Homesick

8. June 2010 by admin.

Hi everyone! 
I can’t even tell you how much I miss everybody!  I feel like I’ve been missing home a lot lately, and impatient to come home.  You’d think it would get easier the longer I’m here, but it’s the opposite.  I’ve been living in Belize a year now and I’m exhausted….but the busiest part of the year is still ahead!  We are on the verge of summer camps once again.  Our first camp starts in about 3 weeks, which is nuts.  We’re into full-time camp prep now, five days a week from 9-4.  We all but shut the cafe down completely.  It’s only open about 3 hours a day now, with only two staff working at a time.  Our only menu items now are burgers, hotdogs, fries and drinks.  It’s weird to think I’ll never work another shift there.  So we’re not in town much these days since most of our time is spent at camp now.  Which means internet access is severly limited.  This past week was our first week doing full time camp prep, and I did a bunch of things; I came up with three teachings on purity which I will have to teach to the girls of the two older camps this summer. This is something I’m a bit apprehensive about, because purity is not much of a virtue down here.  I also cleaned up and organized some storage rooms, put together our weekly camp schedule (my pride and joy!), put together a devotion to teach to the staff, and helped come up with ideas for skits, activities, themes, etc.  I am already so proud of our ideas for this summer and I really think this year will be so great.  Even though I’m tired and a bit burnt-out, I’m getting really excited about camps starting.

We have two new staff members now.  Two guys, Danny and Jeremiah, have flown in from California and will be with us the whole summer.  Danny is actually staying until October.  It’s been funny watching them try to fit in and get comfortable living with our crazy Belizean boys.  There are six boys in that 3 bedroom house now!  In the next two weeks we have a team of about 40 coming down from the States to help us with camps for a few weeks.  The MMTers (the Belizeans from town that have been coming back here to camp once a month for retreats and counselor training) will be moving back here to camp in the next couple weeks too, so this place is about to get really busy.  It stays busy until the end of summer, so our lives are all about to change. 

I want to ask for continued hard-core prayer for my hands.  They’ve only gotten worse, and it’s pretty much unbearable now.  The eczema has spread to the backs of my hands now too, and down my wrists a bit.  In addition, other areas of my skin (forearms and neck) are now developing rashes , from who knows what.   It’s routine now that I wake up every night scratching my hands till they bleed and I have to get up and run hot water over them to relieve the itch.  But letting them touch water then dries them out, which makes them flake more.  It’s a vicious circle.  No creams work for more than an hour, not even prescriptions.  I lose a lot of sleep at night now, and I’m worried for when camp starts and I really need my rest.  Not to mention that I can’t touch or handle most things now….my roommates have to peel fruit for me and do the dishes.  My hands are red, itchy, inflammed, and in pain all the time.  Please please pray for a miracle because if they get much worse, or if it spreads, the only option I can think of is to fly home and see a doctor before coming back down here.  But I really don’t have the funds for that, nor do I want to miss out on all the camp prep.  My team needs me now more than ever. 

Two really great things have happened to me recently.  The first is that my best friends Diana and David Hood had their baby boy on April 20^th!  Micah David Elliot Hood has come into the world and doesn’t even know his Aunt Becky yet, but I love him so much!  I just can’t wait to come home and meet him and kidnap him from his parents.  The second great thing is that I got to talk to my darling Cote on the tele the other night!  I cannot tell you how this rejuvenated by spirit and gave me the boost of energy I’d needed.  I hadn’t spoken with her vocally in months and it really was such a treat.  Like you know on Survivor or The Biggest Loser, when they get a phone call home?  My life is pretty much like that.  But it didn’t help with the missing home, and now more than ever I’m homesick. 

So please keep me, my team, and our ministry in your prayers over the next while.  We’ve got a big next few months.  And then…I guess it’s back to the frozen tundra for me!  I’m also starting to feel the stress about returning home.  Thinking about it overwhelms me.  I can’t imagine the heartache of leaving this place and not knowing when or if I’ll come back.  I’ve come to love so many people down here—I feel like I’m married to my roommates, and the boys are like brothers.  I’m nervous about returning to the hustle and bustle of North American culture and trying to remember how to function in it.  I’m trying not to worry about finding a place to live when I get back, or where I’ll stay in the mean time.  About when I’ll return to work, what’s next for me, etc.  Culture shock is always hard coming home after a summer….I can’t imagine after a year and a half!  So please remember all these things in your prayers.  Please send me updates whenever you can, or just an email saying hello.  It really does mean the world to me to hear from you guys.  And one word of encouragement can help get me through an entire week—you have no idea.  Miss you guys and congrats to everyone who’s lately gotten engaged, gotten married, will be getting married soon, or who’s had a baby!  I hate to have missed out, but I’m thinking of you all! 

Becky

                                                            

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Passions

8. June 2010 by admin.

(May 3, 2010)

I’d first like to point out how short it’s been since I last posted a blog, and to counteract all past hate mail, I would like to receive at least three love mails, commending me on writing another update so soon.

That being said, I’m excited to share some things with you.  God has been stirring up passions in me for a few things, and it makes me excited!  I’m one of those people who can’t do much unless they’re passionate about it, so I’ve felt empowered by the Holy Spirit lately and it makes me wonder where He’s taking me next (by where, I don’t necessarily mean physically, but spiritually.)

As I left off in my last blog, I was preparing to go on a five day missions trip to Cayo by myself to stay with another missionary lady here in Belize.  A bit apprehensive, but nevertheless open-minded, I set off on the six hour bus ride to western Belize (practically on the Guatemalan border).  My stay with Margaret and her adopted Belizean son, Cory, was not what I had expected, but not in a bad way.  It’s just funny to me how God sometimes (most times) does the exact opposite of what you think He’ll do.  Although John and Lisa didn’t tell us where we were going on our trips until the last minute, they did spend a lot of time trying to prepare us emotionally and spiritually.  The theme of our trips was “Trusting Him” and we were told to prepare ourselves to do anything the Lord called us to do on our trips.  We were encouraged to surrender control completely to Him and, no matter what we encountered, to trust that He had us in His hand.  We were warned that this experience was going to be uncomfortable and stretching, and that we should rely fully on God to meet our needs during this time.  I was ready to sleep in a ditch every night and not eat or drink for five days…..This was the impression I was under. 
So I had prayed with all my heart, made sure my attitude was in positive check, and steeled myself to be ready for the absolute worst/uncomfortable, yet wonderfully challenging and stretching experience.  To paint you a picture of what I was expecting—I saw myself (since Margaret was apparently a foster parent who also adopted children) spending five days rescuing children from the worst and most dire of situations….unloving families who beat kids….orphans starving to death…..babies lost on the streets with no one to care for them, etc.  I stored up buckets of love for these kids, waiting to empty it upon them, while preparing myself to encounter horrific sights.  I was ready.  I was prepared to be placed out of my comfort zone. 

And placed out of my comfort zone, I was—but not nearly in the way I had expected and planned for.  Despite the grandeur I had envisioned, Margaret and her son lived a pretty simple, normal, non-dangerous life.  She doesn’t do child rescues….Well not on a day-by-day basis anyways.  Most of her time is spent homeschooling nine year old Cory.  When I discovered that I’d be spending all five days in her house, teaching Cory the fourth grade, eating pizza and Hamburger Helper, and sleeping at night on a double bed….. I was completely unprepared. 

Something you should know about me…Two things out of my comfort zone:  Kids and adults.  That’s right.  I’m really only comfortable with my own generation.  Surprise!  I’m not going to get into the psychology of it all, (and a lot of you wouldn’t believe me anyways because I’m a pretty good faker) but you can see where the stretching took place.  I do enjoy kids very much (assuming they’re not holy terrors) but being an only child, I haven’t had all that much experience with them and bonding with them doesn’t come naturally.  I really have to think about how to interact with kids when I’m around them and no matter the length of time spent with one or twenty, I’m always exhausted after.  You may then ask why I decided to become a full-time nanny in 2004 to a 3 year old and 6 month old.  My reply to that is, I have no freaking idea.  But anyways, aside from interacting with a nine year old, I really didn’t have any idea of how to teach him school.  And then came the adult issue…I was supposed to spend five days in a stranger’s house, sleeping in her bed, using her stuff, eating her food, attempting to make polite, awkward small talk??  I missed the easy days of ditches and no food or drink! 

But my week with Margaret ended up being really good.  It was still challenging and uncomfortable for me at times, but I have a feeling the whole thing was on purpose, and that God had taken John and Lisa up on their theme idea of trusting Him….despite the different idea I had.  To be put exactly in the midst of a situation I normally would have avoided at all costs, definitely forced me to rely on Him.  And during that week I had one of the best prayer times I’ve had in a while (even though they initially began with “whhhhy God?!!”)

It turns out I’m a pretty good home-schooler!  Having the answer key nearby definitely helped, but I was able to come up with creative ways to teach Cory, and even brushed up on my long division and fractions!  More than once I would leave Cory in the schoolroom and secretly try to work out a math equation in the next room, being very proud when I was correct.  It’s sad when you still find grade 4 math challenging. 
Despite its challenges (of home-schooling, not of math), I really enjoyed teaching, and possibly discovered a new skill and life direction??  Who knows.  Only God, at this point.  But I did get an email from Margaret a couple weeks after my stay with her, asking me to pray about moving to Cayo and being a teacher to some of the missionary kids in the area, having my own small schoolroom.  Caught me off guard, to be sure.   Prayer please! 

The week after our mission trips, John and Lisa had another surprise for us.  But this time the theme wasn’t trusting God, it was Have As Much Fun And Relaxation As Possible!  They had planned for us to spend four days at the YWAM base at San Pedro—a beach town on the Ambergris Caye island, off the coast of Belize City.  San Pedro is the touristy area of Belize, and has the only real area resembling a beach.  Despite what everyone thinks, I do not lie on the beach every day down here….in fact, Belize doesn’t even really have beaches.  Even San Pedro beaches aren’t anything to write home about, despite what I’m doing right now.  But the SNORKELING is worth bragging about!  I spent a couple days snorkelling and kayaking in the sea around the reef.  Belize actually has the second largest barrier reef in the world, and diving/snorkelling is a huge money-maker down here.  The reef and the fish were amazing.  A sting-ray swam past me and I almost wet myself…images of Steve Irwin flashed through my mind.  But that too, was amazing.  The YWAM base was hard to believe.  Like a little paradise.  I was thinking, boy did I sign up for the wrong mission trip!  It was a great time to relax and rejuvenate after how busy we’d been and after our trips.  The best part was that YWAM invited us back anytime (wink).

