Segundo Celante has been serving in the church for ten years now. He is the coordinator with the Evangelical Covenant Church in the Quichua* district in Ecuador. Recently Segundo was invited to attend a training with Multiplication Network Ministries (MNM) in the city of Cayambe.

By being part of this program introduction, Segundo shares that he has learned the importance of motivating and involving the church members in the church planting process. “Sometimes we have people who have attended only the weekly meetings for 20 years and who don’t show a real commitment to serve God,” Segundo remarks.

Segundo believes one of the reasons for a lack of commitment is the absence of a vision and limited communication between the church members, the leaders, and the pastors. As a result, the task of sharing the gospel is left to the church planter. But Segundo knows it is important to continue advancing with this mission and involve others, not just the pastor.

“We need to prepare ourselves and others and transmit this to the congregation,” Segundo shares. He learned it is important that every leader and pastor should receive training—there is a great spiritual need to hear the Word of God. Segundo understands this because, years earlier, he had tried to read the Bible but couldn’t understand what it was saying. “I needed someone to explain the significance to me.”

In the same way, Segundo believes more people need someone to explain the love of God to them. The best opportunity for people to be discipled is to plant a church in their community so they can be surrounded by others who love God.

With this in mind, Segundo is working to share with other church leaders the tools and resources on church planting that he received at MNM’s training. By motivating them to get involved with the process, Segundo is hopeful more people will learn of God’s love through the new churches that are planted in their communities.

*Quichua is one of the indigenous people of Ecuador.