Free · Certificate included

Preparing for a Mission Trip to Ecuador

One small country, four different trips — and a security picture that changed. Arrive as a guest who did the homework.

Reviewed monthly · last reviewed October 2026

49 min Beginner 7 modules Pass 80%

EspañolFor: Short-term mission team members, youth group leaders, trip coordinators and first-time travelers

What you’ll learn

Explain who you are visiting — the Costa, the Sierra, the Oriente and the Galápagos, and why each is a different trip
Greet, thank and apologise in Ecuadorian Spanish, and use a handful of Kichwa courtesies
Turn Ecuador’s changed security picture into concrete planning rules instead of anxiety
Handle a dollarized cash economy without creating distortion or risk
Speak respectfully about Catholic and evangelical faith, and about plurinational Ecuador and CONAIE
Recognise the short-term practices that do harm — orphanage visits, photography, direct giving, staged community visits — and choose the ones that help
Prepare for altitude, mosquito-borne illness, water, volcanoes and road travel before you fly

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Course outline

1
Prepare like a guest, plan like a host
Why an Ecuador itinerary is a plan rather than a wish list, and the posture that makes a short visit worth hosting.
6 min Quiz
2
Four Ecuadors on one itinerary
Costa, Sierra, Oriente and Galápagos — what changes between them, and Quito’s altitude in one honest paragraph.
7 min Quiz
3
Spanish, Kichwa and Shuar
The phrases worth memorising, the Ecuadorian turns of speech, and why Kichwa and Shuar are not footnotes.
8 min Quiz Written + interactive
4
The security shift, turned into planning rules
What changed in Ecuador since 2021, why you must read a current advisory yourself, and the rules that follow from it.
8 min Quiz Interactive
5
Dollars, markets and money that does not distort
Ecuador runs on the US dollar — the practical consequences, and the giving decisions that quietly do harm.
6 min Quiz
6
Faith, plurinational Ecuador, and the ethics of the add-on
Catholic and evangelical Ecuador, the political weight of CONAIE, and the Amazon and Galápagos add-ons that need an honest look.
8 min Quiz Written + interactive
7
Staying well, and the pre-flight checklist
Water, mosquitoes, volcanoes and the team checklist — including the screening step most groups forget.
6 min Quiz Written + interactive

Sources & further reading

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