Church hosts VBS in Ecuador for missions outreach

MACHACHI, Ecuador — For pastor Carlos Betancourt, a mission trip to Ecuador this summer was also a homecoming.

Betancourt, who has led the Hispanic congregation at Brainerd Baptist Church’s East Ridge campus in Chattanooga for 20 years, grew up in the very church his group traveled to serve.

His father-in-law founded the congregation of La Gran Comisión de Jesucristo, giving Betancourt a personal and spiritual tie that stretches back decades.

“We have a deep, lifelong personal and spiritual connection with them,” Betancourt said.

That connection turned into a weeklong Vacation Bible School this summer, drawing about 100 children from the surrounding community. Betancourt and his team chose VBS deliberately, he said, because of the significant spiritual and emotional needs among children and youth in the region.

“VBS is one of the most effective ways to reach young hearts and engage with their families,” Betancourt said.

The trip brought together an unlikely mix of volunteers. Sixteen youth from Brainerd Baptist’s Anglo congregation traveled to Ecuador, working alongside 20 volunteers from the local church and the Ecuadorian pastor José Luis Román. Translators helped bridge the language gap between the two groups throughout the week.

Despite the cultural and language differences, Betancourt said the week unfolded smoothly and ended in genuine friendship. Volunteers and children closed out the week with a soccer game.

“By the end of the week, strong bonds of friendship were formed,” he said. “It was an absolute blast for everyone involved.”

One lesson stood out among the rest, Betancourt said: “Jesus, the Light of the World.” Teachers paired the Bible lesson with crafts and practical applications, and several children professed faith in Christ during the week.

“It was incredibly moving to see several children accept Jesus as their Savior,” Betancourt said. “We are praying and expecting that the seeds planted that week will grow and bear much fruit.”

Volunteers shared the gospel explicitly every day of the trip, Betancourt said, and multiple children made decisions for Christ. He described the relationship with the Ecuadorian church as strong and ongoing, with the door open for future partnership.

Betancourt hopes the trip left a lasting mark on the young volunteers from Chattanooga as much as it did on the children they served.

“I hope people see that our youth had a life-changing experience stepping outside their home country,” he said. “This trip allowed them to see God’s heart for the nations firsthand, which will help them better discern and respond to God’s calling on their lives in the future.” B&R