Pastor Jefferson Estevez from the Torre Fuerte church had seen the great blessing his church and many other churches had received by Work and Witness teams and he said it was time for his church to give back. The Torre Fuerte church planed and raised money for almost a year and when the scheduled date arrived for their trip it had to be postponed because of flooding in the Manabí area. This past week end, although it was still raining but not flooded, 30 church people including four people District Superintendent Santiago Bereche brought and Jon, being the Work and Witness Coordinator didn't want to miss out, worked together to help this little church have their own place to worship again. The congregation had been meeting in little wood building that fell over due to the heavy rains.
The Torre Fuerte people slept in hot tents on the floor of a near-by church so as to ward off the mosquitoes that could carry the Zika virus that is prevalent on the coast. They also enjoyed outdoor bucket showers, good seafood and great fellowship working together.
Jon believes in missions not only around the world but in your own community and has been encouraging the churches in Ecuador to develop Work and Witness teams to help struggling churches. Pastor Jefferson invited Jon to speak at his church to help his church catch the vision that a sending church receives a great blessing. They caught the vision and raised $1,000 for their trip.
Although there are churches in Ecuador that encourage and help other churches this is the first organized event to raise their own money and go. We are encouraged and hope that many more will catch this same vision. Due to the rain there are no pictures available. We hope to have pictures in three weeks when the church returns to help finish.