Sunday, July 15 (Day 7)
This morning after breakfast, our team left for Life.net Church.  Pastor Lee's church meets at the George Price Freedom and Peace Center.  George Price is considered the founder of modern day Belize, having served the country for 40 years and securing independence from England during his time in office.

Cade (guitar), Austin (drums) and Chapman (singer) helped out with the worship team.  Pastor Lee expressed his great appreciation for our team helping out and said that worship was very dynamic and very much a God-experience this morning.  Our team sang and played "Oh How He Loves" and was very moving, with many raising their hands in praise to our Creator.

After the singing portion of the service was over, kids aged 3-10 came downstairs for children's church.  Kim Palmer led a team of youth in singing, games, crafts, story time and snacks.  Ericka one of Pastor Lee's daughters could not stop talking about how much fun she had in children's service today.

Cade (narrator), Isaac (Goliath) and Austin (David) sang in operatic style the most hilarious, and yet most exciting rendition of the classic Bible story.  Cade sang the story of how David slayed Goliath.  Kim Palmer jumped in several times to get the kids involved having them say things like "Goliath is Big", "David is small", "Oh No!"....

We had the kids assembled a shield with stickers, putting the full armor of God on a soldier.  Then Margo led the kids in playing "Simon-Says and finally we had snack time.  Before we knew it, church was over and it was time to say good-bye to the kids.

Pastor Lee invited us all to his house for lunch (peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chicken salad, watermelon, chips and sodas or water).  It was a good time for all of us to get to know Pastor Lee and his family better.  Pastor Lee and his wife shared a home-made video with all of us highlighting their marriage and kids (anniversary video).  Then we all chatted or rested.

In the afternoon we went to Maya Mopan.  This is a neighborhood not too far from Pastor Lee's church.  Mayan's live in thatched roof, primitive housing.  Today was a real eye opener for many on our team.  Many of them saw extreme poverty, but in the midst of it all they all experienced God's love and joy in the hearts of the kids to which we ministered.  Our team went door to door inviting all of the kids in the village to a mini-VBS.

About 75 kids showed up and we had an awesome time!  Austin, Mike, Kim and others made balloon hats swords, dogs and other inflatable animals.  Others on the team:   Bailey, Mikyla, Margo and some other girls from Lee's cell group painted faces.  Isaac, Chapman and Cade played ball with the kids.  Aaron made sure that we had plenty of photos of the day.  And Karen held lots of babies and talked with the locals about Christ.  Cade, Isaac, Austin and Kim performed the David and Goliath opera and received many laughs and a ton of interaction from the kids of Maya Mopan.  

Even though we were only in the Maya Mopan village for a couple of hours, our hearts were all touched deeply.  Pastor Lee explained how they had built a wooden house for a family in his church for about $6,000.  He hopes to be able to build more houses in the future in this area.  Some of the craftsman in the village brought out jewelry, bags, bowls and baskets to sell.  Many of us picked up small items to take back home to remember this trip or to bless family and friends.

Our team de-briefed and prayed this evening, prior to packing for our return to the USA.  This trip has touched the lives of not only the youth, but also the adult chaperons on the trip.  We received much more than we could ever give and we all realized that none of us will ever be the same person we were before this trip began.  Each of us will now hold a special place for Belize in our hearts and hope to return again one day, God willing.

Saturday, July 14 (Day 6)

After breakfast at the hotel our team walked to a park one block from the El Reyes Hotel. Pastor Lee had asked our team to help fix up the park for children in the community.  9 of the 10 swings were missing and trash and limbs were littered throughout the park. What we all thought would be a simple project took several hours as we were missing several parts needed to hang the swings.  Pastor Lee went to four hardware stores to find the necessary parts.  Each swing seat has a LIFE.net stamp imprinted on hardwood.  Each swing seat costs $20, but provides a great service to the community.  Pastor Lee has replaced swing seats in several parks in surrounding neighborhoods and intends to do more in the future.  It was an extremely hot morning in Belize, so our team tried to stay well hydrated with lots of water.  Several of the gals on the team assembled the swing seats, several guys hung the swings and made sure they were level and others on the team picked up trash.  It was a great feeling knowing that we have improved this park for the kids of Belize and gotten the word out about Pastor Lee's church.

