In Ecuador, South American land of jungles and rain forests, volcanoes and Inca ruins, being on the Earth's equator means Shabbat candle lighting takes place at 6:20 PM all year round.

This was just one of the discoveries made by Binyomin Dubroff and Chesky Goldstein, two Chabad emissaries who set out from Crown Heights this summer for a trek across the rugged Andean highlands as part of the Merkos Shlichus program.

With their backpacks filled with Jewish books, mezzuzot and tefillin, Dubroff and Goldstein visited the tiny Jewish communities in the capital city of Quito and the outer province of Guayaquil, with whom Chabad has maintained contacts for the past ten years. The "Summer Peace Corp" rabbinical students attended services at the local synagogues and visited families in their homes, distributing the all-but-impossible to find articles of Judaica.

In each of the cities they ran programs for family members of all ages. For the adults they presented Torah learning classes, and answered questions about Jewish matters. For children the emissaries offered arts and crafts classes with a Jewish theme.

Seeking out Israeli adventurers, who flock to the outer reaches of Ecuador to explore its jungles and beaches, Dubroff and Goldstein arrived at the youth hostel which serves as the unofficial Israeli hitchhikers' headquarters. They held discussions and distributed special pamphlets on Chassidism to the young travelers, who were charmed that the yeshiva students had trekked through the rough terrain to meet with them.

"Some of the Israelis just kept shaking their heads and saying, Only Lubavitchers would run after us into the jungles of South America to talk with us about Judaism," relates Chesky Goldstein, "Down here in Ecuador they'll discuss spiritual topics that back in Tel Aviv they are not very receptive to."

In coordination with the Israeli consul in Quito, the students also visited a number of Israelis serving time in prison on drug charges. "There was a group of four women and two men, who had received long jail sentences and were feeling forsaken. We distributed our books and literature and spoke with them about the importance of lighting Shabbat candles, prayer and generally staying connected to Judaism," says Binyomin Dubroff. "Before we left one of the men, in the high security wing, asked for a pair of tefillin and said he would like to start putting them on every day. It was a very moving experience."