Are you ever nervous to share the gospel with someone? Manuel remembers the first time he went to share the gospel with the people of his community—he had to pray long and hard to get enough courage.

Now Manuel is the pastor of Alianza Church in a community of central Yuralpa on the riverside of the Napo River in Ecuador. The church took a few years to become established but Manuel chose that area because he saw that his family and the rest of the community needed Jesus. Witchcraft, alcoholism, and a dedication to traditional religions were prevalent. With a lot of work and effort, the church is producing fruit. Now with God's help, Manuel is bearing witness to the Kingdom of God.

But Manuel recognized that times were changing and he needed to prepare himself better. So he enrolled in the church planter training with Multiplication Network Ministries (MNM). He then began to train others in church planting and the desire to plant another church was born.

"I want to reach the rest of the Quichua* communities in zones where the gospel has not gone. The people there know me because I have family in the area," Miguel says.

These areas are not easy to get to. It means Manuel has to travel by canoe for a few hours to get to communities like those of the Taromenanes, which is one of the indigenous communities less civilized of the country. But equipped with the training from MNM, Manuel is confident he will be able to present the gospel to the people in a way they'll understand.

*Quichua is one of the indigenous peoples of Ecuador.