Belize--Day 8

Well, we finally made it back to Belize City and the hotel -- after LOTS of shopping. We first stopped at a corner market where they had all kinds of goodies. The woodworking over here is amazing. But in some of the shops, they are aware of just how amazing it is. I tried to get Gorman to buy me a wooden elephant for my birthday in August, but he wouldn't do it. It only cost $400 Belize which is $200 U.S. Sometimes you just can't understand people. I just realized that if I had told him it was for Sonya, he would probably have bought it. Just my luck. We have seen some amazing jewelry and artwork of all kinds. All I can say is that Brian and Kerry are going to have to carry some heavy suitcases back home.

We ate lunch at Cheers in Belmopan. I had a Hawaiian burger, a fantastic change from the chicken, beans, and rice we've had twice a day. Some of the team members were getting pretty tired of the same thing over and over again, but I really enjoyed it. However, I am looking forward to getting back to some good home cooking at Ruby Tuesday, O'Charleys, Cracker Barrel, etc.

The Belizean people are very talented. Most of the boys at the school can play guitar. After the first day back, they really got into the singing during the devotion time. It was fun watching some of them sing and pretend to sing. This morning, I made a point of talking to each of the five boys that made a profession of faith to remind them how important it would be to pray, read their Bibles, and truly worship. So please remember to pray for Brandon, Travis, Reymundo, Winfield, and Matthew. Matthew started the week without a smile on his face. It was hard to get him to even respond to us. But Thursday, Friday, and this morning, he was laughing, talking, taking our cameras and making pictures. He was a different young man. Reymundo was really under conviction last night before he gave in to Christ's gentle tug on his heart. My heart was full seeing these young men come forward. Ralston, the principal of the school, and his lovely wife Iona and their beautiful little boy Stefan were there last night. I promised him that our church would continue to pray for his family and the school, so please put them on your prayer list.

It is cloudy, rainy, and 70 degrees today with a nice ocean breeze. We have enjoyed it immensely. The hotel is nice enough. Of course you have to imprint your credit card to get a remote control for the television. Ordinarily I would just get up and punch the buttons, but our television has no buttons.

Lyle drove us by the U.S. embassy in Belize. It is an amazing structure. The guard at the residential compound didn't like us taking pictures, so he urged us to move on.

Things are good as we wrap up this week. Please pray for our safety as we travel. We all look forward to seeing you soon. I want to take a few lines to say thank you to a great team of people who worked hard and well together. To Bro. Berry, thank you, Sarge, for keeping us on our toes and keeping things organized. Randy Smith -- thanks for being a great project manager. You worked us hard, but you made it enjoyable. To the rest of the team-- Betty, Ed, Nathalie, Lamar, Joyce, Brian, Amy, Kerry, Nikki, Terry, Sammy, David, Gorman, Ryan, Mark, and Greg -- you all made it a fantastic time of ministry. I couldn't have asked to be part of a better team. I've enjoyed writing this blog. I hope you have enjoyed reading it. Mrs. June, I probably won't continue a daily posting, but I will try to do better.

Belize—Day 7

What a great day. We left early for the Mayan ruins called Xunantunich. The guide says it rhymes with tuna sandwich. He was a funny man with a lot of information in his head. He told us all about the Mayan civilization, its rise and downfall, as well as about some of the religious rituals they performed. Needless to say, I don’t think many in our group will complain about tithing ever again. The ruins are spectacular. They believe they were inhabited from 600 to 1000 A.D. We climbed to the top of the ruins – a harrowing experience. As the guide said, no one from OSHA had inspected their work. There were stairs that were 100’ from the ground without guard rails. It was amazing in that once you were in the top, you could talk in your normal voice and the people below could hear you clearly and vice-versa. The Mayans engineered it that way so that the priest and the king could talk to the people and keep them intimidated. He knew exactly what people were saying about him. You can see for miles, so from his vantage point, the priest or king could predict changes in the weather. No wonder they believed he had supernatural powers. Terry and I hugged a lot of walls going up and down the stairs. Once we came down an even scarier set of stairs, we gathered at a picnic table in the shade, mostly to recover from the exertion. What we found was Sammy and some of the others who didn’t want to climb to the top witnessing to two Belizean soldiers. They told us they had to guard the border with Guatemala that was just a short distance away. Apparently the Guatemalans like to cross the border, mingle with the tourists, and then kidnap, rob, and do other bad things to them. We were glad they were there.

