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 worry about the congregation, they just sang and played like they were the only ones there. Oh. but they weren’t alone – the congregation responded in worship. There was clapping, people singing as they were led to, swaying and praying during the song time. I was surrounded by brothers and sisters in Christ that knew what it meant to sing a joyful noise. It was beautiful. They chose a song we do at ICU called Lord I Need You. You’d never believe what they did… They added a reggae swing to the chorus. Whaaaaa?!?! We were all smiling so big! I was thinking, how do you even change a song like that? Well they did, and it was great. Some of us swayed right along with the beat as we worshiped, it was a wonderful experience.  I learned that there are times we do set boundaries in our worship, even in the delivery of our songs, and we shouldn’t. At church this morning, there were no boundaries. It was genuine, from the heart, spirit-filled worship.  It was a simple lesson for me. We don’t belong in a box, and neither does our worship.

After church we had a quick lunch and headed to Lamanai, to see historical Mayan Ruins. We had to take a 40-minute boat ride through the New Belize River which allowed us to soak in the sun, see some other cultures along the way like Mennonites fishing and spending time with their families outdoors, and local fisherman trying to hand line fish to bring home. Once at the ruins we trekked about an hour or so around several historical buildings and heard stories of ancient Mayan civilization (more pictures to come!) It reminded me how small we really are and how much we really don’t know about God’s amazing creation. We saw so many different animals, too! Howler monkeys were the noisiest, but we also saw Kookaburra birds, white and blue cranes, pelicans, and learned about so many kinds of local jungle trees. We didn’t spot any gators, but maybe next time 😊 We took the boat ride back to our tour guide docks, then headed to a taco joint for dinner that was good! I had my first glass of fresh watermelon juice for diner thanks to a suggestion from Kris Buchanan, a veteran to the Belize missions’ trip. We had an hour and a half van ride back to our hotel, but Nomar was our driver, so we made decent time 😉. Shortly after arriving ‘home’, we finished the night off with some group worship outside together. It was nice to end cap the evening with our team, thanking God for a safe and fulfilling trip so far. It was also a good opportunity to reign ourselves in and prepare for a harder day – a day of serving, teaching, and labor; the mission we are here for. We would appreciate any prayers you could offer up as we go into the more challenging parts of our week. We appreciate the support we get from home, and know we are here for a purpose. God’s work isn’t supposed to be easy, but boy is it a blessing to give!

Jolena

Today we went to church with our Belize family.  It was great to meet some new people and play with the cutest little girl Liana. We also went to some Mayan ruins and learned a lot of history about their culture. Also Nomar's driving isnt bad at all.  He just wants to get to point A to point B in the quickest way he can.

What stuck out is how when we aren't distracted by our electronics how much more in tune we are with worshipping God.  It is great to unplug and take notice of what really matters. I looked around on the boat ride to the ruins and there wasn't a member of the team on their phone.  This trip is making me just sit back and enjoy what God has given us and appreciate the people he puts in our path.

Time to get to the "Why" part of the trip tomorrow. The next five days are the reason we came on the trip.

Andy

Day 2

Sunday started off rough for Ang. Spilled Chris's coffee that she generously shared. The coffee that I brought for the team wasn't instant coffee. I let Malorie get an snow cone from a vendor totally forgetting about not drinking local water and forgot to bring my encouragement cards to breakfast.
But my day all changed during the service at Open Door Believers. To be able to sing with complete strangers and worship together gave me goose bumps.
Lunch was a Belize style drive thru. And it was amazing chicken, rice, beans, potatoe salad and plantain.
We ate while Normar drove to our river boat ride that took us to Mayan ruins. The hike was breath taking and challenging for some. But we did it and it was awesome!!!!!
So many laughs with everyone today during our travels and time together.
Not gonna lie a little nervous for tomorrow and going to the school. But I know our lesson plans will be great.
P.S Team mascot is a rotten coconut named Winnie

Angie I

Mals blog
Today was day two, we started the morning at My Fathers House where we ate breakfast before heading to church. For breakfast I was able to have the fresh fruit I have been looking forward to for the longest time. But there was a down side, Ryan and Anthony forced me to eat beans with Ryan holding my head and Anthony forcing it into my mouth. Finally we got to the church and vibe flowing through the church during warship was amazing. Then we were able to go on a boat ride through a river in the jungle, we hiked the Mayan Ruins, then Kris B and I made a howler monkey angry with us for just trying to talk to it