Our Story . . .

Summer 2001 Van Langeland began going down to Ecuador in the summer of 2001 with his church as part of the praise and worship team. Even though he spoke no Spanish, he felt the Lord tugging his heart in that direction. At that time they were taking down a medical team, full band and worship team, construction team and 4 evangelistic teams; about 175 persons in all. It was truly an incredible week that went way beyond what most had expected … seeing God move in powerful ways, touching and changing hearts and lives … easily impacting 1-2000 persons in one week's time. Each year they would go to a different poverty-stricken barrio in Guayaquil, Ecuador, to make an impact with their teams and to tell them about the love of Jesus.

Fall 2003 In Sept. of 2003 Van went on his 1st solo missionary journey to Quito, Ecuador … following the prompting of the Holy Spirit, but not knowing just what He had in store. He stayed at the house of their translator, Pablo, and his parents … joining in their church fellowship for the week, working with their musicians, and doing some teaching. That week he was able to attend an Immersion Spanish School to help him learn Spanish. At the end of that week, the pastor pulled him aside and said, "Van, the Lord has given us a vision to feed up to 100 poor children lunch, Monday through Friday, who live within a five-block radius of our church building. The problem is that we do not have the money." Well, the Holy Spirit took that seed and planted it in his heart that very moment … and he knew that the Lord had just shown him one of the reasons He had brought Van down to Quito.

Winter 2004 It took a little over a year to get things set up, waiting and allowing the Holy Spirit to be in charge and to work out the details in His way. So in Dec 2004 we started feeding the children living around the church in Quito. Within the previous five months, the Lord had provided the church with a up-fitted kitchen and women ready to shop, prepare and cook the food. By the way, we never asked for pledge cards or any other form of commitment from any of our members … we just trusted in "The Word of The Lord". Since the beginning, over a four year period of time we have served around 81,000 lunches. We have seen many families and individuals lives changed by the love of Jesus.

Fall 2006 In October 2006 Kay Currin, Brenda Simpson, and Helen Hauser had the privilege to go down with Van to Quito on the next mission trip. We took down four sewing machines, fabric, sewing bags, patterns, a Pullen pleater and scissors. We bought cutting tables, lamps, iron and a sewing cabinet and then fully equipped a sewing room in the church. We taught six women how to sew, smock and to make a simple jumper. The Lord had given Kay the idea to teach some of the mothers of the children how to sew and smock as a way to generate income for their families … and also as an additional bridge between the church congregation and the community.

2007 - 2009 We went back again in March 2007 to continue to teach them more techniques to improve their skill levels. In June of 2007 Van brought back the first group of beautiful dresses that they had made. We were so proud of our students because their work. In September 2008 we added Page Lee to the mission team. Page has taught smocking for 25 years in the past and she could teach the more advanced finishing steps. Page and Van went back in late November, 2008 to continue the work with the women and they came back with 57 dresses! In the fall of 2008 "The Good Seed International" was formed as a 501 C(3) non-profit organization as a vehicle to continue the work in Quito. As of Jan 2009, Lauren Ingall has joined our team as our web designer.

In John 20:21 Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." In Acts 1:8 Luke quoted Jesus as saying, "You will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, in Samaria and in every part of the world." Jesus calls all of us to be His witnesses and to tell others about Him. We have had this incredible opportunity to visit these wonderful, sincere and humble people in Ecuador. They were very gracious to us as we stayed in their homes and made us feel as welcome as they possibly could. The women we worked with are very gifted and talented and really love Jesus. This opportunity has had a profound impact on our lives as we have seen how God loves these people. We may have gone there to share the love of Jesus Christ and the skill of smocking, and we continue to come back with their love and Christ's blessing.