Monday in Belize

So, today was our first day at the mission sites. My day was personally spent with the Pastor of a “little church in the middle of a pasture”. The church currently draws its congregations from nine neighboring villages. He became pastor of the church 2 years ago and started with 4 members. He now has 61 members and over 100 children in VBS this year! His name is Pastor Floyd. He and his wife Dahlia, and three children Micah, 19; Abigail, 12, and Miracle, 7.(see the picture – Micah is at his grandmother’s in another village) They live in a parsonage across the street from the church with no running water. In order to use the bathroom, we had to empty water into the toilet to drain it (I know too much information). They pick up 80% of their membership and bring them to church each day – usually takes about an hour and costs $150 (Belize dollars) to run their van (donated by a church in TX). God is really blessing their efforts among the people of Belize.
The work that we did today was to finish putting a zinc roof on what will become the youth space and Sunday School space. We also worked along with Norman, a deacon at the church and Anthony, not yet a believer, but attends the church, to build a small room on the back that will be for storage. The work was good, but the time spent with these church leaders learning about their culture, politically, spiritually, and economically. Do you know that 80% of Belize does not have hot water and that the normal weekly pay is about $100? God is truly doing a good work here and its wonderful to see our students making a difference!
Attached are also pictures from the site that Bob Riley and Elizabeth Gerndt are at. They are building a meeting center for a year round children’s homeless shelter. You will also see one of some of the VBS children with Nicole.
There will be more mission experiences to report on, so stay tuned. . . today there was VBS, painting of a house, demolition of a house (oh, it’s about 12x14!!),and so much more!