In 1987 Pastor Daniel Pinckney and his wife Iara arrived in Ecuador. They had spent seven months in Costa Rica learning Spanish. The Pinckneys settled in Quito. They initially attended the Iglesia Luz del Valle later renamed Iglesia Presbiteriana Fuente de Vida.
This is the story of the Iglesia Presbiteriana San Marcos. It began in 1988. The Pinckneys left Fuente de Vida to start a new church. They began with a Bible study in their home. Four couples joined them. One was Zoyla and Jorge Espinoza. Jorge would later become a deacon.
By the end of the year fifty people attended. Members included Michio Osaki a missionary musician from HCJB. Others like José Terranova Gabriel and Leopoldo Espinoza led the worship. In early 1989 attendance dropped to twenty-five. They needed a more formal meeting place.
On March 5 1989 Iglesia San Marcos held its first service. It was in a room at the Hotel Vista Real in the Quito Tennis neighborhood. About forty-five people attended. Later that month they held their first evangelistic event. It was a dinner and lecture for married couples. Two hundred and fifty people came. One hundred and two accepted Jesus as their savior. Pastor Pinckney gave each a Bible.
In 1990 Pastor David Hormachea joined Iglesia San Marcos. He helped with preaching for two years. By April attendance reached two hundred and thirty. They bought a 2000 square meter plot of land. A new building was planned. But the first Sunday in May a worker’s strike at the Hotel Vista Real forced them to meet in Parque Suecia. They sang Psalm 121. Their faith was in God.
The church moved to the Alianza Academy chapel until May 1991. In December 1990 missionary Roger Smalling taught a course called “Is Jesus”. Later services were held at HCJB’s Larson hall and the Anderson School until November 1993. Construction of the church began in March 1993. The first phase was finished by year’s end. The first service in the new building was December 3 1993.
That year the first elders were nominated. They included Eckehart Wolff Emiliano Donoso and Richard Aguilar. Others were ordained in 1995. They formed the first church consistory. In 1996 the church began a mission to Mondayacu. It is twenty kilometers before Tena in Napo Province. Young people led by Pastor Wolff faced resistance from the local shaman. They visited regularly built a house and a church.
After the Pinckneys returned to the United States the church continued. The consistory and deacons led. They remained faithful to Reformed doctrine. Construction continued even during the 1999 economic crisis and bank holiday. God provided. The congregation remained relatively stable. God sustained them through social unrest strikes and protests in Quito.
The pandemic affected the church. But God is faithful. With renewed leadership Iglesia Presbiteriana San Marcos looks to the future. Sound doctrine discipleship and family care are central to its mission. This is a church with a rich history a testament to faith perseverance and the grace of God.