I can’t believe these past two weeks.
Since we arrived in Belize City on January 5, in search of missionary contacts but with no idea where to even start, God has provided. By the end of the first week, we had met with nine different ministries in Belmopan alone who were interested in partnering with Adventures in Missions to host future teams. And over the course of our short week in Punta Gorda, God gave us another three ministries who were willing to say “yes” to that partnership and believe for amazing kingdom work to come.
This was no small task. Belize, as I learned, is one of the smallest countries in the world. The total population is under 300,000 people (for perspective – New York City alone has 9 million people!), and with so few tax payers, there has been very little development. The country itself used to be a part of Guatemala (also formerly known as “British Honduras”), and has only been its own country for about thirty years. We soon learned that because development is so slow, the churches and missions organizations are HUGE contributors to the growth and development of the country! Each ministry here actually has a HUGE impact on their nation!
We met with so many incredible missionaries in Belize, with beautiful hearts and insatiable passion for the Gospel. And so, for this month’s missionary highlight, I want to take this opportunity to highlight five of them to you.
Belize Basecamp
Our first home in Belize was at this amazing little place. A teammate recommended I connect with the people who run this ministry, and I soon found that this basecamp was actually a place for mission teams to set up camp during missions trips! The Basecamp hosts dozens of teams throughout the year, providing a safe and comfortable place for teams to be able to feel at home in while they are serving their community! They helps incoming teams find and set up ministry opportunities in their area, like building projects, children’s bible camps, village outreaches, and much more! They also help teams find exciting off-day opportunities to visit local adventure locations, so that the teams can enjoy all of that Belize has to offer.
What blows me away about them is their heart to bless people, especially those that already know the Gospel! Missions work can be tough and exhausting, and the Basecamp attempts to provide lift to those doing Kingdom work by giving them a safe and comfortable place to find rest and be refreshed for ministry. How amazing it is to find a ministry that not only ministers to their community, but also facilitates and empowers other ministries to do God’s work too! In short, they serve by serving the servants!
For more information about the Belize Basecamp, visit their website at: http://www.belizebasecamp.net/
Freedom House
“For us, this place is the promised land”. Our team had the opportunity to visit the Freedom House, a halfway house outside of Belmopan for men who have recently been released from prison. Their home is small – two trailers put together – and yet they house roughly six men at a time. When we went to visit, we got to talk with the leaders of the home and hear their heart for their ministry. Both men shared their testimonies, incredible stories of how God radically called them out of drugs, sex, and witchcraft. They shared about how God has moved powerfully in bringing them out of their darkness, and how this home has been the outlet for them to be able to bring more men out of darkness into light.
These men live in tight brotherhood, serving each other and learning to emerge back into society together. They frequently study the Bible as a group, and have opportunities to enhance their work skills through the nearby car shop and other locations nearby. Each man we talked to had an insatiable joy that could only have come from knowing true freedom. They each know that God has an amazing plan for their lives, and they are sold out to Him to go wherever He leads them. After spending most of their lives in prison, these men who come to this house get to experience true freedom for the first time in their lives, as in brotherhood they come together to truly know the one who sets them free.
Belmopan Church of the Nazarene/Plus News
I got to visit this church on a Sunday morning in Belmopan, and was blown away to see the kind of Kingdom work happening here! Pastor Louis Wade Jr. met with us, and shared his heart for Belize and what he sees God doing in his community. Their church pursues many opportunities for outreach to the youths of Belmopan and greater Belize City. Just a couple days before we visited, the church hosted a huge outreach program to youths in Belize City, where many were saved and radically changed by the Gospel! Belize City is currently a battleground for gang warfare, and yet this church did not back down from sharing the good news and bringing light into the dark places! Among many other outreach programs like homeless feeding centers, pregnancy clinics, and children’s bible camp, this church seeks to advance the Kingdom of God in whatever ways God presents them with. They rejoice wholeheartedly with everything He is doing – and believe me, if their worship is any indication, they REJOICE!
