Week 12

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

We had a nice day, of course it wasn't the same, and it didn't feel Christmasy, but I think that is really ok. In the couple weeks before I had had times when I was feeling sad about missing family and all the traditions. But on the actual day I was so struck by how great it felt to really live the way we believe. Although all the hype around Christmas is fun (and often stressful), it always took my focus off of what we were really celebrating. And this year with nothing else in the way we could really focus on Jesus.

Sage was super excited to open gifts in the morning, when we got up she said 'I was excited for presents and I got out of my net then I saw it was dark out so I went back to sleep.' My mom and Grandma sent us gifts and Joel made Sage a barn for her animals :)  Around noon some friends of ours who live on a lagoon arrived by boat. They brought Sage 2 baby chicks as a gift which of course she loved.  We had a nice meal and they stayed until almost dark. It was a wonderful day, even if completely different :)

We had a nice relaxing week. Sage and I made a bunch of food for Christmas Day and made cookies for Christmas Eve.  Joel made a buoy out on the sandbar for Bill (and whoever else needs) to tie off the boat. He mowed the whole lawn and cleaned up the beach which was a mess after like 5 days of wind. The wind was actually amazing because we had that many days without bugs also!

Obviously I haven't been able to figure out how to put pictures from our tablet on to the computer, so I've just been uploading some to facebook.  We did have hope to get our stuff back last week but it's been another week and still nothing so we're starting to consider ordering a new computer and camera since it will take awhile to get here. It's hard to know how long to wait.

We did have an incident this week, Joel Sage and I went down the beach on the small boat and the dogs followed us. Joel had found this huge rope he wanted to get out of the sand.  On the way back 3 of the dogs took off after something in the woods. One came back right away, and the 2nd that night and we noticed the next morning he had big punctures in his head.  The 3rd finally came back the next night and he had punctures in his head as well. We're guessing they got in a fight with a wild boar. They looked kinda rough for a couple days but they look much better this morning and seem to be back to their normal selves. It was just a strange thing to happen!

This week we will be going to town one day and our next big project will be painting the lodge (!!!) We'll get paint this week and Joel will start the prep work.  He's also working on the shower upstairs that leaks really bad for when the team is here in February.

Hope you all have a great week!

Weeks 9-11

Happy first day of winter!

Well a lot has been going on. We are so sorry we were unable to update the blog for the last 3 weeks, we tried to keep everyone up to date through our facebook ministry page.

Well first of all I'd like to share about the showing of the property. It went really great. There were 4 men that came, 3 from a large ministry organization, and one from a smaller ministry already in Belize. We had a wonderful visit with them, they were so encouraging it was a blessing just to spend time with them.  They seemed to enjoy their stay here and when they left they went to explore other areas of the country, just trying to figure out where their ministry would fit in best. They have let us know that they are more than likely going to purchase some land and build housing etc from the ground up, closer to a city. We were a little disappointed but we are sure the Lord has the exact right person/people lined up for this place :)

They left on Friday and we spent the day relaxing with some friends who came out to stay for the night. Sunday we went to church in the village as usual and when we got back we saw the window on the lodge was broken. We went in to find someone had stolen our computer and camera. We also discovered they had broken into the directors house and had taken another old computer and a cd player.  I have to admit I was really sad, mostly about all the pictures I have on our computer, and the one's still on the camera. BUT they are just things. They can be replaced. We were safe, no one was hurt, and as my mom told me when I had something stolen in high school, they must have needed it more than us. We have peace about this whether they are returned or not. Please join us in praying for the men who are in jail, that they come to know the Lord through this.

'Don't store up your treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store up your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do no break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.' Matt 6:19-21

So this was the reason we were not online much. After a couple days Joel remembered we had a little tablet and we got that working so we were able to be online and even skype, so that was a blessing. However it was a challenge typing on that thing! Now some friends of ours have let us borrow a laptop, another blessing!

Another thing this changes is that we cannot leave the base unattended. The break in was a planned event, they knew we would be at church. We can hire someone to come out here however everyone we know goes to church also so we can't really ask someone to do that.  We tried to get house church to come out here but with such unreliable vehicles in the village and just having it be a bigger deal we struggled to make it work. We decided that Joel would go in on Tuesdays and I'll stay here.  It's not ideal but we know this is temporary and it's more important that house church keeps on.

So after all the work we did getting ready for the showing we took it easy for a week. Joel worked on a present for Sage, Sage and I made Christmas decorations, we all decorated the tree we found in the lodge.  Joel is always doing something of course, he can't just sit around lol.  He replaced and added a bunch of lights all around the lodge, got the boat ready for inspection to register it, made us a water heater for our shower (yay!!!), fixing a toilet, along with regular things like keeping the beach clean etc.

