We have arrived safely in Belize! Our transition and emersion into a new culture has been a dive straight into the deep end. Right after our flight arrived, we loaded onto the bus with the other group we will be working with from Montana and drove into the city to visit the orphanage there. We played with the 30+ children for over an hour. Their bright smiles and enjoyable spirits were almost unexpected, but a delight. Our experience at the orphanage is one we won’t ever forget.
Thank you for all of your prayers for safe travel! We made it!

After a scrumptious breakfast buffet provided by the Global Village Hotel this morning, we loaded the bus and drove into Belize City to begin our day of fellowship and ministry. After a little bus tour of the city from Burton Brooks (our AMAZING bus driver), we arrived at Galilee Baptist for the first time and met the congregation we would be ministering with this week.
We were able to get some musical rehearsal in and get ourselves organized a bit to lead worship later that morning and to pilot the different Sunday School classes that happen every Sunday before church. The congregation breaks up into different age groups and so we were all able to squeeze into an age group that suited us best -either as leaders, or participants.
Pastor Kevin Horton gave a message during church, explaining the Christmas story found in Genesis. Tati Horton and her father, David Martin, were joined by Krista Votaw, Sally Hein, and many of the children in leading the music. Eric Hein gave a personal testimony of his journey to salvation.
After church we all headed back to the hotel for lunch and an afternoon of fellowship, rest, and rejuvenation. Our group leader, Tatianna Benson, led us in relational training. We learned how to better build our relationships through conversational areas.
For dinner, we were met by our friends from Hope Presbyterian Church who will be joining us in ministry this week.
Kevin Horton explained the real meaning behind Christmas during the evening church service, with Richard Baker, Tina Carter, and David Martin all giving personal testimonies concerning their faith. Paul and Jeffery Hein gave readings and we were all blessed to shard the Lord’s Supper with the congregation of Galilee.
It was wonderful to worship and fellowship with everyone we met, and we most certainly look forward to working with and ministering with them throughout the week!

This morning was our first day of Vacation Bible School! We had so many children show up they were stacked along the walls! We were expecting maybe half of who showed up. Praise God!
We sang quite a few songs in a large group. Songs like Trading My Sorrows, This Little Light of Mine, and The B-I-B-L-E.
We broke into two smaller groups and did games in the park, as well as a craft, and a bible lesson at the church.
It was a wonderful morning filled with laughter and smiles!

Sister Cecelia’s is a retirement home we all visited in the late afternoon yesterday. All of the elderly who live there were gathered in the great room for our visit. David, Tati, Sally, and Krista brought over the keyboard from the church and sang a few Christmas songs and hymns with everyone. But we mostly cherished the conversations we were able to have. We all had quite a unique experience.
Later in the evening, we split up into four different small groups. One of our groups headed to a few different locations to start cooking dinner. Our goal was to make dinner for three parish families and eat the meal with them -not necessarily to minister to them, but to share our lives and stories with the families and encourage them in their walk. The night was a great success! While those cooking chicken, noodles, and bread were preparing the food, the other three groups walked to our respective homes. The food was amazing and the fellowship with these families provided another light and another opportunity that they do not usually see.

Sister Cecelia’s is a retirement home we all visited in the late afternoon yesterday. All of the elderly who live there were gathered in the great room for our visit. David, Tati, Sally, and Krista brought over the keyboard from the church and sang a few Christmas songs and hymns with everyone. But we mostly cherished the conversations we were able to have. We all had quite a unique experience.
Later in the evening, we split up into four different small groups. One of our groups headed to a few different locations to start cooking dinner. Our goal was to make dinner for three parish families and eat the meal with them -not necessarily to minister to them, but to share our lives and stories with the families and encourage them in their walk. The night was a great success! While those cooking chicken, noodles, and bread were preparing the food, the other three groups walked to our respective homes. The food was amazing and the fellowship with these families provided another light and another opportunity that they do not usually see.

This evening after supper we hosted a Youth Night at the church. Youth from the congregation and community came out to fellowship with us and each other. We did a lesson using the movie The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe as reference to biblical scripture and truth. The church band led us in music and dancing, and we had fun playing a few games with the kids.

This afternoon, after VBS, we hit the bus and drove the long and winding road to the Mayan ruin, Altun Ha. We absorbed such an amazing part of Belizean history and culture there. We caught dinner on the way back into town, and rushed to the church for a concert put on by Burton’s band. We joined the band, the children from the orphanage, and the members of Galilee for singing, dancing, and worship and came back to the hotel for some rest to bring in the New Year.
Happy New Year everyone!

As we wrap up our week, and reflect on what all we have accomplished, it is hard to define each moment with words. It is almost impossible to replicate our experience on print. We are not sure that we will really ever be able to describe anything with as much detail to you as is due, but we will sure try.
Our construction projects throughout the week went off without a hitch. We were able to lay metal down for the addition going up for the Preschool at Galilee Baptist. Due to the hard work of our team, the cement was able to go in the very next day. Today we spend time moving and leveling off dirt, painting the staircase and walls, and cleaning up the church.
Today was filled with so much fun, and so many goodbyes. We had a blast at VBS, and our time with Pastor Ruperto and the other congregation members that have helped through the week was definitely a memorable time of celebration for the ministry that has been realized this week.
Thank you all again for your support and prayers this week, and we would love to talk to you about our week in Belize when we return home!