These past 10 days we have shared our blog with the Lakeview team that has been here.  They are leaving today.  In fact, They should have taken off an hour ago.  We will be leaving tomorrow. Read on to see how AMAZING our God is.

EVERY DAY on this trip God revealed to John and I why he is sending us to Belize.

Our trip with the villagers:

I was able to reconnect with many of the women that I have become friends with.  Especially a girl named Tifara.  She became a Christian about two years ago. Last summer, when we were in Belize, I cultivated a friendship with her. It is now blooming.  She is now able to share her struggles with me.  She told me, “Mel, I am so ready for you to live here.  I can not wait.  Oh man, I just can not wait.” It REALLY warmed my heart. I knew that having Evangeline would open MANY doors for me to be able to minister to women. I was able to get a small glimpse of that this week.  The villagers are so open and welcoming when you have a baby.  Everyone wants to hold her and they view her as a prize.  Evangeline will make the pieces of the puzzle fit together in my ministry to young women.  Especially those who do not go to church.

PRAISE THE LORD THERE WAS A SALVATION IN THE VILLAGE THIS WEEK!!!!! John was helping the team with VBS and noticed a new man in the village  (new to John) in his twenties named James (John had never met him before because he was in prison).  He found out that James was awaiting murder charges.  John sat down with this village man and talked to him for a long time and shared the gospel with him.  After the conversation, John had to leave the village.  But that night, James came out to the base.  Basil, not knowing about the conversation John had with him before, met with James down by the ocean and shared the gospel again with him.  That time, he prayed and accepted Christ as his savior!  AMAZING!  AMEN!

Our time with the team this week:

Basil and Vera said this was on of the best teams they have had.  They were amazing.  We had the privilege of leading this team.  It was our first taste of what life will be like when we live here permanently.  We were able to challenge the youth to consider listening to God and see if He is calling them into full time ministry or missions.  By the end of the week three students said that they felt God calling them to missions.  I was able to have a lengthy conversation with one female student on how to have assurance of that calling.  By the end of the week I followed up with her and she said she felt sure that God was calling her to the mission field!  AMEN!

One night, John and I came back to our cabana and we almost said at the same time “This is it”.  We know that we know that we know that we know, without a shadow of a doubt that God wants us here.  We always knew, but God really took time to reveal it to us this week.  Even in the form of us getting a new support partner!  WOW! YAY! PTL!  We are sad to leave but so ready to raise the rest of our funds and get back here to serve the LORD.

To Ken Hughes, thank you so much for letting us borrow your youth.  You should be VERY proud of them. We hope to be able to speak with you when you get back about the trip when you get a chance. Great job to the team leaders Brian and Judy.  You both are AWESOME.

To the team: You guys are so COOL. See you next summer some of you. Please, someone let us know if you got in safe.

How Evangeline did:

Our little girl was such a trooper!  Hardly any whining or fussiness.  She allowed anyone and everyone to hold her (of course her favorites are still mommy, and then daddy ).  The most difficult part were the nights.  I think because of the heat and persperation she wanted to feed more.  It seemed at times she woke up because she was too hot and then realized she was hungry.  Poor little girl.  We are very proud of her.  It seems like she was made for life in Belize. She will just have to get used to the heat.

Thank you all for your prayers!  Please continue to pray that God sends partners our way!  Vera and Bsil need us down here ASAP.  We want to be here ASAP because once you see the vision of what God has you doing for the rest of your life, well, lets just say, you want to jump right and and do it.  AMEN!

