Ecuador
2001The First Fifteen Years
by Carlos Marín
In 2016, CLC Ecuador celebrates its 15th anniversary. There is a lot to celebrate considering that it started in 2001 with a couple from CLC Colombia and six other staff working in a bookshop and a wholesale department in Quito. Along with these two CLC centres, effort was concentrated on reaching various cities in Ecuador and the indigenous communities — taking Christian literature to places where it was not available and access was difficult. It was in these indigenous communities where we felt most appreciated and witnessed people happy with their newly acquired Bibles, many of whom hugged and even kissed them. In the first 10 years, CLC opened a further three bookshops, established a mobile work and the team had grown to 25. For the 10th anniversary, the CLC Americas Regional Conference was held in Ecuador.
Special Events:
Jim and Elizabeth George
We had the blessing of organising and hosting an event with the authors and speakers, Jim and Elizabeth George. With much love and humility, they put out a call to live a life of prayer and they left a challenge that was impressed on the hearts of the men and women who attended the conference in Quito. In all, 1500 people attended the event — 900 women had meetings with Elizabeth and 600 men with Jim. Many men were touched to the point of tears as God’s word spoke to them, and there were expressions of gratitude to Jim for the way in which God used him to speak and reach hearts through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Memories We Cherish:
A Customer Who Sold CLC Books…
A lady visited us for the first time about 10 years ago. While in the shop, she commented that she was going through a very difficult situation at home and needed to find some means of extra income to help her care for her three children. She asked if we could help her by giving her Christian books and Bibles that she could sell in various places. We were able to give her some books, and this part of the ministry became quite significant, not just in helping the lady economically, but also for her spiritual growth. Today, the three children are grown up, working in various professions. They all love the Lord passionately and are grateful to the CLC ministry and the books that have helped and instructed them personally.