Last Sunday we had Cindy Kidder, a missionary who lives in the village, bring out her group of teenage girls for a 2 night retreat. It was really fun, the girls were super nice, and Cindy did a great job planning activities for them, especially since it rained the whole time.  I sure appreciate her and what she does for the girls. They made it so easy to have them here, they did all the cooking and cleaning, some of the girls even played dolls with Sage which just made her so happy :)

On the way to house church (finally!) this last Tuesday Joel was driving the truck and it literally broke in half in the middle of our (looooong) driveway, about half way to the village. As in the frame completely broke and the bed was sitting up on the back window. After asking what the Lord would have him do he found a ratchet strap and strapped the frame back together. He decided since Satan was obviously trying to keep him from going on that he would try and make it to the village and figure out how to get home later. He made it! The amazing thing is our pastor had a truck he was going to sell but thought of us and our almost broken truck and decided to keep it in case we needed it. So he gave him the truck, someone else gave a gallon of gas, and he was good to go!  And it was worth it because house church was amazing that night I hear :)

Last Thursday Joel and Threnton went to Belize City to register the boat and go to the post office. They did some fishing on the way there and back and caught plenty for Threnton to take home and one nice jack for us for Christmas dinner :)

Today Joel is out there mowing, he worked on the truck we're using to get it running better this morning and worked on the boat to make it easier to get up the ramp. I'm trying to catch up with everything while Sage is sleeping but my time's about up and all I did was the blog lol. We'll both continue trying to catch up with emails and messages as well as working on replacing documents we've lost.  I want to get out receipts for donations this last year but of course everything was stored on our computer. So I appreciate your patience as I have to go through bank records and online donations to figure it all out again.  We can take pictures with our tablet so I've been uploading some to facebook and will try and get some in the blog next week.

Week 8

Winter hit Belize! Here's proof, our coconut oil solidified!

We've had a whole week of 'cold' weather, most of which was 60's at night and 70's during the day. It was sooooo nice to have a break from the heat, especially with all the work we've been trying to get done. It was cold enough at night for blankets and it made for super cold showers, I even skipped a couple days because I just couldn't bring myself to get in that cold water. 

Last week was all about cleaning. That's pretty much what we did the whole week. Joel spent 8 hours cleaning downstairs of the lodge. Check out what he found under a bed down there:

And we had been wondering where that smell was coming from...... Anyways it looks usable down there now, we were all too creeped out to be down there before.  

 

We took the day off for Thanksgiving and drove to our new friends Bill and Stacy's house. They and another couple own land on the lagoon north of here. They have a beautiful place!

We really enjoyed our dinner of grilled and stewed armadillo, turkey, apple pineapple salad, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, broccoli salad, cookies, lemon bars and pumkin bars. Yeah we were stuffed. It was a really fun day of fellowship with them and the other couple (who are from CO), a couple from Vancouver, and a man who lives nearby from England. It was very interesting conversation!

Then it was back to work. Joel got a tool shop set up in the container, it looks great:

Sage and I worked on cleaning the lodge and directors house most of the week, along with all the regular things like laundry and cooking.  

So why all the cleaning? Well Belize Mission and Retreat is for sale. As you can tell there haven't been any teams lately and there are only 3 scheduled for this next year. There used to be teams almost every week throughout the whole year!  Once the economy slowed down the teams tapered off and now there's hardly any. We had the opportunity to skype with the owners a couple nights ago and they shared with us what it was like when they first came 13 years ago and all the ministries they started and were involved in. It is seriously amazing. I know they are so sad that this chapter is coming to an end. We did know this coming here and decided to come anyway because we felt God was telling us this was the place for us. So there are a group of people coming to look at the mission tomorrow. We've known for several weeks so we've been working really hard to make it look as good as it can.  This is another ministry looking at it and I think we would all like to see a ministry purchase it and keep it going.  So please be in prayer for the whole situation and that the right people find it.  It is so beautiful and amazing here I don't know who wouldn't want to buy it!  So where does that leave us? Exactly where God wants us, completely relying on Him and not always knowing what's coming next. We are concentrating on where He has us right now and that's it. 