Last Day on the mission base. Here’s the team report for the day:

Hey everyone it’s Mary, Amber , and Brian for your Day Seven update. We went to bed to the sound of rain, luckily we were spared a rain out for the rest of the day. This morning we woke up to the smell of fry jacks again. The guys the left for some early morning “football” with the village men. The girls hung back and rested up for the final day of VBS. We had about 15 village guys play with us and at halftime we were able to share the gospel with them. Most of the people are familiar with the Bible, but many here have not accepted Christ. The girls came over at lunch and we met at THE restaurant in town (Gentle’s Cool spot.) Then we went to the church and watch the guys play around with Kasey’s Horse. Luckily these guys were more fleet of foot and there were no close calls like Kasey had. Then we went down to the School for VBS. The hardest part of the day was leaving. Many of the children were sad to see us leave, and it was also difficult to say goodbye to these precious little ones. Zach especially had a difficult time leaving his new best friend Leroy “Brown” baddest dude in the whole dang town!!!!!!!!! On the boat ride back to the base Jacob decided to pick on people that are bigger than he is. Needless to say he ended up swimming the last 100 yards or so. AND of course you cant just throw one person off the boat, so we elected Mary and Zach to share in his lesson. As soon as we returned to the base (well right before we got back to the base) the rain came again. Everyone is a little down because we know that many of the people that we have met we will not be able to see again before we leave. Mary, Niki, Zach, ETC, want to stay, but I promise parents I will get them on the plane somehow. It is great to see their hearts break for these people. God has softened all of our hearts, and grown us in ways that words cannot explain. I know that the people that are coming back to Hartsville are not the same as the ones that left. Thanks to God for coming here with us.
Tomorrow we will be able to go on our free day excursion , although I think everyone is more excited about Air conditioning , Cold drinking water, and Hot bathing water than anything else. God bless and thanks for all your comments and prayers. They have been a blessing all week. Amber says to pray for her to be mellow on the plane rides back home. Also pray for whoever sits beside her. AND Aunt Judy is doing well with her toes. Brian and Aunt Judy are awesome chaperones and God has blessed us with them and we all LOVE them both dearly! Again we all love yall and we will see yall when we get home! GOD bless and LOVE!!!!! Aunt Judy says that hopefully someone will comment to let her know they love her and miss her!!!!!

The group got a chance today to sit in on a Belizean church service. I think they were a good encouragement to our new pastor, Kenny Welch, as they were able to help out with the music. Brian and Zach are posting with more info:

Hey guys this is Brian and Zach here to give you your day six update. We got up this morning and had pancakes and plantains for breakfast. Then we caught the boat to the village for Sunday School and Church. Some of our team members lead the children in the VBS songs at the beginning of Sunday School and also lead in worship songs for the adults. It is great to see the village come together for worship. Kenny the local pastor gave a message from the gospel of John. After the service we went to Nacho’s where Miss Alice prepared a wonderful Sunday dinner. We ate outside picnic style. After dinner we returned to the mission base, some of the students went swimming. While they were swimming Zach and Caleb learned a lesson in Marine Biology. Mainly focusing on the pain that a jellyfish can cause when you try to swim in the same place that they are trying to swim. Parents do not fear, our group is really getting close. The word is that urine is a remedy for the sting of a jelly fish. Caleb in an act of brotherly love shared some body fluids with Zach to help ease his pain. Shai he will be okay. Brandon a local craftsman came to the base with us to show us how to make drums and jewelry. We spent the rest of the afternoon just hanging out. Pray for us tomorrow as we go back into the village and finish up our VBS. Also in the morning the guys will be going to play “football” with the guys in the village. We would really like to share Christ with them, please pray that we are wise in our approach and have a good chance to share the gospel with these men.
>Cammie tell Allysa to comment the blog.
>Parents I want to thank all of you for your responses, I wish you could see how your kids faces light up when they hear that you have posted on the blog. We have been focusing on encouraging each other and your words of love and encouragement are a great example to our students.

