At around 8.30am we reached the border of Ecuador to get our exit stamp....the bus was about to leave us but luckily a kind group of Americans stalled the bus driver! At the Huaquillas bus station we were approached by a member of staff who would take us to Tumbes, Peru! Although we didn´t understand what he was saying half the time we made it over the border after a long walk through the local market and a dodgy car ride to Passport Control. Once we had our Peruvian stamp we were on our way to Tumbes in a deathproof car [View Full Entry]

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No photos here....just tried to get the heck out of this place as fast as we could, and it wasn´t fast enough. So fellow travelers beware, and be very prepared if you must cross the Peruvian/Ecuadorian border here. We decided to cross here because we thought it would be the fastest way to get from Peru, to Vilcambamba, Ecuador even though other border crossings aren´t as notorious. Unfortunately, the travel schedules weren´t accurate, and scams and thieves definitely abound here. We had to spend the night in Tumbes, Peru on November 14th. We arrived at the airport around 6pm, only to [View Full Entry]

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We had just landed in SFO and Ale said, "Can we turn around and go back to Ecuador?" I think that sums it up. An amazing trip that none of us will ever forget. It will be the people that will remain in our thoughts forever. Here are some faces that I think we will all share fond memories of. [View Full Entry]

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We're waiting in the Atlanta airport for our final flight home. I've missed a few days of the blog, it's been a real whirwind. We fnished the walls and roof of the church and about 3/4 of the bathroom, so we exceeded our goal and finished at the end of the day on Tuesday. Tuesday night we had a special dedication service with the local church that was just wonderful. The church was apcked, including the Huaquillas TV station interviewed Lenson and Carmen and filmed the bells playing. This church will grow - it's got a great core team, great location [View Full Entry]

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Although the day started with light rain. The rain once again ceased and we had a very productive day. The last 4 blogs are being put in place as we speak. About 3/4 of the roof is done. We'll be finished tomorrow morning. The VBS team is not feeling so overwhelmed now and are doing great with the 120 to 150 people per day. Saturday night the bell choir played in City Hall for a Huaquillas-area Adventist church concert. Last night we gave them a well deserved break since they have been playing every night in addition to construction and VBS. [View Full Entry]

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I missed posting to the blog yesterday. Every day is a full day. Breakfast is at 6AM. Construction starts at 7AM. We have lunch onsite and then the VBS heads back to prep. VBS starts at 3PM. We had back, have dinner at 6PM and thenthe evening meetings are at 7:30. We're back at the hotel at 10PM. Every day has been really full. We have completed the levels of blocks on the church. We have just the front and back top apex portions to do and then the roofing so we are making really great progress. The food has been [View Full Entry]

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What an amazing day starting with breakfast at 6:00. We have such a great cooking crew, the meals have been unbelievable. Hermana Betty from the local church is helping us with shopping and cooking Ecuadorian favorites. We got to to the work site at 7:00. Ed belton was great, teamed up with Eduardo the construction team finished an amazing 6 rows of blocks. Meanwhile VBS pre-registration just kept drawing more and more kids. By the time we finished, 100 children were signed up for VBS starting tomorrow. The church has made a makeshift meeting place right next to the work site [View Full Entry]

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Well, we made it, with all 56 pieces of luggage. Every single one checked through. Every single one made it just fine, including Emmy´s giant Christmas boxes and the handbells. Although a little late, we got a good night´s sleep in Guayaquil and headed to Huaquillas in the morning. Another road trip - 1 5 hour bumpy ride and we were there. But what a memorable greeting by the church. We met with the church and have our game plan for construction, VBS and the evangelism meetings. Here we go, tomorrow is a fullday. [View Full Entry]

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If I'd have known that this day was going to be the worst day of my whole traveling experience I would not have bothered getting up at 7am and popped a few Immodium helping to keep their manufacturers in the FTSE 100. The reason for such an early start was that after deciding to bypass Ecuador and go to Columbia instead I was going to have to catch 3 different buses totaling 16 hours and get to Quito to collect my bank card from the embassy allowing me to then travel to Columbia. I had been advised under no circumstances cross [View Full Entry]

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