Day 3 - First Day of Work

It was a grueling day for all working at Puengasi today. The construction crew hauled dirt through a bucket assembly-line to a dump truck the whole day, as well as tied re-bar (sp?) to the steel posts that will frame up the daycare structure in a few weeks. The VBS team had a great first day with different kids in the morning and afternoon. The especially had fun taking them to the park (there are some awesome hills for rolling down).

Will post pictures later! Going to dinner now. OHHH -- and the amazing ladies at Puengasi church fed us FRIED CHICKEN and rice with amazing spicy sauce for lunch...it was gooooood....

Day 2 -- Middle of the World

 Made it to the equator!

 Kimberly and Richard compete at balancing an egg on a nail on the equator. Kimberly won.

 The entrance to the "Equator park."

 Atop the monument at the "Mitad del Mundo" monument park. (This view is from the East)

 A view of the equator from atop the monument.

 GSHS Class of 2006.

 We worshipped here at the UMC housed at Mama Yoli's daycare. This is the daycare that the college team in 2008 helped finish!

 Team Leader Julianna was asked to speak briefly during church on behalf of our team (with a translator of course).

Some of the team made a quick run to the market. Jill helps Brian unravel the extra-large blanket he will soon purchase at a bargain(?) price...(Sarah looks on with skepticism)

Today was a day of touring & training...we will start early tomorrow with VBS and construction. Continue your prayers! It's going to be a long, hard day for the construction team especially as they will be just beginning the work of filling in concrete holes for the foundation of the new daycare at Puengasi.

First Day!

 The team before our departure! (Note the birthday princess...)

 The ride to P'cola...

The sun goes down as we approach South America...

We arrived safely to the Hotel Tambo Real here in Quito. SIFAT staff are awesome. We even had a late supper at the hotel - grilled ham & cheese and french fries! Tomorrow morning we are headed to the middle of the world park and in the afternoon we will go to Mama Yoli's - the church/daycare we helped finish in 2008.

Prayer walking before the mission trip

The Ecuador Mission Team closed their final meeting Wednesday night with a special prayer time around the AWF Conference prayer labyrinth. Many thanks to Patti Bodenhammer  and others who made possible this special time for parents and team members before Saturday's trip.