Christian Mission Work Among the Quichua in Ecuador

The first Protestant missionary activity in Ecuador began in 1824 when a member of the British and Foreign Bible Society came to sell Bibles.[1] No permanent mission was established until 1896 when three Gospel Missionary Union (GMU) missionaries began work.[2] They arrived at the time the liberal government of General Eloy Alfaro repudiated the 1862 concordat with the Holy See permitting Protestant missionaries into Ecuador.[3] In 1902 Julia Anderson and Ella Ozman moved to Ecuador's Chimborazo Province and began ministry to the Quichuas in the village of Caliata. The GMU has actively served among the coastal Mestizos, the Jivaro Indians in the Amazon area, and mostly among the Quichua Indians in the Andes.[4]

The Evangelical Missionary Union Church, begun by the GMU, is the largest Protestant church in Ecuador.[5] They also started two Indian radio stations which are now under the leadership of Quichua believers. In 1961, Quichua Christian radio station HCUE-5 was inaugurated in Colta.[6]

One of the largest Protestant broadcasting projects is HCJB ("Voice of the Andes"), located in Quito and owned by World Radio Missionary Fellowship. Started in 1931, it now broadcasts in 17 major languages, and is aired in short-wave, long-wave, and local radio programs. In 1975, the Colta-based radio station was turned over to the Quichua Indigenous Evangelical Association of Chimborazo (AIECH).[7]

The Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) began work in 1897. Although it is concentrated in the same areas as the GMU, it employs its staff largely at Alliance Academy in Quito, attended by missionary children from many missions, including Serving in Mission (SIM). Seventh-day Adventists arrived in 1905, but have not been as successful here among the Indian populations as in neighboring countries. In 1945, four large United States denominations began work as the United Andean Indian Mission.[8]

In 1950 the GMU opened a second mission station for Quichua work in Pulucate.[9] In1953, the Foursquare Gospel denomination began work and presently has the second largest Protestant church in Ecuador. The work grew rapidly after 1964. In 1954, The Quichua New Testament was published and arrived for distribution in Chimborazo. The following year, after over 50 years of mission work among the Quichua, the first three believers were baptized in Lake Colta.[10] In 1956 the now-famous Auca Indians became known to the outside world with the martyrdom of five missionaries by this tribe. This story is recounted in the book, Through Gates of Splendor. Most of the Auca, who are more appropriately called the Waorani, and other small tribes have indigenous churches now.[11] In 1958, the first church was built in El Troje. The Ecuadorian government passed land reform legislation in 1964.[12]

In 1966, Quichua believers formed an association, the Indigenous Evangelical Association of Chimborazo (AIECH).[13] As Evangelicalism spread among the Quichua, in 1971 three Quichua were ordained as lay pastors. Around 155 believers were baptized in one service at San Bernardo. In the same year, the GMU turned over their Atahualpa School to the community. In 1973, a new translation of a Quichua New Testament was formally presented to the people with more than 5,000 in attendance.[14] The Old Testament Quichua translation was completed in 1988, and the complete Bible was scheduled for publication by the United Bible Societies. Furthermore, estimates of total baptized evangelical Quichua in Chimborazo ranged from 30,000 to 50,000.[15] In 1991 there were an estimated 335 Quichua evangelical churches and congregations, 78,500 believers, and a Christian constituency of 100,180.[16] As of 1997, forty-eight mission agencies serve in Ecuador.[17]

[1]Serving in Mission (SIM), "Ecuador: History of Missions," (Serving in Mission, 2009), http://sim.org/index.php/country/EC.

[2]Ibid.

[3]John Maust, New Song in the Andes, William Carey Library, (Pasadena, CA: Gospel Missionary Union, 1992), 1.

[4]Serving in Mission (SIM), "Ecuador: History of Missions," (Serving in Mission, 2009), http://sim.org/index.php/country/EC.

[5]Ibid.

[6]Maust, New Song in the Andes, 140.

[7]Ibid.

[8]Serving in Mission (SIM), "Ecuador: History of Missions," (Serving in Mission, 2009), http://sim.org/index.php/country/EC.

[9]Maust, New Song in the Andes, 139.

[10]Ibid.

[11]Serving in Mission (SIM), "Ecuador: History of Missions," (Serving in Mission, 2009), http://sim.org/index.php/country/EC.

[12]Maust, New Song in the Andes, 139.

[13]Ibid., 140.

[14]Ibid.

[15]Ibid.

[16]Ibid., 141.

[17]Serving in Mission (SIM), "Ecuador: History of Missions," (Serving in Mission, 2009), http://sim.org/index.php/country/EC.