YL in Ecuador

Our last afternoon in Quito we had the privilege of connecting with Ivan, who is the National YL director for Ecuador. This was a bit out of the blue as we had emailed many months ago but were not expecting to connect as he was taking kids to camp in the southern part of the country during the week that we were in town. But late the night before our last day, his wife emailed and asked if we would be available as it happened that he was going to be in Quito (which is about 5 hours from their home).

We ended up connecting at a local mall and had a very blessed time. This was a large mall even by American standards and we actually walked into the very door he was waiting at - which we had no idea at all and we were actually dropped by our angry taxi-man a different door than we wanted. Truly incredible!

It was amazing to hear all that God is doing here in Ecuador as YL is only about 3 years old. Ivan saw a need to keep teens growing in their faith and he more or less self started YL without knowing anything about YL or that it even existed!  He even called it La Vida Joven and decorated his home, the meeting place for 'club' gatherings, with this name.  Later he learned that there was an actual organization called YoungLife and La Vida Joven, and connected with Dan Jessup (South America head YL guy who's a friend of a good friend) and was brought on staff with YL. His progress in Ecuador in 3 short years is nothing short of impressive, God is definitely at work through this young man and the vision he has to spread the Gospel to teens. Below is the email with a list of prayer requests from Ivan and a photo of a map with their vision.

Ivan Hahn, Ecuador YoungLife director

Hi Matt,

Glad that it worked out for Ivan to meet you and your family!  I've added you to the e-mail list so you can see our updates and it also has a link to my blog.  I am attaching a map of Ecuador.  The green markers indicate where we have established club/ministry (Cuenca, Shell, Puyo, Calderon, Quitumbe) and the yellow markers indicate potential places to begin based on contacts we have or as part of our goals for the next 5 years (Guayaquil, Galapagos Islands, Ambato, Esmeraldas, Mera, Santa Clara). 

One of our prayer requests would be for God to raise up leaders and adults who are willing to support and volunteer with Young Life in those potential areas.  We pray for wisdom and clarity to know God's plan and timing.  Pray for our leaders as they impact the lives of teenagers.  Pray for the 63 campers who recently made a decision to follow Christ at camp, to grow in their faith and find a Christian community of believers (church) to connect to.  Pray for our financial needs, both personally and for the ministry.  As YL continues to grow and expand so do our financial needs.  Please pray for the thousands of teenagers in Ecuador who still need to hear the message of hope. 

Thank you!

Rachel and Ivan 

 

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