We ate lunch at Clarissa Falls, a beautiful little hotel/restaurant/bar on the water. It is an open air dining area with a few parrots, dogs, hummingbirds, and a toucan that stayed away. The food was delicious. There was chicken and rice and beans, which, by the way, has been our basic diet for a week. We did have pancakes and dak this morning. Dak is the first thing they have served that I didn’t think was good. It was a cross between fried bologna and fried spam.
On the way there and back, we were treated to some beautiful scenery. The houses are very colorful, much like you would see in Gulf Shores – the colors, not the size or quality. People line the roads walking or waiting on buses or riding their bikes. We passed horses staked out along the road eating grass, conservative Mennonites in their horse and buggies carrying produce to market. But as I mentioned in one of my earlier blogs, the gang problem is bad and getting worse. They have all the American gangs which are ran by their American cohorts. They also have some local gangs from the Central American region that are increasingly violent. You can understand the attraction for the young men who have a choice between a life of extremely hard work just to survive or to become a part of a group of men whose only work is to take what they want from those who work hard. It is a problem that only God can solve, but He will choose to do it through His people who come and help to educate the young and let them know there is hope in Jesus Christ.

Tonight, we had our closing service with the boys. Nikki and Amy gave out awards for class performance, and Berry gave awards to the rest of the boys. It was only $1, but they were ecstatic. Berry talked to the boys about heaven and hell. I gave a brief devotion, and we had an invitation. Five of them made professions of faith. I talked with them afterwards, and they all seemed to be sincere. Mr. Ralston, the principle of the school, will play a major role in discipling these young men. He is a fine man who loves the Lord and cares for these boys. I know he will do great things at this school. Tomorrow we leave for Belize City. My heart is torn because of the needs here, but at the same time I want to be with my church family. My heart goes out to Gail Holbert in the loss of her mother and to Pat Baggett who fell last night and to Maxine Gay. I am so sorry that I could not be there for them in their need, but please let them know I am praying for them.

Belize—Day 6

Today is our 27th anniversary. I am blessed that I was able to start the morning off with a phone call to Sonya, my lovely wife, whom I miss very much. As Bro. Berry said this morning, when you get married, God truly makes us “one.” And as the years pass, it just gets better and better. I love you, sweetheart, and I can’t wait to see you Sunday night.

Thankfully, no one was hung over from the ice cream last night. It has been a great trip in that everyone has stayed healthy and in good spirits. You can tell that we are all tired, but everything is winding down today. We have completed all of the major projects that Lyle had on his list for this trip and many little projects that were on his wish list. We are even tackling one project that he never dreamed we would get to: we are preparing for the concrete, including the towers, that will support the water tank. I think it has been as hot today as yesterday, but most of the morning was spent in the shade tying steel for the towers. We wanted to go back this afternoon and stand the towers up, connect them together, and build the forms for the concrete, but we didn’t complete that task. Sorrowfully, we won’t get to see that poured. So far today, everyone has behaved themselves; however, Gorman has gotten a little too comfortable with the short jokes, all of them pointed at me. But that’s okay, because I love him and the Bible says I have to forgive him as well. We are all giving and taking a lot of good-natured ribbing, including Greg Johnson who sweats more than any man I’ve ever met, even me. The good thing is that I haven’t smelled him – so far. We have taken some interesting pictures of Randy Smith. All I will say is shorts and boots. Overall, I guess it was a good combination. Working together like this really pulls you closer to each other. The work was more like fun than work. The staff took very good care of us—the food was great. I even enjoyed the boiled okra.

We are done. We didn’t get finished, but we ran out of supplies. We worked after dinner trying to complete the forms for the towers. But we had soft nails and hard wood. Ryan was looking on and wanted to know how many Baptists it takes to drive a nail. It took quite a few to drive them into that wood. We are very proud of our accomplishments, but we know that all the glory must go to God. He kept us strong and healthy. He gave us almost perfect weather. We only saw one Tarantula, and only Ed saw that. There were a host of other spiders, mosquitoes, and ants.

We are all excited about going home, but it will be sad to leave the boys. While we will most likely see Lyle and Rose again, it is very probable that we will never see most of the boys again. They really behave a lot like our children, but without all the stuff we have given them. A simple thing like a bag of candy brightens their smile. I hope we have touched their hearts as much as they have touched ours.

One more thing. The team has told me over and over again that what happens in Belize stays in Belize. So please do me one favor: forget everything I’ve written so far!

