Tim and Julie Arrived

The long awaited day came when Tim and Julie,

TJ, Simeon, and Gabe arrived in Belize.

We are happy to share a home with them here in Belize.

Our dream finally became a reality!

The first glimpse of their airplane upon their arrival.

We identified them as they walked off the plane.

 

Closer to hug and assist with luggage.

 

Dad and Son enjoying being together

How will all that luggage get into the back of the car/

The men managed to pack it all in.

We enjoyed a meal together on our way home.

The boys tried on Dad's new hat.

 

 

 

 Grandma tried it on too.

 

There will be many more fun things to try together!

We thank God for bringing our family home to live with us!

Pray that God would continue to bond us together in love.

Pray that we will impact our community as a loving Christian family.

The neighborhood children were waiting to greet us 

and help carry the luggage into the house.

Affects and Clean Up after Hurricane Earl

We didn't sleep much during the night 

because of the noises from the strong winds outside.

When daylight came we slipped outside to take a look around.

Our trees planted a year ago were bent by the wind.

The small bushes too showed the affect from the strong winds.

Limbs and branches from the big fallen shade tree behind our house.

The top of the tree looked stripped of it's former beauty.

The fields behind our house were flooded.

 

We had a loud flapping sound from a loose shingle all night!

Our neighbor's outhouse got destroyed.

Our climbing spinach plant got stripped.

 

and flattened on the ground.

 

Our back yard held flooded water.  

We were glad that the storm was more windy than rainy.

We took a morning walk around our neighborhood 

despite the drizzling rain.

More clean-up awaits us on the church grounds.

 

Earl shaved this beautiful old tree.

Our neighbor's fallen tree.

A neighbor lost the roof to his working place.

 

Our dear brother in Christ, Patrick Veliz, is a hard worker.

He said, "I'm glad to be your servant."

We appreciated his ability to use his machete to clean-up.

 

Galen worked hard too!

 

 

When Phyllis was carrying branches 

she felt something move at her fingers.

It was a worm the same color as the wood.

"It lives in the wood", Patrick told us.

Did you find that worm peeping at you?

What a big brush pile by the road! 

We hope the community wagon will come and pick it up.

If not when it's dry we will have a huge bun fire.

Friends from Belize posted pictures of more flooding and damages.

We will surely see more as we travel to the Belize airport 

to pick up Tim and Julie and the boys on Saturday.

Belize Evangelical Garifuna Convention

Andrew Nunez, Pastor of Believers Mennonite Ministries in New York,
invited us to help him organize a convention 

for Belize Evangelical Garifuna Council of Churches.
Pastor Andrew originally from Belize
yearly visits Belize to encourage Garifuna pastors.

Invitations went out to Garifuna churches all over Belize.

The first evening was mostly attended by local women in the area.

A few men showed up too.

Patrick Veliz and Mario Mejia, President of the Belize Garifuna Council of Churches,
 helped organize and lead the meetings.

Patrick and his son played the drums as we sang.

We created a circle of prayer at the close of that first meeting.

The second day was dedicated to teaching.

Brother Andrew taught on the subject of how to study the Bible

Galen taught on how to organize the church.

The Dangriga Mayor sent a letter of recognition to be read.

Life stories were shared with one another.

This 84 year old pastor still leads a congregation of people.

He rides four miles on his bike to his farm every day!
He also speaks on the radio to encourage believers.

He lives his life to the fullest and sets an example for others.

84 year old Brother Jimmot Ray Mejia

Two evenings of the convention we had services in a local park.

Some of the friends Phyllis made

The last day plans were made for next year's convention.

There was a parade and chatting time at the park afterwards.
Many people were reached throughout the three day convention.

The sharing went on until the sun set and than into the evening hours.
We met many new friends and found encouragement from their life stories.