Hey y’all, its Amber and Ashlyn here for your daily scoop. We first started our day off with a wonderful breakfast. Cereal and muffins have never tasted so good. After that we had our daily devotion time and then a quick group meeting to discuss how the day was going to roll. Today was not going to be a typical day for the team. The kids did not have school toady so we were not going to have VBS today. Instead, we stayed on base for the morning and cleaned the beach. It took us a wapping 2 hours to get it all done but it was worth it. The beach looked beautiful after we were done. Some of us got some sun but no one worry, everyone is ok. After we finished cleaning the beach, we were just in time to catch the boat to the village for lunch. We had a truly American lunch with a little Belizian flare. We had hamburgers, french fries, watermelon, strawberry tea, cucumber and pickle salad, and Amber’s favorite; KETCHUP!!!!!!! Jill made the lunch again. After that, we just chilled in the church with the kids and oh yeah we forgot to tell y’all. Jacob got tinckled on by a dog. HAHAHA!!! After a while we decided to go down to Jill and Emmet’s house for milkshakes and drum lessons. Jill makes the best milkshakes and Emmet plays a mean drum. We just chilled there for a while and we met a couple that were here from the U.K. We all had our turn at playing the drums. Kasey, especially, had fun: braids and all. Yes Ms. Cammie, Kasey actually got his hair braided. We have pictures to prove it. After that, we walked back up to the boat and waited for Vera and the crew, including Grandma, to come back from the city. They got back with food and water and then we were ready to go. It took 2 trips to get us all across the lagoon. Please pray for Mrs. Vera. She fell while getting into the boat and hurt her back and ankle. We think she will be ok. After we came back and got all of the food into the kitchen, some of us went swimming in the ocean, as usual. Dinner is great as well. We had stewed chicken, rice, beans and much more. It was a true Belizian feast. Well, I guess that was about it for our day. Oh one more thing; well, make that a few things. Will some one tell Lisa to comment on the blog. Brian wants to here from her dearly. Mrs. Stacy, Zach asked if you could tell Shai to comment on the blog. And Mrs. Sandy and Mr. Monty, Mary says that she is not feelin’ the love back. Everyone sends their love and please pray that God will open doors in the village for us and that we will be safe!!!!!!!! Yep, Aunt Judy hurt another toe. Again we love y’all and miss y’all so very much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today we’re hearing from Caleb and Kyle. This is what they had to say about today’s happenings:

Hey guys this is Caleb and Kyle. Today all started with a breakfast. We had eggs, bacon, cantaloupe, and fry jacks. It was great. After breakfast we split up and the guys went to the village and played football (soccer). The girls stayed back at camp and some girls from the village came to spend the morning with them. We all had a good time! The guys had lunch in the village that a local village cook prepared for us! It was wonderful! The girls had their meal fixed back at the base! After lunch we all met in the town and continued the vbs for the village children. today we taught the abc’s of becoming a Christian. We then came back to the base and swam in the ocean for a little bit! To all the parents: We miss you guys and love you all!!!! Someone please call TERI GRIGGS and tell her to check out this blog and it would be nice to let her son know that she loves him!!! thank u and we love all ya’ll !!!!

UPDATE: Oh yeah…we forgot. The female chaperon, who will remain nameless, is causing the most trouble. For instance, last night, she burned a hole in the floor of her cabana. We’re watching her very closely just in case she feels compelled to commit arson again!

Mary Elizabeth and Niki have today’s update. This is what they’ve written:

Hey everyone…. its Mary E. and Niki!!! Today is Day 3 of our trip and it was definitely a day to remember! Today we woke up to the sound of rain! It was nice to have a little bit of cooler temperature but not so nice to use as our shower water! At 7:30 we ate breakfast, french toast and pineapple slices! We then did our morning chores and did our group devotions. We then proceeded into the village and prayer walked to the government school! Outside we did a small sports camp for the teenagers who are out of school already. We played an intense game of kickball and had a group devotion talking about our separation from God as sinners. Then, we saw our good buddy Brandon who makes the BEST jewelry (next to Nigel!) We ate lunch at the only restaurant in town, Gentle’s Cool Spot, and enjoyed some nice and fresh soft drinks (can you believe they use REAL sugar and not corn syrup! YUMM!) After lunch we went back to the school and did our VBS for the second day! Please pray as we continue showing the love of Jesus and explaining what it is to be a Christian! Thank you for all your prayers already also! As we were returning to the mission base, Kasey was unexpectedly attacked by a horse! luckily the village dog was there to save the day! (no lie!) (but dont worry Mrs Cammie, he didn’t get hurt) … Brian was really happy because he didn’t think there was liability for a horse attack! We would like to give a shout out to our parents! We truly miss you guys and LOVE YA’LL!