Since we’ve been back at Machaca, the last few weeks have been spent re-opening the cafe after the Easter break and getting back into the routine of work, classes, and Bible studies.  Summer camp prep has become almost full-time.  The creative juices are flowing and we’ve had some really cool ideas thrown around for themes, skits, etc.  I think I mentioned that the book we’re taking the kids through this summer is Proverbs.  So we’ve been spending a lot of time studying it ourselves, trying to come up with Proverbs-related ideas.  Don’t be afraid to throw any my way if you’ve got ‘em. 

One thing that had been on Miss Lisa’s heart a couple weeks ago was the lack of passion our group seemed to be having.  She expressed that we didn’t seem fired up about God, about our work as a team, and  where was our unconditional joy and love for each other?  She explained that she couldn’t make us passionate.  We had to ask God for Him to give it to us.  Since she said all this, it’s been amazing the difference.  In almost every single one of us.  God really did answer that prayer, and it’s been so fun to see the excitement in everyone.  More dancing, more singing, more reading of the Bible, more passion in teaching, more willingness to serve others.  And the personal passions He’s given me…I’m just so excited even to talk about them!!!

Ok so probably only my best friend Diana knows about this already, but about this time last year I suddenly started getting a passionate desire to visit Israel.  And when I say suddenly, I really mean it.  Like one day it just really appealed to me….which grew into a sincere interest…which grew into a crazy desire.  I remember driving in my car with Dee and saying to her, somewhat randomly,  “It’s really been on my heart lately to one day visit the Holy Land.  And get a dog.” (yes the desire to buy a dalmatian puppy was almost equally as strong) Member that Dee?…Member?..Member?  Well since then, my interest in Israel has only grown.  And not just to one day travel there, but to study its history…both ancient and current.  But especially Israel in Bible times.  Like I really have a desire to know the ancient geography.  This is funny for me to admit, because for my entire life until now I couldn’t have cared less about that.  But I want to know it, because I know it will help me understand parts of the Bible way better.  And I’m so unbelievably interested in Israeli culture too, and the sacrifices and rituals.  It’s crazy.  The great thing about this is that so much can be found right in the Word!  I’ve been studying the history of Israel in the books Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Esther, and Ezra.  I’m gobbling them down.  Right now I’m in Judges.  Next is 1 &2 Samuel, then 1&2 Kings, then  1&2 Chronicles, then on to Nehemiah.  I am seriously gobbling these books down and am loving it!  Something, if I’m honest, I’ve never said about the Old Testament before.  I’ve always been a N.T. junkie, and haven’t spent much time in the O.T.  But God has given me this weird passion for it!  And it fits right in with my Israel hang-up. 

In addition to this, I want to write a book.  I’ve always loved writing, and I’ve always wanted to someday write a book about something.  But now, lo and behold, I have a new found desire to write a book based on Israeli culture.  I’m literally laughing as I type this because it’s so weird, I know.  Well I want to take a story from the Bible, and write a novel about it based on the perspectives of the people in the story.  You know…make it real to readers.  I, myself, love books like that because it gives me more of a desire to read the Bible when I can relate to the people in the stories and feel like I know them.  But in order to write a book like this I’ll really have to study Israel. 

As I type this, I sit here drenched in sweat.  For the past few weeks the weather has been intolerable.  They say April and May are the hottest months here, and I have no doubt.  It’s been beyond uncomfortable.  You don’t want to do anything.  You don’t want to move, but you can’t just sit on a couch because it’s too hot and sweaty to lean on the upholstery.  When you walk around it feels like you’re moving through bath water.  You can’t fall asleep at night, even with fans pointed at you from all directions, and once you do fall asleep you can’t stay asleep past 8:00am because you wake up with the heat. Rachelle has broken out in heat rashes like she’s never had before.  Naomi’s feet are so swollen.   Working in the cafe (a cement building) is beyond uncomfortable, it’s….insufferable.  And even the locals say they haven’t experienced heat like this in a couple years, and that usually this kind of heat is followed by a hurricane!   But it’s been so dreadfully hot and humid that us girls often just hop in the shower with our clothes on so that we can remain in our wet clothes until they dry….then we repeat the process. 

Along with the heat comes critter season.  I know I have had critter stories in all my past blogs, but it really isn’t the season until now through the summer.  Naomi found  a tarantula in her dirty laundry pile.  Me?…I was lucky enough to come across a whole nest of scorpions in my suitcase a couple weeks ago.  Of all the critters here, scorpions are by far the most feared by me.  Because they’re aggressive.  You don’t have to tick ‘em off to get stung…they’re already ticked off.  Well I was fishing through my suitcase and suddenly saw dozens of itty bitty baby scorpions disperse everywhere.  It was revolting.  I started screaming like a crazy person, and then my roommates and I spent the next hour banging a broom around trying to kill them all, while squirting them with bleach—our only weapons.  Even once we were certain we got them all (they had run on top of my bed and under my mattress and who knows where else…) we weren’t comforted by the fact that one angry mama still was out there somewhere.  We moved suitcases and items around and then we saw her…..in all her venomous glory.  She was huge.  Unfortunately she scampered off before we could beat her to death and she still remains somewhere in our room.  For the longest time afterwards it felt like I had them crawling all over me.  I had trouble falling asleep, terrified they would crawl on me and sting me.  I googled scorpions and how to handle stings.  You know what the suggested treatment was?….Going to the emergency room.  Excellent.  Not possible here.  Other than that, the only offered advice was cold compresses.  Prayer please! 

Well this coming weekend is another MMT for us.  John and Lisa will not be here for it, so it’s left completely up to us staff.  MMT last month was awesome, so we’re hoping for another great one.  We’ve really limited these weekends to those who are serious about growing in the Lord, and we have had to make it “invitation only.”  Although possibly offending some people, the weekends have been much more effective and productive, and less distracting for some younger Christians. 

Thanks so much for everyone’s continued prayers and support.  Only 5 more months, can you believe it??!

~Becky

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

The Rat’s Out Of The Bag

25. March 2010 by admin.

So after receiving an abundance of hate mail from all of you, I have finally produced another blog!  I just spent the last 45 minutes trying to remember everything that’s happened over the last four months and I’ve come to the conclusion I have no idea where to begin.  After reading my last blog post, I realize it is highly out-dated, and I’ve left you hanging with a few things.  So let me start by tying up some loose ends…

It’s funny to write about the visa issue again because it seems like water under the bridge.  But last I wrote, we were discouraged because we had been denied permission to continue working in the cafe and we were heading to Belmopan to apply for work permit visas.  Well the Lord’s hand was at work in that because after our visit to the visa office in Belmopan, we were granted approval to continue working in the cafe immediately, even before we received our work permits.  We could no longer be denied anything from the customs officer in Punta Gorda, despite the rough time he gave us.  Our visas came some three weeks later. 

John, Lisa, their family, and Briyan left for the States on December 17^th to go home for Christmas for a month, so it was just the six of us staff remaining at the camp (the three of us girls, and Ray, Barrow, and Fredrick).  We relaxed for a few days and enjoyed our time off.  We would be having a few visitors staying at the camp so we also had to spend three days doing some intense clean-up.  Us three girls spent  three days raking the entire camp grounds (which are considerable) in the heat.  We also (all six of us) had to clean the cabins, the kitchen, the dining hall, the hurricane shelter, the chapel, and the housekeeping cabin.  We were exhausted by the end of the week, but excited for what lay ahead in the next few days…

The six of us, together with Fredrick’s family, drove up to Chetumal, Mexico, for four days.  This is usually where we go for our end-of-summer staff trip.  The city of Chetumal makes a really big deal of Christmas and had the whole place decorated head to toe.  It was refreshing to see such enthusiasm for the holiday.  We had a great time planning our own trip this time.  We went to the mall every day (really the only thing to do in Chetumal) and saw multiple movies in the cinema every day!  It costs about $3 CAD a movie.  That was such a fun experience since it’s been so long since I’ve seen a movie.  There is only one theatre in Belize and it’s 5 hours away.  We ate at McDonald’s (none in Belize) and Burger King and Sam’s Club, and just enjoyed hanging out with each other after a busy first semester.  We traveled back home on Christmas Eve and didn’t reach until evening.  We then went around town to all of Fredrick’s family and sang Christmas carols.  We stopped by his older brother’s and sister-in-law and danced and did Punta (a Belizean dance).  It was so much fun, I loved it! 

Christmas was a very different experience for me this year.  Up until the day of, it hardly felt like the Christmas season.  I really missed the snow, the lights, the smells, the clothes, and just the whole spirit of Christmas.  Because of the lack of seasons, time stands still in Belize.  And I did not feel festive.  I especially missed home.  And even though I spent last year here in Belize on Christmas day, I still had experienced the whole season before coming.  But despite all this, my Christmas day ended up being amazing, filled with the Christmas spirit, and one of the best Christmases I’ve had.  Well all went into town and spent the whole day with Fredrick’s family, helping them cook and prepare for Christmas dinner and just hanging out with his younger brothers and sister.  We had so much fun!  We put on Christmas music, got dressed up, and—thanks to Ms. B—helped cook a typical North American Christmas dinner.  I made homemade stuffing and broccoli salad, and tried my hand at some homemade peppermint egg nog, which actually turned out!  In the evening they opened some gifts I had brought and we all read Twas The Night Before Christmas off the internet.  We ended off the night by watching The Grinch (both the cartoon and then the real-life version).  This was a very different Christmas for Fredrick’s family too—having a North American dinner, and staying at home most of the day.  In Belize, people spend the day visiting family, going house to house.  And they usually have a big meal at lunchtime instead of dinner.  They had never read Twas The Night.. or seen the Grinch.  And they usually don’t have much of a gift exchange.  I had also bought lights and decorated their whole house!  I think they really loved the whole thing because they said they have never had a Christmas like that before.  I really loved the whole thing too.

A few days after New Year’s, the six of us travelled up by bus to Belize City for a week.  This was our Christmas missions trip.  We are in connection with a ministry up in Belize City, another youth group and church affiliated with a Calvary Chapel from the States.  The pastor from the church in B.C. often visits Machaca and we work with their team.  We spent the week helping this pastor and his family move and paint their new house.  It was really really cool, weather-wise, at this time.  I remember wearing long pants and a hoodie most of the three-week period.  Who woulda thought?!  The weather during November-present has definitely been not as hot as the summer.  Still hot…t-shirts and shorts most of the time, and of course always flip-flops…but the nights are quite cool and I’ve gotten good use out of my long pants and hoodies.  It has recently started slowly heating up again and I expect it will be insufferable once again soon. 

