FEDICE is a Christian organization seeking to help indigenous and rural communities throughout Ecuador overcome a circle of poverty.  FEDICE has been involved in Pijal, a rural agricultural community of indigenous Kichwa Indians, for several years, providing loan programs for livestock and agricultural projects, and organizing missions trips to provide medical clinics and Bible schools.

Now FEDICE is working with church leaders to replace the existing church, which has become too small to meet the needs of the community, with the “New Jerusalem” Alliance Church in Pijal Center.  The vision for the new building is that it will provide classrooms and an auditorium for conducting educational training in addition to a new sanctuary for worship and fellowship.  The church plays a vital role in the life of the community, both spiritually and economically.

Additional Information: 

The project site, approximately 100-feet x 100-feet, has been cleared of all vegetation and is graded roughly flat. The site has access to a main water line but the water is not potable so the new building will require a fresh water system in addition to a wastewater system. Roads throughout the community are narrow, but passable, dirt roads. The building will likely be constructed of a concrete frame with masonry block and a steel truss roof with metal roofing. The vision for the building is approximately four classrooms and auditorium on a lower level with the sanctuary on an upper level. 

Our team of seven includes four professionals, two interns, and a project manager who works for EMI full time. I will provide Civil Engineering services (drinking water and wastewater treatment design as well as site grading) while the other professionals will contribute in Structural Engineering, Architecture, and Drafting.

While on site, the team will meet with the local ministry to determine their needs, gather any site-specific information needed including survey, complete as much of the design as possible, and present the preliminary design to the ministry. We will open and close the trip with team meetings centered in Christ and will have daily devotions. We will complete the design within six months of the trip and since EMI requires that receiving ministries have funding in place for construction, we know that our design will be built to serve the poor and proclaim the Good News of Christ.

About Ecuador: 

More information about Pijal may be found here.