BY RON & ESTHER BORMAN
Deep in Ecuador and Colombia, the Cofán people—fewer than 2,000 strong—care for roughly a million acres of rainforest that the Amazon River basin feeds and the Andes Mountains surround. For centuries, the Cofán have made their home there, cultivating and defending a distinct way of life and language.
Our family has a long history with beautiful Ecuador. We, Ron and Esther, arrived here 35 years ago, in January 1990, as a family of three. At the time, our oldest daughter, Lydia, was only nine months old.
But let’s go back a bit further. Ron grew up in Ecuador, in an area called Limoncocha. At that time, it was the shared Wycliffe and SIL missionary base, where his parents, Bub and Bobbie Borman, were translating the New Testament into the Cofán language. They had arrived in Ecuador in 1954 and were contemporaries with the Ecuador Five: Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, and Peter Fleming. Ron’s dad was even part of the rescue team that went out to Palm Beach, where the five men had died.
Shortly after his high school years, Ron sensed his own call from the Lord to serve in Ecuador. While visiting the Cofán village of Dureno, he observed a ministry need for a new group developing within the culture: teenagers. Yet God didn’t direct Ron to return to Ecuador until 1990, after we had met in Bible college and then married. We soon headed out to live full time in Dureno, in northeastern Ecuador. We began working with young people, children, and a small, struggling church.
Living on generator power
During our early years, a youth center was built with a full-sized soccer field. We held our youth and children’s ministry, as well as special community meetings, in the building. Many groups from churches in the States came to help with projects, such as installing a potable water system for the village and putting on a VBS for the kids. During this time, we lived with only generator power and rainwater collected from our roof. It was about an hour trip to town to buy supplies, part of that by dugout canoe.
Our children, especially the older ones, played with village kids and learned the Cofán language fluently. Ron was always busy helping a neighbor, encouraging church leaders, or planning the next youth activity. With her nurse’s training, Esther helped with some of the medical situations that arose and assisted in delivering a few babies. We homeschooled our kids, and two nephews learned with us one year. It was a unique time for our family, living right among the Cofán people—a time of blessings and challenges.
Sarah, Esther, and Ron Borman still serve in Ecuador.
Originally published in Missions magazine, June 2025. For more content, sign up for a free subscription (US) to Missions at CMML.us/magazine/subscribe