Pastor Wade also serves during the week at the local news station – Plus News. Here, he speaks daily on a morning talk show, where he gets to share a Bible message to all of Belize! This network aims to operate as any news station would, so that religious and non-religious people will tune in for their news. And yet, while most of the liberal news stations in America ignore stories about God and Christian service, Pastor Wade and his news station have the power and influence to be able to make those stories headline news in Belize! They have the ability to influence how their nation views what is happening around them, and to speak to thousands of people who may watch for the news and instead hear the Good News!
Laugh Out Loud Ministries
This orphanage in the jungles of Punta Gorda operates as a home for children who have been neglected or disadvantaged by society. These kids live in a giant three story home, and are tended by dozens of staff members who care for them day and night. Many of these kids are enrolled in the local schools during the day, and are shuttled back and forth daily by the staff. Some students with development issues study on the compound with teachers, and learn at their own pace in a smaller class setting. On weekends, the staff takes the kids on excursions, attend church, and have their own worship and prayer sessions together. The staff values the importance of letting these kids feel like they live a normal life, even if they don’t have a family to live with.
One of my favorite things about this ministry is the heart their staff members have for these kids. They work tirelessly to serve them with unconditional love, giving all of themselves to honor the royalty that God has placed in them. They don’t want their kids to feel like “orphans”. If the kids need clothes, the ministry seeks to get them new things instead of old, worn out clothing items. They built a playground for the kids, but instead of installing a small, poorly constructed playground, they purchased a gigantic playground structure from the States and spent weeks putting it all together. For Christmas, they ask the children to write out their wish lists, so that supporters can send gifts based on their wishes. They honor each child as an individual, beautifully and wonderfully made by God, and seek to further the Kingdom of God by raising up children to walk in their true identity – not as orphans!
For more information about LOL Ministries, visit their website at: http://www.lolministry.com/
Machaca Camp and the Boneville Cafe
This place, man. Machaca Camp was our home for the week we spent in Punta Gorda, and we were blown away by what God is doing in this place. Our hosts, John and Lisa Gotz, have an incredible ministry through here. Spread across 300 acres in the middle of the jungle, this campground has room to host almost a hundred people for summer camps, church retreats, and special events! They have dozens of bunk houses, a gym, a basketball court, a huge kitchen, and plenty of ground to escape for quiet time with the Lord. They also run a 10-month discipleship program, where they empower young adults to become missionaries of the Gospel through classroom lecture, activation, and evangelistic outreach. Throughout the campground are Bible verses and Scriptural truths that serves as a reminder for one thing: God’s heart is in this place.
John and Lisa also run a coffeeshop out of a seaside hotel in downtown Punta Gorda. The Boneville Café (which derives its names from the valley of dry bones passage in Ezekiel) serves some incredible food and coffee, but what they do best is the service. The employees make a point to get to know each person that walks in, hearing their stories, and taking opportunities to pray and prophesy over them. Scriptural truths line the walls, worship music plays throughout the day, and you can tangibly feel the peace of God resting in this shop from the moment you walk in. They also offer a prayer room, with chalkboard walls covered with powerful declarations and fulfilled promises of God. John and Lisa love their community so much, they prayer walk every Thursday morning throughout town to release God’s destiny through the streets. They have gained so much influence in the town, they even get to pray over the city council every week. They have even been able to get their prophetic declarations about Punta Gorda as the City of Hope passed by the council to be the official town slogan! It’s clear God is using them mightily in this place, and yet they keep pressing in for more!
God taught me this month about the privilege of obedience, and how when we say “yes” to obeying God, He comes through with the most incredible favor, power, and authority! When we believe that He will fulfill His part of calling us to high places, He does! It is His desire that His people be placed in all parts of society, that they can be influencers and atmosphere changers! Please join me in praying for these ministries, that God would use them mightily in their circles of influence and bring the Kingdom of God to the country of Belize!
If you would like to learn more about any of these ministries, or would like to make a charitable donation to support one of them, please let me know – I would love to help you help them!
