Ecuador

In August Nancy Van Pelt and her sister Ginger Snarr traveled to Quito, Ecuador to present family life seminars to various groups. Their itinerary began in Quito, but took them also to Santo Domingo and Guayaquil.

Nancy and her sister Ginger Snarr stopped at the “middle of the world” the only place where the equator has been officially measured.

The speaking itinerary was arranged by two innovative literature evangelists who sell Nancy’s books, Freddy and Marcello. They made contacts with government agencies and the military. Nancy spoke to hundreds of military men in fatigues at two separate military bases. In Ecuador there is little education for marriage, the divorce rate is high and adultery is almost an accepted practice for many. Nancy’s translator, Jose Luis Herrera, kept whispering to her, “Nancy, tell them this about women. These men are animals!”

Nancy spoke to large groups of military men

Nancy, with the help of her translator, Jose, responds to personal questions and autographs books

While in Quito, the colporteurs arranged for Nancy to speak at a new Institute for Technology, designed and built by an evangelical woman who dreamed of helping the poor in Ecuador learn a trade. The institute recently opened and Nancy was the first speaker to use the new auditorium. The platform was elaborately decorated with huge bouquets of roses. Over 400 students and faculty crammed the auditorium to hear the message on Smart Dating, and the real scoop on STDs. Nancy challenged the students to sexual abstinence till marriage.

Colporteurs Freddy and Marcello also rented the ballroom at the Best Western and charged a registration fee for the wealthy and elite of Quito, those who were already acquainted with Nancy through her books or were previous colporteur contacts. Attendees for this seminar included four psychologists, the minister of education and several on his staff, the head of human resources for the Ecuador Army, the chief of police and several staff members, the head of social security, the Minister of Defense, school counselors, and physicians.

This same concept was repeated in Guayaquil at the Ramada Inn where another elite crowd attended. Such meetings held in prestigious locations allows the church to reach the well-educated and wealthy of the country. The church has many programs to reach the less educated and poor, but precious few to reach the well-to-do. At the hotel, employees kept popping in to hear what Nancy was saying about “Magic for Marriage” and lingered inside the doors. After being presented with a complimentary copy of Nancy’s book Amor Sin Secretos (Highly Effective Marriage in Spanish), the manager of the hotel ordered 200 copies, one for each of his employees, a nice sale for those hardworking colporteurs.

The opportunity was opened for many other speaking appointments, a college in Santo Domingo where Nancy spoke to the entire student body on Smart Dating, and to the parents and community that night on “Seven Stupid Things Parents Do to Mess Up Their Kids.”