Today was our first day at YES! And it was a very busy day!  We started the morning with ice breaker activities and worship through song!  Next Judy, Caroline and Kaitlyn lead the group in a devotion study of Psalm 139 which focused on how each of us is fearfully and wonderfully created by God. Each a unique creation of our Heavenly Father. The girls shared how they see themselves - both positive and negative. Then we discussed how God sees each of us and how this compares to our own world view. The group discussed how God sees us as his children. Each girl was given a pocket mirror to write two encouraging words to serve as a reminder of how God views them.

After a wonderful time of sharing, we split into multiple activities.

Kathi and Jane lead a group through some basic first aid and dental hygiene as they worked to build first aid kits for the girls to take home. The girls were so very excited to have a first aid kit with various sizes of band-aids, alcohol wipes, antibiotic cream, and benadryl (children's and adult). They discussed wound care, how to perform CPR and what to do when either an infant or an adult is choking. Each girl also received toothbrushes and toothpaste. This was a much appreciated activity!

Laura and Judy lead a group for canvas painting. It was great to see the individual, creative minds as they chose what to paint. This is always a fun activity for the girls!

For each group, they ended there activity with group sharing and discussion concerning the girls lives today. Praise God that the girls were very actively participating in the activities and the discussions!

After lunch, the entire group began our Recorder class and ended with a successful round of Hot Cross Buns!

Chepito, Mike, Jill, Kaitlyn, Caroline, Samuel and Jonathan began the construction project. First, the team removed the plywood exterior and the sheet rock (interior) of the first wall. We have a current plan to replace three walls in total.  Unfortunately, the studs in the wall were infested with terminates and the wood was completely rotten. The team proceeded to build a temporary support wall, then removed the bad studs and rebuilt the entire frame for the wall. Finally, the team added the new wood siding and new window for the wall. By the late afternoon, Judy, Jane, Kathi, and Laura had also contributed to the construction - everyone was helping to place nails and hold boards.  Might I add it was pouring down rain from noon through the end of the day - yet the work continued!!

Here is the before picture:

Now the wall is gone, the support is in place and the framing is gone:

Here comes the frame:

Other shots through the day:

Jane, Kaitlyn and Caroline...

Mike....

Jonathan and Kathi....

Samuel...

 Chepito...our fearless leader from The Word at Work...

At the end of the day...putting the door back on - in this picture you can see the rain...

Hear the rain!!

At the end of the day we looked at the studs on the second wall and were happy to discover that there are only a few rotten studs for that wall. We will begin the second wall tomorrow and then investigate the third wall (which is the largest). We cannot leave the building unsecured, so we must start and complete an entire wall each day. We cannot leave a partially built structure due to the possibility of theft.

We ended the day with a wonderful meal, prepared by our friend Yolanda and her family! God was looking after the details as he provided a outdoor, covered eating area for dinner. (Last year we ate in the open air, sitting on cement .... if it had been raining then, we would have been soaked!)

Please pray for continued relationship building with the staff and students at YES.
Please pray for strength, stamina and unity on the work project.
Please pray for opportunities to share God's love and hope with people we encounter.

Wow! What an incredible day! We began the day with pastries for breakfast and a quick visit to the Belize sign for a picture. Today was a national holiday in Belize called "National Heroes and Benefactors Day." The holiday used to have the name "Baron Bliss Day."  This day celebrates Baron Bliss and others who are national heroes or who have benefited Belize. Henry Edward Ernest Victor Bliss, 4th Baron Bliss, commonly known as Baron Bliss (16 February 1869 - 9 March 1926), was a British-born traveler who willed nearly two million Belize dollars to a trust fund for the benefit of the citizens of what was then the colony of British Honduras, now Belize. We met some Belizean's who were celebrating and taking time to teach their children about the wonderful benefactor - Baron Bliss.

Here is the group at the Belize sign:

After breakfast, we traveled north to Corozal to visit with Moises and his family. We were all moved by the passion and excitement of seeing God show up in so many places today.  We had originally planned to visit Moises on Friday, but due to the fact that today was a national holiday in Belize, we could not go to work at YES. We arranged to visit with Moises and his family and set about planning to travel to Corozal. God worked so that we could find an individual, who owned a restaurant and was willing to open today to serve lunch to our team and Moises's family. How wonderful that this person and his staff were willing to work on the holiday!!  Imagine if someone called you the morning of Memorial Day and asked you to come and work over lunch?  Would you willingly go and serve?

Many of us were able to reconnect and enjoyed hearing Moises share about how much he was looking forward to graduating high school this June with the hopes to continue his education in the United States at a university in the fall.

A picture of Moises and Suzie and another of Moises and his mother, Magdalena.

A group picture - our team and Moises's family:

After lunch, we all traveled over some very rough roads and a hand-operated ferry to arrive at the Cerros Mayan ruins. While traveling on the ferry we spotted a manatee in the river - see the lighter color in the water in the picture below! In 10 years of going to Belize, this is the first time we have seen a manatee.