Health-wise, I’ve been doing pretty good.  Only a head cold the other week.  The only thing I can complain about are my hands.  A lot of you know I have eczema on my hands that is usually controlled with cream back home.  But I ran out of my cream down here and because of working in the cafe, washing dishes, stress, and the humidity—I broke out in patches of it all over my hands.  Since around November, they have been getting worse and worse.  Sometimes they heal a bit but then get worse again.  Right now they are pretty bad and I’ve been typing most of my emails with only two fingers because the rest are cracked and bleeding.  Shampoo in the shower is so painful on my finger tips.  I’ve been taking care of them as best I can—using dish gloves, sleeping with cotton gloves on, lots of quality moisturizers—but they don’t seem to be healing.  Please if you could pray for this. 
Really on the whole, I can’t even complain about this.  My roommate, Rachelle, has had it way worse than I.  First she had a beef worm in her neck (the same thing I had a few years ago in my ankle).  As soon as that was dealt with, her entire body broke out in rashes and scales…so much so, that she looked like a leper.  It was awful.  Since that has been healed with anti-biotics, she now has a few common rashes are her elbows, back of neck, and legs.  Poor girl.  It doesn’t help that she handles stress physically. 

Living with Naomi and Rachelle has been awesome and I have really grown to love these girls.  We get along really well, enjoy each others’ sense of humour (for the most part!), love laughing together, and really enjoy having each other to go through the tough times down here.  Having them has rid me of loneliness, given me a lot of fun and joy, and a resource of wisdom and advice.  They are truly a blessing to me.  That being said, it’s been interesting learning to live in such TINY quarters with three girls.  I’ve had roommates for the last 8 years, but I’ve always had my own room and space (with the exception of Bible college).  The three of us girls are living in a one-person shack that we call the Treehouse.  Our room is the size of a large closet and yet we have three beds somehow squished in there (one bunk bed).  I don’t even remember what alone time feels like.  For an only child, it’s had its tough moments.  We fight.  We get testy.  We slam the doors.  But we love each other. 
There’s always an adventure for the three of us in our house. Usually this entails some sort of jungle creature moving in with us.  I have begun to see that WE have moved in with the RATS and not the other way around.  This entire year we have probably caught and killed (and by we, I mean we get the boys to do it) around 8 rats/mice/gerbil-rats.  As soon as we catch one, another moves in.  We keep a steel trap cage always set under the sink.  There was one rat, in particular, that was brilliant.  It escaped every trap we set and managed to live with us for about a month.  It was like a ghost.  We could hear it at nights, even right by our pillows, yet as soon as the lights were turned on…it was nowhere to be seen.  Not even a trace of it was left.  Except things would go missing.  My make-up brushes.  My headbands.  Our dish sponges.  Socks.  And don’t even get me started on all the chew-holes in my clothes.  It still makes me want to cuss.  That mouse destroyed so many shirts and sweaters of mine.   At first when things went missing, we blamed each other. “Did you take my headband?”….”You didn’t ask if you could borrow my make-up brush.” ….”Ok HALF my Q-tips are missing..I KNOW you guys are using them!!”  We began to turn on each other.  See…brilliant.  But we quickly began to realize the mouse was stealing all our stuff to build its nest in a place we STILL hadn’t found.  It was time to get tough and stop being manipulated by this thing.  We cleaned our house, top to bottom.  Made sure all food was kept in a covered tub (it would eat all our food!)  And hid all remaining items that looked like it would make a nice comfortable nest.  It helped, but we would still hear the darn thing at night, chewing stuff, right by our pillows.  It got to the point where it would wake us up at night and we couldn’t get back to sleep.  Now this thing was stealing our sleep!  We would wake up exhausted and irritated with each other and our whole day would be off.  This thing had to die.  I would sleep with a flashlight and when the mouse woke me up, I would get in position…..when it made a noise, I would flick on my light right in the direction of the noise…and nothing.  We were beginning to think we were crazy when one day I discovered it’s hide-out.  Behind my cork board on the shelf by my pillow.  I found all my headbands, brushes, socks, sponges, food clips, Q-tips, eyeliner pencils (!!), etc.  That stupid thing.  We destroyed its home and a few days later finally caught it. 

In other news, there have been two jaguar sightings around camp.  This is a little unnerving. 

Since Christmas break, it feels like things have been non-stop.  I didn’t think it was possible, but things have been busier this semester than last.  People have been asking for what a typical day looks like for me, so I am typing out my normal weekly schedule. 

Monday—servanthood (cleaning up a designated area around camp, as well as doing my housekeeping responsibilities which include washing all the cafe towels and any other camp laundry…we have no dryers, so everything must hang-dry which takes forever with this humidity).  At 3:00pm we have class in town, which means after class ends I still have to stay at the cafe until the evening shift is done and I can get a ride back to camp (around 10pm)

Tuesday—9:00am we have our staff girls study.  All of us girls meet at our house and pray and go through our book study (Proverbs 31 Treasures of a Godly Woman by Elisabeth George).  This usually goes till about 11:30am.  Then Naomi, Rachelle and I have the afternoon to prepare our teaching for the girls study we run in town on Tuesday nights.  We head into town and have our girls study from 7-8:30ish.

Wednesday—sometimes I work in the cafe on Wednesdays, 9-5.  If I don’t work, then I usually have my discipleship that I do with either Naomi or Melissa.  At 5:00pm we have to be in town for staff dinner.  Every Wednesday night we eat together as a group and all prepare something to eat.  We rotate on who brings what each week.  Also, we rotate on who plans the activity for the night.  7:00pm staff dinner ends and class begins.  We usually don’t get home until around 9:30-10pm

Thursday—I usually have the morning off but this time is spent doing homework or finishing up camp laundry and housekeeping.  If there is no vehicle going into town in the afternoon, I have to leave around 1:00pm to walk or bike down the road to the bus stop (30 min) to start my shift at the cafe for 3:00pm. (The three of us girls have recently purchased bikes to make the journey into town not as tough)  We head home after work around 10pm. 

Friday—I either work in the morning or evening; it alternates. 

Weekends are typically ours to relax and do what we want.  However, every few weeks we usually have an event or responsibility that requires us to sacrifice part of our free time.  MMT weekends, camp visitors, teams, cafe events, etc.  Sundays at 5:30pm we go into town to set up church for 7:00pm.  John is teaching through the book of Leviticus which has been surprisingly so interesting.  A book that I had tried many times to make it through.  And except for John teaching it, I’m not sure I would have ever studied it in-depth.  But he teaches and then we break into small groups and are given questions to discuss.  As staff, we are required to write a paper each week on the lesson. 

So you can see how jammed packed my weeks are.  This semester classes have changed.  We’ve been reading the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan, which is awesome.  It’s pretty popular in Christian bookstores right now, and it should be.  He has become one of my favourite speakers as well.  As part of the program, I was required to teach a class on one of the chapters in the book.  An hour and a half class.  I spent days researching topics in the chapter and putting together a teaching.  Needless to say, it was intimidating.  Once we finish Crazy Love (in the next few weeks) we’ll be studying the book of Mark. 

Monday classes are now camp prep classes.  We have begun putting together ideas for this summer.  We will be teaching through Proverbs this summer, and we have been brainstorming ideas for skits, dramas, songs, themes, characters, activities, etc.  Part of our homework has been reading through Proverbs.  Each of us had to pick a topic in Proverbs and prepare a teaching on it.  I picked “planning” since being prepared is something referred to over and over throughout the book.  This is also something I think I’m good at.  I listened to a podcast on it by Mark Driscoll, and if you haven’t heard it already, you should.  If you haven’t heard HIM already, you should. 

This semester, instead of Naomi being my discipleship partner, each of us girls had to pick one of the girls from our Bible study.  I am discipling a 14 year old girl named Melissa who has expressed a deep down desire to know who God is better.  Please pray for her, that she and I would bond and that she would open up with me.  Pray that God would give me a deep down love for her, which I know is already growing.  Pray that she would indeed, get to know God and how much He loves her and fall in love with Him.  Pray that God would use me in her life. 

The girls study in town has been up and down, but mostly up.  One week we’ll get 15 girls; the next, three.  We have mostly the same girls each week.  Most of them are around 8-10 years old, which is not our target age group.  They are too young.  But they love coming and enjoy the friendship so we don’t turn them away.  A couple girls we have had to ask not to return because they are extremely young and cannot sit through a study; they end up distracting others.  There are only about five girls within the target age, and they don’t always show up.  For a while we were having a really difficult time figuring out how the study should go…what to teach on, coming up with activities, feeling the pressure to make it fun, falling in love with the girls, etc.  God has changed our plan several times.  We have started praying before each study, just us staff, that God would direct the night however He wants it to go.  We present our plan to Him and ask for His blessing, while also being prepared to be flexible if He changes it.  We have learned for the most part not to be frustrated by this, but instead encouraged that He is moving.  I still feel like most of the time we have no clue what we’re doing and that we’re messing things up. But we have to trust that because we are genuinely seeking the Lord on it, and our hearts are well intentioned, that He is leading it how He wants.  It still remains difficult for me to learn that I am not responsible to save each girl.  My job goes as far as loving them and showing them how much more God loves them.  I ask for your continued prayers for this study.  For the three of us girls, that we would all hear God’s voice and leading.  That we would be united and build up one another.  That we would be passionate about this study and in love with all the girls.  That the girls would be growing and understanding what we’re teaching.  That they would see Christ in us.  That they would love us too. 

So you have an idea of what a typical week in my life here looks like, or is at least scheduled to look like!  Things always change here.  Me, a not so flexible person, has really had to grow in that.  The first semester I felt was a constant tug-of-rope issue with this.  I was constantly fighting against the poor planning, or the plans that always fall through, or the people who can’t commit to a plan.  Although I feel these things are still very important, I’ve had to allow myself to become more bending..if only for the sake of my own sanity and relationships with my team.  Why allow the devil a foothold with something like that?  There are soooo many other things!  Most of our lives are spent either at camp or here in the cafe working, having class, church or hanging out.  It can be really hard staying motivated to work at the cafe.  A lot of the time it feels like a part-time job that I don’t get paid for.  It’s sweaty and hot.  It’s greasy.  I’m getting fat from the food.  People can be difficult.   But once and a while, God blesses you with the eyes to see and the ears to hear.  A couple weeks ago a man came into the cafe who was clearly very poor.  He smelled bad.  He looked bad.  He wanted to order a soda but didn’t have enough money.  I told him it wasn’t a problem and gave him the drink for free.  He looked at me like I was crazy.  He asked if I was sure.  He offered to give what he had.  I told him I didn’t mind at all and to enjoy the drink.  Well later that afternoon another costumer came in saying how his friend couldn’t stop raving about this place.  At how kind the workers were, how they had offered him a free drink since he didn’t have enough money.  The friend had told the poor man that we were “church people” and apparently this had touched him so much that this same poor man came to John and expressed how he had a problem with alcoholism and needed help and wanted prayer.  He had told all his friends about Boneville cafe, which is why this new customer had come.  Isn’t it amazing at how God works, and how paying someone a simple kindness (not evening MENTIONING God) can, by the grace of God, still be used in salvation.  What I should have done was tell the poor man that the drink was free because I love God and ask him if he wanted prayer.  I didn’t, but God still used me.  Grace.
 I am so glad that the salvation of others does not rest on my successes or failures. 

