“It is like we are seeing the threads of a beautiful tapestry woven together,” said Camden resident Kim Gill when speaking of the impact Camden’s First Baptist Church mission teams are having in Machachi, Ecuador.

Gill returned from her fourth mission trip to Machachi in late June. “It is wonderful to see God working there and our efforts making a difference,” she said.

What began as an International World Changers trip for First Baptist youth in 2007 and again in 2010 has evolved into a full missions project by the church that, since 2011, has sent 56 Kershaw County residents on 19 mission teams to Machachi. Some of those 56, including Gill, have made multiple trips.

“Once you have been there and served, Machachi becomes a part of you, and you want to go back,” said church member Billy Ammons, who was one of four members of a vision team that helped select Machachi as the church’s area of focus in Ecuador.

How it all started

“When the youth returned from participating in mission trips to Ecuador, pastor Bruce Hancock challenged the church to consider a long-range mission program,” said Maureen Kohn, currently chairman of First Baptist Church’s Machachi Missions Project. “He led the church and its missions committee in a period of prayer about establishing such a partnership.”

Hancock explained that a period of prayer was critical to leading the church in deciding on this type of mission effort and where it should be located. “As we prayed for guidance, I, along with our church missions committee and several other interested church members, met with a representative from the South Carolina Baptist Convention to learn more about possible areas where there was a need for a strong Christian presence,” said Hancock. “We all left the meeting committed to praying about where to focus our efforts.”

At the next missions committee meeting, all members had an opportunity to discuss the various location possibilities and which one they believed the church should select. “Without exception, every person in the room indicated that we should locate our efforts in Ecuador. We believe that this strong sense of agreement was an indication that God was leading us there,” said Hancock.

Choosing Machachi and getting started

The next step was choosing a particular location in Ecuador. A vision team composed of Ammons, Kohn, church member Mary Lee Addis, and minister to students Kevin Lott traveled to Ecuador in November 2010. The vision team’s purpose was to visit four locations recommended by the Connect Ecuador program, a strategy of the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.

“We went into each of the four communities and met with leaders there to determine if the people in the community would be receptive to us,” said Ammons.

Vision team member Mary Lee Addis said the team quickly felt welcomed in Machachi. “Doors opened for us, and it just felt like all was working out according to God’s plan,” she said.

The team learned from the IMB that in Machachi, a town of approximately 12,500 people, only 3 percent of the people had ever heard the gospel. “After learning more about Machachi and seeing that the people we met there wanted us to come back, we knew that God was calling us to work in Machachi,” said Kohn.

The vision team members returned to Camden and shared their recommendation with the church and its missions committee. An education program was launched to help church members learn about Machachi and the opportunities for service there. In addition, a training program was established for members interested in going to Machachi, and a churchwide Machachi prayer team was organized.

Sending mission teams

The first mission team from First Baptist traveled to Machachi in May 2011. Between May and December of 2011, five teams went to Machachi. During 2012, the church sent eight mission teams, and eight more teams are going there in 2013. So far, 56 church members, comprising 19 teams, have traveled to Machachi.

“We are sending a team about every 8 weeks,” said Kohn. “Our goal for this partnership is to evangelize the people of Machachi, develop relationships there and teach the Bible. The end result of this partnership should be that the Christians in Machachi take over the work that we are now doing and that God’s work will continue until all have been reached,” said Kohn.

Each team stays approximately one week, although two team members — Brittany Bullard and Callie Neal — spent five weeks in Machachi this summer. Prior to participating in a mission trip, all team members train for 12 weeks, learning about Ecuadorian culture, preparing spiritually, and planning specific projects and outreach efforts their team will initiate.

Addis, who has been to Machachi five times, said she is excited about the way the partnership is structured. “Because this is a several-year commitment from our church, we can truly build relationships with the people of Machachi.”

Team members are responsible for meeting their own trip expenses and receive partial assistance from the church and/or donors. A team can be as small as three members or as large as 10. Most teams consist of three to five people. “This number makes logistics easier and enables us to send more frequent teams,” said Kohn.

What happens in Machachi

Team members travel from Camden to Charlotte, fly to Miami, and then fly to Quito, Ecuador. From there, they travel by rented van to Machachi. Total travel time from Camden to Machachi is 12-14 hours. Team members stay in a small hostel and get around mostly on foot. Since the local language is Spanish, the teams employ a translator.

Kohn credits prayer and God for making connections for teams in Machachi. “We prayed that God would open doors and bring us people of peace who would agree with our goal to bring the gospel to this town. We also prayed for gatekeepers who would give our group credibility among their neighbors.” These prayers have been answered, according to Kohn, by the connections they have been able to establish with government officials, school administrators, and Machachi citizens — both believers and non-believers — who have been receptive and appreciative of their work in their community.

