Local residents in Achullay prepare to lay a water pipe in a trench they dug at an altitude of 12,000 feet.

(Sept. 25, 2013 - by Ruth Pike) "It doesn't matter what your race, color or height is. We are all one in Christ."

These were the words of one of the leaders of the Andean Quichua community of Achullay (pronounced ah-choo-yai) in Ecuador as community members lifted ponchos over the heads of North American team members at the start of a week of digging trenches together for the community's new clean water system.

Before the first spade had been lifted, community members wanted to show their acceptance of their foreign visitors-one in dress and purpose from the outset.

A short-term work team from Grace Chapel, a church in Boston, Mass., dug trenches at the dizzying altitude of nearly 12,000 feet alongside local residents during the first week of July.

Each morning a line of more than 100 people clad in colorful ponchos and shawls stretched down the hillside in Achullay. One day, keen to complete the phase of work by the end of the week, members of the community worked nonstop, without even breaking for lunch, until the late afternoon when heavy rain halted any further progress that day.

In addition to construction work, the team's action-packed schedule included a vacation Bible school in the afternoons for children from the community and evening church services. At the beginning and end of their time in Achullay, they also fitted in some sightseeing, a church service in the men's prison in Quito and an inauguration ceremony for the water system of another community, Yanacocha.

"The body of Christ is so diverse and beautiful. It is thriving in prison cells, small villages and all over the world," said Grace Chapel team member Joe Doherty, summing up the team's experiences.

HCJB Global missionaries Bruce and Cherith Rydbeck oversaw the project with help from Ecuadorian staff members Tannia Lascano, Efraín Morocho and José Atupaña as well as British working visitors Stephen and Ruth Pike.

Morocho and Atupaña directed the construction work in the mornings while the Rydbecks, Pikes and Lascano held discipleship sessions for men, women and young people in the afternoons.

Kelly Whiffen, a member of Grace Chapel, connects with a Quichua child in Achullay.

The partnership with Achullay began in June 2012 when community leaders asked for assistance from HCJB Global. The water the community had been receiving from the regional system was unsuitable for domestic consumption and sporadic. Community members said that at best, water flowed just once a week in the wet season and only about twice a month in the dry season.

Missionary engineer Bruce Rydbeck explained that the people were using spring water that they had to haul about half a mile up the mountainside every day-a 1½-hour round trip.

Rydbeck and three Grace Chapel team members braved the challenge of lugging 20-liter (five-gallon) water containers up the mountainside themselves, gaining firsthand experience of the value of a water system for the community.

The week culminated with the completion of the "feed line"-the pipeline connecting the well (which has since been dug) to the reservoir. The entire water distribution system is expected to be completed within the next few months.

While team members were glad to help with the project, knowing that having accessible clean water would transform the quality of life in the village, the partnership between the community and the team stretched far beyond this.

Early on in the outreach, Morocho, an HCJB Global technician, shared with the team that the community had been amazed to see foreigners working alongside them, prepared to get their hands dirty.

Grace Chapel team member Kelly Whiffen in turn said the "Achullay community gave me a real picture of truly unified community, coming together on a common project."

Team leader Dave Ripper, pastor of young adult ministries at the church, remarked that "collective accomplishment is always more rewarding than individual accomplishment." His wife, Erin, who helped lead the team, added that the project "challenged my views and practice of community."

"I now see that missions involves empowering a community through partnership, not simply charity," said Doherty.

Source: HCJB Global