Saturday, October 23, 2010
Friday - To an Island Paradise
We visited the TCA school first thing this morning and brought notebooks and giftbags for each of the students. Muggy and I talked with Emerson Manggor, the TCA director about opportunities for individuals to come to teach here. He is very receptive to the idea. They had to hurry me out of the classroom as I was having too much fun talking with the students.
Placencia is about an hour’s drive from TCA. We pulled up to a facility along the river and parked. Melissa had arranged for us to have a water taxi for the day. We motored through the mangrove channels, bound for the oceanfront area. There we rented snorkel gear and headed out with our guide (Louis).
We headed for Silk Key on the Queen’s Reef. It’s 21 miles out from shore and quite a long (and this day, bumpy) ride. The picture below endeavors to capture the “non-reality” feeling of where we were and what we were doing. We snorkeled around the island and saw incredible sealife, including a six foot nurse shark. Our guide had prepared a wonderful BBQ chicken and potatoes for lunch. After lunch we boarded the boat again and proceeded to another dive location. Absolutely un-belize-able!! We saw two more nurse sharks, two loggerhead turtles and numerous rays!! Truly remarkable!!
The ride back to shore was long and bumpy and we all had to “go” pretty badly.
Thursday - Did I say More Painting?
A day of struggle for me. I am experiencing an overwhelming sense of inadequacy. I asked Muggy to pray for me and she did. I will ask if I can walk to the job site this morning.
God led me to Joshua 8 again this morning. He’s done this in the past when I struggle with feelings of inadequacy/failure/shortfall, etc. I did walk to the property this morning. I enjoyed just being alone with God and walking down a road in Belize. By the time I arrived at the worksite, I was back on track.
We accomplished a lot again today. Much color was added to the walls and it was uplifting to see the fruits of our labor. Melissa says we contributed over 200 hours to the project.
At day’s end, even serious-minded Melissa was exuberant and mischievous with the paint; evidenced by this picture:
Wednesday, Oct 13, 2010 - Anointing
The day provided more of the same; lots of paint, and then some more paint. Nancy and Linda continued their ways of always finding things to do and were working with the Belizean workers sifting sand and carrying cement.
The group has achieved a very beautiful (and funny) level of familiarity.
The evening brought a time of praise and worship and seeking the Lord. Two visions of God’s anointing confirmed His presence.
Tuesday - Getting to Know the Culture
My mornings have rapidly settled into a routine. I awake about 5:30 and walk a few steps over the house where the girls are staying. Their place is the one where we do our socializing and eating. It’s my job to turn the coffee on. The girls don’t like to be the first downstairs as one never knows if there are critters around (spiders, snakes, scorpions, etc). I sit at the table in the screened porch and spend time praying, talking with God and blogging.
I enjoyed a morning ride into town with Jervis. I met several of the locals: Edmond, the director of TCA, Robert – a machinist of some kind and Tim, the man who started TCA. We went to the Internet Café so I could post the items for the blog. The shop was full of folks, from kids to adults, busy about their business with the internet.
The shop owners are “Coolies”. This is the name for the Belizeans of East Indian descent. Their appearance is Indian or even Asian. The folks of Mayan descent are known as Ketchi. Other groups here are the Creole and the Gauban, descendants of an Ethiopian ship that wrecked near Belize.
The remainder of the day found us painting, painting and then some more painting. We are very nearly finished with the priming portion of our task. Perhaps on Wed we will begin to paint in color.
Muggy and I walked over the Fisher’s house after work just to say hello. It is fascinating just observing the flora here.
After dinner I asked where I could find a tarantula. Hannah, one of the interns, showed me how to use a flashlight held against your nose to walk through the grass and see the spider’s eyes reflecting back. We found lots of spiders, but no tarantulas.
The team then returned to the work site to enjoy a time of praise and worship on the roof of the new building. The staff had set up chairs and built a bonfire (we all moved about 25 feet from the fire due to the heat and it was incredibly humid evening as it was). Jervis played his guitar and led us in a few worship songs. Muggy shared her testimony and then we had an intense time of prayer for the staff and the interns. We prayed for each person individually and anointed them with oil. It was powerful!
As we sat on the third story roof of the building, I could not help but think of the Mayan connection we are making. I have stood atop mounds in Cahokia, IL and the Ocmulgee Mounds in Macon, GA. As we flew from Belize City to Punta Gorda on Saturday, I noted that the hills on the landscape looked like the mounds in both these other locations. It is posited that the Mississippians were of Mayan origin and traveled up into North America. I felt a strong connection between where God has taken us (St. Louis, Macon and now Belize).
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Monday, Oct 11, 2010
Painting and a Termite Nest
Up not quite as early this morning. Coffee and conversation amongst the team while I prepared a devotion for the morning. Jervis arrived about 7 and we conducted morning devotions. Ken asked that we progress through the week could we please spend some time sharing our testimonies.
The morning meal was prepared and delivered by Melissa and company and we enjoyed delicious breakfast burritos wrapped in soft taco shells. And it was very good.
Shortly, we traveled the short distance to the work site and met with Garrett, one of the interns, who was our boss for the day. Initially, I wondered if Garrett would be able to deal with all the questions he was getting, but in not too long a time, he had us all painting walls and ceiling beams.
Sorry, not able to post pictures at this time....maybe later!!!
The day was filled with painting, joking and singing. Some of the team found that the acoustics of the building made them into incredible singers…at least that’s what they thought! Gary and Jacob did their best impression of Johnny Cash Live. We were joined later in the day by Melissa making her first ever visit to the job site during a day of work. She is usually occupied meal preparation, parenting and administration. I enjoyed a rare opportunity to talk casually with Melissa as we worked in one of the rooms painting trim. She is an engaging and focused woman with a passion for serving the Lord that burns fiercely.
