Hello everybody!

The team has arrived safely in Belize! Everyone has now settled in for bed after a long travel day!

Upon landing in Belize City the team stepped out of the airport and into a beautiful Belize day. The
weather was great, and a warm welcome compared to the temperates they left back in Texas.

We left the airport and jumped in a bus driven by Timmy ( one of the Belizean PPM staff ) and drove 4 hours to Independence, located in the southern part of Belize. Along the way the team snacked on homemade brownies made by one of the local women, and took in the beautiful Belizean countryside ( we took the Hummingbird Highway - arguably one of the best scenic drives in Belize ). While in the mountains, we stopped at a unique spot along the highway called the "magnetic hill" ... with the bus faced downhill... once the bus is put in neutral ... a phenomenon occurs which causes the bus to go backwards up the hill... From there we trekked the rest of the way to Independence.

Once in Independence we ate dinner, then came back to the hotel to arrange all the medical supplies that would be used throughout the week.

It's going to be an awesome week! ... i'll be keeping the posts coming every evening to keep you guys updated on the the happenings and highlights that occur!

Over and Out.

chris.

Today we rose early, grabbed breakfast, and headed off to church. The church service was a great experience this morning, and i'm sure much different than many of the team members were used too. Everyone was very welcoming and were very excited that our team has come down to serve along side them throughout this week.

After church we had lunch, then went walking the streets and going door to door in groups in order to spread the word about the clinic we'll be having tomorrow, as well as, the vbs tomorrow evening.
We were able to cover a lot of ground and the team did a great job of getting the word out about our present here in Independence.

As we were walking around we found out about a huge gathering that was happening in one of the parks in town... so we went to check it and most of the town was there and there were tons of activities, foods, and fun to be had... our team actually got asked to participate in a volleyball tournament against some of the local belizean teams, which was a blast!

After a good time socializing and playing at the park, we packed up and headed to a night service at the church. Once again another great service spoken by pastor Jerome.

Lastly we ended the evening with a late dinner and headed back to the hotel to prepare for the big day of serving individuals tomorrow! ...


c.

I'm just going to start this off by saying it's going to be very hard to sum up this day...



Bright and early this morning the team crawled out of bed for their 7:30 breakfast then headed straight to the church to set up the clinic. Upon arrival there were already people lining up outside of the church.

The team jumped right into gear, got setup up quick, and began seeing patients.

The lines soon became much longer, but despite the amount of people, the team worked together and were able to provide great care to many people in a very efficient manner.

And then the rains came...

Out of nowhere came a rain storm which shut down the clinic for about an hour... the team, unfazed, took the rain break as an opportunity to play ball with kids under a sparse shelter outside. ... fun was had by all!

And then came the sun...

The sun came back out and so did the people... the team stayed busy all the way up until the last patient was seen and the last tooth was pulled.

In the evening, the ladies attended a ladies meeting at the church, while the guys went to the park to do VBS and play ball...

I'm not of the female race so i have no insight into what went on at the ladies meeting, but from what i gathered from them, it was an incredible time! ... The VBS was also great, we had a good turn out and the kids seemed to really enjoy the puppet show and play-dough!

... Right now everyone has headed to bed to rest up for our day in Red Bank tomorrow.... ( nearby village with thatch roofs and dirt floors ) ... it shall be a long day tomorrow, maybe culture shock for some of our team members. We're all very excited!

Please keep our team lifted up in prayer, ... pray for health, strength, .... and that we would indeed shine the light of Jesus as we meet the physical needs of this people here in Belize.

c.

This morning we embarked on an adventure to Red Bank...

Shortly after leaving the hotel we found ourselves heading down a dirt road, heading off to the Red Bank community, which are mostly Mayan.

In Red Bank their is a bit of a language barrier due to the fact the people there primarily speak Q'eqchi', but some of the people are multilingual, and also speak english, spanish, and mayan.

So, we arrive in Red Bank... and it was slow at first. Kids were still in school and parents were taking their time to come to the clinic.

This didn't last long, soon people started pouring in and the team stepped up and got to work!

After a few hours the kids began to show up once school let out and the excitement really picked up... there were kids running around everywhere and the team really enjoy playing with them and spinning them around!

The clinic was a huge success today and i think everyone left with a feeling of great satisfaction at the exception work that was put in by the team!

We then left Red Bank and the guys went to a "man only" meeting .... and the ladies went to the park and did VBS.

VBS was a huge success as well!

We have a big today tomorrow... stay tuned in tomorrow night to read up all about it!

Gnite from Belize!



c.

This morning we: woke, ate, and hopped on a water taxi to Placencia. In Placencia, the team took the morning to relax on the beach, swim, and just catch up on some much needed rest time.

Upon leaving Placencia, we drove to Seine Bight to the clinic there to use their facilities to house our clinic for the afternoon.

Today, was one of the slower clinic days... well that is until the children arrived!

The children there were full of energy and were all over the place, so while half the team worked in the clinic, the other half kept the children occupied.

Even though things weren't as busy today, the team was still able to treat a lot of people, and everyone enjoyed the chance to take in some sun.

Tomorrow will be the busiest day of this entire trip... please continue to keep the team in your prayers... we are going to Trio tomorrow, which requires over an hour long bus ride on dirt roads, were the people speak mostly Mayan, so there might be some language barriers throughout the day.

Everyone is safe and healthy and having a good time!



c.

Well... we just finished up our last night in Belize here at Key Caulker, a small island off the coast.
today was filled with snorkeling, shopping, rest, and relaxation.

While snorkeling some of the team meeting got to swim with sharks and sting rays. Some even were brave enough to pet the sharks. As we were in the water a barracuda arrived and hung out about 10 feet from where we were and watched all our shenanigans.

The weather wasn't the best today but the clouds moved away during the time we were snorkeling, then about the time we finished the clouds came back out. Regardless fun was had by all.

Tomorrow morning the team will load up on a water taxi and go back to Belize city to catch a plane back to the states.

This has been an incredible week, ...God is good!

Please continue to pray for safety and traveling mercies for the team as they head home tomorrow.

It has been a pleasure serving this week with such incredible individuals!

From Key Caulker, Belize - this is Chris saying Thanks for your prayers and God Bless!

Over and Out.