PPM staff is excited for the team to land in Belize in a few hours! When they arrive we'll eat a homemade BBQ lunch and spend some time at an children's home. This afternoon we will make the hour drive north to Guinea Grass. We're looking forward to the welcome service in the village tonight and getting to know everyone.

Internet service is limited. We will put up pictures and updates when possible.

The team all arrived safely! After being picked up at the airport the team enjoyed a BBQ lunch and dessert at a local pastor's house. We're all excited to serve together this week!

After lunch we got a 30 minute tour around Belize City (the biggest city in Belize) from our bus driver Thomas. As we'll be in a small community this week, it was interesting to get a big city feel.

We have arrived in Guinea Grass! We're currently in the midst of our first day of ministry. We were part of a huge service last night at Rock of Ages Church- the church we're partnering with all week. The service included a time of bilingual worship and teaching. Everyone felt extremely welcomed by Pastor Russell and the community. We had a team meeting where we got to hear a little of each other's hearts then went to bed for the night. It's hot and humid out today, but the team is doing great! Everyone's spirits are high and the ministry sites are going wonderfully.

Internet is hard to come by, but we'll updating as frequently as possible. Thank you so much for praying for us! God is at work.

We've had an incredible VBS ministry this week! On the first day we had 180 kids and yesterday we had over 220! This is a staggering number for a community as small as this; PPM staff is impressed with the group's organization and loving attitudes. We were 45 minutes late for VBS today and had a huge crowd of kids waiting for us as we pulled in. These kids are hungry to be loved by God and our group.

The kids gathered around Daniel as he taught them this week's memory verse, John 3:16. Evidently, the kids had heard that Zacchaeus used a tree to see Jesus better and decided to try his methods :)

Some of the group put on a puppet show as part of VBS. The kids loved it!

On Monday night we had a service for the local youth. About 30 of them came out to the church! We had a time of worship and games. Our group taught the Belizeans how to play Ninja and they loved it! They wanted to play it long after the programmed part of the night was over. We also had a time where some of our youth shared their testimonies. It was a great night of solidarity between peoples. It was fun to watch two cultures mesh into one.

We got to go to the Lamanai Mayan Ruins today. We saw where they slept, played sports, and worshipped. We also got to climb to the top of three temples. The view from the top was breathtaking!

This is the sweaty group after climbing the tallest ruin at Lamanai.

We just finished up a church service for the community that we put on. We had a time of worship and sharing testimonies. It was a small picture of what heaven will look like: people of all ages and races coming together in reverence to worship the same God. Such a beautiful time together!

After the service Pastor Russell's wife surprised us with a birthday cake for Daniel, whose birthday was today. Happy birthday Daniel!! We hope it was memorable for you :)

The group made a lot of progress on a few construction projects at the church. Everyone worked hard together to improve the church building. Pastor Russell is especially excited about the electricity finally working in the church again.

Friday was the last day of ministry for our team. We finished up the week of VBS and continued to work hard on the construction projects. Some played volleyball- Belize vs. USA. We had a lot of time to continue the relationships that have been formed.

In the evening Rock of Ages Church had a commissioning service for us. We worshipped together, expressed our gratitude for each other, and had a time of prayer for each church. We closed out the service by playing 'How Great Is Our God' with both Belizean and US band members in both Spanish and English. Wow, what a privilege to be a part of that kind of community! It's incredibly fulfilling to find that kind of solidarity with other believers; it's what we're called to do as the Church.

This morning we packed up, had one last meal, and had one last meeting to wrap up the trip. We got to hear what God has been doing in each other's lives and relax with everyone one last time while looking out on a beautiful lake.

The team was dropped off at the airport and will be flying out shortly. PPM staff is blessed to have worked with such a hard working and God honoring team this week. Thank y'all for all of your hard work and investing in all of the people you encountered. God was truly glorified!