Month: July 2010

This morning we had the same routine. Christine led us in devos and prayer. Ron picked us up at 8:15am, and after a quick stop at his church to change vehicles, we loaded into a van, and a pickup truck and drove another 15-minutes to our worksite for the day – a home Ron is building for Jose Cruz – a man with kidney failure who has become an advocate for getting dialysis machines into Belize. We mixed cement and poured a ramp for him, as he is an amputee and in a wheelchair. We also hung masonite in several rooms of the house. We worked quite hard. At noon we changed then drove to a town where we ate tacos, panadas, tostadas, etc. Very good! We then went to the Xunantunich Mayan ruins and climbed the pyramids. Was really amazing! I almost caught a 3-foot iguana. I got a finger on his tail as he dove into his cave hole in the side of a ruin. Would have been icing on an otherwise perfect trip. lol! We came back to camp, cleaned up, had dinner, then were off again to Step of Faith Church where we ministered. Adriana taught in the Spanish Bible study, I taught in the English Bible study, and the rest of the team did the children’s program. It was a very good night! After a bus ride back to camp, we were treated to ice cream by Craig and Jadine, and had a team debriefing meeting. Was really great hearing from everyone about their experiences and learnings. We are now packing, cleaning, and showering so we can get out right after breakfast tomorrow. Can’t wait to get home! Thanks for your prayers and thoughts!

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Same routine this morning. Dylan led devotions and prayer time, then we headed off in four different directions. One team went to Pastor Craig’s house to work on his internet tower, another team worked on running the electric lines in the Bible Center and installing windows, another team went to Pastor Ron’s place to work with children, and another team went to the church to mix and pour cement. I cut the grass of the entire lot of the Bible Center. All of the rock-clearing we did paid off, but it’s funny how when the grass is cut you realize how many you missed. lol! Anyways, it is a scorcher today, and we are all drenched and sizzling! Lot’s of sunblock used today. After lunch we continued our work projects, and then came back to camp to clean up for dinner. This evening we went over to Pastor Ron’s house for a time of fellowship. He had caught a scorpion under his television before we arrived and had it waiting for us in a bottle. Very cool! It was fun to just chill on the hammocks, eat snacks, play games, and for me … catch a bunch of geckos. Good times! Back at camp we had a team meeting. Tomorrow we will do our final work projects in the morning, change, then go to see some Mayan ruins.

Another thing I wanted to mention … There are a few things that I really care about on trips of this nature in terms of our witness. One is that we eat all of our food as it is offensive to others in many cultures when food is not eaten, and insulting when it is thrown away. So, on this, I am a self-admitted stickler. The team has been absolutely fantastic in this regard and I really have appreciated their good attitudes and their willingness to just suck it up and eat it – which has not been difficult as the food has been honestly very good. Another thing is that we be flexible and respectful of our hosts. Yesterday I received compliments from both the other team that has been staying here and from Mr. Joe – the camp director.

The leader of the other team said that usually on trips like this when teams find themselves together, for the most part they just keep to themselves. Well, most of you know me, and I push the issue of inclusiveness and friendliness. Our kids were terrific at befriending and reaching out to the other team. One night the arrived home late and needed to walk through our team meeting. Rather than just ignore them or tolerate them walking through, I told the guys to give them a crazy applause when they got off the bus. We did, and the leaders came to me later and said they were floored and so touched by our gesture in cheering for them, and that it really boosted the morale of their team. And, of course, our night of worship and prayer together the other night was great. Mr. Joe came to me yesterday and apologized that our living conditions aren’t all that great. They have a nice dorm in the back, but the other team has been staying there. He thanked me for our patience with him as he was trying to get to little things like making showers (yes, making showers) and things to improve our stay. He then said, not once has any one of our team members complained, and that all have been helpful and had exemplary attitudes. He said he hopes we will come back when he has the place up and running nice (he and his wife, Piper, have only been here a year or so), and that it has been a privilege having us here. Now that’s the kind of memory I want people to have of our teams!