Here is the ferry:

 Here are Jonathan and Manuel turning the crank for the ferry, while Moises looks on:

 Pictures at the Mayan ruins...next to the ocean...

 Samuel enjoys some coconut....

Moises with brothers - Minor, Jonathan, Moises, and Manuel

Inside of a coconut - after we drank the coconut water, then we ate the meat of the fruit:

 
A picture of part of the Mayan Ruins:

 Caroline and Judy enjoying the beach with Elisa...more of the family in the background

Jane pauses by a palm tree...

Magdalena (Moises's mom) had prepared several sets of fresh produce for us to take to the ruins...we had fresh oranges with salt and pepper on them (interesting), sugar cane, coconut, and a fruit called Star Apple.

Here is the Star Apple Fruit:

Magdalena also sent us home with fresh mango and apple custard (another exotic fruit - see picture). Such a blessing for the family to share their fresh fruit from their own fruit trees!

Here is the apple custard fruit:

Tomorrow we are looking forward to a day with the students and staff at Youth Enhancement Services (YES)...more to come.

Also, yesterday we visited a work site at 8-mile or Western Paradise. Some of our groups from the past worked on the foundation and the pillars for this community building. It is currently serving as the location for the First Stone Church.

Second story - two walls are up and the beginning of the roof....

Here we are at Dallas Love Field as we begin our adventure earlier today!

Hello from Belize! Thank you so much everyone for all your prayers. We had a great connection in Denver and landed in Belize almost 20 minutes ahead of schedule! All of our luggage has arrived and we safely made it to the hotel. We met with Chepito and are planning on going to dinner. Tomorrow we are hoping to meet with Moses and his family.

Please pray for the following:
  * that God would be glorified through team members' thoughts, words, actions and reactions as we seek Him on this trip
  * that God would work through the team to bless the people of Belize and that we would be bold in proclaiming the gospel, drawing others closer to Him
  *for group unity to be formed among team members

P.S. We hope to send a picture later!

The 2018 Belize Mission Team is nearly ready to go - JUST ONE MORE WEEK before we FLY! This is our 10th year to send a mission team to Belize!! It is amazing to reflect on our time in Belize and the many close relationships that we have with individuals in Belize.

This year we have 12 members plus our resource from The Word at Work, giving us a total of 13 people on the team.  We will begin our travels on Sunday, March 11th and return on Sunday, March 18th. Please follow us here. We will plan to post at the end of each day with news of the day and any new prayer requests.

The team has been meeting together for months in preparation, taking short term mission training, and praying for the people we will meet in Belize.  As in past years, we plan to work alongside Youth Enhancement Services (YES) for the majority of the week. We will be helping to replace plywood with wood siding on one of the classroom buildings as well as sharing in worship, fun activities and sewing during the week.  The primary focus of our team is to engage the people that we meet in Belize to share God's love and encouragement as we build relationships. 

This year the majority of the students are also teen mothers. Some of our planned activities include building first aid kits and creating growth charts for the students to use with their children.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us this year and in the past - your prayers and financial support are key to our mission program. As we begin our trip this year....

1. Please pray for safe travels and health during our time away
2. Please pray for the students, staff, administrators, and teen moms at Youth Enhancement Services
3. Please pray that our team will support and encourage one another
4. Please pray that our team will be open to the Lord's leading each day

We are excited to renew friendships and make new friends. Lord, help us to love each other as you have commanded.

John 15:16  - 17 "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other."

Some pictures...

As we are packing this morning, I wanted to post just a few more pictures...

Ishell and her daughter (2 yrs. old) going for the horseback ride...

Here is the group getting onto the horses. We had 18 people and two 2 yr olds for horseback riding..

And they are off....

Here are four of the young kids having fun in the pool!

On Friday Ms Vinney came to visit us at breakfast. How wonderful to reconnect with old friends!

Here are the new rooms at the Training center!  Next year they will be able to support 10 residential students. Each student will have one of these rooms. Soon they will have the beds and chests of drawers.

Here is Mimi with Celine.  It was wonderful to see Celine again - for the 3rd year. God has increasingly granted us the ability to see some of the past students even after they graduate.

Another picture of the Mayan ruins. The four people standing at the top of the stairs are speaking in a normal voice and those of us in the plaza below can hear them as if they were standing right beside us!!  The entire plaza has limestone buildings and it creates acoustic chamber. So the priests or kings could address all of their people at once.

Wonderful picture of Moises's mother (Magdalena), Chepito (our fearless Word at Work leader), and Moises.

More pictures...

Some additional pictures from the last few days...

A wonderful sunset....

Some of the team at the top of the Mayan tower at Altun Ha

Altun Ha...the tower was very high!!

Our group with 10 family members from Moises's family ... we had a wonderful dinner...