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’s plan to reveal itself 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, 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 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. 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 unwavering push to see God's church
church begin and grow in this Ecuadorian jungle village
surely seemed miraculous to us.
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 (CCUMC) 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 of the church for their community.
There are now two villages and two churches that will forever be tied together: CCUMC of 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.
Arlen Stauffer
Construction work in Ecuador is not like it is in Florida. Church-building is also very different there, but listening for
God’s plan to reveal itself 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, 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 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. 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 unwavering push to see God's church
church begin and grow in this Ecuadorian jungle village
surely seemed miraculous to us.
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 (CCUMC) 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 of the church for their community.
There are now two villages and two churches that will forever be tied together: CCUMC of 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.