For lunch our team was treated to pizza at a restaurant called Peppers.  We had cheese and pepperoni pizzas, garlic bread and waters or sodas.

After lunch we went door to door in the Belmopan community, passing out flyers, inviting people to LIFE,net church and praying for those that expressed various needs.

At our evening team dinner we surprised our team leader Mike Diefenbach with a carrot cake for his 49th birthday.  Each team member took time to share "words of affirmation" with Mike by telling him one way in which he has touched their life.

Friday, July 13 Free Day in Belize
       The kids and adults were excited to have one day set aside to explore the sites in Belize and get some well deserved rest.  After breakfast at the El Reyes (The King) Hotel, we boarded an air conditioned bus to go tubing and caving exploring at Cave Branch (in the Nocoche'en Ecological Reserve).  It was about an hour and a half bus ride to get to the park.

      Upon arrival we were all given life jackets and an inner tube.

Our group had to hike 45 minutes into the jungle to get to the place where we embarked on our water journey.

Talk about an "unBelizeable" time together as a group - wow!  Each of us was given a head-lamp that would help us in the dark caves.  As a group we started floating down the pristine water-ways, praising God for His awesome handiwork,  We navigated our way through limestone caverns, sometimes only being able to see a few feet in front of us.  We saw stalagmites, stalactites and natural salt formations.  Fortunately we did not see any bats!

       At the half way point in our journey, we were able to get out of our tube and walk around in the caves.  There was a large rock from which our team members took the opportunity to jump into the water and swim for a bit.  Then we plunged back into the waters in our inner tubes and floated the second half of our journey under the jungle canopy.

After our relaxing day in the water, we had an awesome lunch prepared by our tour guides:  bottled coke, water, water-melon, home-made salsa and chips, chicken fajitas, beans and everyone's favorite, chocolate chip banana bread.  Can you say "yummo"?!
     
After heading back to our hotel to clean up, Pastor Lee brought by a tarantula for the team to enjoy!  Pastor Lee poses with a small tarantula that he found in his yard:

Our special evening out dinner was at a restaurant called "Ketchup."
       For the evening our team went over to "Destiny House" which is a hang-out for Christian youth.  It is kinda like a coffee-house with load music.  There were probably 50-75 Belize youth that showed up just to hang out with one another.  Some of the kids are even on a local TV show called "SWAG," where up and coming Christian artists can showcase their music.

Everyone had an awesome "free" day and are well rested and ready to complete our God assignments over our last two days in Belmopan.
 

A bittersweet day for our Belize team today ... leaving Pastor Caleb and Aida is difficult ... good friends, and not just a "mission trip" for us at GCC.

On the other hand, we were very excited to head off to the captal of Belize ... Belmopan ... and meet Pastor Lee Brockinton ... even though we had a plan for this portion of the trip, there were so many "unknowns" and so much we felt very unprepared for because this is our first encounter with him here in Belize !!!!!

When we pulled up to our hotel (the El Rey Hotel) Pastor Lee was waiting for us.  It was a quick check-in to get our rooms set-up, and then it was right down to business ... Lee didn't waste any time ... he had his IPad out and we sat in the lobby getting our marching orders ... a bit different pace than in San Ignacio ... 3 things to describe Pastor Lee ... ON FIRE ... GROUP RELATIONSHIPS ... YOUTH ... Lee and his wife came here from Texas and his passion is building relationships and living the Gospel ... church here is really a 24/7 life event ... Here is how we served Lee and the people of Belmopan today

FREE ROADSIDE WATER ... AND CHURCH INVITES ...

