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Saturday March 23

Hello Iowans! Today was our free day after a long week of work. We started our day off with some yummy muffins and then we headed right to the boat. We enjoyed the warm sunshine as we headed to the island of Caye Cauker. Most of the team had the opportunity to jump in the water and snorkel. While a few other members stayed on the boat and soaked in the sun. While snorkeling we saw snappers, eel rays, coral reefs, and more beautiful sea life. After we got back in the boat some got out again to swim with sting rays and friendly nurse sharks (everyone made it out safely). Then we got to explore the wonderful island of Caye Cauker. Many of us enjoying delicious meals for lunch along with some ice cream, shopping, hair braiding, hammocking, picture taking, and lots more fun! After a few hours of fun in the sun we gathered together to get a team picture in our Belize shirts. Then we hopped back into the boat to head back to Belize City. On the way back we had the chance to feed some tarpel...
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Friday, March 22

Friday, March 22 Today was the final day of our work projects! The group at the church finished building the wall around the parking lot and patched holes in the wall of the church and roof and resealed it, the group at the caretakers house finished painting the house yellow and filling in holes around the window with cement, and the group at the other house finished up all of their projects. Sometimes on these trips, we think we know what to expect, but sometimes we need to expect the unexpected. Today Karen, Kyleigh, and Shyanna were walking back to their worksite as they passed a man in a van with his family and he called them over to his van. They went over to talk to him to find that he saw them walking from the church and wanted a bible. While he was asking for the bible, he told them that he was visiting Belmopan for business and wanted protection as he visited this new place. He received the bible with words of encouragement from all three women Kris, Karen and Steph had ...
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Thursday March 21

Some one described today as a crazy, mad race to no where in particular. That’s not too far from the truth. We started the day with an unexpected and un-seasonal pouring rain that continued as we went from the hotel to breakfast, to the school, and to our work sites. All three sites got a slow start, as we all hunkered inside to avoid the rain. Once the work started, it was a mad dash to catch up.   We had a quick lunch break for pizza (everyone was thrilled) and then it was back at it.   For some, the time to quit didn’t come soon enough because they are really starting to feel the aches that come with a week of hard work. For others, it came far too quickly, as we see all the work that still needs done. Those who were participating in the baseball/softball ministry took off and the rest of us kept working as hard and as quickly as we could.   All the groups worked well past our quitting time and while some people went back to get ready for dinner, some combined effo...
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Wednesday, March 20

Hello Iowa! You make your plans and you hear God laugh. For several months now the two groups that go to Grace one Primary School have been preparing songs, devos, and skits. SURPRISE!! When we got to the school this morning we had to break up into four groups. When we found this out yesterday we had to regroup and rewrite out all of our plans. On a missions trip this is what being flexible means. So we went into the school this morning feeling unprepared and unsure about how it would all turn out. God however had it all under control as always. “For me it gave us more individual time with the kids. We actually got to talk to them and it gave them time to ask us questions about Iowa. I loved it! That is how we grow and stretch, by being flexible and obedient.” (Julie) “I liked being able to experience both of the groups big and small. Personally I enjoyed the smaller group more. Our group really connected with the kids and they were able to teach us more songs that we didn’t know.” (...
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Tuesday Day 4

March 19 2018 Hi Iowa! warm greetings from sunny Belize, today my day consisted of rising early to have breakfast at My Fathers House, then going to Grace Primary #2. My school group (Kenda, Tracy, and I ) got to meet our school kiddos today! we did our devotions, sang songs and did Q and A. They were fascinated when I told them how id never seen a wild iguana or what a snow storm was like. After leaving Grace #2 my team went to our work sight. My group's job is to replace/rebuild the roof on the church. So we stripped the roof of its thin broken layer of concrete, knocking coconuts and giant palm tree leaves off as we went. It was hard work in the sun, but after the first later of concrete was off, we felt pretty accomplished. After our time at the worksite I chose to go play softball with the kids, playing softball with the kids was the highlight of my day, just seeing them be happy to have our company and being able to connect with them really showed me the difference I could ...
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March 18, Monday

Belize Blog Monday March 18, 2019 Greetings Iowans and other friends!  Today marked the beginning of our official work in Belize.  We started the day with our devotions at Grace Primary and Grace Secondary Schools.  We sang songs with the children, preformed skits, and shared Bible lessons.  After we finished at Grace, we headed to our work sites for a long day of projects.  We are split into 3 teams working on 3 large projects.  The first team is working on renovating a home for a mother and her autistic child.  The main things that the home is needing is 2 new sets of stairs, some new walls (we would use drywall, they use something more like hardened cardboard), new kitchen floor, new siding, and some paint.  We finished a lot of demolition today and half of the kitchen floor.  We are praying that we will be able to finish by Friday! The second team is working on the caretaker’s home of Open Door Believer Church, the church that we’ve tea...
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Sunday, March 17

Belize Blog Sunday March 17, 2019 Today was a great day. It was a culmination of all my favorites rolled into one: food, music, and nature! We started the day eating a very well-prepared breakfast at a place called My Father’s House. It consisted of the infamous fry bread I’d heard so much about, and yes, it’s delish, along with local fresh papaya, bananas, pineapple, and watermelon. Once we finished there, we headed to Open Door Believers Chapel. I was very excited to get to experience church here, knowing how much we as a church connect with and help to serve this church family.   The experience was quite different than what we are used to, but our Belizean family made sure we all felt at home. As the worship leader for our church, I zoned in on the music immediately. The worship team played and sang with such confidence and grace; you could instantly tell they were there to worship and didn’t care who knew it. The pastor and the team worked so fluidly together. They didn’t...
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