Hey everyone!
Belize was beautifully gorgeous! And really, really hot and humid. I don’t think I ever sweated so much before in my life.
We worked with Faith Bible Church in San Pedro. It was in a very poor community. Most of the yards in the neighbor were flooded with water, sewage, and trash. There was a lot of poverty.
We did something different every week. The first week we went around and picked up trash that were on the road and what we could from the yards that weren’t flooded. It was really cool because as the people were coming in and out they would see us, and because there were some promises made to that community by the city that was broken, I think it really encouraged them to see foreigners doing community work. Some would even join us for a bit.
The second week we went prayer walking in the morning and a “Good News Bible Club” for the kids in the afternoon. This was probably my favorite thing we did. Every afternoon we would go walking around and “pick up” the kids and bring back to the church. Then we would sing, play games, teach a Bible lesson, and craft or snack. I loved getting to know the kids and playing “duck, duck, goose” and musical chairs were a favorite for us. 🙂 They have so much despite their living conditions and I was reminded that no matter what your life looks like there is always joy in the Lord.
The third week we did house visits. We would prayer walk around and visit some homes and pray for them. This was a really sweet moment of spending time in prayer and I could tell that the people really felt more at peace and grateful for the prayers. We would also pray with those who were walking in or out. One time there was a drunk man walking home. We asked if we could pray for him and he said yes, and brought us to his home where his wife and two teenage daughters were, and we spent time talking and praying over them. It was a really moving time.
We would also teach English to adults. Most of the people in that community spoke Spanish. I really enjoyed that. Also, there were two church services on Sunday and one on Friday. For the Friday service they have movie night. So we would do worship and then watch a Christian based film. Sunday was a traditional church service. Team Blaze led an evening service. There aren’t many people that come. Just the Pastor family, a family of three, and maybe 3 or 4 other people.
They continue to be faithful, even though it may not look like that they are making a difference. But they are making a difference. They are a beautiful bright light shining in the brokenness, hopelessness, and darkness. They are depending on God daily and trusting that God would work on the hearts of those around them. God has blessed richly for their obedience and He will continue to do so. Please be praying for Pr. Robert, Lavern and their family. Pray that God would give them strength, encouragement, hope and love that they may share it with those around them who desperately need it.
I learned to face one of my fears during an adventure day. Snorkeling. I really don’t like under the water kind of things. When I go swimming in an ocean, pond, lake or even a puddle, there is always this small fear that something fishy or icky will touch or bite me. It helps if I don’t look down (if the water is clear) or even try to see what’s there. But the purpose of snorkeling is to see what’s under the water. So I thought as long as I don’t see a shark I would be fine. So off to Mexico rocks (snorkel location) we went. Oh my word, snorkeling is one of the coolest thing ever! One of the first things I saw was a huge sea turtle! That was my favorite sighting. And I saw a lot of fishes from Nemo. 🙂 I’d see one and be like “that’s a tank fish from Nemo! or there’s Dory or there’s a lot of Dory fishes.” I didn’t find Nemo though. 🙁
We also saw a stingray and one of those big green eel thing. I don’t remember what’s it’s called. But I was scared of it. And I saw a shark. The one thing I didn’t want to see. I was snorkeling along and looking around thinking oh, that’s a cool plant, or that’s the kind of plant Nemo lived in! Then I looked directly down and there was a shark. Ahh! I was directly over it (the water isn’t all that deep) and freaked out! In my attempt to “get away” I smacked one of my teammates who was right next to me and someone else behind me. Everyone was moving in to see the shark and I was trying to move out. Haha, I’m still alive and the shark swam away, thank goodness. All in all, I loved it and would do it again.