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Today was more-or-less our day off. After breakfast Nicole led the devotions and prayer time, then the boys and Adriana went over to do a little work before leaving to Belize City. Ady and a couple of guys finished hanging the sheetrock (Ady’s awesome at it!), and the rest of the guys worked with Bob to get Craig’s internet tower back up as it came crashing down the other day during a storm. Craig and I went into town to pick up some supplies. At 10:45am Ron came and picked us up in the bus. We drove to Belize City and dropped off the team from New Jersey at the airport, then we headed to Bacab Eco Park – a water park where we had lunch and an awesome time swimming for about 3 hours. It was a gorgeous day and we even got to see a really nice Iguana hanging out by the pool. The ride home was one of the quietest yet. Everyone has been working so hard, and a nice afternoon of playing in the pool did the trick. 🙂 This evening some of the boys went with Bob to try and finish fixing Craig’s internet tower. Other than that, we are just chilling and shooting to get to bed by 11pm tonight. Thanks for your continued prayer! The time has been flying. Just today everyone was like, “Woa! We only have 3 more days?”

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I am currently trying to get photo albums uploaded, but I have to have uninterrupted connection to the internet for them to save. Working on Day 3 pics now. Hopefully by tomorrow I’ll be able to be caught up. We’ll see. 🙂

Well, after 2 more days without internet we are back up again. Here’s the scoop on Saturday and Sunday …

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Same morning routine today. When the teams went over to the worksite, however, I stayed behind to finish up my message prep for this evening’s youth service and tomorrow’s church service. I joined the teams around 11am. They got the roof of the veranda finished today, got sheetrock up in the upstairs, and ran a lot of electrical wires. We also got the Fritzler’s fence painted for them, and did more Christian Education prep. After lunch we went back to the camp and changed into our swimming suites, then headed about 10-minutes away to a resort. There was a leopard there, a couple of monkeys, and gorgeous exotic birds. After checking them out, we swam for about an hour-and-a-half, then stopped by the Belizian version of 7-11 for some drinks and snacks. Back at camp we cleaned up and then had pizza for dinner. At 6:45pm we were picked up by the bus and taken to Ron’s church where we participated in the youth service. I preached, and the students joined in all of their games and activities. Good times! Back at camp we did a run-through for tomorrow. The majority of the team will be running the children’s service. Jeff, Mike, Ady, and I will do worship and I will preach in the adult service. Two other teams that are here right now will also be at church with us, and the team from Oklahoma (staying here at the camp with us, called World Impact, coincidentally … really cool people!) will be doing some dramas and sharing a couple of testimonies in the service as well.

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Thursday, July 8, 2010

11am – Cold showers feel excellent here. So hot! For breakfast we had cereal, bananas, and muffins. Abigail then led devotions and prayed for us. I also collected money from everyone to convert at the bank. At 8:30am we went over to the worksite. Ady’s group went up to Craig’s house and worked on children’s ministry stuff. Bob worked on a toilet in their home, and the rest of the teams were at the construction site where we finished the deck. We stopped work about 10:30am and cleaned up. I caught a monster toad today, so everyone got a kick out of that. Ren then went to get a broom, and there was a lizard on it, so I caught that as well. Good fun!

8pm – Drove to Pastor Ron’s place and picked up another team from New Jersey and together we drove about an hour-and-a-half to Rio Frio Cave. It was an incredible beauty of nature. It had a massive entrance and inside the roof of the cave was about 150 feet high. There was another opening about 150-200 yards on the other side, so there was sufficient light to see. There was a river running through it with a sandy beach inside the cave. A couple of the kids could not wait to swim … no, actually, they slipped into the water trying to cross the river for pics. It was quite comical. We hiked around and took lots of pictures. After that we went to the Rio Frio Pools where there were small rapids and water falls and spent about an hour swimming, sliding down the rapids, and playing in and behind the waterfalls. We did have a few bumps and bruises from people slipping on rocks. Nicole slipped and other girl slipped with her, hitting her ankle on a rock. She was able to move it, which was a really good thing. We got ice on it right away, and as of this writing, the swelling has subsided quite a bit. I ended up carrying her back up the mountain trail about a quarter mile on my back. I got a very good work out you could say. We got a pair of crutches from Pastor Ron for her to use, so pray that she will heal quickly. I also whacked my head pretty good when one of the Belizian boys challenged me to go down under the water and grab a rock from the river floor. With hands in front of me I went down cautiously. Then, out of nowhere, Wham! My forehead slammed into a bog ole’ rock. I got myself a nice little memory wound. Ha Ha! Anyways, we had a very nice time mingling with the other time and aside from the minor injuries, had a wonderful time. When we got back to camp we had dinner and are about to have a team meeting.