Belize—Day 5

Another beautiful day in Belize. It started out foggy, but that didn’t last long. The sun is out with a vengeance, but the breeze keeps it from being too bad – although the guys with the shovels probably wouldn’t agree with that. We have accomplished a lot of different things this week so far: everything from changing faucets to renovating and painting the cook’s room to laying pipe. Today we will make our tie-ins to the buildings from the water lines. It was such a good feeling to see that water come through the lines and find no leaks. While we are doing the tie-ins today, some of the guys will also lay the steel for the concrete to be poured tomorrow. Everyone is getting along well, but I may have gotten the boys into trouble. I just mentioned in my devotion this morning the fact that some of them had chosen to chase a “squash,” which is an animal like our raccoon, before morning devotion. It turns out it wasn’t a squash. It was a type of monkey, but it looked to me like a large rat. The boys went running down the hill, grabbed sticks and tried to herd it towards one of the boys who had taken his shirt off to catch it. They were not very successful, but they kept trying, even climbing the tree to try to knock it off the branch. Needless to say, the animal got away and the boys got a talking to.

I did have to deal with a couple of issues yesterday. First I caught Nikki and Amy in the guys dorm, but Brian said it was alright because he was chaperoning them. And then there is Gorman. I think that is all I will say. Because of him I almost had to change my devotion to the ten commandments of which we had decided that he was only keeping seven of them. And one doesn’t count because it isn’t the Sabbath yet. Now everyone is calling me their redneck preacher. I’ll let you guess why. If you ever travel to Belize, take my word for it. SPF 30 is not adequate sun block. David Ward has sung us a few of his songs that he has written. He has one that I hope he will sing at Southside very soon. Another issue that has just come to my attention is that our project manager, Randy Smith, decided to go to town with Lyle just before lunch, and they just so happened to get caught there and had to eat out at a fish place. But I’ll bet their food wasn’t as good as ours.

We got the whole system together and everything tied in. Since I had to wash dishes after supper, Randy let me go take a shower. A few minutes after I finished, I turned on the faucet and nothing came out. Apparently we had forgotten to cap one of the lines we were abandoning so they had to turn it off and fix it. But now everything is working well. When Lamar and I finished washing dishes, we started back to the houses when suddenly an awful roar and something came charging out of the ditch by the office. Lamar and I almost died, but it was just Ashburn, one of the boys having a little fun with us. I’ve never seen a boy laugh so hard.

Apparently Gorman almost killed David today when David tried to pull Gorman out of a three foot deep hole. I would pretend that he had fallen in, but he had actually climbed in to get it ready for the rebar we put in it. I’m sad to say that we may not get to actually pour concrete tomorrow, but we have gotten more done than any of us thought we would.
We took the boys into town for ice cream tonight. It was a good trip. Some of the team had a better time than the rest of us. I didn’t realize the reason they wanted to go is that the ice cream shop serves “rum raisin ice cream.” There were a few who are very happy right now. God is good. We are developing good relationships with the boys. I would like to take a couple home with me.

Belize—Day 4

Last night, several of us gathered in the Rainey’s living room and enjoyed quiet conversation about plans for today. The engineer/construction experts talked about loads and diameters while the rest of us listened in and pretended to know what we were talking about. Terry and Sammy looked like they were about to nod off a few times, but then I realized I probably did, too. So we went to bed early last night to the sound of a steady rain. It made for a beautiful bedtime serenade; Tom Wilson, one of the missionaries asked if there were any leaks. He said if it leaked on my head, just move the bed. But what a mess. The mud really stuck to your shoes.

It is much hotter today. We have just finished lunch, and the sun is bright and high. We will finish up gluing the pipes together and will test the water lines this afternoon. The work is going incredibly fast. So fast that we are discovering some hidden talents amongst us. For instance, since we were doing so well, we let Mark McCurry, Kerry Hawkins, and Terry Glover (under the supervision of Joyce Smith) begin to tear out some ceiling and clean out some spaces to get the cook’s room ready to paint. That isn’t the hidden talent, though. We found out they were excellent at killing rodents: rats, gophers – you name it, they killed it. Even Joyce got in on the act. Lamar says he is not surprised; Joyce is the only woman he knows that can kill a snake with a fly swatter. That makes two of us – she’s the only woman I know who can do that.
Nikki Hawkins is teaching reading classes for the boys, and Amy Hill is doing a study on developing the habits of godly men. We were told this morning that all but four of the boys are professing Christians. What they need are godly examples to show them how to live the Christian life unashamedly. As I watched them during devotion time, I noticed that few of them actively participated in the singing – a mirror of what we saw in the church on Sunday. As in the states, it is the ladies who are actively involved, but it seems to be more of an issue here. The men hardly participate.