We'd also like to share that we were involved with starting a house church in the village. This is super exciting for us because as many of you know we went to house church back home and absolutely loved it. We found out there were some people in the village who wanted to start a bible study so Joel talked to them about doing house church like we had and they loved the idea. We've been meeting on Tuesdays for over a month now and we are loving it so much. We've been enjoying getting together with other believers and just sharing what God's doing in our lives, studying and praying together.....it's really really great!  So also keep this in prayer if you would :)  

So that's why the blog was late this week, between using all our download allowance skyping with the owners, being home late from house church last night, and all the work we've been doing there hasn't been time! Thank you so much for keeping us in prayer, hope you all have a great week :)

What is a missionary anyway?

WHAT IS A MISSIONARY ANYWAY

I have found myself thinking about this a lot as I observe and work with other missionaries. At times I feel a little discouraged by what I’ve seen and experienced. Of course this is only my opinion. But let’s think about it for a minute. What is a missionary? The first thing I’m thinking is, are we gift users or servants, let me explain. A gift user might think their only task in the mission field or at home in their church is using the gift God gave them. If an opportunity or task is available to them that is a gift God gave them, they are willing and ready to serve. But if an opportunity or task is set before them that is not their gift they tend to steer around it or even just say that’s not my gift and avoid anything that doesn’t require the gift God gave them. I’ve heard it many times [that’s not my gift so I’m not going to; or, I will not do it.] When God puts something in front of us and we turn it down are we missing out on something He wants us to learn, or on an opportunity for God to use us in a big way?

Then there is a servant maybe someone  that  uses the gift God gave them in the mission field or at home in their church, but if any need arises they are willing to help whatever the need whatever the crisis whether it’s their gift or not. Are they doing or acting in a place where they have no business or are they just acting the way Jesus wants them to? I mean if we never did anything we are not comfortable and good with would we ever learn or grow in our walk with Christ? Or think about this; if the Holy Spirit is in control of our lives couldn’t He empower us to do things above and beyond our gifts? So if we turn down things other than our gifts are we missing a chance to let the Holy Spirit do the work in our life that He wants done. I have talked to many people who say God always seems to put them where they least expect or are the least comfortable. It seems to me that would mean God placed them doing something above or beyond their gifts. I think we would all agree we are more comfortable doing something we are good at.  And what about the people who turn them down when they say you should not do this it’s not your gift.  Sometimes there may be a time for that, but I feel we need to be sensitive to what the Holy Spirit might be doing in that person’s life and approach that subject with more caution than we originally think necessary.

Next I have thought of this, are they disciples or Pharisees? I know the answer to this seems easy but let me define each one as I have felt myself being convicted when I thought about who they are. A disciple is someone who is a student learning from Gods word daily. Diligently seeking Gods truths and never finishing his or her education from Jesus. They love the Lord for who He is and what He has done, good or maybe even bad in some circumstances to the human eye. They trust His plan and have a strong foundation of faith with roots firmly planted. They are ready to share the good news at any moment and don’t get distracted by what God may be doing do tomorrow.  They understand a relationship with Jesus Christ and devote their lives and love to Him. And most of all they are servants.

Then the Pharisee, the upholder of the law we all know them from the New Testament. But let’s take a closer look: they know Gods word very well and are always first to display their knowledge of it. They teach from it as if it’s a lesson in school but don’t act on the words they are teaching. The relationship with Christ has lost its value and they might be more focused on decoding and uncovering the things that may have been lost in translation. That’s interesting, but what’s the big secret? When I read the word especially the New Testament Jesus lays it out so a dummy like me can understand it. Are we going to understand it all I don’t think so.

Isaiah 55:8-9

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
    “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
⁹ For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so my ways are higher than your ways
    and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

I feel like God is pretty much telling us we won’t understand everything in this verse so we should be careful with our theories.  If God says we are not going to understand Him completely that’s ok. Isn’t that where faith comes in? Don’t misunderstand me I’m not saying don’t study diligently I’m just pointing out that the Pharisees seem to have all the answers and might even add some of their own laws that are not spelled out plainly or just plain unknown in God’s word. Being upholders of the law they may be judgmental OUCH!  All I can say is if you’re a little judgmental read Romans and try not to feel like a Pharisee. Also showy, but I don’t have to go into detail on that. They might also feel as though they have in some way finished learning or graduated with all their knowledge.

Hebrews 4:12

“For the word of God is alive and powerful.

It is sharper than the sharpest two edged sword,

cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow.

 It exposes our inner most thoughts and desires.”

This seems to say to me that the Word isn’t just a history lesson but it is something that will change us in a huge way. Not something we graduate from, but something we are grafted into and is continually changing us for better until our short time on this earth is over.