Jacob took me out into the field to show me some of the compound, particularly the outhouse. I was to find out later in the day a truth about this outhouse. I needed to visit the outhouse later and when I opened the door and found a incredible patchwork of spider webs; and on the wall behind the webs, a brown mass of undetermined origin. The mass was about 18 inches and oval shaped.
Even though there are restroom facilities in the new building, I was glad that Jacob had shown me the outhouse as otherwise I’d have never found the termite nest. When I told
We were all very tired and hot and sweaty by the end of the day and were thankful for warm water and clean clothes. A delicious meal was served again and then the team, two interns and Jervis met for our evening debriefing session. After sharing our high and low points for the day, Jacob shared his testimony.
We made a late, quick trip to town to the internet café to post this blog, but both cafes were closed. I enjoyed a wonderful ride with Jervis, listening to more of his vision and passion for Laugh Out Loud..
Sunday, Oct 10, 2010
Unplugging from the Digital World
As I awoke in the morning darkness, and listened to the profound silence, I realized that I was beginning to brush away the trappings of the digital, plugged in world we live in day to day; and I found it liberating!! My work and thoughts of such continue to invade my thoughts, but I believe these musings are fading.
We began the day very early as
We attended church this morning in Jacintoville and were truly blessed by great praise and worship. The team left the main service after worship and joined the children in another building. We had a great time interacting with the kids and we presented our skit on the story of David and Goliath (available on DVD for $4.95 plus S&H)
Then it was back to the house for lunch and preparing for travel to Blue Creek recreational area.
We had a truly remarkable adventure at Blue Creek, culminating in a journey upstream into a cave. It was like something at Disney World, except this was the real deal…complete with bats flying around!! I was sincerely impressed with the adventuresome spirit of the ladies of the group as this was not an easy hike and it was a little daunting going into the cave.
LOL has four or five interns here with them; mostly early 20-somethings who are earnestly seeking what God has for them. This is one of the key facets of what LOL is.
Jervis and Melissa welcome individuals as interns who are thinking missions is for them.
We enjoyed an evening meal prepared by Melissa (she loves cooking for missions team!). Then, the team sat down with Jervis to debrief the day. He asked us the high and low point for each of our days. Then, he shared his testimony with us. Jervis’ testimony is his, but suffice to say, God has a calling and a purpose on this man’s life and the life of his wife Melissa!! God has snatched him from the jaws, the very gates of hell!
Saturday, Oct 9, 2010
Some Kind of Remote
Delta Flight 665 took off from
As this was a first visit for most of us, we spent the three hours on the flight in curious conversation with other passengers who had previous
1) You can bring $10,000 US out of the country without declaring it; however, you are allowed only $5000 US brought into
2) Processing customs is fairly simple. You are first processed into the country with your passport. You then retrieve your bags and proceed to customs. If you have things to declare AND if they choose to levy an import tax, it will cost you about 20% of the declared value. You can pay in US or
As you approach
Belize City International Airport is one runway and no taxiways; so, once on the ground, your pilot will execute a 180 degree turn and taxi to the terminal. It’s interesting to see United Airlines and Delta MD-88s or bigger at this terminal. I believe this speaks to the development potential of this wonderful little country. It’s an “old school” exit from the plane down a portable stairways and into the terminal to process into
Once through customs, it’s time to find your next mode of transportation. Ours was Tropic Air Airlines. The employees of Tropic Air make it very easy for you to check your bags and obtain your boarding pass. Tipping is recommended and encouraged.
There is a nice, little restaurant upstairs in the airport. If you have time, grab a quick bite of lunch. We thought we had time, but just after ordering, a Tropic Air employee came to our table and said they had another plane ready (flexibility is the key to air power right?!?!?) So, we asked the waitress to pack our order to go and we headed for the gate.
Tropic Air planes are small. Ours had room for about 14 passengers. I sat right behind the pilot (literally, I could have reached out to tap him on the shoulder!). Ours was to be a 30-45 minutes flight to Punta Gorda in the Toledo District in the southern end of
Flying over the
Jacob pointed out to me that if one looks along the rivers, you will see the thatched huts of indigenous people living in the jungle. Another clue is smoke curling up through the jungle canopy.
And if you thought
The pilot made a beautiful landing and we taxied to the terminal….kind of a stretch to use that word. (See building behind the team in the next picture.)
We are definitely in another world! I’ve experienced a sense of remoteness in other places that I’ve visited: the solitude that is eastern
Jervis (half of the lead missionary team here at Laugh Out Loud) and Gary, one of their interns met us at the airport. After hugs around, we loaded up the van and headed for San Felipe. On the way, we stopped at the new property where we will be assisting with the continuing construction of the new LOL facilities.
The larger districts in
We continued on to our residence for the next week. It’s a facility owned by the
We moved in, set up beds, unpacked and prepared for a night out on the town. We went to a wonderful little restaurant in Punta Gorda and met up with the rest of Jervis and Melissa’s (the other half of the mission leads here), their family and the interns from
We were all pretty tired after this day of travel and it felt good to return home and turn in for the night. The facilities we are staying in are (to me) like a hunting cabin. Rustic but most definitely adequate. Electricity, fans, hot water and coffee in the morning!
More tomorrow!!
Friday, October 8, 2010
Introducing Babaa-Kar the Belizean Banana
Oct 8, 2010
I will endeavor to provide updates regularly. Keep us in your prayers!!!
Lauren: Thanks for the phrase "Un-Belize-able"!!!