An extremist religious family with two small children have been rescued after being lost of sea for nearly three months when they attempted to abandon the U.S. in a small boat and sail 3,300 miles to the Polynesian island nation of Kiribati. The Gastonguays from northern Arizona set sail from San Diego in May with their newborn infant and 3-year-old daughter after deciding to 'take a leap of faith and see where God led us.' They believed that they needed to flee the nation because of what they see as government support for homosexuality and abortions and restrictions on their religious freedom.
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Gastonguay family left northern Arizona home in November to live on a boat in San Diego
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Set sail from San Diego in May for Kiribati, a tiny island nation 3,300 miles from the U.S.
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Parents carried newborn infant and three-year-old daughter with them
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Gastonguays believed they needed to flee U.S. because of acceptance of gays and abortion
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Their small boat was beset by storms and disabled within weeks
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Drifted at sea for nearly three months and ran low on supplies
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Was picked up by passing freighter and dropped off in Chile on Friday
U.S. 'churches aren't their own,' @placeholder said, suggesting that government regulation interfered with religious independence.