Ecuador
Date Entered: 2005
Major Ministries: Church planting, leadership training, orphanage ministries, discipleship children and youth outreach ministries, indigenous ministries
Country Profile
Population: 40.482 million (July 2008 est.)
Peoples: White (mostly Spanish and Italian) 97%, mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry), Amerindian, or other non-white groups 3%
Politics: Republic
Religion: Nominally Roman Catholic 92% (less than 20% practicing), Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%, other 4%
Ecuador is a small nation filled with incredible diversity. Within hours you can travel from Andean peaks to the deep Amazon jungle or find yourself on white sandy beaches of the Pacific coast. Ecuador’s people are as diverse as the countryside. Over 65 percent of the total population is made of Mestizos, the mixed descendants of Spanish colonists and indigenous Indians, and 25 percent are from various indigenous Indian groups that still hold to the dress and culture of the forefathers.
Since 1896, when the first permanent missionary presence arrived in Ecuador, there have been limited results. Over the years, Ecuador has been known to have the slowest growing evangelical church on the continent. However, that is currently changing. God is moving, and for the first time in years, many people are beginning to question the religion of their fathers and seek answers.
With 95 percent of the population claiming to be Catholic and less than 3 percent following different forms of Protestantism, there is a great need for sound Biblical teaching and church planting. It is ABWE’s desire to be used of God in establishing beacons of truth throughout the country.
Ecuador was opened as an ABWE field in the fall of 2005. Efforts are underway to bring together families and individuals who would be called of God to reach Ecuadorians. The vision is to establish a team of church planters who will begin their effort outside the capital city of Quito, in the Tumbaco Valley.