Well, we did it! The water lines are laid and they don’t leak! Praise the Lord! Even the sections that Gorman and Sammy glued are holding for now. We still have to tie in to the dorms and other buildings, but that shouldn’t take too long tomorrow. As we feared, the sun came out in full force this afternoon, but God blessed us with a nice breeze for a good part of the day. Everyone is doing well and looking forward to completing the task. We will work on the pad for the water tank tomorrow and Thursday as well as finish several other projects. God is so good!

Belize-Day 3

What a beautiful day—overcast and cool. We started off in light jackets, but by lunchtime, the temperatures had increased. Both nights we have been blessed with very cool temperatures and the amazing aroma of skunks. I’m not sure what we did to deserve them, but man what a smell. Someone told me that it was just Ryan Grisham taking off his socks, but I didn’t believe them. Sometime in the early morning hour we heard the bird that Lyle had told us to expect. His description was it sounded like a drunk in the gutter moaning for help. It sounded more to me like a cross between a rabid dog and an angry bear. Suffice it to say that I would not have wanted to be camping on the river when I heard it for the first time.

We got off to a slow start this morning since we needed some supplies, but we have made significant progress. Lamar Smith and Greg Johnson have stayed on the tractor all day digging trenches. Rumor has it that they have figured out how slow they need to go to make it last all week. We’ve laid some pipe and started gluing pieces together. I became Gorman’s assistant as we surveyed the elevation for the water tank. Someone asked me if I had become a surveyor, now, so I told them it would be something to fall back on if this preaching gig didn’t take off.

The boys have all made it back to campus and are helping us out. It’s fun trying to learn all their names and keep them apart – especially since four of them have told us their name is Marvin. I am surprised at how much the Belizeans are like us, but I guess people are people everywhere. And with the advent of television, we are exporting a lot of our culture to them.

The day is ending and we have accomplished a great deal. Most of the pipe is laid. We still have some short trenches to dig and pipe to put in there. We will also need to build the tower for the water tank, but that will happen in the next couple of days. Dinner was fantastic. I have found out that Gorman likes to crumble his cake up and put it in his soup. Sometimes you can’t figure some people out. Like why Sammy and Gorman would smear glue all over me and then tell me they were scared of what Sonya would do to them. The ladies are headed back to church for a meeting. The speaker for their meeting cancelled, so Amy is going to share her testimony. Overall, it has been a great day. Everyone is still healthy and happy. Thanks for your prayers.

Belize-Day 2

What a day! We were up bright and early for breakfast: pancakes and sausage. I won’t mention any names, but at Greg Johnson’s table, lots of pancakes were eaten. If we hadn’t had sausage, I might say they made pigs of themselves. Just kidding. The food has been very good, and the quantities have been more than sufficient. Our hosts, Lyle and Rose, are taking good care of us. After breakfast, we did a little bird-watching. The trees are filled with Green-headed parrots. We tried to take pictures of them, but we weren’t very successful. I think Nikki Hawkins got some good pictures of a few crows, however. Then we were off to church. The music was fantastic and the people were so very gracious. We sang for an hour and then I got to preach. Following church, we dashed back to the school for fried chicken, their weekly Sunday lunch. I think I could get used to that. Then some of us headed back to church for a block party while others stayed and got started digging. Fortunately, Lyle had a good part of the digging done before we got here. As we were driving out, I looked and our guys were doing their very best state-worker impersonation: three of them were leaning on shovels while the others supervised. They did work hard and got a lot done.

We had almost 30 Belizean children at the block party. Many were neighborhood children and not from the church. We did Bible stories, arts and crafts, and recreation. Mark McCurry tried to play a little soccer. Pictures will be available later, but Mark did a great job with the kids. It was back to the school for dinner and then back to church for worship. Randy Smith said he would fit in well at the church because when we got there at 6:55 p.m., no one was there. But by 7:15, we were up and going with a good crowd. We sang for over an hour, and then I got to preach again. These Belizean Christians love to praise the Lord, and they do a great job at it. They sing at the top of their lungs and put everything they have into the service. Pastor Cliff and the congregation were such a blessing to us. The young ladies who led the music were gifted and spirited and energetic. I’d like to bring them to Southside for a few months. So far, everyone is healthy but tired. David has had a little problem with his asthma, so please pray for him. We get started in earnest tomorrow. Pray that no one gets hurt digging and that God uses us to minister to the staff as well as the boys who will be back at the school tomorrow.

