Plant a local church in Cuenca Ecuador, the third largest city in Ecuador. From there we will plant daughter churches in the more rural areas surrounding Cuenca. The final step will be to train men to go into the last five considered “unreached” people groups of Ecuador and plant churches there. We will be working with an enormous range of people types. City people, village people, tribal people, even USA retirees, as Cuenca is one of the
top retirement cities in the world.
Challenges:
Breaking through the ingrained Catholic religion. 97% in Ecuador! It is not just a choice for them, it is something they are born into, it’s in their blood. These are the glasses they they view the entire world through.
Pray:
For the Holy Spirit to use the Catholic background that Carlos has, and all that He has made us to be to breakthrough those strongholds the CULTURE of the Catholic church holds on it’s followers. To help them see ONLY CHRIST and the personal relationship they can have with Him and NOT religion.
About us:
Carlos met Sarah while she served with Mercy Ships in Guatemala. She was in charge of sports ministry with a friend of hers, and she showed up on his hometown basketball court in 2001. She witnessed to him for months and they became close friends, but Carlos chose his love for basketball (he had just started his 16 yr. long professional basketball career) over a personal relationship with God. Though Carlos tried to pursue a relationship with her, Sarah knew he was not spiritually yoked and refused him, though in her heart she did love him.
Sarah went back to the states; married, had children, and went into full time missions. In 2009, after a year on the field her first husband died suddenly, but she was determined to continue being a missionary. The vocation God had called her to as a 14 year old girl. She prayed for a Man of God that was also called to ministry to come into her life. Never could she imagine God would complete the work in a friendship He had started 10 years earlier. Carlos, now a committed Christian and called to be a pastor, was brought by God back into Sarah’s life.
The two felt as if no time had passed, and pick right up where they left off in their friendship. Only this time God was in the middle and he quickly led them to get married and continue on their pursuit of full time ministering of the Word of God together.