You are now uptodate on me life here in Belize.  This coming Monday things are changing once again, however, and about to get adventuresome!  John and Lisa have been telling us for a couple months that we would be having an Easter missions trip, but they would divulge no information.  They only told us that it would take us further out of our comfort zones and really stretch us.  Needless to say, intimidating.  We found out this week that each of us our going on our own individual mission, apart from the group.  This Monday I head off on a bus to Cayo district, about a 6 hour bus ride.  I will be spending 5 days with a 40 year old missionary named Margaret. She is Canadian. Her husband died a year and a half ago.  She has adopted two Belizean boys.  One is 9 and the other is a toddler.  I have no idea what I’ll be doing, but I will be experiencing everything Margaret does as a missionary down here and helping her out.  Everyone on staff has different missions.  Some people are really nervous.  I don’t feel nervous really….maybe  apprehensive about awkwardness in staying with a lady I don’t know.  But I think it will be good.  I wish I was more excited about it though.  I feel like it will be an interesting experience, but at this point I don’t see the stretching that is supposed to happen or the amazing things God could show me.  But I really want to experience a lot and see God on this trip.  Please pray for that.  Pray that there would be no awkwardness in staying with this lady, that we would bond, and that her ministry would catch me off guard…that I would be blown away by all God is doing in Cayo through her ministry.  Wish me luck!

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Caramel Macchiatos In The Jungle

10. November 2009 by admin.

(Updated:  November 9, 2009)

Greetings from back in the jungle!

I sit typing this in our newly opened cafe in town.  I have so much to tell you about what I’ve been up to since I’ve been back here in Belize.  But let me start with my fabulous trip home to Canada.  I journeyed home on September 12^th for just over three weeks.  I was looking forward to a nice relaxing visit home but it was anything but relaxing!  I don’t think there was a single day that I had no plans and nothing to do.  But I was so happy to see everyone again and spend time with those I could.  I was picked up at the airport by my two favourite people in the world, David and Diana Hood.  I loved that they were the first ones I got to see and was totally blessed by Dee with a paid-for pedicure! I loved having my jungle feet sloughed off.   But the absolute, hands down, no contest, totally best part of my three days with them was them sitting me down and having them hand me a card with a sonogram picture of their baby inside the cover.  MY BEST FRIEND IN THE WORLD IS PREGNANT!!!!  And I just thank God for the timing of it, and that I didn’t have to find out over email (or freaking facebook) or even on the phone or something.  So needless to say, my heart is thrilled and I love this little baby so so so much!….I’m going to be an aunt!!!

The next few weeks were spent  with my bride-to-be friend at the time, Christine Cote-now-Stewart.  She and I, and her fiancée at the time, Devon, drove up to Ottawa…and the last minute wedding prep began!…  We were busy little bees, printing off and cutting invitations, picking and waxing autumn leaves for decorations, getting our dresses fitted, etc.  Never a dull moment.  Again, I was thanking the Lord for the opportunity for me to be there for the last minute details and being able to help out and be with Christine and just be part of it all.  One thing that’s really been hard about being in Belize is missing out on my friends’ lives.  So many engagements, weddings, and babies are happening right now, and I find out through the online grapevine instead of first hand. 

Cote and Devo’s wedding was magical.  Not only was it a beautiful country bumpkin wedding, but everything went smoothly and Christine was calm, cool, and collected throughout the day.  And she was stunning.  Again—so honoured to have been up there supporting her.  Although she may have rethought her decision in choosing me when I totally crashed her honeymoon after!  A few days after the wedding, when they had returned from their miniature getaway, we all drove back to Kitchener where I continued to stay with them for the latter part of their honeymoon….there was nowhere else for me to go!  They insisted it was fine, but I couldn’t help but feel like a party pooper haha. 

Next I was able to visit my mother dearest, and I’m not exaggerating when I say we talked for nine hours straight without so much as a breath in between sentences.  I think that was the most refreshing part of my time at home, and she’s the one I miss the most right now.  She is also the reason I am getting on top of typing this blog right now, as she has begun sending me “reminder” emails for an update.  I have a million things to do right now, but this is for you Mum! 

I had a great Thanksgiving before I headed out on the Monday.  I spent the holiday with Christine and Devon once again, and Christine made her first “all by herself” Thanksgiving dinner.  After lone beans and rice for three months, I thought I had died and gone to heaven.  And the pumpkin cheesecake, oh the pumpkin cheesecake!

Heading back to Belize was bittersweet at first.  I knew it was going to be a much MUCH longer time before I see my friends and family again and enjoy the familiar pleasures of our country that we often take for granted.  But I also was excited to head back down here and start up the internship program and meet my two new roommates from Utah (not California as I originally thought).  So there were mixed emotions, but once I arrived back, my heart felt it was back where it was supposed to be. 

When I arrived I was exhausted from my trip home and from the day of travel, but there was no rest waiting for me! Because the program had begun while I was in Canada,  I was absolutely thrown into the midst of all our planning and classes.  Overwhelmed doesn’t even begin to express how I felt.  Flip-flopping between cultures is one of the hardest things I’ve experienced.  It feels like I travel back and forth between time, and that the place I just left was only a dream.  It’s the weirdest experience. 

But hallelujah and praise the Lord, other than some minor frisking and pat-downs, I had zero travel problems getting back here!  While I was standing in line to have my bags scanned, an officer leaned towards me and asked how old I was.  When I replied that I was 25, she looked at me sceptically and asked if I was sure.  She said I did not look 25.  I assured her I was.  She said she would have to pull me aside and do a “personal” search of me and my belongings.  I wanted to blurt out “are you kidding me right now?!”  I didn’t know I had such a suspicious appearance about me.  I wonder if it was the blond hair or my five foot nothing height which triggered her obvious sleuth-like intuition.  Good grief.  So that was a bit embarrassing—being pat down and frisked in front of passers-by.  Feeling like common criminal.  Beginning to wonder if maybe my clothes WERE lined with crack. 

I was a bit worried about arriving at the Belize City airport because I was doing something different and bussing down to Punta Gorda this time, instead of hopping a puddle jumper flight.  It’s a five hour bus ride opposed to an hour flight (after an entire days travel by plane), but it saved me about $100.  And I had so much luggage with me this time.  But I was thrilled when I got off the plane and Fredrick was there to surprise me and help me travel down to PG.  It made the whole thing less intimidating and nice to have company for the bus ride.  I arrived finally at camp by 9:00pm here, which means 18 hours of travel for the day. 

Meeting my new roommates was so great!  I had been so curious as to what they would be like, because saying we will be living in tight quarters is the biggest understatement in the world.  But we hit it off right from the start and they have been a huge blessing to me when I consider the loneliness I felt before flying home.  Being the only girl here had really discouraged me and caused some of my motivation and passion to fade, because the loneliness had been so great.  So even though the three of us girls live in a shack the size of a large closet, I love it!  Naomi and Rachelle are both so passionate about Jesus and conversations with them about our faith are refreshing.  I am excited for this year. 

I acknowledge the length of this blog, so this is your 10 minute break period.  Go pee, grab a drink. 

Like I said, I was sort of thrown into things once I got back.  I was given assignments I had missed and had to be filled in on the classes.  Mind you, I am really looking forward to the material for this year’s program.  These are our classes:  The Truth Project—a  video lecture on some commonly asked questions regarding Christianity, being answered academically and biblically; Hope Lives—a book study about the spiritual adversity surrounding poverty and our role as believers in fighting against it; Revolution—a book study discussed at our staff meetings and prayer meetings and for our own personal reading.  Next week we are beginning a new class and will be reading through the book Crazy Love.   In addition to our classes, we have each been given a discipleship partner to do a one-on-one study with each week.  Naomi and I have been partnered up for that.  Each week we are given the task of completing our “Servanthood” which are various chores around camp.  I am in charge of cleaning the hurricane shelter and our housekeeping cabin, making sure all the cafe laundry is done every few days.  This is usually a full day of cleaning.  This week Tuesday we officially begin our first Girls Study night in town.  Naomi, Rachelle, and I are leading this and are a wee bit nervous.  We actually began last Tuesday but only one girl showed up.  We have such big hopes and goals for this study and I ask for prayer that we don’t get discouraged at the beginning when it doesn’t look like how we’d hoped.  This girls study has been a long time coming, and the main purpose for us being here.  My dream is to eventually have a solid group of core girls coming out each week, eager to learn and excited about Jesus.  I want to make solid friendships with them, and be able for us to have “getaway”  nights where we just fellowship in their town, doing fun activities.  I want to pour into the life of a younger girl and become a mentor.  I want to SEE God working in this group and in this study.  I need patience.  We haven’t decided on a study topic, but we’re thinking of examining the lives of different women in the Bible.  Studying a different woman each week.  I “by chance” happened to bring a book down with me that studies this exact thing and provides discussion questions and everything.  If you pray for one thing regarding my work in Belize, please pray for this girls night.  Though it is only one thing on our busy schedule, it is really where our purpose lies. 

