Missiological Issues and Potential Answers for Reaching the Quichua in Ecuador

Concerning future work among the Quichua, there are many issues that need to be addressed. First, the oral nature of the culture must be addressed. Missionaries need to respect this oral nature, seeking therefore to share the Scriptures through telling Bible Stories, using story boards, etc. This however cannot be the only emphasis. The negative aspect of a story is that there is nothing tangible to revert back to. After a missionary has worked for twenty years among a people, when that generation dies, the following generation may taint what their parents and grandparents shared with them. Furthermore, without any bedrock foundation such as a Bible, any Catholic, Jehovah's Witness, Mormon, etc. can come in and tell the stories incorrectly, injecting heresy into the Quichua's understanding of the truth. One could easily "poison the well" if there is no absolute standard to judge the stories by.[3]

Because of these realities, it is important to start teaching the Quichua to read. Missionaries could either teach the head of the community to read, the fathers in the community to read, or the children to read. Each individual would then be responsible to teach others to read as well. I think that the children should be taught to read and understand the Scriptures while encouraging the parents to learn as well. I believe missionaries need to begin their ministries sharing Bible Stories with the adults, while teaching the children to read the stories themselves. Eventually, within a few generations the Quichua community will be changed from an oral culture to a literate culture. Thus, they will have a better understanding of the Scriptures. Realistically however, though the first generation of children will have a better understanding of the Scriptures, it will actually be their children who benefit more, for if their parents understand through reading, then that will make all the difference for the children to understand through reading as well.

Second, because each Quichua community subtly distinguishes itself from the next community, missionaries can use their desire for this distinction and their desire for virtue as well, for teaching points about the gospel. Each community of Quichua distinguishes itself from other communities by how they dress. Each color they wear stands for a virtue they possess or hope to possess. If the virtues they admire are wisdom, courage, purity, etc., then missionaries can teach that each of these characteristics is possessed ultimately and perfectly in Christ. These qualities can then be avenues to share the gospel as they detail the perfect righteousness of Christ, His wisdom and purity, and His perfect courage displayed in His willingness to endure His father's wrath for the sins of humanity. Though the Quichua may not realize it, they cannot possess these virtues perfectly. They must run to and depend on the righteousness of Christ by faith alone. Like all sinners, they must be told that perfect obedience to the Law of God is not something sinners can achieve.

Third, in order to understand the Quichua's animistic beliefs, one must read as much as possible, but there are certain aspects that may vary from one Quichua community to the next. Missionaries need to live among the people, seeking to understand exactly what they believe so they can decipher what is true and what is not. I am reminded of the Apostle Paul teaching the Athenians the true identity of the "unknown god" in Acts 17. Like Paul, missionaries must understand enough about the Quichua's religious system in order to understand how to engage them with the gospel. They must find the common ground where the Quichua reveal that they live in God's world. So, I suggest missionaries live with the Quichua, in the same community, possibly teaching them a wood-working trade, providing medical attention, etc. until the Quichua are willing to converse about their belief system. Once the missionaries understand in what aspect the Quichua live in the Christian God's world, this can then be used as an avenue to share the true gospel. The reality is that all humans live in God's world; therefore, every person can be shown where they live in God's world, whether it is presuppositional or evidential, they operate in the Christian God's world; for no other worldview is consistently livable.

Fourth, due to the Catholic drunken feasts, missionaries must address the issue of alcoholism. Since American doctors are calling this a disease now, it causes a problem, for missionaries are often not medically trained or psychologically trained enough to deal with such an addictive disease. The treatment will vary from case to case, for there will be those that trust in Christ and never struggle with alcoholism again; and there will also be those who literally have a disease. Furthermore, a missionary's philosophy of counseling will be a factor as well. So, missionaries will need to be prepared to help the Quichua with alcohol addiction, pointing to or providing the necessary support to break the addiction; plus, they must be prepared to constantly encourage the new converts under an onslaught of persecution.

Fifth, to answer the Quichua's tie to ancestors, missionaries must tread lightly. They must be delicate in dealing with the Quichua and their concern for their ancestral beliefs. This will take trusting relationships. Once there are families of Quichua that are coming to Christ, the process will be easier. If a missionary is trying to reach an unreached Quichua community, the process will be much harder. The missionaries will need to be longsuffering, gradually showing the love of Christ to the Quichua, and telling them the gospel on a consistent basis.

Sixth, to answer the Quichua's familiarity with Catholic architecture, missionaries can either build similar buildings, or they can make their worship more formal. Something I did not witness in the Quichua churches we attended was a liturgical worship system. Missionaries could make the worship closer to a Catholic service without the heresy and Latin. This could possibly make the transition from Catholicism to Evangelicalism easier for the Quichua. I suppose some missionaries may want the converts to make a complete break from Catholicism, making the worship services purposefully different from the Catholic services. Cases can be made for either direction so long as the worship is biblical.

Seventh, to deal with the heresy of Mary being the co-redeemer, missionaries simply need to consistently preach the truth. Christ must be exalted and Mary must be diminished. The best way to do this is to exalt Christ; for, if Christ is exalted to His proper position, Mary will be diminished to at least a lower position than Christ. Once they understand that she is not the co-redeemer, understanding she is merely the mother of Jesus is not that far of a step.

Eighth, there are those among the Quichua that are tired of the Catholic Church, so they will simply associate themselves with the Evangelicals as an act of rebellion. Though they have not accepted the gospel, they will gladly associate themselves with the group that teaches the opposite of the Catholic Church. This poses a problem, because the immature in Christ will struggle with how to deal with those who want to be associated with the church, but not through repentance and faith in Christ. So, there may be many in the community who are immoral that claim association with the Evangelicals, possibly blurring the line between the church and the world. Missionaries will then need to encourage young churches to practice biblical discipline. I imagine many missionaries will struggle encouraging this, for they probably have never witnessed biblical discipline being practiced, or been taught how to implement it. However, biblical discipline is biblical; so, the Quichua need to understand how to lovingly hold one another accountable; as well as, how to separate the wicked from the Christians for the good of Christ's church.

[3]This strategy and all that follow were personally inferred from a mission trip I took to Ecuador to work with the Quichua December 12-19, 2009.