| REFLECTIONS ON ECUADOR by Arlen Stauffer, MD 2008 |
ONE BOARD AND ONE SOUL AT A TIME
Arlen Stauffer
Construction work in Ecuador is not like it is in Florida. Church-building is also very different
there, but listening for God to reveal His plan is the same everywhere.
On July 20, 2008, faced with unexpectedly higher travel expenses for our 13-member
medical/dental team scheduled to leave the next Friday for Ecuador, I spoke for five minutes at
each of the three Sunday morning services at our church (Coronado Community United Methodist
Church), telling of our team’s upcoming mission, and asking for some donations to help cover
some of the team expenses. The response was astounding and overwhelming, and we were
able to set out for South America with plenty of money for the trip expenses… and then some.
We didn’t know why God had placed some “extra” money in our hands, but we took it along, and
we watched, waited, and listened.
Centro Yuu, Ecuador is a small, loosely organized village located at the edge of the rainforest,
about a 9-hour bus ride from Quito, and its citizens are the Shuar Indians, now a friendly people
who were once the “Headshrinkers of the Amazon”. Although there is still a tribe Shaman, a
young Christian church movement has been developing there over the past generation.
Into this setting came the team from CCUMC, hosted and led in Ecuador by Don Wolfram, a
missionary serving under the auspices of Missionary Ventures USA . We set up clinic in a rickety
“Community House”, offering basic medical and dental help for people who normally don’t get a
lot of either service.
Two years before our team’s arrival to this area,
a couple in their 40’s from Shell, Ecuador, about
2 hours away by bus, felt called to begin a ministry
in Centro Yuu, and Pastor Manuel Brito and his
wife Miriam had been making the trip to the village
by bus every couple weeks since then. They
ministered to the people of Centro Yuu and the
surrounding jungle communities, and they helped
to establish some roots for a Christian
congregation there. Their commitment and
enthusiasm for this work was truly inspiring.
Their dream was to have an actual small church
building in Centro Yuu, and to see a local Christian
leader step up to pastor the local church. Two young people from the village were now attending a
seminary a few hours away, and it appeared that some of Manuel and Miriam’s efforts were taking
root.
But, their dream of having an actual church building in Centro Yuu was floundering. They were
people of very limited financial resources, and the people of Centro Yuu were even poorer. The
site of the future church structure had been identified, but it was taking shape in the slowest
possible way, literally one board at a time.
Whenever, they got enough money together
to buy a board, it was purchased and placed
onto the rough structure. In two year’s time,
there was still only a roughed-up frame.
Although they were somewhat discouraged
with the slow progress, Manuel and Miriam
persisted in their efforts to help the people of
Centro Yuu, and to bring God’s Word to them.
When members of this mission team
realized the amount of hard work and dedication
and sacrifice involved in the Brito’s efforts to
develop the church in Centro Yuu, and when
we were made aware of how little it took financially to raise a building there, the team knew what
the money was for. This was why the members of Coronado Community United Methodist
Church donated their money and entrusted it to our medical/dental mission team.
For a tiny fraction of the cost of construction in America, we were able to leave enough money
with our host missionary Don to allow for the purchase of the boards for the walls and floor and
the sheets of corrugated metal for the roof. The small building can now be completed. Manuel
and Miriam will now have a place to host their friends of Centro Yuu, and will have a building in
which they can worship and invite their new neighbors and church members. The two young
seminary students now see the future for the church right here in their own community.
There are now two villages and two churches that will forever be tied together: our church in
New Smyrna Beach, and the new and struggling church of Centro Yuu, Ecuador. The small South
American church building is being completed one board at a time, and God is surely celebrating….
one soul at a time.
The Ecuador mission team thanks all of you for your support and your prayers. Please read the
Ecuador Daily Updates about the team’s trip, and see many more pictures, at
www.CoronadoMissions.org , and the 7 team videos can be found here on my website.
Thanks again!
Arlen Stauffer
Construction work in Ecuador is not like it is in Florida. Church-building is also very different
there, but listening for God to reveal His plan is the same everywhere.
On July 20, 2008, faced with unexpectedly higher travel expenses for our 13-member
medical/dental team scheduled to leave the next Friday for Ecuador, I spoke for five minutes at
each of the three Sunday morning services at our church (Coronado Community United Methodist
Church), telling of our team’s upcoming mission, and asking for some donations to help cover
some of the team expenses. The response was astounding and overwhelming, and we were
able to set out for South America with plenty of money for the trip expenses… and then some.
We didn’t know why God had placed some “extra” money in our hands, but we took it along, and
we watched, waited, and listened.
Centro Yuu, Ecuador is a small, loosely organized village located at the edge of the rainforest,
about a 9-hour bus ride from Quito, and its citizens are the Shuar Indians, now a friendly people
who were once the “Headshrinkers of the Amazon”. Although there is still a tribe Shaman, a
young Christian church movement has been developing there over the past generation.
Into this setting came the team from CCUMC, hosted and led in Ecuador by Don Wolfram, a
missionary serving under the auspices of Missionary Ventures USA . We set up clinic in a rickety
“Community House”, offering basic medical and dental help for people who normally don’t get a
lot of either service.
Two years before our team’s arrival to this area,
a couple in their 40’s from Shell, Ecuador, about
2 hours away by bus, felt called to begin a ministry
in Centro Yuu, and Pastor Manuel Brito and his
wife Miriam had been making the trip to the village
by bus every couple weeks since then. They
ministered to the people of Centro Yuu and the
surrounding jungle communities, and they helped
to establish some roots for a Christian
congregation there. Their commitment and
enthusiasm for this work was truly inspiring.
Their dream was to have an actual small church
building in Centro Yuu, and to see a local Christian
leader step up to pastor the local church. Two young people from the village were now attending a
seminary a few hours away, and it appeared that some of Manuel and Miriam’s efforts were taking
root.
But, their dream of having an actual church building in Centro Yuu was floundering. They were
people of very limited financial resources, and the people of Centro Yuu were even poorer. The
site of the future church structure had been identified, but it was taking shape in the slowest
possible way, literally one board at a time.
Whenever, they got enough money together
to buy a board, it was purchased and placed
onto the rough structure. In two year’s time,
there was still only a roughed-up frame.
Although they were somewhat discouraged
with the slow progress, Manuel and Miriam
persisted in their efforts to help the people of
Centro Yuu, and to bring God’s Word to them.
When members of this mission team
realized the amount of hard work and dedication
and sacrifice involved in the Brito’s efforts to
develop the church in Centro Yuu, and when
we were made aware of how little it took financially to raise a building there, the team knew what
the money was for. This was why the members of Coronado Community United Methodist
Church donated their money and entrusted it to our medical/dental mission team.
For a tiny fraction of the cost of construction in America, we were able to leave enough money
with our host missionary Don to allow for the purchase of the boards for the walls and floor and
the sheets of corrugated metal for the roof. The small building can now be completed. Manuel
and Miriam will now have a place to host their friends of Centro Yuu, and will have a building in
which they can worship and invite their new neighbors and church members. The two young
seminary students now see the future for the church right here in their own community.
There are now two villages and two churches that will forever be tied together: our church in
New Smyrna Beach, and the new and struggling church of Centro Yuu, Ecuador. The small South
American church building is being completed one board at a time, and God is surely celebrating….
one soul at a time.
The Ecuador mission team thanks all of you for your support and your prayers. Please read the
Ecuador Daily Updates about the team’s trip, and see many more pictures, at
www.CoronadoMissions.org , and the 7 team videos can be found here on my website.
Thanks again!
