We all have worked really hard so far. I got to work on the
roof the past few days and even showed some of the boys up with my hammering skills!
I also got to knock out a wall and then help rebuild it. We have worked with
the kids a little bit and it is just so cool to see all of their smiling faces
and how they are just so happy all the time. One little girl came up to me and
gave me a hug and we just talked for a little while and she told me some
stories about her childhood that I found really interesting. One way that I really
saw God working today was when we were working at our job sites and I was just
tired and frustrated and because I was having a hard time finding the energy to
break down the wall and so I just stopped and prayed and asked God to help me
find the energy and next thing I know I had enough energy to break down like ten
walls. So far this has been a life changing trip and I can’t wait to see what
it still holds.
-Jennifer
What a trip this has been! This was not what I was expecting…at
all. But it has been really great. I was
assigned to Ms. Deborah’s house. We are building her a new staircase and
putting in new walls. When I first went to her house, quite frankly, I did not
feel safe. While I was walking up her stairs they were swaying and creaking.
Luckily we have been working on it and I’m at the point where I don’t have to
say a quick hail Mary before walking up the stairs (kidding). It’s been hard
for me to find work at our worksite. There are only certain things that need to
be done and only certain people are capable of doing them. It’s frustrating but
I think I’ve done what I can with what I have. My mantra this week has been to
go the extra mile. Interestingly enough Nomar, our contact in Belize, told us
the same thing our first night in Belize. I know that was God talking to me,
telling me to give it my all. I really have been trying to give it my all this
week. Tuesday I gave my lesson to a classroom full of Belizean children. There
was a boy in my class that had the same backpack as I did. I thought it was a
pretty neat coincidence but he thought it was weird. I saw him throw it in the
dumpster after I told him (again, I’m kidding J).
Anyway, my lesson went well. Definitely an improvement from last time! I
practiced with Sean every night before I was supposed to give it. This
afternoon at our Wednesday church service Ryan asked for volunteers to come up
and give a testimony to the congregation. I didn’t volunteer directly but he
did ask me to. I agreed but this was way out of my comfort zone. I didn’t have
very much time to prepare. I knew if I wanted to get through this I needed to
lean on God. He would give me the words He wanted me to say. It went well, I
gave my testimony and people came up and told me I did a really nice job.
Darlene and Jake also gave their testimonies (and between you and I, they both
showed me up haha). I definitely could feel God’s presence after the fact. This
trip has been a rollercoaster of emotions. I am so blessed to get to share this
experience with my church family and it’s been great getting to serve alongside
Sean. I have had a very emotional week and I wouldn’t trade it for anything!
-Alli
Hello from Belize! Well,
we pretty much hit the ground running from the time we got here. Saturday and Sunday were spent mostly
settling in and practicing our skits and songs and just spending time as a
group. We have a quite a large group so we got a lot to attention at the
airport and when we were out and about with our green “Belize” shirts. It was awesome
that the shirts gave us an opportunity to share with several about what we were
preparing to do. Going to the school each day has been quite an experience and
I am starting to really enjoy the time we spend there each day. The kids here
love to see us and are so warm and welcoming. The work projects we go to each day have
presented lots of opportunities to do good, hard work. I am at “My Father’s House” which is also
attached to the Bible Society. This is a
place where missionaries come and stay when they have no other place to stay
while they are here. At the Bible Society I have been helping knock out parts
of the walls with a sledge hammer. This
is a great activity when you have frustrations you just want to get out. Scott better look out, because now I’m thinking
about having a more open floor plan at home! Kathy, Sonjia and I have mostly
been upstairs chipping paint and painting the main area. The first work day we had to take out a few
ceiling panels and we are getting ready to drywall them tomorrow. Today we were
doing some mudding and taping on the ceiling. We keep joking that we have to
keep these things secret from our husbands or they will never do these projects
for us again if they know we can do them ourselves. So mums the word!
I think the way I
have most seen God working this week is in the church services at Open Door
Believers Chapel. Sunday’s service was so spirit filled and the worship was so
lively. You couldn’t help but send praises to our God, a God that is not an
American God, but a God of all nations. Ryan gave an amazing lesson about not
looking back. He talked about how God isn’t interested in our happiness, but in
our obedience. And that is a lesson that
I find myself applying over and over again as the week goes on. Tonight’s
service was another amazing time. I found the way they pray to be
awe-inspiring. They pray all at the same
time and you can hear all of God’s people lifting their voices in a unified
prayer and it is really something amazing.
The thing that has challenged me the most has been the after
school children’s ministry. The first day we got there was a little chaotic to
say the least. The kids were not like
the kids at the school. They would not sit still and they were pretty aggressive
and misbehaved. Several of us found this experience to be different from what
we expected. That night at dinner we had a nice conversation with Cellestino,
who has been our driver this week. He
told us that we really needed to show the kids some tough love and we again
talked about the idea of how this isn’t about our happiness, it’s about our
obedience. God doesn’t care if the kids
think we are nice, he wants us to share the love of God with them. And these kids come from broken homes and
need to hear the gospel. Yesterday we went back and it was like night and
day. We were obedient and we definitely
showed these kids tough love and it made all the difference. I will never
forget the frustrations or the lessons that I am learning on this trip!
-Jill
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