So that is what our week is filled with, and then of course Sunday nights we have our church service at the cafe in town.  It sounds like a lot, but it’s really just worked around our main project and time consumer right now which is the cafe.  The last couple weeks since it’s been open, our lives have been consumed by it.  It’s a lot of work opening a business!  We’ve been renting the space in town for a year now, holding our weekly church and Bible studies here, as well as our dance outreach program.  Plans for making the front part of the building into a cafe/restaurant have been in progress for a while and God finally enabled us to open.  We spent my first couple weeks back painting the place, logos and lettering, setting up the prayer wall, thinking of creative ideas, and training how to make the menu.  It was so exciting and I’m so proud!  Our menu includes:  hamburgers/cheeseburgers, regular fries or animal fries (with grilled onions, cheese, and fry sauce), regular burritos or Goliath burritos (weighing a pound with everything you could ever want inside including fries), Naked Pigs (hot dogs) or a Stuffed Pig (hot dog with grilled onions, cheese, fry sauce).  We have baked goods we bring in as well, like banana bread or cookies.  But it’s our drink menu that really brings in the bucks.  Fruit milkshakes, cherry lime fizzes, Italian sodas, blended frozen coffees (Delilah-espresso and chocolate, Eve-caramel macchiato, Promise Land-milk and honey and espresso) and our Eden (a pina colada).  We sell a lot of stuff that you don’t usually get around here, so we’ve been quite successful.  It was fun learning how to mix all the drinks and we had some hardcore training when it came to learning how to make and press tortillas.  Fredrick’s mom was hired to train us, as she has her own restaurant, and after studying under her and watching her every move, she’s dubbed me the Tortilla Queen!  I have the fastest tortilla pressing hands in the south!  That made me feel great, because we all know my talent for making food L   Actually, the opening of this cafe has really forced me to learn new cooking skills (everything here is made from scratch) and to perfect them.  Perhaps there is hope for me yet J

We had our grand opening on October 21^st and it was B-U-S-Y!  We had posted flyers all around town and announced it each week at our Bible study, so the town was ready.  Since then we have spent long hours and whole days here at the cafe, getting into the groove of a new business.  John and Lisa keep assuring us that we won’t always be this busy with the cafe, and that it’s just until we work out a solid schedule, figure out what hours are best to be open, and have business calm down a bit.  They are quick to remind us that this cafe is not our main purpose or even our job, but just one part of our ministry.  The main goal is not to sell food, but to see every customer who walks in as someone who needs Jesus.  We often go around praying for people while they wait for their food, or ask if they want to write on our prayer wall.  Ministry first, says John, then a restaurant.  So on days when we are completely overwhelmed by our busyness, we tried to stay encouraged by knowing it won’t be like this all year. 

We ran into discouragement about two weeks ago.  When trying to renew our visas to remain in the country, the customs officer gave us a really hard time.  After asking what we were doing here and after telling him about volunteering at the cafe, he decided he did not want the three of us foreign girls to continue working without a work permit, even though we are only volunteering.  He said he did not trust our Christian title and that we could be scamming the country under a religious pretence.  He even showed prejudice towards Naomi for having a nose ring, saying “only bad girls have nose rings, and if God wanted you to have a hole in your nose, he would have made you with one.”  He said that he was in charge of making this decision and that we were no longer permitted to work in the cafe without the permit, which could take up to six months to get.  Needless to say, we were all really discouraged and have spent the last two weeks doing “odd jobs” around the cafe and not being allowed to serve food or customers.  Now the rest of the team is short-handed and working extra hours, while we try to find stuff to do.  It’s been tough.  Wednesday we are heading to Belmopan (the Capital) to take in our papers and apply for a permit.  It’s a 3 hour drive in the back of a pick-up.  Please pray that everything goes smoothly with our proper documentation and that our permits come quickly so we can be back in the cafe.  In the mean time, we are finishing up painting some walls and logos, going on prayer walks, and helping shop for the cafe food. 

God is doing so much through the opening of our cafe.  It really is a cool ministry.  Praying with costumers, being able to close for a couple hours for our Bible studies, watching people write on our prayer wall, handing out free food to the poor, having the same homeless kids hang out all night at our cafe because they feel safe and welcomed there.  Halloween was a Saturday so we opened for a few hours in the evening and our whole team dressed up in costumes.  I was jungle girl.  Pictures will be posted on facebook.  We decorated the whole place and filled plastic gloves with popcorn to sell as Mummy Hands and baked a billion sugar cookies shaped like pumpkins and decorated them.  We handed out candy to the kids who came by.  Halloween really is more of an American festival, and not celebrated as much here.  We saw only a few kids in costumes.  The day before Halloween, the three of us girls went to the Christian elementary school nearby to do a presentation on Halloween.  We talked with the classes about where the festival originated, as pagan superstition that tried to turn into a religious holiday.  We asked the kids what they knew about Halloween and if they thought it was bad or good.  We talked about how Halloween itself doesn’t have to be bad or based on evil things, but as long as you’re not doing anything that would dishonour the Lord, that you can enjoy dressing up.  We gave them suggestions for costumes—things that were not scary or evil.  It was a neat idea of something to do for Halloween.  I learned a lot too since I knew nothing of the origins of Halloween.

So there you have it—five pages of update.  And still I feel like I haven’t described half of what I’ve been up to.  Every day is full, and by the end of each day we are more than ready for sleep.  Please continue to keep me and the team in your prayers.  God is doing so much, which means the spiritual attack will be greater.  As a special prayer request, Briyan (one of our Belizean staff), his sister has fallen dreadfully ill.  She has an infection in her brain that is causing it to swell, and she has been foaming at the mouth and having terrible head pains, and isn’t really coherent at this point.  She was flown to Belize City after almost dying and is supposed to remain there for a week and a half.  There is no guarantee with her medication.  Please remember her and Briyan in your prayers, as he is going through a difficult time right now dealing with this. 

This coming weekend is our MMT (Machaca Ministry Team) retreat weekend, which we have once a month.  This will be my first one.  Youth from all over PG are invited for a retreat back at camp.  Our next few days will be spent planning the weekend and preparing.  I hope it’s a good turnout, especially for girls. 

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support.  I miss everyone and love you! 

Becky

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Summer Lovin, Had Me A Blast

31. August 2009 by admin.

(updated:  August 31, 2009)

Yes, I am alive.  For those of you who’ve sent me distressed emails wondering on my whereabouts and lack of recent communication and threatening to hop a plane down here to find me (Dad…), rest assured, I AM alive.  I apologize for my silence most of the summer, but I know I don’t need to say again how insanely busy I’ve been.  It’s been one whirlwind of a summer and I can’t believe it’s over!  I can’t say that I’ll miss the crazy schedule though.  I’ve been needing this current downtime for weeks.  So if you’re able to forgive this Prodigal Canadian, and welcome me back home in a few weeks (that’s right, a few weeks baby!..somebody prepare the fatted calf!) I’ll do my best right now to update you on what’s happened to me the past month and a half

Well we had another awesome camp this year.  I think I mentioned that numbers were smaller, so it helped make it seem more intimate.  If I haven’t mentioned already, this year’s themes were “Neva Stop Rejoice”, “Got Joy?”, and “Live tu di riddim a He hawt” (Live to the rhythmn of His heart).  We took each camp through the book of Philippians and our main goal was to teach how to have joy in all circumstances—a good lesson for everyone, but it is especially common for the kids here to come from broken or distressed homes, where they live rough lives, often with very little.  One week John surprised me by asking me to teach one night.  Each evening of camp, after dinner and chapel time, there is someone who delivers a message related to the theme of the day.  Usually this is one of the Belizean guys on staff.  They get up and teach for about 30 minutes or so, depending on the age group of campers.  So when John approached me and said I would be teaching Wednesday night on Philippians 3, I almost peed my pants.  I believe I have led a study one time before, and it was to a group of about 15 of my closest girl friends.  A far cry from 86 pairs of eyes, staring at my blond hair and scrutinizing my fair skin, amused by my accent.  I don’t even have to tell you it was out of my comfort zone on ALL levels!  But I could feel the stretching, and it was uncomfortable, and it was very good.  So I preached my first message.  Next….Rideauview!  haha KIDDING!

Summer camps officially ended July 31^st.  A couple days later Machaca’s Bible Bootcamp started up.  This was something new this year.  We had two weeks of INTENSE Bible study classes, and opened it up to the town of Punta Gorda.  We made announcements at our Bible study in town on Sunday nights and posted flyers.  We encouraged anyone interested in taking some serious Bible classes to come back to camp for one week or two.  And when they said “intense”, they weren’t kidding.  We had classes or activities from 8am-8:30pm, plus a ton of homework on top of that.  And remember, we had just finished two months of camps and were all exhausted in every sense of the word.  Our schedule was RIGID, with little or no room to do our own personal activities.  Some men and families came down from different places in the States to teach some of the classes and it was very much like being back in Bible college.  Despite being beyond worn out, the classes were excellent.  The ones I signed up for included a study of the book of Genesis, the book of John, a class on the Trinity, an Angelology class, a Progress of Redemption class, one on women’s ministry, and by far the best was a series on Song of Solomon.  It was a video series taught by Tommy Neuman, and something I think every person should see.  I just can’t speak more highly of it.  Because of the nature of the book, it’s often not taught in churches, but moreso avoided, and we can’t seem to agree on whether it’s an allegory or literal, but after studying it in depth, I can tell you it’s a fundamental part of our Bible and a precious jewel for anyone hoping to one day marry. 

Bootcamp ran August 3-14, and on August 4^th, Kiki flew back to the States, along with the other two guys she had come with (Charlie and Tony).  It was really sad to see them all go, and especially hard for me to say goodbye to Kiki.  They had been here all summer with us and had become an integral part of our summer team.  Their absence was felt all around.  It was lonlier for me after Kiki left, but things were still pretty busy so I didn’t have much time to think too long about it.  But I shed my tears, and Kiks if you’re reading this…COME BACK TO ME!! 

August 9^th I was able to get some time to call my mom from town.  Let me tell you, it was just what I needed.  Belize is like Neverland in that it makes memories of back home seem like another lifetime, very distant and faded, but as soon as I spoke to my mom I was very aware of how much I missed home.  And a couple days later I was able to talk with Diana Hood as well, and I think the combination of those two calls made me feel more rested and at peace than I had felt all summer.  Even I am sometimes unaware of how being in another culture 24/7 just absolutely is draining, even during downtime.  Because it is not my comfort zone, even just being here and not working is tiring.  And even though I have some very close friends down here, nobody quite understands me, not in the same way my friends do back home.  It’s just cultural and can’t be helped. 

It’s funny though, because Diana had asked me how I was doing health-wise (considering all my health issues in past trips here) and I was happy to tell her I had remained healthy as a horse.  A couple ear infections and a sickening amount of bug bites have been the worst of it.  Well as irony would have it, the next day I was barfing up my life.  I never get sick and I was so so sick.  It started in the evening with a KILLER headache—something else I never get.  I blamed it on overexhaustion and went to bed.  Well I was up all night with fever and chills and hot flashes and vomitting.  I haven’t been sick to my stomach since I was a kid, and if I threw up it was always once and I was done with it.  This was an all night ordeal.  And just so you grasp the gravity of the situation, let me paint you a little picture.  This wasn’t just me getting up in the night, walking a few feet to the nice clean toilet and spilling my guts.  This was me getting up in the night, disturbing all the other people in my cabin, flicking on lights to find a hair elastic to tie back my hair, rushing down my cabin stairs to the washrooms, searching frantically for a place to throw up, not wanting to do it in a toilet because they are filthy here and there are always tarantulas, scorpions or other critters in the stalls and you usually do a quick once-over before going to the bathroom, which I clearly didn’t have time to do at the present moment, so I ended up throwing up over the sidewalk into the grass, on my hands in knees on the pavement, getting bitten by a nest of fire ants that I had knelt in, though I scarcely noticed the pain until I was done.  And this happened several times that night, and the next day as well.  I missed a day of classes and just lay in my cabin feeling like I was dying.  At first there was some concern that I had malaria because of my fever and chills, and because I don’t take malaria pills.  But it appeared to only be a 24 hour flu bug or something of the like.  But let me tell you—in the midst of it, I was praying for sweet death. 

