| The goal of Project New Hope is to give hope to the suffering, socially abandoned, economically trapped and spiritually seeking in Santo Domingo, Ecuador, and Trujillo, Peru. PNH works with nationals in the communities, establishing churches to empower the poor to experience personal and community transformation, using the key strategies of Community Health Evangelism (CHE) and Bible storytelling. |
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A group of 14 were in Ecuador recently for a short-term mission trip. Eric Malave led the group from Journey Church and Prescott Christian Church, both in Arizona.
We had an exciting and fulfilling week. People were blessed and relationships were formed between the South and North Americans. One of the things that was awesome to see was that so many church members volunteered! We spent Saturday in Santa Martha sector 5, sector 6 and Patria Nueva. We had three different groups doing different activities with the communities where we are working. At night we all got together and had a talent show in the barrio. On Sunday morning we got all three barrios (communities) together to have church at the river. We had three baptisms – the highlight of the day – played games, ate and spent time together.
We also spent three days in Villegas, which was affected by the earthquake. We built two houses, did adopt-a-block to get to know the people, held a carnival for the families and did crafts with Bible teaching with the women. Because of the “adapt-a-block” we were able to start six Peace Treaties, and we have more to do the following week.
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| Some of the church people that volunteered worked all three days. Several men joined us as well, which is very encouraging! Two of these men, Vicente and Patricio, announced that they wanted to follow Jesus and we are now doing the Peace Treaty with them. We have more work to do in this barrio and are looking forward to see what God has in store for us. We want to thank Chandler Christian Church for donating money for us to build houses for the earthquake victims. Thanks to the churches that gave and also to Team Expansion, CMF and IDES for their help. |
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Thanks, Chandler Christian Church, for the backpacks.
Visiting with kids from the church.
Church volunteers.
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Here are a few testimonies from some of the people who were on this trip and what they experienced:
“What an amazing trip! God worked both in and through me the entire week. Personally God showed me three things during my visit to Ecuador. First, the importance of sharing the Gospel. Everyone from Iglesia Cristiana Tercer Camino church in Santa Martha was passionate about spreading the message of hope to the people in the barrios. This encouraged me to do the same in my life and ministry. Second, God reminded me that discipleship is a process. People at Tercer Camino have been discipled for years. Sometimes I try to play God and rush a person’s spiritual growth. Third, God reminded me that my finances are not mine but His. God has blessed me with a good paying job and I could be using more of my resources to support the mission field. I’m not sure when God will call me to be a lead pastor but this trip has changed the way I will run my church when it comes to finances. For now, I will set aside a portion of the budget that I get for our youth ministry for missions.
–Johnny Martinez, Journey Church, Peoria, Arizona |
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| “God did some really cool things on the Ecuador trip. I could see him working as our teams worked within a neighborhood to help build houses. It was so obvious that God had a plan for us that week in the people we would affect. It was especially encouraging to see how the neighborhood welcomed us. Every day that we were there in the neighborhood they fed us lunch and it was so cool to sit back and watch as we talked and laughed and had fun with them. There was just such a great relationship made, one that could only be made by God.
One of things that I thought was so amazing was the way the trip affected our own team members. I think they started to see that the trip was just as much a way to change their own lives as it was of those they were serving. One of the members on our team mentioned to me that it felt like we hadn’t done much. Yes, we had built some houses and helped on a cement wall and helped build a roof, but he felt as if he hadn’t seen us making the impact that would change someone’s life and maybe even bring them to Christ. In going on this trip though, I believe he saw that changing people’s hearts can take time and sometimes we are only there to plant the seed. One of the cool things about short-term missions is that we can never take the credit because we only take part in a small part of what God is doing. On the mission field, we didn’t see our own work come to fruition, and nothing we have done has made a noticeable difference other than there are houses where there used to be none. However, we got to see how previous mission trips have affected Santo Domingo. We heard testimonies and stories and we saw the work of previous missions that had been carried out. The cool thing about short term missions is we worked knowing that God will be faithful and that our work will bring about change that we may never actually see. I felt that my life was changed just seeing God’s mission that I was a part of, what it had done so far and the dream of what it would eventually become.
–Austin Mengarelli, Prescott Christian Church, Arizona |
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“Our team just got back from another amazing mission trip to Ecuador. This was my 21st trip to visit Mike and Danell and the team in South America. Each time is different, but always incredible. To see a group of missionaries truly living out Christ’s command and discipling the nations was inspiring to our whole group. I know that because of their example in our lives, individuals from our team will be living their lives differently in the future.
I myself got to witness Santos preaching. Wow, this was the same quiet taxi driver that I met in 2006 in a barrio in Peru, and here he is now in Ecuador sharing the gospel like no other. Many others were also leading, teaching and serving the community. The Church is truly alive in Santo Domingo, Ecuador.
I’ve had multiple parents of youth who were on the trip with us reach out to thank me for taking them on such a life-changing trip. Thank you, Mike, Danell, and the team for making it all possible. I can’t wait to bring the next group down to see you.
–Eric Malave, A Generous Life, Arizona |
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Thanks for all your prayers and support!
Mike and Danell Bukta |
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 Project New Hope + CMF
CMF and Project New Hope are part of an exciting partnership with Team Expansion missionaries Mike and Dani Bukta and their work in Peru and Ecuador. Through this partnership we will work together toward holistic mission where disciples are made, individual lives are transformed, and nationals are empowered to lead. U.S. churches actively partner in this ministry with the goal of creating dynamic Christ-centered communities (churches) that can transform the world. |
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