Sunday July 20 It's 5:20 am in Ecuador and we are beginning to load the bus to go to the airport. It will be a long day of travel. I think everyone is ready to come home...but not ready to leave Ecuador. It has been an amazing experience that we look forward to sharing with all of you.

Praising God from Quito.

Saturday July 19 at 9:00AM(from Dianne) Thursday was a busy, but fun day. We went to El Refugio again, where we split into three teams. Before the day was over, we had gone through low ropes elements, the 550 feet long(120 feet high) zip line, several work projects and some solo time. We had an amazing time at lunch as Elysaul (a member of the church in Babahoyo who came back to Quito with us) shared his testimony with us.

On the way home, we were treated to Chinese dinner and then did some debriefing. Today we are headed back to the Youth World office and then to the market to do a little shopping.

As the experience winds down, in some ways it seems we just got here, and in other ways it seems we have been here forever.

Thursday July 17 at midnight (from Dianne) Finally...some down time. We have been at the center of the earth and the top of the world today. First we went to "Mitad del Mundo" which means center of the earth. Ecuador, which means equator, is at 0 degrees latitude and there is a monument which marks the two hemispheres.

After that, we went to El Refugio where Bob Spoolstra is the director. This is a 300 acre piece of land that Youth World uses to train youth leaders, etc. Bob told us that at this point, we were closer to the sun than if we had climbed Mt. Everest - something about the earth bulging at the equator. So there we were at the top of the world.

El Refugio means "The Refuge" so we took full advantage of that and spent some quiet solo time - a much needed break from the intense ministry of the past week. Everyone has felt physically and spiritually drained...a real need to get recharged. Over the next day and a half, we will all experience the low ropes course and zip line. There were many trails to hike and appreciate God's creation. Tomorrow we will also be painting and varnishing.

For supper we cooked out over a fire and had hot dogs and cuy (guinea pigs). They had been marinated and tasted a bit like...turkey.

A few have had what was probably altitude sickness. At this elevation, it takes the body a bit to adjust, so rest and keeping hydrated do the trick.

The Holy Spirit continues to fill us, teach us and amaze us.

Wednesday July 16 at 8:00PM (from Dianne Pruim) We just returned from Babahoyo. Everyone is fine...just a little motion sickness, etc. from the 8 hour bus trip through the mountains. Babahoyo is on the coast, one of the four regions in the country. We went from 0 feet elevation to 10,000 feet elevation in returning to Quito. We are back at the same hostel (hotel) that we stayed at before and we're all thankful to be back.

God has been working in an incredible way. We are almost speechless. It was an incredible experience to present the gospel and pray with students in the public schools. In addition to the three school programs, we have participated in 6 worship services. None has been less than two hours long.

The food has been excellent and no one has been sick from water, etc. (except that Laurie had a twinge of a bug yesterday). She's doing great now, though. We have learned to be thankful for many things, including toilet seats and toilet paper (will explain another time).

Tell Pastor Jim that we saw green oranges today...yes they exist here, too.

Wednesday July 16 at 10:00AM The team is leaving back to Quito shortly (as of 10:45 am) and will have a very long bus trip through the mountains. Prayers for safe travel, rest and rejuvenation would be appreciated! Also, it was difficult for them to say goodbye to the church they had been serving with. After such a powerful ministry experience there the goodbyes were full of tears! Eric said "the tears are drying on my face as we speak". He said they have seen hundreds of people come to Christ during their time in Babahoyo and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was awesome. The students and team leaders have been changed deeply. They've witnessed healings, first time conversions all through God's unbelievable presence through the Holy Spirit.

Everyone is healthy and the few who were dealing with heat exhaustion and diarrhea are much improved. Pat D is also feeling strengthened with his hamstring injury.

Tuesday July 15 at 9:00AM (phone call from Eric to Jen Peterson): The Holy Spirit is working in and through all the members of the team. They have been having some wonderful ministry times and can feel the Holy Spirit’s presence. Their time in Babahoyo has been especially powerful as they have been working with a local church doing programs in public schools with children. Yesterday, they witnessed dozens of children coming to Christ for the first time. It was a powerful experience. The Beechwood team, leaders and students alike, are all very excited to witness this work of God in the lives of these people.

Today, they have another big day planned. They will lead 4 1-hour programs in schools and then a 2-hour worship time tonight. Please pray for physical stamina as well as for a continued out-pouring of the Holy Spirit through their presentations. The emotional experience as well as the climate is wearing them out. They need God’s super power to help them through. Pat D. may have pulled a hamstring, but is still walking on it and just uncomfortable. A couple of the team members are dealing with heat exhaustion and some diarrhea but nothing serious and they are all continuing to be involved in the ministry activities.

Tomorrow they head back to Quito. It will be a 10-hour bus ride – a good time for sleep and recharging.

If you have a family emergency and need to get ahold of a member of the team, call Jen Peterson or the church office to get their emergency contact numbers.

6:30AM on Saturday, July 12: (from Eric Peterson) I've only got a few minutes this morning before the bus leaves to take us south and west from Quito to a town called Babahoyo. It's about an 8 hour bus ride from here and we're scheduled to leave at 6 AM sharp! The team is doing GREAT! Everybody is healthy and well and we're growing much closer with one another. Yesterday we had a chance to tour the huge Catholic Basilica in Quito and explore a bit as well as getting a TON of information about Ecuador, Youth World, Culture here, etc. It was a long day. However, the absolute highlight of the day was our worship and ministry time in the evening. We have been praying as a team for the past number of weeks for the Holy Spirit to anoint and bless our team and to show us His power and He was poured out on us in a HUGE way last night. There was amazing evidence of the Spirit's power including healing, prophecy, intercession, tongues, confession, and MUCH answered prayer. It was intense and the most wonderful Spiritual experience that I have had. We are looking forward with much anticipation to what God has in store for us the next days in Babahoyo. Please be in constant prayer for us as we reap the good news of the Gospel at 4 2-hour worship services in the next few days (2 tonight and 2 tomorrow). Specifically pray for the continued anointing and favor of the Holy Spirit upon the team. Pray that we would have favor among God and the people of Babahoyo, and above all pray that God's Kingdom would advance POWERFULLY through His Word and our love while we are there.

11:00pm on Thursday, July 10: We received word via Bob Spoolstra that the team had a great day of travel and have arrived safely in Quito. They are settled into their Hostel and looking forward to a good night of rest. All bags made it and all connections went smooth. Thanks for praying for them and they will update us again tomorrow. Have a great night.

2:30pm Thursday, July 10: After a 5am departure from Beechwood, the team has arrived safely in Miami, Florida. Their final flight into Quito leaves at about 3:30pm.