A few days later was my quarter of a century birthday on the 15^th.  Man I’m old.  I still think my parents got it wrong and that I’m actually only 21.  I don’t feel 25, I don’t look 25, most of my friends are younger than me….It just makes sense that they got it wrong.  But even so, it was my birthday the day after bootcamp ended.  The day itself was low key and utterly uneventful, but it was exactly what I needed.  We had been going straight for two months and to have a day without responsibilities or obligations was a breath of fresh air.  Almost everybody scattered and went their own way, enjoying  much needed space from each other.  So it was like a ghost camp.  I ended up having a four hour conversation with one of the couples that had come down from the States to teach a bootcamp class.  They were actually one of the missionary couples that was living here the very first time I ever came to Belize six years ago, so it was awesome to catch up with them and see where God has taken them together.  One of the Belizean staff here made me a special pancake breakfast to celebrate and everyone sang me Happy Birthday.  Other than that, it was a regular day in Belize.

 I have to say that last year was much more exciting, as we were in Chetumal, Mexico for my b-day and went out to a nice disco, karaoke restaurant with dancing and birthday cake!  This year, however, we went to Chetumal a week later and didn’t begin driving up until ten o’ clock on the night of the 16^th.  It’s about a 7 hour drive from Machaca to the border of Belize and Mexico, where Chetumal is located.  We stayed overnight in Belize City the first night, and didn’t reach until about 3am.  We continued the drive up the next day and arrived in Chetumal by early evening.  We, as staff, had been anticipating this trip all summer long.  It signifies the end of a busy summer, a reward for all our hard work, and a time to relax, enjoy life’s simple pleasures, and fellowship together as a family of staff.  Chetumal is by no means a vacation hotspot, not in the least.  There is one mall in the city, and we taxi there each day and spend all day there.  We do this for 5 days.  But after living like we do at camp all summer, the tiny mall is like a theme park.  And there’s a cinema that has a couple movies in English, so we usually see one movie a day.  There’s one theatre in all of Belize, and it’s about a 4 hour drive north.  So it was a real treat.  We did some shopping.  Spent lots of time at Sam’s Club, walking around.  Had McDonald’s almost every day (there’s none in Belize).  And soaked up the air conditioning in our hotel rooms.  It was a fun five days and I wasn’t ready to come back to camp haha. 

We arrived back at camp late the 21^st.  That weekend I moved all my belongings from the girls’ circle cabins where I’d been staying all summer as a counceller, and moved into the tiny house I’ll be living in all year.  It’s a shack of a cabin, about the size of my old bedroom, with a bathroom and sleeping space attached.  But it’s mine all mine.  My own space, my own house.  At least for now.  If any other girls sign up for the program, I’ll be sharing with them.  But after a long summer of never having alone time, and sharing EVERYTHING all the time, I welcomed my own space with open arms.  It’s been a work in progress though.  When I moved in, the place was a disaster zone.  Even though someone had been living in it up until I moved in, the place looked like it hadn’t seen a broom in months.  There were dishes piled sky high, not only dirty but growing mold and other organisms.  The garbage was overflowing and reeked.  The floor was covered in dead insects and dirt.  There were mouse droppings everywhere.  The shower is in desperate need of some CLR and has mold growing all up the walls.  And because it’s been left unkept, it’s been inhabited by every kind of critter…it’s like Noah’s ark in here.  My first morning after moving in I awoke to a scorpion falling from the sky about two inches from my bed.  That was a nice little welcoming treat.  Since then I have learnt that I am not, in fact, living alone but I room with several scorpions, one tarantula, two wolf spiders, a shower beetle, countless geckos, and a mama mouse and her babies.  At least those are the ones that have said hello.  My first couple days living here I spent with a broom in my hand, wacking at anything that moved in the wind.  At one point, after beating a scorpion to death,  I just broke into laughter at the thought of how ridiculous I must look, and how absurd this whole thing is.  I spent several days fixing this place up, cleaning it head to toe, and killing things.  There’s been many times I’ve run out of my house screaming in fear, and frustrated that I can’t relax in my own home.  Some days, when I’m feeling discouraged, I wonder if I can handle this all year.  But I’m getting more comfortable and confident each day I spend in this house.  Until the next time I walk in on a tarantula sleeping in my bed. 

Last week I spend readying my house and carrying out the camp tasks Lisa had asked me to do.  We had to give the camp a good clean, sweep out all the cabins, I did about 8 loads of camp laundry, etc.  Those were full working days.  Last Thursday was one of my best gals’ birthdays, and I was sorry I couldn’t spend it with her like last year.  Miss you Cote, happy belated b-day chica.  And that pretty much brings us to the present, which is down time for us.  This week we are free to do whatever we wish, and the Gotz family will be away for a few days.  The internship program does not officially begin until October, which I didn’t know, so there will be no scheduled classes or work days.  We will be doing Sunday Bible studies as usual, and having frequent meetings to discuss what this year will look like.  But other than that, I’m not sure what these next few weeks will look like.  I do know that in less than three weeks I’m COMIN HOME!!!  I think this is the first time I’ve been excited to leave Belize, and I’m sure it’s because I know I’ll be coming back down a month later.  But I’m just tired and spent and I miss my friends and family very much.  And maybe it’s because life has finally slowed down that I’ve become very aware of the little sacrifices I’m making in being here, and the things I’m missing back home.  Don’t get me wrong, my heart is here.  And I wouldn’t have it any other way.  But I’m just….tired.  At times when the summer got busiest, my alone time with God really suffered, and I’m feelin it.  Just even in my lack of energy for the smallest things.  A new recent struggle that’s popped up (and I knew it would) is intense lonliness.  I expected it might happen at some point, and I even tried to prepare myself before I got down here, but it’s always harder than you thought when it hits you.  Now that things are done being busy for the time being, and all the summer staff have gone home, it’s real quiet around here.  No Belizean girls have signed up for the internship as yet, so that makes me the only girl, stuck back here with five guys and the Gotz family.  And I love those boys, they are great friends, but I’m beginning to feel like the little sister always tagging along.  And there’s only so much testosterone a girl can take at a time.  So I either follow after them, or I’m by myself in my house.  The options aren’t great.  And we’re way back at camp, which makes it hard to get to town and get out of here.  Going in by myself is kind of hard.  It’s a half hour walk to the bus stop, and we think OC Transpo is out to annoy us by being late??….try riding a Belizean bus.  They’re on Belize time.  Which means they get there when they get there.  So I don’t even really have the option of going anywhere by myself.  So it’s been hard for me lately and I’m extremely lonely.  I want to ask for your intentional prayers in this area, and if you have any encouragement to give, now would be the time!  This is when I remind myself that I had no doubts that God brought me down here for a purpose, even when it’s hard to figure out why there are no Belizean girls around.  There’s been some rumors going around that there are two girls from California coming down in October for the program, but it’s still not certain.  I sincerely hope they come, because it is going to be one tough year otherwise.  I am hoping this is just a season and trying to appreciate the time to spend alone with the Lord. 

Other than all that, it’s been one heck of a two and a half months so far!  Other prayer requests:  For my continued communication with John and Lisa.  Things get busy, and we don’t get much time to talk and misunderstandings happen.  Pray that we share an open relationship with each other and develop a real friendship.  Pray for continued financial support.  I received an email from my manager at Christian Horizons saying they never ceased paying me for my contract when I left and I now am indebted to them over three thousand dollars.  I had no idea I was still receiving payments from them, as I don’t get online much.  Also there is a hold on all volunteer worker applications here, which means until otherwise I must keep paying the monthly fee to stay here, which is an unexpected expense.  For safe travels home on September 18^th, and that I will have no problems finding friends to stay with for the month or taking care of myself while I’m there.  For a positive morale and continued encouragement.  That I don’t lose sight of my purpose and goal, that I take each opportunity to grow in my faith.  That the Lord would equip me when it comes time to go into the villages and meet girls and build relationships.  That in everything I do, I would remember His right hand is beside me, and to neva stop rejoice. 

BECKY

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Sr. High Camp

5. July 2009 by admin.

(Updated:  July 4, ’09)

My life over the past three weeks can be summed up in one word:  Busy.   I can believe I’ve been down here almost a month already.  The days are flying, and it’s weird to think that if this were last summer, I would only have one more week remaining.  That is a crazy thought, because I feel like I’m just getting warmed up here!  I still can’t believe that this is my home now and I have another 14 months and a bit to go!  I love that, and I am loving being here.  I love that I have no return ticket, and no dreaded return date looming ahead.  I am home! 

I will have to ask right now for your forgiveness in not responding quickly to any emails or letters I receive.  I knew I would be busy down here, especially during summer, but I guess I forgot just how insane it gets.  I am lucky to get online once a week, and even during those times I hardly have time to read through all my mail, let alone reply to it.  Also, the only spot on camp that has internet access is at the Gotz’s home, and so it is not always convenient for them to have us over using the net, and also a certain amount of privacy and quiet is needed for me sometimes, when typing blogs or personal emails.  So again, I apologize for being slow to respond, but I have not forgotten you and I do very much appreciate your letters and emails!  In fact, they lift my spirit and remind me I have people up north who love me!  On a side note, I have been informed that we are not able to download anything here, including videos or pictures—even viewing facebook pictures.  Our connection is extremely fragile here in the jungle, and downloading even the simplest of things can mess up the system.  So if I am sent any links or pictures to view, I may not get to open them for a while.   Also please take this into consideration. 

