The IMOJ ministers to many special needs families in the Cloud Forest Region of Ecuador. These families have various degrees of disability and hardship and neither the government nor the surrounding communities provide much assistance. Over the years, Eduardo has built strong relationships with these families by demonstrating the love of Christ and helping them when nobody else would.
We currently minister and disciple over 20 special needs families in several different communities. The families have since developed their own support community, elected a president for this community, and meet at least once a month to hold Bible studies and weave hand made baskets that are sold to the market and help support the families.
Teams that choose to incorporate the Special Needs Ministry into their Ecuador trip will get an opportunity to meet, work, and play with these families and see first hand, the joy that Christ has brought into their lives!
- Special Needs Ministry Trip
- SEED Soccer Trip
- Physical Therapy Trip
- Earthquake Relief Trip
- Pastor's or Women's Conferences
SEED Soccer began in September of 2017 and exists to glorify God and reach children and teens with the Gospel of Christ through soccer. Utilizing the facilities of The Meeting Place as a base camp allows this ministry to minister to very remote and hard to reach communities in the Cloud Forest region of Ecuador.
We currently minister and disciple over 120 children and teens in several different communities which also gives us the ability to minister to their families. The SEED Soccer program is also used to interact and minister to the families in the IMOJ's Special Needs Ministry.
Special Needs Ministry
The Meeting Place is built on 20 acres in the Cloud Forest Region of Ecuador and serves many purposes, such as, a base camp for mission teams to serve the “forgotten” peoples of Ecuador through avenues like the Special Needs Ministry and SEED Soccer. These ministries provide much needed help and discipleship to areas of Ecuador that are hard to reach.
The Meeting Place was originally founded and built by Tom and Joan Beak. After establishing their faith in Christ late in life (their 60s), they spent over twenty years in Togo, Africa building wells and starting churches in 100 villages across the region. In their 80s, God called them to Ecuador and they answered without hesitation. They purchased the land where The Meeting Place now resides and began construction. The vision God gave them was to provide a place for teams to gather and perform mission work while also providing a place where pastors from all over Ecuador and the world could come and disciple each other, grow, and help facilitate the spread of the Gospel.
Tom passed away in 2014 at the age of 97 and Joan, in 2017 at the age of 95. Before their passing, they transferred The Meeting Place ownership and vision to Eduardo and Marie-Edith Andrade who worked with the Beaks for many years and now continue the work that the Beaks started.
It’s important to us to be as clear about what we do as the water we provide communities in need. This list details a majority of our recent initiatives that we need your participation in.