Friday Night Youth Group

An amazing day that ended with a wild Belizian dance party at Strong Tower. This place grows on me a little more every day. I'm excited to wake up and see the ocean from the roof, watch the rain clouds roll in, and cover myself in bug spray.

Tonight was youth group with a special graduation party. We had a big BBQ outside the church before hand, and Elly had her first experience talking to a crack-addict prostitute. I'll let you ask her about that :) Later, I got to sing Pomp and Circumstance with some original lyrics (which no one in Belize thought were at all funny) and Joel gave a heart-felt graduation address that mimicked Jimmy Fallon "Thank You" letters. We dressed one of the kids up like Richard Simmonds and the rest is history. About 65 kids came and spent the night at church instead of on the street and every single one of them heard the gospel message. I was blown away by the fact that this entire church was started out of prayer, and the willing hearts of Joel and Denise to move according to the Lord's leading. God can do so much and desires to use us to accomplish great things. Who are we to make plans, or question where He is moving us? This church is truly changing the violent and desolate area that it is in, and there is so much hope now that wasn't there years ago. At the end of the night the entire youth group played Let's Dance 2 TOGETHER, and I don't think I have ever laughed so hard in my life.

I get the chance to teach some of the girls here some vocal basics and I'm pretty unsure about what to teach them. I've really only given voice lessons to one person who was really eager to learn, so I have no idea how to approach girls who are learning out of obligation.

This coming week Whitney gets here and things start to settle down for the rest of the summer. Pray that all of the girls in the house would mesh well, open up to each other, and grow in the Lord.

Have a great day!

Thanks for the Phones!

Weh di go on!

Unlike bow-hunting and professional whistling, I am not very good at blogging, but it seems like the thing to do if you are traveling and want to update everyone at once. Here I can tell you important things like ice cream is $42 for a half gallon, I saw an iguana for the first time, and Joel has two new dogs named after Israelite priests. Anyway...

I arrived in Belize City Tuesday afternoon and made my first contact in the immigration line. Everyone speaks quickly and quietly here, so sometimes I just pretend that I know what they're saying in order to move along. Not always a good idea. I accidentally set up a meeting with some randm guy to take him to church. Sigh...I actually had a hard time adjusting to...well, to everything Tuesday. I don't speak the language, or know how to make Fry Jacks, so the first day was a little uncomfortable. But once you get over yourself and see that Belize wasn't designed for you, and point your fan directly at the foot of your bed, things calm down a little.

I'm staying at Strong Tower which is a shelter for girls from abusive homes. The house overlooks the Caribbean Sea in a pretty safe area of the city. Sheena is the only staff member and she makes sure that they are well taken care of. I had a great talk with her on the roof last night about the ministry and all that it could become. But truly, the laborers are few and the support is inconsistent. This is not a city that one comes to lightly to be a missionary, it is dangerous, run down, and full poverty stricken. Many of the people who come here to serve actually end up moving out to the cayes to live in American colonies or serve in wealthier areas, so it is hard for Sheena to get the help that she needs. It is a huge blessing that both Elly and Whitney will be here for the summer and beyond.

Thanks to everyone who donated cell phones. Those phones alone will bring in about $1500 Belize for Strong Tower, which is huge. So if you have old phones in good condition lying around, consider saving them for the girls here.

Well, off to watch a pelican search for fish before we head to the Mexican circus. Have a great day everyone.