We have finished our first camp of the summer!  Sr. High was a blast!  It ended this past Wednesday, and although us staff were grateful  to have a break and rest up after, we really did have an awesome time with the campers and I am excited for the next one.  15 and 16 year old camp starts this coming Monday-Friday.  Sr. High camp was small this year, and with only one cabin of six girls!  We had way more boys, but still a lower number than past years.  I was placed as a cabin counsellor for this camp, along with Kiki (Kiki is from California and goes to Calvary Chapel Murrieta—the church that owns Machaca.  She is down here until August 4^th, and she and I have become very close friends!  You will probably see me mention her often because I just love her!)  So Kiki and I were co-counselling the single girls cabin, which made us excited!  I was a bit nervous though, because Sr. High can be a tough camp, and it can be especially difficult to bond with the girl campers of this age.  I have had some negative experiences in the past.  But the campers we got were AWESOME.  They were super super shy, and getting them to participate in devotions or sports was like pulling teeth, but they were very kind and sweet.  It was one of the best cabins I’ve had, I think.  Because we were the only girls cabin, and because there were only six of them, we had the opportunity to really bond as girls!  We stuck together, giggled about boys, and really had one another’s backs!  Not to mention the late night Punta lessons and I even learned to say a few things in Ketchi, one of the languages of Belize.  I had a great time with these girls, and it was such a blessing to be able to have bonded with them like that. 

On the final day of Sr. High camp, Mr. John had prepared a giant obstacle course as one of the closing activities.  Now you have to know that John used to be in the army and currently ministers and spends time with the BDF (Belize Defence Force) and is probably one of the most hyper-masculine men I know….so this wasn’t no playground obstacle course.  It was freaking bootcamp!  Each team had to run carrying giant automobile tires on their backs to the football field, then hop through the tire line (like you see footballers do), then run over to another station and certain team members had to stand on a line and try to toss balls into a tub a billion miles away.  If you missed a ball, you had to run over and get it and keep trying until you got it in.  In the mean time, the rest of the team had to do the Dying Cockroach until all the balls were in the tub.  For those of you, like myself, who have never heard of the Dying Cockroach, it is a military term for a physical training position.  You get your back on the ground and put your arms and legs straight up in the air and hold that position.  Think it sounds simple?  I challenge you do it for six minutes like we did.  No seriously, do it right now.  It should be called the Dying Human.  After five minutes of doing this I serioulsy thought I might vomit.  I’m no Chalene Johnson by any stretch of the imagination, no matter how many Turbo Jams I’ve done!  After this we had to run across the field to a giant trench that had been dug out with about four logs, parallel to each other, across the trench.  The logs had been greased, and as a team we had to jump in the trench and find a way to get everybody over the slippery logs.  Some of the bigger guys were able to jump up and lift themselves over, but us girls had to stand on the boys’ backs in order to make it over.  After clearing the final log, we had to climb up huge mountains of the dirt that was dug up from the trench.  At this point you were seriously thinking death sounded sweet, but after climbing the last dirt mountain you saw there was another giant trench that had been dug.   This one was filled with water and mud, and you had to get on your hands and knees and crawl through the mud under these low tarps.  Any clothing I was wearing that day was effectively ruined.  Once you made it through the second trench, you only had a ways to run to make it to the finish line.  And remember, all this is done in the heat of the afternoon.  So it was a work-out like I’ve never experienced, but a ton of fun, and I’m just proud of myself for making it through!  Mr. John gets a lot of his stories, analogies, and study topics from his experience in the military, and he often has us to team building exercises that he learnt there.  For example, the other night he had us get in a single file line behind each other.  Then we had to put our bellies on the ground in push-up position and rest our feet on the shoulders of the person behind us.  Then on the count of three we had to do one giant push-up as a team.  You think a regular push-up is hard?  Try doing one with thirty people!  So needless to say, I’m getting worked. 

We had some great messages during Sr. High.  The basketball players were awesome speakers and delivered some powerful studies to the campers.  I think this was the most responsive Sr. High I’ve expereienced.  It was so encouraging.  Another amazing thing is that this whole time,  Jayme has heard nothing but the Gospel preached since she’s been here.  She’s taken part in skits and presentations and helping raise camp awareness, and while she has been a part of it, she has also been subject to it.  For camps she was obviously not placed in a position of spiritual leadership (she was on the maintenance team and helped in the kitchen a bit) but she got to hear all the messages the campers did.  And every day she prays with us as a group, or hears a devotional that one of us prepares before meals, or hears Mr. John give a message.  The Word is constantly being spoken all over this camp ground, whether during camps or not, and she has been subject to it each and every day.  I have had the most amazing opportunities to talk with her and listen to her questions and try my best to answer them.  She is so curious and so hungry to understand.  It has been an experience for me as well, to interact with someone who knows so little about Christianity.  I have been a Christian my whole life, and I forget that not everybody has even heard the story of  Noah’s Ark, or knows what the Fall is in reference to.  So I have had to be sensitive to her understanding of even the most basic things, and not take anything for granted, and learn how to really talk with unbelievers or new Christians.  It has really been good for me.  Jayme has been so responsive, asking questions and looking for books to gobble down.  I catch her reading all the time. She has already finished “Don’t Waste Your Life” by John Piper and I have lent her “Searching for God Knows What” by Donald Miller.  Watching her hunger for knowledge is one of the most encouraging things.  The other day, Kiki and I had gotten a moment to rest and had crashed on our bed.  We decided to do some devos together and I started reading out of Exodus.  Jayme stopped by our cabin and stayed to listen as I read out loud.  She had a plethora of questions afterwards, as I had read about God leading Moses and his people out of Egypt, and then crossing the Red Sea.  After that, I read a chapter to her out of a book I’m reading.  I am just so humbled that God would give me these opportunities to witness to her and share my faith with her.  I just leave with that whole God Squad feeling again J   Jayme leaves on Monday, so she only has a short time left.  She will be missed by everyone—we’ve just loved having her here.  She has not yet said she’s made a decision of faith, but she has said that so much makes sense to her now, and that she thinks Chrisitans are pretty cool haha.  She used to be involved with different spiritual mediations and rituals, and can still sometimes confuse that with Christian spirituality (thinking that God is in everything, including food, trees, etc) so I ask that you continue to keep her in your prayers.  Not only that the beginings of her faith would grow, but that God would reveal His Word to her and the truths about who He is.  I can’t thank you enough for all those who have been praying for her.  I believe this is the first time I’ve had the chance to see somebody go from proclaimed uninterested unbeliever, to curious and semi-interested, to hungry for knowledge and understanding.  Is our God mighty to save or what? 

Did everyone have a good Canada Day? For myself, I was barely aware of which day it was, but I made sure to represent  by wearing a Canada tank top and my Canadian flag necklace, and sang our anthem loudly at lunch time haha.  Of course I wasn’t spared a single Canadian joke on that day.  Because it was still during camps, Mr. John said that we would celebrate next week by making poutine for lunch.  Today, however, there is a party going on down here at camp for the U.S. Independence Day.  We had burgers and pizza for meals, which was a HEAVENLY change from beans and rice. 

I have had no problems with the food this year and so far have remained healthy.  My vitamins that I shipped to myself before I left arrived yesterday, so I’m hoping that will help keep me healthy too.  My machete wound has healed up nicely, with no more infection.  My legs, however, are not looking so good.  The mosquitos are worse this summer than I’ve ever seen them.  It’s like they are starving to death.  It looks like I have some sort of skin disease and I am constantly waking up in the night scratching.  And I just keep thinking that I’m going to be in a wedding in three months, and I really don’t want to be walking down the aisle with jungle legs that look like they’ve been gnawed on by a wild beast.  Because I’m staying down here so long, I’m hoping it will be enough time for my body to develop more of an immunity to the bites, just like the Gotz family.  They get a third of the bites I do. 

So things have been going really really well.  The basketball players left today and Jayme leaves on Monday.  Tomorrow we have a girl named Ashely from Utah coming for the summer.  She was here last year, although I did not meet her.  I have a few prayer requests.  One of my biggest challenges this year has been accepting the lack of structure here at camp, and embracing the casual culture of Belizeans.  Normally I love the laid back style, but it can sometimes get really frustrating when things need to get done.  This year, because I am familiar with camps and have been here many times, and possibly because I will be staying all year, I have been given some extra responsibilities and things that I am personally in charge of.  I don’t mind responsibility as long as I am equipped with what I need to get the job done, or given specific instructions on what to do.  I find down here you can thrown into things last minute and are just expected to figure out how to accomplish tasks.  Things that I have never done before and have no experience with.  And  no one adheres to time limits or designated times, which can make everything more frustrating—especially if I’ve delegated tasks.  It may not sound like a big deal, but I’ve really been having a hard time with it and I’ve let it rob my joy on more than one occasion, and affect my attitude.  Please pray that I would have patience with my tasks and with my team, and not develop a bad attitude.  I need to remember the ultimate goal in all of this.  Also, pray for upcoming camps, for Jayme, for my health and safety, and for unification as a team.  As for praise items, I received an update on my donation status, and God has blessed me greatly in my June donations!  Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you who sent personal offerings.  There have been some surprise expenses that I wasn’t counting on, so I greatly appreciate your financial blessings.  I hope things back home are well, and that everyone is keeping safe.  Don’t be afraid to email me updates on your lives and what is happening back home!  Until I am able to write again, many blessings! 

 

BECKY

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Oh Canada…

17. June 2009 by admin.

 The second day into my Belize adventure and I manage to chop myself in the leg with a machete.  We were cleaning up the camp and trimming the bush back from the camp and chopping off the dead branches of the palm trees.  The Belizean guys were mostly responsible for this because they know how to properly use a machete, and have the muscle power to chop.  But I really wanted to use a machete, so I asked if I could take a whack at it (no pun intended).  Mr. John saw me with one and said to Fredrick, “Don’t let that little Canadian chop her leg off…we need her this year.”   I was chopping a tree branch above my head, and not having much luck cutting through it.  So I started using both hands to chop and I put my all into it.  I gave it a huge chop and as the machete hit the branch, it jerked out of my hand and swung down and cut into my knee.  I was so excited to have chopped through the branch, that I didn’t notice at first that I had blood gushing down my leg!  Freds noticed and came running over.  After I started feeling the pain, I looked at Freds and we were both like “Mr. John wah KILL us!”  So we ran to the hurricane shelter where we keep the First Aid, and snuck around back so Mr. John wouldn’t see!  We got my knee cleaned up and the bleeding stopped….it stung!  As we were leaving the hurricane shelter, Mr. John drove by and saw me limping and said “You chopped yourself, didn’t you!”  Poor Fredrick got blamed for not watching out for me. 

The last two days have been spent cleaning and preparing the camp.  It’s been exhausting, especially working in this heat.  When we head to bed, we just crash.  There is a girl my age from Idaho that has come down for a few weeks.  She is staying at the camp with us, but is spending the days teaching at a school in town.  Her name is Jayme and she has been an absolute joy.  She’s a ton of fun, and has such a positive spirit.  She is not a believer.  I have been praying for her and want to ask you to pray for her as well.  She is in the perfect place to come to know God, and I can’t imagine her leaving here without having had a personal encounter with Him.  Because she is staying at the camp with us, she has been present for our Bible studies and worship sessions, and hears about Jesus on a daily basis.  She is in no way hardened to the gospel, but has been burned in the past by hypocrisy in the church, which has turned her off.  Last night we had our weekly youth Bible study in town at the building Machaca rents.  Afterwards I noticed that Jayme had tears in her eyes, which in turn got me going.  So I know the Lord is doing a work in her and I am determined to not let her leave without making the decision to accept Him.  She is such a beautiful person already—one of those people that you know would be awesome for God!  So please keep Jayme in your prayers.  I am convinced there is a spot reserved for her in the Kingdom. 