Next there is near or far the great commission talks about making disciples of all nations, but does that mean if we’re at home we are inactive? I have read books that say we are not missionaries until we go, almost making me feel inadequate or disobedient if I don’t. But who do we send to go? All of us? Or is it possible God was smart enough to keep people at home to raise up the people God has given the ability to go. If so; what or who are these people that bring up our idea of a missionary back home? Is it possible God has different plans for all of us, and for some of us it might be to go and some of us it might be to stay. Do we need to focus on world hunger, orphans, widows, the poor? Or should we worry about the lost and help these others along the way. The great commission isn't for orphans, widows, the poor and hungry it’s for the lost. I believe this is the priority. Of course we will help the needy if we are the loving people Jesus made us.  But think about this; what’s more important, physical needs or spiritual needs? I believe spiritual needs can go much further than any dollar amount. So does helping people make you a missionary? Another thought there are movie stars that believe in religions that defile our God, but they have done more physical good with their seemingly limitless finances than you or I could ever imagine.  Does this make them missionaries?

 After a lot of thought I have concluded that a missionary is not just someone who helps people but someone who is a servant. Someone who might not be gifted in the areas he ends up but if the need arises he or she will get dirty sweaty and even bloody, or stand up for the Lord maybe in front of thousands and even if he doesn’t feel adequate will have faith that the Holy Spirit will step in and not through self but through the Power of the Holy Spirit standing in for them, be used for Gods glory. A missionary is someone who is a disciple of Christ always ready to learn and humble enough to continue to learn no matter where they are in their walk with the Lord. They realize that what they have is a relationship that needs daily work and they strive to love the Lord the way He loves them. They are ready to share the good news at any moment and aren’t distracted by what God might do tomorrow. They display love always because Jesus loves them. They display the fruits of the Spirit and hold themselves to a higher standard not because they are missionaries but because that’s what Jesus wants. They realize the necessity for spiritual healing in their life and all the people around them whether close to home or not.

This is the person I want to become in my walk with the Lord. If you would agree maybe you’re a missionary.

Week 7

What a fun week! Monday was my (Jes's) birthday. We had the idea to go to Goff's Caye but we thought of it a little late in the day so decided to go on Tuesday since we knew some friends that were going. So we followed them out there early Tuesday morning, it was a great day! It's a little tiny island on the reef and we went swimming and snorkeling and fishing all day.  It is so beautiful out there.

After our fun day off Joel got to work on some cleaning up projects such as the container:

And cleaning under the directors house:

He got a trailer put together:

 As of Monday we got a new lawnmower! So he has been mowing all week, he got the front done again (it had been like a month already - quite a long time when it rains every day!) and now has the back done as well, it looks like a nice yard back there.

 Before:

After:

ALSO we started an orchard! We love fruit and it's hard to store here after you buy it. Plus we just love it fresh, and free :)  So we got a lemon, 2 plum, 2 almond, some more mangoes, 2 soursop, and a papaya from some people in the village.  Those in addition to the one mango we bought, and the papaya, coconuts, banana's and lime that are already here, we are super excited :) Joel mowed this field for the trees:

Some went there and some went around the yard. We know it'll take a while for some of them to produce but we just like the idea of it.  They also found some cassava in the back, we've had it once in the village and it was really good so we're excited about that too.

Cassava:

Friday night a bunch of ladies from the village came out here for a sleepover as a goodbye party for Sarah, that was fun! Just hanging out, playing games, and eating some good food. Sage had fun playing with the kids too:

This morning (Monday) the Bradbury's left for the states. They will be spending the holidays with their families and then coming back to Belize to serve at an orphanage in Punta Gorda. Here's their blog if you want to read all about it:  missionariestobelize.blogspot.com  Exciting stuff for them, also sad for us to see them go.  It's a lot of work to maintain a place like this, especially with just 2 people. But we know God has a plan in all of it so we are trusting Him to provide!

Week 6

 We had another rainy week, I mean it rained a LOT every day. It was a really nice break to have cooler weather! Especially at night, we were using blankets and everything. However it made it a little harder to get work done because when it did stop the bugs were really bad. But we had a good week, Joel got a lot done, the guys went to Dangriga for groceries and luckily the driveway wasn't too bad to get out for that and to go to the village for bible study on Tuesday.

We finally managed, in between the rain, to completely finish painting the guest cabana's - they are DONE, yay! I never got a good before picture but you can kind of see in the one above how much they needed it.

The ministry owns this Toyota Tacoma and it was available for us to use if it could be fixed.  So Joel has been working on it a lot and finally got the new starter in this week. He also fixed the lights, the grill, put a new bumper on the back,fixed the tailgate  and got the 4 wheel drive working. The gas tank is ready to fall off but he strapped it up temporarily to get it to Dangriga where it can be welded and then get it registered. This will be our vehicle when Mark and Sarah leave because we've all been using theirs.  