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10:20pm. This evening we went to Pastor Ron’s church. We led worship, and Adriana taught the Spanish Bible study. Another team from new Jersey did the kids’ ministry, so our team sat in on the English Bible study. Our team then rode back to our camp on a packed bus, all of our team standing in the aisles. We then had a good team meeting and enjoyed a little free time. After our meeting, some of the boys spotted a small tarantula on the side of the patio, just feet away from where we were sitting. We got some good pics, several of the team ran away screaming, and I played with it, putting it on my head for fun. Such a cute little guy; how could I resist. Plus, I needed to see what I will look like with a toupee. lol!

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This morning we had breakfast at 7:30am. After breakfast Peter led us in devotions and prayer. At 8:30am we waled over to the worksite, prayed, then got to work. Some of the team was working on prepping boards for the deck, another part of the team was getting the base of the deck in place, and the rest of the team worked clearing rocks from the property. May not seem important, but until that’s done they can’t get a mower on the property. It is very muddy and quite hot, but thank God it was cloudy. Of course, there is absolutely no stopping the sweat. It just pours and pours. We had to keep the sunscreen rocking and drink lots of water. Craig and I ran to the store and also bought Gatorade so we could replenish our electrolytes, and this really refreshed everyone. We had lunch – hot dogs, beans, and papaya, and then the team did another hour of work on the site. They just returned and are cleaning up so they can relax (which here simply means to sweat less) before dinner. This evening we are helping at Pastor Ron’s church. Ady will be teaching the Spanish Bible Study tonight and next Wednesday, so I helped her prepare this afternoon.

It’s really hot, and some of the kids are whooped working in the heat. Please pray for the health of the team. We have had one case of diareaha, but that student is now doing much better. We are staying right on top of their hydration, but would appreciate your prayers as well.

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This morning our team met at JFK at 4:30am. After getting everyone checked in, we prayed together with parents, took a group pic, then got through security, only losing one bottle of sunscreen in the process … not bad for a group of 24. We then left for Miami. There we had time to grab some lunch before catching our flight to Belize. With the two hour time change, we arrived on time at 12:40pm. Went through Immigration fine, got all of our luggage, then went through Customs. They decided to go through every one of our bags. Fun! But, in the end, we made it through with all of our stuff. Pastor Ron, Craig, his daughter Bethany, and three other young people greeted us, and we loaded into the bus for the ride to Belmopan which took about an hour. After an orientation at our home for the nest 10 days called Blue Thumb Missions, which is right across the street from our primary work site, we got our gear into our rooms. Mr. Joe (Blue Thumb missionary) is putting together our bunks, some of the team are assembling fans, a few of the boys went to pour some cement in the post holes at the work site, and Joe’s wife Piper is making us dinner. After dinner we will have our orientation with Craig & Janine Fritzler.

9:20pm – I was working on getting this post up when we had a sudden thunderstorm. Power has been on and off for the past few hours, but the rain has now stopped and the power is back on. We had a nice dinner of chili and corn bread, and then had an orientation with Craig and Jadine. The crew that went to pour the cement got dumped on by the rainstorm but hung in there and got this very important job done so that our work can proceed on time tomorrow. Their boots got soaked and there is really no way for them to dry in this humidity. So, pray that somehow they’ll be able to dry out a bit. Have caught two toads in our room and a good sized beetle, but so far no scorpions or snakes. 🙂

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Well, in just two days we will be off to lead our 10th youth missions trip from Smithtown Gospel Tabernacle in 5 years. God is good. Please pray for our team of 24 who will be ministering in Belmopan, Belize from July 6-15. We will be constructing the Belize Bible College in partnership with Craig and Jadine Fritzler, as well as doing some ministry with Ron and Linda Braaten. (Ron was the youth pastor here at our church two youth pastors before me.) We had the privilege of hosting Craig in our home last month during our church’s missions convention.

Please also pray for our middle school team going to Toccoa, Georgia (USA) from July 17-23 under the leadership of my assistant, Giovanni Zito. Our oldest daughter Claudia is going to be on that team. We are so proud of her, and know that God is going to use her in a special way on this, her first trip without mom and dad.

Thank you for your prayers and support! We will be blogging as often as possible during the trip, so check back soon for updates.