Saturday 7/11/2009 7:36 AM
Russ Ewing
We made it to Ecuador right on schedule with all of our luggage. Everyone on the team is doing well and is excited about our trip. Everyone was really tired last night, primarily due to our long layover in Miami. We got a good night´s sleep in our hotel and are just beginning our day.
Today, we will travel to our camp. We will be going over mountains up to 13000 feet and then end up around 1500 feet at our camp. We will see beautiful landscape and vistas. The trip will take the morning and then in the afternoon, we will meet with the camp staff to get our upcoming week organized. We are expecting about 120 campers, 13-22 years of age. It promises to be a busy but rewarding week.
Please continue to pray for the the 18 teenagers and adults on the team.
Saturday 7/11/2009 4:19 PM
Ashley Mace
Greetings from Tena!
After a long trek from Quito to Tena by bus, we are so in awe of God´s
creation. Ecuador really is beautiful... we´ve seen icy mountains, a
volcano, and millions of waterfalls. (And yes, Dustin did make us play
spades during the whole process haha)
The camp in which we are staying is called UNPES, located a few miles
outside of the city of Tena. The staff has been very gracious in
helping us acclimate to the rooms and such. In order to prepare for
all of the students that will come tomorrow we practiced one of our
icebreaker games. It´s a long story, but apparently Dustin is ¨´El
Supremo´¨, or the Ultimate. We anticipate around 100-120 students from
all over the province. We can´t wait for it all to begin!
Today we are touring Tena and getting some sleep before the week
begins. Unfortunately the girls will be getting less sleep than we
intended because the boys and girls dorms are separated by a mere half
inch of rough wood. Nów we´ll find out who really snores!!
Thanks again for all the prayers. They are very much appreciated as we
try to share the Gospel to all of our new friends in Ecuador.
Adios!
Tuesday 7/14/2009 5:55 PM
Russ Ewing (text message)
We do not have internet and intermittent cell signal
Betsy fell--3 stitches back of head--she is ok
Everyone else is ok
Had only minor sickness
100 campers
Camp is going well
Our team is doing a really good job
Thursday 7/16/2009 9:17 AM
Russ Ewing (text message)
The campers went home yesterday
About 30 decisions Tuesday night
We are headed to the other camp today doing some sightseeing
Everyone is fine
Continue to pray
Thursday 7/16/2009 9:37 PM
Ashley Mace
Hello All,
First of all, thank you for your thoughts and prayers on our behalf! This has been such a powerful week in which God has changed the lives of many people. Throughout our time as counselors we had the opportunity to interact with roughly 120 students from villages surrounding the UNPES camp in Tena. We stumbled through our Gringo-Spanish on the first day but eventually were able to converse pretty well with everyone.
One of the most memorable times took place on Tuesday, the last night of the actual camp. After a sermon discussing our need to be shining lights for the Lord roughly 30 students came forward and made a 'compromiso' with Christ. The context of this is a bit different from giving your life to Christ, but after speaking with a few, I know that their commitments to change behavior or share the Gospel with a friend are extremely sincere. Please remain in prayer for these kids as they return to their hometowns.
After many hugs and goodbyes on Wednesday we wished the campers off and finished cleaning up camp. We took a trip to a wildlife refuge and played with some monkeys, took a canoe ride, and discovered the wonder that is Magnum ice cream. Essentially, it is a Dove ice cream bar with twice the chocolate and twice the fun. Today we travelled from UNPES to the main camp in Chacauco that Brother Steve began about 20 years ago. The scenery here is absolutely undescribable! We literally went in a large basket and cabled across a gorge right by a volcano. Pizza for lunch brought a nice touch of home to our trip. Tonight we are just relaxing and listening to Brother Steve tell stories about how the camp's founding and purpose. While I type this email, the rest of the crew is laying on the soccer field watching the sky filled with brilliant stars.
I am certain we have taken millions of pictures and hope that we can share them with you upon our return. It has been a great ride and we hope to see you soon! We will be back home Saturday night. Thanks again, and God Bless!!
Your faithful emailer (who got off the hook because of a lack of internet),
Ashley Mace
Ciao!