He had found a piece of steel in the backyard for a bumper (forgot to take a picture of that). Wiring and screws were already here. Found a broken bushing from Mark's Jeep to fix the 4 wheel drive (yes he knows....). The starter was $160. Not bad to get a vehicle running!

This outdoor shower was in the container so he got it hooked up - it looks really cool down there and can be used when you come in from the beach! Or even as a backup in case ours or another shower wasn't working or out of water. With the shower already being here and finding the plumbing under the lodge the total cost = $4 for one connector.

This is his pet project for the last couple weeks.....he had to go out in the swamp to get the wood, a red mangrove. He cut a hole in the cement pad for the post (at tree!), set and re-poured the concrete. Then he used a chainsaw to notch all the connections. Once the frame was made he went and cut a bunch of palm branches and split each one with a machete and nailed them to the frame. 

Look at our beach now - it looks like a resort! So cool :) I think it will be a fun place to watch storms too.  So with all of the materials being found right around here along with some nails and a bag of concrete we had laying around, the total cost = $0. 

They also got Mark's Jeep fixed, plus some other smaller things like making a new hatch for the crow's nest and working on the generator. I think he needs to get a little more done don't you??!? ;)

Week 5

So 3 rainy days in a row means Joel had time to get creative inside. Can you guess what he did with this??

Here's a clue.......

New pot rack for the kitchen! He also moved the fan and painted behind the stove and hood - it wasn't able to be cleaned any more so a new coat of paint looks awesome.  We also did a lot of cleaning behind things in the kitchen (slightly scary!). 

And here's what he did with that bamboo:

It looks soooo cool, it blends in well unlike the white pvc, you hardly even notice it's there. If you

We've all been working on painting the guest cabana's, Joel put up new trim and soffit and we painted that and some more of the blue this week.  

It was a quiet week, the Bradbury's left on Wednesday morning to go to Punta Gorda to check out a ministry opportunity at an orphanage there, so we were alone all week, it was different! But having all that time to spend together was really awesome, I love that about living here, we all work together. Sage helps me in the kitchen, like actually helps, she made corn tortillas the other day by making balls and putting them in the press and taking them out so I could cook them. She also rinses the dishes after supper and mixes whatever needs mixing. Whatever we work on she's right there helping it's so cool.  

We were without a vehicle since Wednesday so we didn't get to go to church today, but we watched an online sermon together which was neat too.  The Bradbury's will be back today :)  Like I said it's been raining for 3 days but it did stop long enough yesterday to wash some clothes and get some of them dry. The rest are getting super washed ;)  It has been a lot cooler too and it's been a nice break.  

Oh Monday we went to Dangriga, it was my (Jes's) first time there so it was fun to explore. We also got  parking ticket so now we know where to pay those ;)  It's funny that going to town takes up a whole day!  But we took our time and even stopped at a nursery, that was really cool to see all the different trees and flowers here. What a beautiful place!

Week 4

Joel got the seawall and gate done! It's working great and will make it a LOT easier to launch the boat.  

Joel's been working on gutters and Mark and Sarah have been painting trim, the cabana's are really looking great!

We borrowed a lawnmower and got the lawn all raked and mowed, it looks like a lawn now :)  

Friday night the youth group from the village came out for the weekend!  Friday night the boys went on a scorpion hunt with black lights - I believe they got 21 altogether. Joel really enjoyed this of course, it seemed like all the boys did ;)  

Saturday morning they were put to work before they could go swimming :)  They got some more dead trees cut down.....

........and hauled into the sea to float them away. 

We all worked on cleaning up the beach - pulling weeds, raking and hauling it all to the burn pile, and floating a whole bunch of the cut-down palm trees away (the boys didn't mind volunteering for this!)

Some of the girls posing :)

The beach looks AMAZING!

So clean!

There were about 20 kids that came out plus the youth leaders, the place was nice and full :)

Playing cat-and-mouse (good thing the lawn got mowed)

Saturday night we had church in the chapel here, Mark did praise and worship music (with Shannon on the water jug drum lol) and Joel shared our testimony and Shannon also gave a message. It was a really neat service. Fun fact: the night before they got a bunch of scorpions out of the chapel, and that night they found a boa! It was a little guy who was released without any harm :)  He was cool but I wouldn't mind if he went back to the jungle lol. 

It was fun to watch them all pile in one vehicle to get back to the village today - what a fun weekend!