Ned and Marisol Farnsworth began serving as missionaries with Liebenzell USA nearly 20 years ago in 2001, and currently minister and teach at a church plant in Otavalo, Ecuador.
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Teaching English & Sharing Jesus
A growing ministry goes virtual
by Ned Farnsworth
MAR. 26, 2021
Missionary Ned Farnsworth teaches an online Zoom session of Go English Club from this past December.
Even after more than three years, church planting feels new for our family.
We did not receive any training in how to lead a new church. When we moved from Ibarra, Ecuador to Otavalo, Ecuador in 2017, we did not think that it would be easy. But the change hit us even harder than we imagined. Otavalo boasts a population of 90,000, over 40% of which are indigenous or Native Ecuadorian people. It is difficult to be accepted if you are not a native of Otavalo. Right now, after three and a half years, we are just starting to feel accepted by the community.
New Town, new ministry
We always planned for our church work to involve children, since Marisol and I both had done that previously in Ecuador, Guam and the United States. We also wanted to play a vital role in the lives of the children from the church, by discipling them over time. So within the first month of our time at “Zona de Vida” (Life Zone) Church in Otavalo, we started a monthly kids’ program. This project worked well for a couple months with 8-10 children, but then attendance started tapering off, and although we did not cancel it, we knew that we needed to re-strategize.
We thought and prayed for a strategy that would allow us to meet new families and provide a service for children that others could not offer. After brainstorming as a family, we came up with the idea for a weekly English Club to reach out to the families in Otavalo, deciding not to charge anything in order to make it accessible to all children. We ran a pilot program in the summer of 2018 with three days of Mini-English Camp to test the idea. A team of people from Liebenzell USA came to help us, and it was a grand success – with almost 40 children each day!
Bumps in the road
In October 2018, we began our weekly GO ENGLISH CLUB, held at Zona de Vida Church. At first, our attendance struggled, with 5-8 kids on our better days and under 5 on some Fridays (with two of the children being our twin boys, Jacob and Elias). In fact, the club's first year turned out to be a challenge. No children from Zona de Vida families attended. We spent a lot of time doubting ourselves, but we pressed on. We realized that once we had started, we could not give up quickly.
A family effort
From the start, we wanted this new English ministry to involve our whole family. Marisol and I serve as the main teachers, with our son Joel and daughter Amelia as our helpers and tech team. Our twins Jacob and Elias attend the club but also teach the other children as friends and encouragers. They set the example by reciting the weekly Bible memory verse.
Ned and his daughter Amelia teach songs in English at a session of Go English Club this past February.
Each week, we begin with a Song of the Month with hand motions, led by our children Joel and Amelia. This repetition helps the children to review the same English words and biblical truths throughout the month. After the song, we go over the previous week’s Bible verse before teaching a Bible story, mostly in Spanish but incorporating certain key English words. The Bible story then segues into a new Bible verse. Finally, we teach a new English concept and play games or do activities to reinforce it (for example, we play “Simon Says” to teach the parts of the human body).
The impact grows
It has been exciting to see the relevance of the Bible for children in Ecuador. In 2018-2019, we taught through the New Testament at English Club; and for our English Camp in summer 2019, we used the story of Esther in skit form to emphasize the faithfulness of God in a crisis situation. That summer, a group from Exeter Bible Fellowship Church in PA blessed us by coming to Otavalo to assist us. We expanded the camp to a week-long, five-day program, and 45-50 children attended each day!
The whole Farnsworth family gets involved in Go English Club, helping teach songs and Bible verses.
When we resumed weekly GO ENGLISH CLUB after summer vacation, our attendance soared. This time we averaged 20 children each week, and the group remained constant, giving us the opportunity to build closer relationships with the children and with their parents, especially by staying in touch using WhatsApp. Parents started asking us to help their kids with English outside of the club time, and Ned tutored one of the girls’ brothers once a week.
Fernanda, the mother of one child who attends the club, told us about a change she saw in her daughter:
“Alison is improving so much in English. She has much more confidence in her ability to learn. But her behavior at home has also changed. She is more obedient and shows faith in God.”
The Farnsworths use WhatsApp to stay in touch with parents whose children attend English Camp and English Club. Messages like Fernanda's are an encouraging sign of God working among families.
Her testimony, along with words of encouragement from other parents, reminded us not to give up. God expects us to be faithful, not successful from a human standpoint.
The shift to virtual ministry
Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit Ecuador full-force in March 2020, creating the need to be flexible. A group from Pennsylvania and Virginia had made plans to come and help us with GO ENGLISH CAMP in July, but had to cancel the trip due to the pandemic. We started praying and thinking about how we could continue teaching English and the Bible to the children. In June, we decided to go virtual with the English Camp, becoming the first group from Liebenzell Mission in Ecuador to hold children’s activities via Zoom.
We formed a team with two volunteers from our church plant, our missionary colleague Faith, and three virtual helpers: Michelle (the team leader from the PA mission team that had committed to come help us), and Manuel and Maribel from NJ (they had come in 2018 with the team from Liebenzell USA). Deciding to teach the parables, we divided the responsibilities for reaching the Bible lesson and the Bible verses for the five days of camp, all the while praying and preparing the music. Our children Joel, Amelia, Jacob and Elias helped to record the English Bible and fun songs. We were ready to go.
God answered our prayers far beyond what we had anticipated. Each day over sixty children participated from three different provinces. Many of these children would not have been able to attend in person! The internet and all technical aspects functioned well — except the day when I forgot to plug in my computer and the battery died in the middle of the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Joel saved the day by improvising with a song until I could sign on again. Enthusiasm and morale exceeded our expectations, and the parents seemed quite pleased with our efforts.
Paola, the mother of Baruc, wrote,
"Thank you, English Camp team, for your commitment and dedication. My son was very happy to learn some English but above all to learn more about God. May God bless you and continue to use you according to His will.”
On a Friday this past February, during a visit from our Liebenzell USA support team, twenty kids attended the weekly Go English virtual club.
Paola’s wishes have come true. We continue to hold GO ENGLISH CLUB via Zoom every Friday afternoon at 4 pm. From the US via Zoom, Marybeth Pupa, Michelle Halter, and Callie Masem alternate to teach the English lesson, and Faith and our family teach the Bible lessons and the verses here in Ecuador. We pray that God will make the seeds of faith grow in the children’s hearts, in His time and for His glory.
This article was published in the Spring 2021 issue of the Provision Press.
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