Project Wrapup and final numbers

We all made it back to the US safely, although it took some others longer than others (right Mariela?). I am still in the process of posting photos to the blog and have already posted videos of the Ecuator fun during excursions. Please note that the misspellings are from typing the majority of the posts on my blackberry. I will leave them as is and not correct the poor grammar - it is a reflection of the conditions and my state of mind and body when it was posted (call me a purist!)

Also, we have secured a site that everyone can view the pictures from the trip. It is a link on the right hand side under "Links".

After I have had time to reflect on the trip and decompress, this really was an amazing trip. This was our largest group yet (44 members), had the most people sick (up to 1/4 of the group was in the hotel one day) and had the most challenges thrown at us.

In spite of that, we accomplished our goals. With apologies to Mastercard, I will recap the numbers below:

• 1 church completed = many tired, sick team members; multiple sunburns; multiple trips to the restroom for Rachel Wolff (thanks to Ray making her drink a gallon of water a day); numerous lost tools (anyone find my trowel??); and an amazing bonding experience for everyone to see the power of God at work, especially on Friday
• 80 dental patients treated = hours of tireless labor from Doctor Dewar and his team (Roxie, Arlene, Michelle and Daniel); extra suitcases of dental equipment and multiple doses of medicine from Ed Dewar, Bush Doctor (for himself!)
• Over 1300 medical patients treated = hundreds of pounds of medicine transported by the team; multiple trips back to the construction site and hotel to care for fallen team members; trips to Quito to operate on patients; super effort for the entire team to make it through the week
• Over 70 people baptized as a result of the evangelistic meetings = priceless

Thanks again for all of your help, comments, feedback and participation. We are already starting to plan for next year's trip, so stay tuned!