Belize prayer update 7

“In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.

  For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability.

  Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people.

  And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.

  So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part.” 

2 Cor. 8: 2-6 

 

 

Received from the Belize Team 6 PM Tuesday evening:

 

“It was another amazing day. We once again split up.  We sent 4 people off to the Belize City YES campus to finish caulking the windows.

The rest of the group headed out to Lord's Bank to be at the school and work on a construction project out there.

It was so good to see so many familiar faces from last year, to be greeted with hugs, and to meet new students.

There are a couple of students who only come two days a week (they only come on the days when Pastor Ruth because she is there to "discipline" them- they listen to her). Since Pastor Ruth comes every day during our visit, those girls are here every day this week.  The ultimate goal is to assimilate them into a full week school schedule here at YES, and then one day into a more traditional school.

The day started with a time of worship and devotion.  We sang a few songs, and then Rob/Sophie led a devotion. We finished out our devo time with a little bit of small group interaction, and then it was time to start the day.

Judy led the way in teaching sewing. This was the girls first time they had ever worked on a quilt and they jumped right into the project.

Suzie (assisted by Presley and Jenn) led a computer class, and then a good portion of our group started working on a new education classroom. The long term vision is to have girls be able to board there if they are living in abusive situations, or at the very least have a place to take a hot shower (right now it's a place where many of them get their only hot meals).  The group is working to tape/mud the walls.

A small group of 3 went out to the market with Yolanda. If you have been on the prayer chain in previous years you might remember Yolanda and Oscar’s names. They live in the Burial Grounds right next to the school/church. Oscar is a wonderful woodcarver (and many of us have a cross/bowl that he made), and Yolanda is a wonderful cook. She is making us dinner tonight, which meant we had to make a trip to the market to get food to cook for dinner.

Tina continued her conversations about the church in Orange Walk. There are five people who have come down with the Lubbock group to be a part of continued sewing ministry. One of them, Gene Day, has been coming to Belize for 10+ years. He has a passion for ministry in Belize and it turns out he owns a steel company.  There is no steel manufactured anywhere in Belize, and so getting it to make beams is tricky, but with multiple brains on the project and some prayer, anything is possible. 

Everyone except Scot is headed over to the Burial Grounds now to eat.  Scot has been asked by BERT (the Belize Emergency Response Team) to come observe a class (an EMT class) and evaluate the teacher.

Please pray…
- for Judy, Suzie, Tanner, and Colton who will be leading the devotional tomorrow

- pray for our construction teams and continued productivity
- pray for our time with the girls, in the classes, as we worship, that we can share our lives and our faith with them. We are continuing the quilt project and starting a new craft project tomorrow.
- pray for those leading the classes
- we will be teaching some dental hygiene during the trip, pray for open ears to ear that information
- pray for our team as we continue to grow together

- pray that we would learn from the people of Belize; from their love, their pain, their suffering, their joy, and their faith

- pray that we would serve compassionately and lovingly

 

Praise the LORD.

   Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens.

 Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness.

 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre,

  praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe,

  praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.

   Praise the LORD.

Psalm 150