Since 2011, Camden First Baptist teams have presented the gospel to more than 1,800 people, held 75 Bible studies, and been invited into 20 homes and businesses for Bible study and fellowship. They have taught English classes in the elementary and high schools, taught hygiene classes, held Vacation Bible School, worked in two daycare centers and a school for special-needs children, held business seminars as well as a home repair seminar, conducted drug prevention classes, met with local evangelical churches, worked with the elderly, and been interviewed for both television and radio programs.

“Our teams have discovered God in a new way. We have been wowed by the way he has proved over and over that he wants our church in Machachi,” said Kohn.

What team members say

Talking to Kershaw County residents who have been to Machachi reveals that they share a common sentiment about their experiences there. “When you first get involved, you feel that you are going there to serve the Lord, but what happens is you receive so many blessings from the love of the people there and seeing God at work with them. You think you are going to give, but you are heaped with showers of blessings,” said Kohn.

Lynn Ammons, who served on a team with her husband, Billy, stressed the feelings team members develop for Machachi and the people they encounter there. “When you go home, you leave a piece of your heart in Machachi,” said Ammons.

Brittany Bullard, a rising college sophomore, and Callie Neal, a recent college graduate, spent five weeks this summer serving in Machachi. Both had been to Machachi once before as team members and felt led to go back for an extended period. During several weeks of their stay, they were the only team members there. They faced both victories and challenges during that time.

“It was a great period of spiritual growth for me,” said Bullard. When Neal became ill with a severe bacterial infection, Bullard, while worrying about Neal, had to complete the work alone to which they had committed. “I really relied on Callie, as the older and wiser one of us two. Her attitude and guidance always helped me,” Bullard said. “When she got sick, I really had to rely on God and my faith that he would work through me and help me. I learned to feel the Holy Spirit and what he wanted me to do.”

Both Neal and Bullard said they appreciated the 24-hour, seven-day-a-week prayer group organized by First Baptist to pray for teams when they are in Machachi. More than 150 church members are committed to pray daily and at certain hours, so the entire time team members are in Machachi, they are covered with prayer.

For Neal, her time in Machachi altered her worldview by helping her understand people who grow up so differently from those in America. “It helped me realize not to be discouraged if we do not see immediate results of our efforts. We are still changing hearts there, even if the change does not come while we are there,” said Neal.

One example of hearts being changed occurred the night before they left Machachi. Bullard was able to lead, at their request, three members of a family through the prayer of salvation. First Baptist teams had been interacting with the same family for over a year. “I was unsettled about leaving Machachi when the time came because I just didn’t feel like my mission was complete. When this happened, however, I felt like God was showing me it was OK to go home now,” said Bullard.

Team members realize they are planting seeds that may not grow in their presence. Cody Davis, a member of the First Baptist youth group that travelled to Machachi this summer, was called on one night to preach a sermon in one of the churches the team was visiting. He told the story of Daniel in the lion’s den. Weeks after Davis left, one of the men present the night Davis preached told Neal that “after hearing that blonde boy tell the story of Daniel in the lion’s den, I knew I wanted to worship the same God he did.”

First Baptist minister to students Kevin Lott traveled to Machachi in June with Kohn, Gill, and youth from the church that included Davis, Jansen Simmons, Riley Kohn, Kayla Cook, and Taylor Gill. “To witness our youth at work there was an incredible blessing. A lot was accomplished through their work and God’s strength and power,” said Lott.

What happens next

Two more teams will travel to Machachi before the end of the year and will begin training soon. When a team returns from Machachi, they meet together to debrief and share what they believe the next team needs to do. This feedback helps Kohn and the future teams analyze what is working and what needs to be changed or added.

This extended partnership, with specifics being designed visit-to-visit, is a relatively new approach to international missions, said pastor Hancock. Traditionally, a group would go to an area to assist established missionaries with a specific task, such as building a church. “With this strategy, we are first creating relationships with people in Machachi and supporting the local efforts of those interested in spreading the gospel,” said Hancock.

According to Kohn, a church mission partnership such as this one usually spans three to five years, but there is no required closure date. “Our goal is to help the people of Machachi be successful in taking on the work we are now doing,” Kohn said. “We are very encouraged that Betesda Church in Machachi is interested in having our teams help them as they begin evangelism in Machachi. They hope to start 400 house churches in and around the city. We want to help them with this effort.”

Lasting impact of the Machachi experience

Team members come home with a passion for missions and a realization that, as church member Douglas Wyant, who has been to Machachi four times, said, “We need to do here also what we are doing in Machachi.”

The impact of the effort on mission participants, as well as their prayer partners, has been significant, according to Hancock. “I have seen that participants who have gone to Machachi return with a deepened faith and are excited about sharing the gospel and their ability to be used by the Lord,” he said.

As the tapestry of this Machachi partnership continues to be woven by the connections of Camden First Baptist Church members and the Ecuadorian people they meet, it becomes clear, according to Kohn: “Not only do these trips change lives and hearts in Machachi, but they also change and grow those of us who go.”

(For more information about the First Baptist Machachi partnership, visit www.firstbaptistcamden.org and click on Ecuador Partnership.)