Emmanuel Baptist Church, thank you for your generous gift to plant a new church in Ecuador. The new church, Fidelidad de Dios, is thriving and has completed all of the major construction! Currently, 50 adults and 100 children are attending church services.
A child who participates in the church’s child development center is shown in the photo above. This update contains information and photos detailing construction progress and church activities.
Construction Progress
An initial soil study revealed that in order to ensure a strong foundation, the church property needed to be excavated to a depth of one meter. When the church began construction, there were strict mobility restrictions due to the pandemic. Work was paused but construction resumed in July 2021 and was recently completed.
The church facility has a chapel, classrooms, a dining room and kitchen, three bathrooms, offices, a well and a cellar. Bathroom doors were recently installed. Workers installed a cane fence around the front of the church.
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- The completed church facility.
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- Children play games in the grassy field next to the classrooms.
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- Children enjoy learning in spacious, well-equipped classrooms.
Recent Church Activities
Despite the pandemic, the church’s doors have remained open. Church staff have held in-person learning activities for children and a full agenda of other activities. A psychologist and church staff held talks with parents about child protection. The parents were very interested in the subject and grateful for the talks. Recent activities include:
- Evangelism outreach for Bible Month.
- Medical checkups for children with special needs. The church will help cover the cost of prescriptions.
- Craft classes for children.
- Dance workshops for children led by Pastor Nicanor’s daughter.
- Biblical theatre workshops and a Bible memory contest.
As staff from the Compassion center are serving the local children, parents are becoming involved in the church. Carlos is a young boy who participates in the Compassion program. He suffers from malnutrition and is very vulnerable to illness. His tutor visits him at home and the church is providing him with medicine and supplements to help him gain weight.
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- Parents attend a forum at the church.
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- Spiritual development is a component of Compassion’s holistic program.
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- Mothers in the community attend craft workshops hosted at the church.
Challenges and Learning Opportunities
The biggest challenges faced by the church were the rising cost of construction materials, the rainy season and road closures. Despite the rainy weather, parents and teachers continued to volunteer their labor. Church leaders learned that people from the community were happy to help and the collective effort allowed them to finish construction. The church learned important lessons about faith and perseverance.
Next Steps
Within the next 60 days, the church plans to:
- Finish the fence enclosure at the back of the church as a child safety measure.
- Build windows or grilles in the kitchen so we can have ventilation.
- Buy tools so that they can perform stone work.
- Host creative activities for women.
Thanksgiving and Prayer Requests
Church leaders are grateful to God and give thanks for your support that has allowed them to finish the construction of the church and to provide care for vulnerable children. They ask you to join them in prayer for the following:
- For the malnourished children to have help and food.
- For God to lead church staff in finding the families who need the most help.
- For vaccines to be available to all of the children who participate in the child development program.
- For the church to obtain construction tools so that they have their own workshop.
Emmanuel Baptist Church, thank you for partnering with Compassion International! Your generosity is making a difference in Ecuador as Fidelidad de Dios is bringing the hope of the gospel to their community.
