Day 3 - Puppets, VBS, and Bush Hogs...OH MY!

Today we had breakfast at the same restaurant as yesterday....today was Johnny cakes according to the locals (looked and tasted like a biscuit...YUM!) We then packed up for puppet show at Guadalupe Catholic School.

Once at the school, we visited with many of the students prior to the assembly. Hal Bishop got us started telling the students about Vacation Bible School at the church. Puppet show was a lively discussion about planting fruit trees vs the Fruit of the Spirit. We had great reception by the kids and Jon Conner Davis ended with another invite to the church for VBS.

We arrived at the church after that (just a short walk away from the school). We did some cleanup on the outside of the building while we had the grass around the church cut with a tractor/bush hog. As the kids came outside to play during school break, we joined in to play some soccer and some type of chase game. Many, many Evangel members were "caught" and "put into jail". We are still looking for Jay Nelson at the bottom of a pile of kids...

We had devotional as a group and played some more with kids as breaks occurred. Lunch was held at Pastor Emilio's house, then we took a short trip back to the hotel for quick rest/shower to wash the 3 layers of sweat, bug spray and sun screen (to reapply the last 2 again) :-)

We returned to setup for VBS. (how does this puppet stage go together again???) Over 110 kids arrived at 3:30 for another puppet show, crafts, singing, playing sports.  Thomas Sanders shared a great testimony during the event. We also ministered to the older kids and parents who were watching over their younger siblings/ family. Hats seem to be popular...the kids were always snatching them from the guys heads thus making the adults chase them!

We had another good meal at Pastor Emilio's house. (sorry about Mr. Sikes breaking the chair, Pastor Emilio!) Unfortunately, we weren't able to play basketball as we hoped, but we had a great day otherwise. Finishing up the day was Devotional and sharing the goodness of God in the day. We rejoice in touching the lives of these kids and their families today and pray for more opportunities tomorrow!

1 PETER 2:9-10

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; you had not received mercy,but now you have received mercy.

Day 2 - Streets of Alta Mira

Today we arose to a great breakfast at a restaurant just down the road (two words: FRY JACKS!) Once breakfast was done, we came back to change clothes for church and a team devotional. We read chapter 28 of Matthew and prayed for the Great Commission to become real to us here in Belize.

At church, we sang songs led by Jay Nelson's guitar and Hal Bishop's clarinet. While the girls did Sunday School for the kids. Benny Collins spoke a powerful word on Jesus’ crucifixion to the adults.

After lunch at Pastor Emilio’s house, we did a prayer walk and invited people to come to church and/or kids to come to Vacation Bible School. We were able to pray for many of them. One example is a lady named Teresa who needed prayer for family and the sorrow in her soul.

Once we made it back to the church we cooled off and had a spirited game of wiffleball with the local folks. Much laughter was add with all..and some possible major league hitters there!

That evening, another church service was performed with Benny speaking again. His message was one of Courage in the story of Joshua 1:1-9. 

We completed the day with breaking into smaller groups for devotionals and to share what we had seen God did during the day. We look forward to the start of VBS and Soccer camps tomorrow! Continue to pray for guidance for us all!

ACTS 1:8

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Day 1 in Belize!

We are on the ground in Belize! After a early start of 3:45 AM, and a few hours of flying time, we met our Thirst representatives who are taking care of us this week. (Randy Watts came up from South Belize to welcome us here!)

The Thirst folks got us loaded on the bus with all our belongings. We ate lunch along the way on the 2 1/2 bus ride to the hotel in Corozal. Very pretty scene from the roof of the hotel: 

Our team had dinner at the house of Pastor Emilio, the pastor of the church Evangel serves with. Their church had a welcoming service to celebrate our arrival. It was a great start to a busy week of service! 

ISAIAH 6:8

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: Who should I send? Who will go for Us? 

I said: "Here I am. Send me."

Commissioning Service at Evangel

Sunday we had our commissioning service at Evangel Church PCA. Paul Moon, an elder at Evangel, prayed for us for health, safe travels and most importantly God's blessing on us to share His Gospel with all that we come in contact with. Here are a couple of pictures from the service:

We are a mere 6 days away from traveling to Belize. We leave the church at 4:15 AM Saturday morning (yes that is early!) More updates to follow!

Luke 10:1-2 -> After this the Lord appointed seventy-two[a] others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them,“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

Welcome to Belize - 2016!

Greetings to all! We are very excited to see what God is going to do on this Belize mission trip. Our team consists of 27 people going from Evangel Church PCA in Alabaster, AL to Belize. As in previous years, we are partnering with THIRST missions and working with the Church of Nazarene in Altamira (a suburb of Corazol). It is in the upper portion of Belize near the Mexican border.

Our trip is planned from June 11th-18th 2016. It is a full week of planned events: 

1) Vacation Bible School at schools - teaching, crafts and puppet shows

2) Soccer and Basketball camps

3) Church ministry

4) Ladies ministry

5) Even a movie night (provided the projector stays intact on our trip!)

Our team has been meeting for several months to plan and prepare. Here are some of our pictures from one of our meetings preparing the VBS crafts we plan to use:

We plan to keep you informed of our progress as we are preparing to go. We do need prayer; here are just a few of the items:

1) God's love be spread in Belize and the Gospel to impact people's lives.

2) Safety and health for all the team members while in Belize.

3) Unity and endurance to run the race well with each other!

Thank you for embarking on this journey...Updates to follow!

Matthew 28:19-20a 

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.