PRAYER WALKING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BELIZE WITH LEE

   ISAAC "RAPPING" WITH A LOCAL FAMOUS ARTIST

YOUTH GROUP NIGHT AT LEE'S HOUSE

On a final note ... Isaac and Margo each shared a powerful and emotional testimony to the youth ... AWESOME ... missions are not always about who we visit ... much of the time it's about what GOD has for us as a team ... Mikayla, Bailey, Margo, Chapman, Isaac, Austin and Cade have been the most amazing young ambassadors !

Hola from Belize ..Wow, another delicious breakfast with Pastor Caleb and Aida. We had fresh eggs, corn tortillas, biscuits, and amazing goat cheese. Then off to Benque, a little town east of our hotel and on the border of Belize and Guatamela.  We arrived with great anticipation and were not disappointed when 70 showed up.  Again, the team was fully engaged with the children..giving and getting lots of hugs and high fives.  Our youth gave ALL they had.  Our boys....Isaac, Austin, and Chapman were so enthusiastic while running down the street with swim rings around their heads...the kds loved this relay game. I think they just liked watching our boys look silly:) . While the boys were outside, Cade and Aaron were sharing about how Jesus is THE SUPERHERO.  When we asked the kids to name superheros, they yelled GOD!!! Isn't that great??? They already know Jesus is the the Hero....what a testimony to the church leaders in this Latin community,  Then to end the day our youth all sat with children to help make a superhero necklace.  We  loved watching Bailey, Mikayla, and Margo sit with the kids in the floor patiently stringing beads and crosses. We pray that many families lives will be changed because of the message that was shared today.

After a hard day serving the kids, we took a long hike up a big hill to see Xunantunich,,,,,the ancient Mayan ruins on the way back to San Ignacio... great tourist attraction and lesson in history ... also a great lesson in what happens to people who serve a lesser god than the true GOD of the universe ...

And another great GCC Missions bonus ... Brother Hector took us to an amazing spot on the river ... he grew up visiting this spot as a kid and loves to "play hard" after working hard ...  the photos speak a thousand words !!!!!

Of course, another great chicken dinner ... I think this is the only mission trip where we actually GAINED an inch !!!!!!!!

Off to Belmopan in the morning ... hate to leave Caleb and all our friends here in San Ignacio ... but bigger things await us with Pastor Lee in The Capital city

God Bless us all !

1st Day of VBS

     Our first day at work here in Belize ... a great day here in San Ignacio always starts off with a big breakfast with Pastor Caleb and Aida, then it was off to the town of Santa Elena across the big river that separates these two towns ... The church in Santa Elena is called LIGHTHOUSE and its a tiny building with alot of character ... We had LOTS of great helpers from the main church, ARMS OF LOVE, as we set-up for VBS ... THE KIDS HERE ARE SO CUTE AND SO QUIET AND HUMBLE that it takes a huge effort to get them to participate ... but once they break those first fears these kids start jumping and laughing and genuinely do NOT want to stop or even let us go !   

     Our teens were awesome ... what a great group of young adults willing to jump in there and DO VBS ... Yes, Kim Palmer was the lead person and Aaron Hosea delivered the message, but the youth really drove the event from the music to the dancing to snack time and then the crafts .... these 7 guys and girls really made the difference and set a great example to the local youth that church stuff CAN be fun and fulfilling...   70 kids showed for this first event, and we even got in the pastor's little pick-up truck and filled the back with neighborhood kids ... The church here in Santa Elena is really growing and they really have a heart for the kids as they push to grow their presence in that community.

     Also drove out to Benque ... the town we will do the next VBS ... to hand out flyers in the neighborhood to invite the kids to Wednesday's VBS ... GOD WILL call the children for this and we really felt a sense of excitement and anticipation as we walked the streets and called on the parents to "bring the kids.. it's gonna be a great time"

     Finally, we had a "Prayer Service" at Arms of Love Church ... the end of a LONG missions day ... but we were really refreshed as our talented Cade, Austin and Chapman played and lead worship along with 4 of the local girls who sang with them ... a much needed time of prayer and filling with the Holy Spirit .... AWESOME

More tomorrow ... please pray for our young adults to see/have a vision of Christ that they never saw before !!!!!