Well it didn’t take long for the Canada jokes to kick in down here!  Every summer I always get teased for being the only Canadian on the team, and for “talking funny.”  The Gotz family are from California and Mr. John has no problem reminding me, in jest, that Canada is inferior to the U.S.  The jokes are non-stop.  If ever I make a mistake, regardless of the context, it’s always because I come from Canada!  But I was told that we would celebrate Canada Day this year, and Mr. John said he would buy some fries, cheese curds, and gravy, to make poutine in my honour!  I brought a Canadian flag with me, and made sure to hang it in my room for all to see—represent! 

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

“Ah Done Reach”–Arriving in Belize

15. June 2009 by admin.

So it’s the end of my second day here in the jungle.  Let me catch you up on what’s happened since I last posted.  I have obviously arrived safely at Machaca.  The morning after my night in Miami, I found my way back to the airport alright and boarded my plane to Belize City.  Once I got there, I had a four hour wait until my puddle jumper flight to Punta Gorda.  Thank goodness for laptops…I was able to type up some letters and a blog, as well as watch two hours of Friends!  It was funny, one of the airline attendees who was helping me with my bags, and who I recognized from previous trips, turned to me and said “I’m getting used to you.”  Another one asked how long I was down for this time.  They all seem to remember me!  Another blessing from the Lord–my luggage arrived in Belize City, as was hoped!  It was in a bit of rough shape–a number of things were broken, snapped, or out of place and my one duffle bag had a huge rip in the side with stuff falling out.  But it arrived nonethless!  And when I touched down in Punta Gorda, Lisa Gotz, Mercedes, and Fredrick were all waiting for me!  So everything ended up going smoothly

It was a ridiculously hot day when I arrived–the airport said 96F.  By the time we reached Machaca from town, and I had my stuff all settled in, it was about 4:30pm Belize time (we are two hours behind Ontario).  The rest of the evening was spent having dinner at the Gotz’s house with everyone (the interns and staff) and colouring posters to hand out in town the next day, advertising summer camps.  I was exhausted from two days of travel, but running on adrenline and excitment.  The next day we drove into town to hand out flyers and posters to the village people.  It was an extremely hot and sunny day, and all the white people got burnt bad…including me!  And I never burn.  We came back to the camp for lunch and then all passed out for a couple hours–zapped from the sun and heat.  In the evening yesterday we all started camp prep, and cleaned out the craft shed and hurricane shelter.  Us girls went back to our cabin and were in bed by 9:30pm haha.  This morning Fredrick and I made breakfast for everyone, and then we went to church.  Church here is about 3 hours long, so it takes up most of the morning.  Some of you may have heard there was a significant earthquake in Belize a couple weeks ago.  Some things at the camp had been damaged and it had taken a lot of cleaning up.  This morning there was a 15 second earth tremor as aftermath from the earthquake.  After lunch we went into town to watch a football (soccer) game.  A couple of Belizean interns here are on the football team, so we went to support them.

It doesn’t sound like we’ve been doing all that much since I’ve arrived, but I feel like I’ve been so busy.  I am LOVING being back here, and I’m already so excited for what’s ahead of me!  It melts my heart when I see the look on the Belizeans’ faces after I tell them I’m here for the whole year!  Thank you everyone for the cards to read on the airplane….I miss you all muchly!

BECKY

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

The Joys Of Travelling…

15. June 2009 by admin.

(Updated:  June 11, ‘09)

Well I haven’t even made it to Belize yet and already the adventures have begun!  I type this while sitting at a desk at the Hampton Inn, with a half-eaten box of pizza beside me, in super hot and sunny Miami.  “Why is she in Miami?” you wonder?  I am wondering the same thing actually!

I have been up since 4:00am, when my super awesome friend Diana drove me to the airport to catch a flight I THOUGHT would eventually get me to Belize.  I had zero problems getting through Customs—which, if you know anything about me, you know I ALWAYS have SOMETHING happen.  I am still seething about my brand new tub of twenty dollar face cream they ever so cruelly tossed aside one trip down.  But this time, all I got was a few suspicious glances, some shifty eyes, and a suitcase ransacking—it was a breeze!  My first flight brought me to Chicago, no mess no fuss.  But once I checked the departure screen I saw that my connection flight to Dallas, Fort Worth, had been cancelled.  After I reached the gate, and after waiting five years in line, I was told that the flight had been cancelled due to severe thunderstorms and tornadoes.  I didn’t know Dallas was such a death trap.  They were trying to rebook people for a later flight to Dallas, but as soon as this was done, they got more calls that the later flights had been cancelled as well.  The woman behind the desk told me the best option for me would be to transfer out of Chicago to Miami, Florida, where I would spend the night; then head on down to Belize tomorrow morning.  The idea of finding a place to stay in an unknown land was terrifying to me.  Plus, I don’t exactly have money to throw around on unexpected hotel stays.  Fortunately, I was given a small discount for “distressed passenger” status.  I’ll say. 

But even though I was definitely overwhelmed by the sudden change of plan and course, I kept surprising myself by how calm I was staying.  I remember two years ago, on a flight home from Belize at the end of the summer, I missed my connection flight and got stuck in Atlanta.  I ended up having to spend the night in Georgia then, and I remember being not so much calm….there were tears….lots of ‘em. 
But this time, despite being a little worried about certain details (how would I notify the Gotz’s that I wouldn’t be arriving in Belize when they don’t have a phone in the jungle?….how would I find my way to the hotel?…at this point, where in Christendom was my luggage??), I felt a definite sense of security in the whole thing.  Or perhaps it was just denial haha.  At any rate, I was thankful I didn’t have the added bonus of stress to go along with my raw physical and emotional exhaustion.  Saying goodbye to friends and family yesterday was brutal.  I think I actually have the best group of friends out there. 

By the time I was done re-booking, it was 9:45am, and my flight to Miami was supposed to depart at 10:45am.  I walked to the gate and waited awhile until I noticed a sign saying the flight was delayed until 11:15am and it was departing from a new gate.  I love how they never announce this to passengers; they just let them wait there until they miss their flights.  So I walked to the new gate and waited there.  As I waited, I found an outlet against a wall and sat on the floor using my laptop.  I was able to email the Gotz’s and let them know my flight had been cancelled…I’m still praying they checked their mail in time.  A little while later they announced the flight had been, once again, delayed.  We didn’t board the plane and take off until 12:30pm.  I arrived in Miami just past 4:30pm. I had been flying back and forth between time zones all morning, so I’ve lost track of which one I’m in right now.  Once I got off the plane, I went to a customer service desk and figured out that we’re “not quite sure” where my luggage is at the moment, but “we’re confident” it will arrive at my final destination in Belize tomorrow.  Not quite sure what this confidence is based upon, but we’ll give American Airlines the benefit of the doubt.  I then found my way to the main terminal and ground transportation deck.  By this point in my travels, my arms were like jello from lugging around my extremely full carry-on.  I had resorted to dragging in on the floor behind me, as opposed to trying to carry it. My carry-on had become a drag-behind (haha bad joke, sorry).  An airport attendee noticed this, took pity on me, and let me have a luggage cart for free.  I called the hotel they had booked for me (a hundred dollars later) and they told me where to flag down a direct shuttle bus.  Forty-five minutes later I was on the bus and headed to the Hampton Inn—quite proud of myself too!  It was funny because I had started the day off in Chicago which had been cold and grey and rainy.  But Miami was HOT HOT HOT and sunny….apparently 90F.  I felt like I had just flown to opposite ends of the world.  And I couldn’t help but laugh at myself…what the HECK was I doing in Florida??  But I made it to my hotel ok and was giddy like a school girl when I saw my accommodations for the night!  King-size bed.  Enormous flat screen TV.  A pool and palm trees out the window!  And there’s something to be said for doing it all independently.  And I thought I’d be sleeping with the beef worms tonight. 
So after calling up a bag of free toiletries from the front desk (couldn’t help but be reminded of Ross!…”we’re one apple short of a bushel!”), ordering a pizza, jumping up and down on my huge bed, and taking about a dozen pictures of myself in my wicked cool hotel room, I settled down to type this blog.  And I’m thinking that I’m so glad I didn’t freak out or have an anxiety attack about the whole mess-up this morning, because it’s turned out to be such a blessing in disguise!  Sure I’ve had the longest day of my entire life, and I’m exhausted beyond what words could describe, and I’m still uncertain of what tomorrow will look like….but I am happy as a clown right now in my big hotel room, living like a king!  There are so many positives to this:  It broke up the long travel day, so I only have a few more hours left tomorrow; even though I only have the clothes on my back and no clean underwears, I got free deodorant, toothpaste, and shavers (which are all in my checked luggage); I get my own personal adventure in Florida, and get to stay in an awesome suite all by myself; and I get a night to just rest before the craziness of Belize begins.  I have been go go go the last few weeks, or months rather, and this past week has been especially wild.  I’ve been stressed, overwhelmed, and emotional.  I’ve been planning each day down to the hour, and have “to do” lists coming out the wazoo.  And I know I left without completing a few things, and that’s enough to stress me out.  So it’s really nice to have a night where I can’t control anything even if I wanted to, and be forced to just relax.  I feel like God said “Ok, you’re freaking yourself out a little too much.  Why don’t you relax and breathe a little before you start your adventures…here, have a hotel.”  And even though financially it wasn’t a positive, it’s doing wonders for my attitude and morale.  Even here, in random Miami, I feel God’s provision and protection over me.  I have not felt alone this whole day.  I’m praying I am able to say that for the next 15 months too.  And always! 

So I am praying all goes smoothly tomorrow, and that the Gotz’s received my email and will be there to pick me up at the airport.  Until I can blog again (yes, I’ve become one of those people), I’m peacin out from Miami baby! 

Today’s relevant verse (courtesy of Sam) “In his heart a man plans his course,
but the Lord determines his steps.”  Proverbs 16:9

BECKY

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Hello world!

23. May 2009 by admin.

Welcome to my blog. This is my first post, so I’m just learning.

Stay tuned, as I use this blog to keep you up to date on my mission to Belize.

Please pray that my support will come in ASAP.

Becky Storey.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »