Sunday

Sunday:  Today has been a great day full of ministry, relationship
building and seeing more of the culture of the people of Ecuador.

We started the day with a very Ecuadorian meal of green plantain
bananas, cheese with an egg.  Then we were off to church.  The 10:00am
service started about 10:30.  We enjoyed a very different (and loud)
worship time together with all the church and then shared with two
songs of special music.

We then split up with most of us going into the Sunday School with the
30 children that were there.  We again did a VBS type program with
them with a Bible story, refreshments and a craft.  The rest of us
stayed in the church service where 4 of us shared testimonies and I
preached a short message.

We enjoyed very much our time with the church and getting to know the
people there a bit.  They especially asked prayer for their need for a
pastor.

After church and lunch (which the church blessed us with) we headed
home, stopping at the continental divide at 13,000 feet and then for
some last minute shopping for Ecuadorian chocolates.

We made it safe back to El Refugio by 8:00pm.  Thank you for your prayers!

Saturday

Saturday:  Today was a long day of travel and adventure.  We left El
Refugio at 5:30am and headed for the Amazon jungles.

Our first stop was the water fall of the Rio Malo where we spent time
getting soaked and pounded by the spray.

We then unloaded our luggage at a small town hotel in Chaco where we
would be staying the night and walked down toward the river for our
next adventure.  We crossed the Quijos river on a small cable car that
we had to pull ourselves across hand over hand, then we had a rigorous
hike in the mountainous jungles and pasture lands.

Needless to say we will sleep well!

Friday

Friday.
We started off the day with a 5:00am hike all the way around the
boundary of El Refugio.  The hike took about 3 hours and took us from
9300 feet elevation up to 11,000 feet!  20 out of 34 of us attempted
the adventure and all did very well.

Then we were off for a half day of work. We are still working on the
patio, painting roofing material and are doing trail work on one of
the very high trails on the property.

This afternoon we had VBS for about 55 children who live in the area
close to El Refugio.  We had a great time with them with games, Bible
story, songs and crafts.

Tomorrow we head for the jungle, so we may not be able to send any new
information for a couple of days.

Thursaday

Thursday.  Today we were able to finish up a few of our work projects.
The boundary line fence is now complete!  Also the panels we were
working on for the climbing wall are now ready to be installed on the
wall.  Everyone is tired and are looking forward to a half day of work
tomorrow.

Wednesday

Wednesday
Another great work day!  Almost everyone seems to be doing well.  We
have a few that have been feeling a bit sick, but everyone was able to
join in the work all day.

We have been closing each day with a fire time, where we have a
worship time and a time of sharing what God is doing in our lives
through our time here.

Tuesday

Tuesday
Was our first work day.  We have been beginning each morning with a
devotional and a solo time.  Then we have breakfast and we are off to
our work projects.  We are working on  the new climbing wall, a patio,
a roof for a amphitheater and the fence on the boundary line.
Everyone has been pretty tired at the end of the day.

Monday

Monday was a great day of programing for our group.  We were able to
experience what a retreat day would be like for a regular retreat
group that would come to El Refugio.

It was a great day of team building, stretching our comforts zones,
encouraging one another and growing closer together as a team and
focusing on why we are here.

Casa Grande, At El Refugio

Sitting on the steps for morning orientation.

At the Mitad Del Mundo (equator)

First day in Ecuador!!

Everyone made it in fine last night and we were all at El Refugio by 12 midnight. This morning we went to the church in Calacali. Four or our group shared testimonies and we shared special music. This afternoon we traveled by bus to the equator monument which is only 15 minutes drive away and did some gift shopping. We returned for supper at El Refugio followed by our first campfire time were we shared together about our experiences from the day. Everyone is in good spirits and is ready for the week ahead.

New will be coming soon