1. Quechua Futbol Club

The love of soccer is an international language. Soccer creates community, strengthens bonds, and opens doors, making it the perfect vehicle for engaging with youth. Quechua Futbol Club was born out of a desire to use soccer as a platform to train Quechua kids and teenagers to follow Jesus.

Quechua Futbol Club seeks to:

Function as a tool for local churches to reach young people in their community in an inviting way.
Evangelize and make disciples in the context of Christian community.
Allow young soccer players the opportunity to develop their skills with high-level training sessions at no charge to their families—potentially opening doors for them to continue their soccer careers.
Make sure our players grow up to be citizens, employees, and spouses of integrity as a result of the values they learn through our program.

We are currently discipling over 80 children and youth, plus around 50 coaches, in 11 different locations, through the Quechua Futbol Club program. Quechua FC is continuously expanding and connecting with new locations.

2. Evangelistic English

As part of our commitment to equipping the Quechua people with the tools to reach their greatest potential, we have launched Evangelistic English classes.

These classes—taught by volunteer English-speaking teachers–-work in close partnership with local churches. Depending on the needs of each group, classes are held in either three-day or week-long intensive-style courses, or six to eight week courses with classes once or twice a week.

In each class, we focus on learning phrases that apply to real life situations, expanding learners’ vocabulary and fluency, and correcting pronunciation. Evangelistic English also partners with Quechua FC in using soccer as a way to capture the attention of our learners and keep them moving while learning (ELITE program: email info@empoweringquechuas.com for more). As part of the curriculum, the classes study passages of scripture, which give great examples of varied vocabulary and phonetic combinations.

Following each class, we present devotionals that demonstrate real life connections between language learning and the Gospel. These analogies and examples help learners see why learning a language is important, but knowing Jesus is infinitely more important.

The purpose of Empowering Quechuas’ Evangelistic English classes is three-fold:

Offer education and tutoring to those who might not be able to afford it otherwise, giving them a better chance at higher education and accessibility to more job opportunities.
Disciple believers who are already involved in the local church, and build community among learners.
Make non-churchgoers feel welcome in the church, giving them the chance to hear the Gospel, potentially for the first time.

3. EQ Education and Workshops

When it comes to empowering indigenous communities, nothing is more valuable than education. Through workshops and seminars, we strive to make quality education accessible in communities that couldn’t afford it otherwise.

Our Technical Training workshops are geared at helping indigenous pastors and missionaries become “tentmakers”—workers who support their own ministries by taking on secular jobs. We offer them job skills such as electrical work and plumbing, and we hope to offer intro to cosmetology soon!

Additional workshops can cover a variety of topics; everything from music theory to wilderness survival! We have a bi-annual youth leadership workshop which we will host twice in 2022, and are working on plans for more adventure ministry workshops.

We design biblical training workshops for pastors and for our Quechua FC leaders as well, all in hopes of giving them a hand up to be the most effective ministers of the Gospel they possibly can be.

4. Adventure Ministry

Peruvian schools were closed for two years due to the coronavirus pandemic. Consequently, young people have had a lot of free time, and few healthy outlets for their energy. In response to this need, EQ adventure ministry began funding hiking and camping trips for small groups of youth. These trips are centered around in-depth Bible study, times of worship, and relationship building.

In 2021, we had the chance to pour into 18 youth through small-group adventure outings. The youth grew closer to God and established healthy friendships through these trips. Many people expressed interest in using our adventure ministry model in their own communities, so in June and July 2022, we hope to train new adventure ministry leaders from our partner churches.

5. Lydia Project

For generations, Quechua culture has been notorious for domestic abuse, and specifically, the oppression of women and girls. Even within church culture, spousal abuse is not directly addressed, and silently accepted. Girls grow up being beaten by their fathers, and watching their mothers, aunts, and older sisters suffer at the hands of their husbands. When it’s time for them to marry, they not only accept, but even expect the same treatment for themselves.

Just two generations ago, the majority of Quechua girls were not allowed to go to school during childhood. Even though the number of girls in schools is slowly increasing, many of these female students cannot finish their education due to lack of funding, teen pregnancy or because they are needed more at home. Teaching Biblical perspectives on sex and marriage, explaining the intrinsic value women hold as image-bearers of our Creator, and providing good role models who pursue a variety of life paths could be the “extra boost” these communities need to keep young people, especially girls, in school longer.

Lydia Project’s long-term goals are to...

Help young girls see their intrinsic worth, build self-esteem, and open their eyes to the world of possibilities their lives can hold as they follow Jesus.
Affirm the desire for motherhood, while teaching that there is an appropriate time, motivation, and priority-level for this huge life event.
Mold healthier expectations for future marriage relationships.
Show girls other alternatives to provide for their own needs, encouraging them to stay in school, so that they realize marrying young, and becoming fearfully submissive to a husband who devalues them, is not their only option.
Open doors to and create interest in pursuing a higher education.