Years ago I doodled an image of a fishing net, and I colored it red. I was thinking of people links—links that form a living (red) network which can be used to go “fishing.” Jesus said, “I have made you fishers of men.”

Operation Hope

In Loja Province, several mission agencies and local churches team together as Operacion Esperanza (Operation Hope). This name helps prevent confusion on the part of local people. While members of Operation Hope have their own visions and work independently, they meet together regularly to encourage and pray for one another, share plans and visions, and offer help to one another as needed. Ministries include Christian radio, university student outreach, counseling, medical clinics, children’s programs, English teaching, and evangelistic efforts beyond the city. Additional opportunities exist for sports evangelism and prison outreach.

Missions Sending Network

Churches in Ecuador are catching the vision for sending their people as missionaries, and they’re working through COMEC, a missions network. COMEC is an acronym for the Spanish name translated “Evangelical Missionary Cooperative in Ecuador.” Member organizations are local church denominations and sending agencies and foreign agencies such as SIM and OM (Operation Mobilization). COMEC has been in existence for about eight years, and during that time missionaries from Ecuador serving abroad have increased from five to more than 60, most of them recognized and supported by their churches. COMEC conducts mission consultations for pastors both in Guayaquil and in many of the provinces of Ecuador, hoping that eventually each province will have its own mission sending network.

So the “red/net” is working in Ecuador—just as it is all over the world.