Belize-Day 1

Well, we finally made it to Belize. A little engine trouble kept us on the runway in Houston, but the flight was great. Gorman was a little nervous, but according to his seatmates, a couple of $5 beverages calmed him down. I think that was just a joke. But we made it just fine. It is an amazing place. Flocks of green-headed parrots flew all around us as we looked over the work to be done. They make loud noises, so Lyle said we could take as many home with us as we wanted. The sounds of nature are amazing. It is cool and crisp this morning. I am getting ready to eat breakfast, then we will head to church. I will preach for the first time this morning. Pray that God will use me as He sees fit. I believe that people are people everywhere, but I have never preached to a congregation that wasn't American. I have a message of hope and assurance. My desire is that God will use it to strengthen this congregation. The job ahead is large, but we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

God is good!

Exciting Days

I can't believe it's been two weeks since I posted. Time has surely flown by. Sonya and I were blessed to be in Memphis last week at Kirby Pines, a senior adult community, for their Crusade For Christ. I had the privilege of preaching on Thursday night. It was great fun, and the staff there was extremely nice. Thanks, Bro. Berry, for the invitation.

Next week, I am headed to Belize with our mission team. I am filled with anticipation and a little fear. Anticipation at the good things God is going to do in us and through us there. Fear in that I don't want to come back with scalp burrowing fly larva. I also don't want to embarrass myself by screaming like a little girl when the large tarantulas come out of the woodwork or by out-snoring Gorman. But most importantly, fear of missing the great opportunities that God will present to me while I am there. Opportunities to minister and to witness and to love unconditionally. It is going to be a great week, I know, because so many of you will be praying for our team. If circumstances allow, I will try to blog each evening to keep you updated on what is happening. And if I have any pictures of the scalp-burrowing fly larvae, I will post them for you to enjoy.

Your Priorities

Well, as promised, here is what I feel should be the “priorities” of every Christian. But before I give you my list, I wanted to share with you my heart. I was reading Ephesians 4 this morning which reminded me of my true ministry priorities. In vs. 11, Paul gives a listing of church leaders, and in vs. 12, he gives their responsibilities. What he says is that God has given to the church apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor/teachers for the purpose of equipping the saints to do the work of the ministry and to edify the body of Christ. I was reminded by a dear friend this week that in the Book of Acts, the apostles refused to allow anything to distract from their two tasks: prayer and the ministry of the Word. In essence, my responsibility as pastor/teacher is to teach you the Word and train you to minister. Don’t panic. I’m not going to quit visiting, ministering, and evangelizing. I believe the best teaching method is demonstration. I teach you by modeling ministry. With that said, here is what I think your priorities should be:

1. Personal relationship with God – First and foremost in this priority is Prayer and Bible Study. I don’t believe one is effective without the other, and I know that we cannot be effective without both of these. Please understand that this priority includes every aspect of your personal relationship with God including your call to ministry, to meet the needs of others, and your responsibility to share the gospel. After all, Jesus said that “loving God completely and loving others as myself” summed up who we are as Christians and what we are supposed to be.
2. Your family – The Bible says that a man who neglects his family is worse than an infidel, so I believe that we must spend time with our families.
3. Leadership in church programs – We all need to be involved in making our programs the best that they can be. Your church staff cannot do it by themselves. Take your positions seriously whether it is teaching a class, leading a program, serving on a committee, or whatever it may be. Our church will only be what we allow God to make us.
4. Ministry to Southside – Please understand that ministry includes visiting the sick and shut-ins, ministry to members in need, and counseling/comforting those who hurt. Neither you nor I can do it all. But each one of us has been gifted spiritually to do certain tasks. Let’s discover our gifts and use them to do what God wants us to do.
5. Fellowship with church members – Fellowship is one of the five purposes of the church. We can’t be a “family” without getting together on a regular basis.
6. Community Involvement – I don’t believe it’s possible to be “the salt” and “the light” that Jesus called us to be if we are not involved in our community.

You may have noticed this list is very similar to what I believe are my own priorities. My friends, we are in this ministry together.