(Mrs Teresa, please call Mrs Cammie Bradshaw at 307-5218, and share this website with her! Thank you)

PS. Ken, where are you guys in Indonesia????, we are sure you are going to give us a detailed update! HAHAHA

So Mel and I have volunteered our blog for the team to communicate with their home church this week. Today was Kasey’s turn. Here’s what he wrote:

hey guys. this is kasey and day 2 has went pretty smoothly. we got to sleep in a little and that was really really nice after we finally dragged ourselves outta bed, we got to take cold showers that felt unbelievably good. we had delicious pancakes for breakfast and had a devotion. we then headed to the village and prayed walk almost the whole thing (which is about a mile and a quarter. we met moses and brandon. brandon is a really cool guy who makes cool necklaces and bracelets and other nik-naks. he is really nice and we talked a good bit. we then had some lunch. a lady in the village made us some hot pocket type things which were some of the greatest things i have ever had:) after that aunt judy got corn rows put in her hair and mary elizabeth got her hair put in braids. im not even joking. then we headed to the village and worked the vbs. we then went back by brandons and i got a few necklaces he made for me and now we are back at the mission base. the scenery is BEAUTIFUL!!! if they had AC i think everyone could stay. we havent ran into any wild creatures yet so thats good. everyone wanted me to tell their parents that they loved them. we are safe and pray that God keeps us safe. pray also that the people of belize see God in us. pray also that we grow in God and that God’s priorities become our priorities. please pray that God will comfort us and keep homesickness far from us because i think im already there. well im about to go swimming so ill keep in touch. i love you all and miss you all

Every time we return to Belize, we are more cognizant that we’re coming home, not leaving home. We had a great (but long) trip here. We’re definitely feeling the fatigue of not only the travel but of moving houses this last week also. This “living by faith” thing surely keeps you on the move. But hey, we haven’t gone to prison or been stoned or beaten with rods yet, so I count myself pretty fortunate.

Actually, we truly are fortunate to serve such a awesome God. We continue to stand amazed as we see the gift he’s given us in Evangeline. She’s traveled down here like she was born for it, and despite the hot, muggy conditions, is as happy as can be. We’re excited that she’s getting to experience her new home for the first time. We’re excited that even at her age, she’ll be used by God to open doors to relationships here that were not possible before.

I’d like to welcome all the Lakeview folks who are looking in on our blog this week as their youth minister to the children here. Everyone has arrived here at the mission base and is in good spirits (although they all went to bed early tonight…hmmm) Evidently there were some tense moments for some who were flying for the first time, but all seem to have made it more or less intact We start in tomorrow on the VBS so pray that God gives them boldness and prepares them to be stretched out of their comfort zone. We do our best to create an environment where they can commune with God for the week and allow the Holy Spirit to speak into their hearts and lives. Please pray that they’ll be listening and receptive to what God has to teach them this week. Pray that they’ll die to self so that they can be effective witnesses to share Christ’s love.

Feel free to leave comments for your kids at the end of this post. We’ll try to make sure we relay them each day. That’s all for now. It’s late and Mel and Evangeline have been snoozing beside me for a while now. I’m totally jealous.

Here is an e-mail from Vera about the earthquake:

It’s time to update, we are finally in Belize City, we had to do a wedding rehearsal & I needed to decorate for the wedding that Basil is doing on Sat. However, we have gotten to BC. So this is our day.

Amazingly enough the village survived this. In talking with villagers, they were certainly all frightened but all homes are standing, which amazes me considering what shape some of the houses are in, some of them already look like if you breathe on them they will fall over, but they didn’t last night. One of the villagers Jill, shared when they woke to this event and then it stopped, she realized that what happens after a earthquake of that magnitude and being surrounded by water, that a tsunami would be the next course for the night. So she put life jackets on her daughter Ajani and herself, her husband Emmett thought she was being silly until Hank came with the radio giving the Tsunami watch, he then perked up and started thinking what their next step would be as well!

