behind. At the Core group meetings in people’s homes, we and they shared testimonies of coming to Christ, we gave a short Bible lessons, and we prayed and ate together.
It was so hard to leave, as it always is when one is doing the Lord’s work for someone else. The week was best summed up at our goodbye party by our new Christian friend and brother Pancho, when he said in halting English “We are all one family in God!”
It is so true…
Click to view photos:
Ecuador 2004 Slideshow
Ecuador 2004 Photo Collection
Atlee Community Church Mission to Ibarra & Cotacachi, Ecuador
February 2007
by Mark Alling
It had been more than two years since Atlee Community Church had helped start the church building for the Puente de Amor Iglesia Christiana (Bridge of Love Christian Church) in Ibarra, Ecuador in late 2004. Liebenzell Missions International asked us to return in February 2007. This time eleven of us traveled to Ecuador, including our associate pastor. We helped lead the outdoor recreational part of a Youth Camp at Amigos en Cristo, and helped finish the second floor of the Puente de Amor Iglesia, for which we had helped pour the foundation in 2004. Liebenzell staff and Amigos en Cristo families housed, fed and transported us everywhere, again sacrificing their personal beds for us to sleep on, this time in the downstairs rooms of Amigos en Cristo Iglesia.
On Sunday we went to church at Amigos en Cristo and Puente de Amor in Cotacachi and Ibarra. Singing the praise songs in Amigos en Cristo brought several of us and the Ecuadorians to tears of joy. We were all again with our friends in Christ. Several of us gave our testimonies of coming to the Lord, and of the Joy of returning to our Christian brothers and sisters. When we first saw and entered the Puente de Amor Iglesia, we could barely believe our eyes. The sanctuary was one huge worship hall, and a new two story wing surrounded the front and side of the sanctuary, up to the street. Those who had helped at the start were overcome at what God had done. We said so in tears before the congregation.
That afternoon and the next day, we thoroughly enjoyed leading the 80 teenagers of the Amigos en Cristo youth camp in outdoor games. Sunday afternoon we and the teens broke into eight groups to start with “get to know you games” like seeing which team could pass an egg from one shirtsleeve to the other inside our shirts without breaking it, then handing it off to the next team member around the whole group, or “soapy water curling,” where opposing team members tried to push a soccer ball into the goal with a broom, all the while slipping and sliding in the soapy water. Then we shared an outdoor meal for 90 happy campers. Monday started with a Bible study by our pastor on being a “Jesus Freak.” The point was “were we willing to be Jesus Freaks and face the persecution possible for following Christ.” The kids got it. Then it was the Americans turn to lead egg and spoon races, musical chairs, American football throwing, soccer through cones (the kids taught us on that one), Frisbee golf, basketball, and orange dancing. The teen groups rotated activities so that they all got to play with each of us, and us with them. After outside lunch for 90, all went inside to learn line dancing from two of us. Everyone watched and practiced hard. The first attempts were hilarious, with lines colliding and people howling in laughter. Then they got pretty good at it. After a devotional from the Pastor of Amigos en Cristo, it was time for Carnival, which in Ecuador means water balloons and a thorough soapy soaking for everyone, including the Americans.
Our construction days were filled with helping to finish the concrete floors of the second floor of Puente de Amor Iglesia, where we had helped start the church from bare ground two years before. We had to pound off the weak surface layer of concrete so that the finished concrete floor could be poured, help pour and smooth the finished concrete layer. Then we painted the second floor ceilings and walls, as well as priming the metal gates and window bars fronting the street for paint. This took all our work days, as we thoroughly enjoyed growing in fellowship with our old and new Christian friends.
Most importantly, on Wednesday evening we again went to small group meetings in people’s homes. At these Core group meetings, all of us and the Ecuadorians shared our testimonies of coming to Christ, and we all recognized how similar we are in Christ, regardless of our different worldly backgrounds.
God keeps leading us in His plan for Atlee in Ecuador. For the second year, we spent some time in Lita, Ecuador where the Awa Christian Center is located. The Awa were an unreached people into the late 1980s, when a Liebenzell missionary found them and began introducing them to Jesus. This missionary was the same man who led the Atlee team in Ecuador in 2004. This year we traveled some miles into the rainforest to a beautiful river called Rio Verde. And God is leading us back to Rio Verde in 2008 to help build a youth camp facility for the Awa children to get to know Christ.
We cannot wait…
Click to view photos:
Ecuador 2007 Slideshow
Ecuador 2007 Photo Collection