I actually think because we are on the coast line that we felt it harder then they did, not to mention the fact that we’re at least 8′ high off the ground w/a cement foundation and house, so I don’t think our house gives as well as a wooden house would. We really thought our roof was going to cave in on us and/or the floor was going to start tilting and we were going down. Obviously that didn’t happen, thank you Lord! We lost quite a few items in our house, nothing critical to us. One amazing little tidbit to laugh about is: We have a mirror next to our front door on the top I had three small wooden plaques sitting on it that have some sweet saying. This morning Basil picks the only one that fell off and it said “Life is fragile, handle with prayer”, we got a good laugh out of that.

I think our nerves were on edge, Basil went back to bed around 3:30, I on the other hand stayed up wanting to be on top of what the Tsunami report was, wanting to see what we would need to do. Finally around 5 am I read that the Tsunami watch was over as they watch for 2 hours and if there is no significant or strange wave action they remove the watch. I finally went back to bed until 8. We had a few after shocks, one I was thinking about going back outside, but I think we’re over the worse part of it.

Our apt. in Belize City didn’t have any major damage inside, just a few books fell off the bookshelf, which amazed me after reports we had heard about Belize City and the electricity being out all the way to Mexico and that there were some houses that had collapsed, however nothing different in looks on the outside. Our foundation of the apt. on the other hand doesn’t look really good, there’s a major crack that runs along the base of it about 1″ from the ground. Hmm we’ll see if anything develops out of that.

So other than Basil and I being really tired, we’ve survived this one. It was definitely at least a 3 to 4 min. earthquake, after talking w/Mandy one of our staff persons and all she went thru thinking first that the wind was really strong and when she finally went to her door to see what was happening, but didn’t notice any wind, so she went back to bed, but her house kept rocking, so she thought there was a robber under her house shaking the house to see if she was in it. She got out of bed to find her flashlight, then very sneakily she turned it on and tiptoed to the door to lock it, so the robbers wouldn’t come in, hoping that they didn’t hear her. Then she went back to bed, closed her eyes and thought this was it, they were going to come in. Then she saw my flashlight and thought perhaps there was some lightening outside, then heard my voice, and was so relieved and realized it must have been an earthquake. What a quake to go thru for her first one!

I (Vera) will be going to see the Dr. tomorrow as I may have pneumonia he said, so I’m going to check it out. We want to thank all of you for your encouraging words and prayers. We have survived this and will continue to move forward in the Lord’s work, since He has spared us from this catastrophe, there were some casualities in Honduras, we haven’t heard about any here in Belize.

Thank you so much for your prayers!

Here is an e-mail that we received from Basil and Vera this morning. Please pray for the the base and the village and all of Belize.

We’ve had a 7.3 earthquake at 2:33 am this morning. Our house is still standing, but lots and lots of broken things. We have found out that we are under a Tsunaumi watch. Not an alert, just a watch. We are watching closely to see any updates. Basil and I are praising God that we’re still standing in the house. We’ll see in a couple of hours if there was any structural damage. We are headed into Belize City later today and we’ll see what our apt. is like.

Wow this one was scary, it seemed far greater than the Loma Prieta in 89′. I went online, and saw that there were an awful lot of earthquakes around the world that seem to lead up to this one. Not sure what the damages are within the Central American countries as we can’t get any local news out here in the Jungle. We have no idea how the village is until daylight and staff start to arrive.

We leave for Belize on June 7th to meet with a team from our former church Lakeview Baptist in Hartsville, SC. This might be very timely as the village might need help with clean-up. Thanks for your prayers. We will keep you posted.

UPDATE 8:17 PDT: Tsunami watch has been cancelled. I spoke with Vera on skype. She said: ‘only one of my little signs fell off our mirror by the door, that said, “Life is fragile handle with prayer”‘. How appropriate. Mandy is ok too, although being a New Yorker, didn’t know what was going on.