Completing the Mission.... Despite the Conditions

Day 7

Well, our final day here in Belize was devoted to sharing the resources that we had worked so hard to
put together earlier in the week.

Our team, along with the villagers from Arizona, Teakettle and Young Gal spent the entire day praying with families and delivering beds, blankets, sheets and food throughout the village of Maya Mopan.  And we managed to distribute every last provision - in the rain!

We waded, slipped, slid and spun through the water and mud to complete our mission service.

So, we leave you all with one photo to describe our efforts.  And we look forward to sharing the details of our last day, along with the rest of the experience, at the Belize ReLive presentation - coming in a few weeks.

Quest Church, your Nov. 2013 Belize Missionaries are coming home......


Blessings,

Joey

A Day for Three Villages.....

Day 6

Today our mission group prepared to go out into the villages of Arizona, Teakettle and Young Gal.  We visited these areas to distribute beds, blankets and food baskets and to talk and pray with local Belizean families.  And as special guests, we were joined by villagers from Maya Mopan (10 miles away).  It is such a powerful experience to see the people from one side of town serve their fellow countrymen/women.

 

We rode in the new EQC church bus and German followed behind us in his Jeep - which was pulling a trailer loaded with beds. 

 

Pedro's daughter, Iliani, hangs out of the bus as James

gets ready to crank it up.  She was blessing today as she prayed for people she had never met.

Here, missionaries from Maya Mopan and Quest visit a home in Teakettle.

 

Heather and Debbie pray with an elderly woman on her front porch.  It always amazes me how welcomed we are to share a few moments with people - to be invited into their homes so freely.

 Pedro and Rosa (both from Maya Mopan) walk the streets of Teakettle village as missionaries in their own country. 

Here the group stops at Victor and Elvira Pop's home to drop off a bed and some food and gathers outside for prayer.   Luis Pop, cousin to Victor and frequent volunteer with Quest/EQC missions, also lives with these relatives.

 Rain has plagued our trip from time to time and yesterday was no exception.  Even though our missionaries were wet and muddy, we delivered all of our planned resources in Arizona, Teakettle and Young Gal before the day ended.

Stay tuned for more photos.  As I mentioned, the rain dampened things a bit and we only had a few cameras during our workday - and I am trying to track them down.

Assessing Needs and Clothing Provisions....

Day 5

We spent the entire day with our sister church members and were able to provide each of them with a huge bag of clothes.  Pastor German provided the resources but Quest missionaries had to sort and organize the clothes into men, women and children's categories.

We used the EQC worship facility and pushed all the benches against the wall.  Then several men took turns lowering bags of clothes from the upper room above the church to the floor below.  Missionaries then spent hours sorting the bags.

Matt and Curt MacDonald spent much of their time in the upper room moving bags of clothes and cleaning.  Each team member was required to wear a dust mask, as the humid Belize climate had made the clothes dusty and damp.

 Vickie poses for the camera as she sorts clothes in EQC.

Debbie works to quickly categorize sizes.

Micheal Albright organizes the young boys section.

 

Betsi works with EQC members and friends to fill bags of clothing for various families.

Shannon stops for the camera during work.

Children are always livening the mood at mission events - and this was no exception.  This one yellow slide kept about 6 kids entertained for hours. Their faces are always so very bright and loving.

 I will end with this photo of Travis taking a break to hold one of the youngest helpers, as his mother spent time selecting her clothes.  The Belizean people - these families that are now our forever friends - are truly a beautiful blessing to our lives.  It remains a honor to serve them even in the smallest of ways.

Blessings to All,

Joey  (on behalf of your Quest missionaries)

Continued Group Fellowship in Belize….

Apologies for the late blog posts but our internet service was extremely slow yesterday and today.  The signal seems fine right now so I will catch everyone up to speed.

Day 4 (Tuesday) found our group a little tired but ready to begin a brand new day of work together here in Belize.  The vans arrived around 9:30a.m. delivering men, women and children from the various villages we minister to/with. 

The women began their day with devotionals and prayer and then started a very special project.   Each woman received a piece of canvas and some acrylic paint.  The canvas was pre-marked with abstract lines and shapes that did not reveal any specific imagery and the women simply had to paint colors in certain places. (i.e. paint by numbers)

We were pleased to have Verna and Austin's wife Deli with our ladies.

 Julie Gray spends time with several woman from Maya Mopan village.

 Our men's group was inspired to make some furniture for Pedro and his family.  Many of you may remember that his home was vandalized and burned to the ground last year.  Quest assisted with raising the funds for new materials and EQC rebuilt a new house.

We had a lot of scrap wood left over from the bed building and by the end of the day we had made a dining table, two benches and two adirondack style chairs.  The outpouring of work toward this family's needs is simply amazing - as they have dirt floor and absolutely no furniture in the house whatsoever.

James Thomas and Pedro show off their stool leg.

Adolfo smooths the rough edges.

Ron and Oscar cut lumber to length.

Young men of EQC make the table for Pedro's family.

As our men and women worked together, members of both teams took turns helping to care for the Belizean children.

At times this room seemed like "Daddy Daycare".  Angel, James and Ron pull their shift.

Curt MacDonald said his knowledge as a grandparent helped him take a foam noodle beating with grace. :)

As evening rolled around, EQC and Quest joined together in worship.  Debbie Banks preached a powerful message and we were so very proud of her.  Pastor German gave an altar call and many people came forward to receive prayer.

The two Amys smile for a picture after service.

After the buses had left to take everyone home, Travis, Michael and Joey went out back of the chapel and began taking night, long exposure photos - so I leave you with this image of the Camalote night sky and a grove of banana trees.  By the way, the light in the background is the lights from Westar truck stop (2 miles away) and the trees are illuminated by just a few light bulbs nearly thirty yards away.


In Christ, Joey

 

Fry Jacks for Breakfast help make Mission Blankets and Beds....

Greetings from Always Beautiful Belize!!

Our missionaries woke early Monday morning to spend time in their devotionals and prepare for the first day of group work projects.  As we sat on the screened porches and in the garden hammocks enjoying the sights and sounds, rumors began to fly that "fry jacks" were hot and ready in the kitchen.
For those of you who may not know what fry jacks are, let me describe them:  Imagine a very light, thin pastry that is made in a triangular shape and fried in the shallow oil from a black iron skillet.  Although there is no sweet component, the dough is irresistible - and so we have nicknamed it the "Krispy Kreme of Belize".... now we just have to convince them to drown it in a sugary glaze!!

Once breakfast had finished, vans driven by James Thomas and German began to depart our camp bound for various villages.  They returned soon with what seemed to be fifty of our Belizean friends who would spend the day working along side us.

The Women's Group met in the chapel and had over 30 ladies representing several generations.  Most brought their infants and young children along with them.  The ladies spent the day in fellowship together making blankets, having lunch and sharing several scriptural lessons/activities.  Our Quest missionary women were so very blessed to be here in community with their Belizean sisters.

As the ladies worked in the chapel they had to endure the sounds of chop saws, circular saws and drills.  The Men's Group was about thirty feet away crafting beds under the tool shed - and having a great time doing so.  Matt MacDonald lead the first day's lunch lesson on our theme of GRACE. Belize it or not, Travis Cain once again led the charge and 35 beds were completely finished in one day!  From a personal standpoint, it was a pleasure to be working side by side with young men like Julio, Luis, Pedro and Joshua.  And it was refreshing to welcome a few new faces into our clan - like Angel, James and Rudolpho.  When each bed was finished, Matt pulled the branding iron from the fire and burned a cross into the head boards and foot boards.

Similar to last November's experience, our team took turns entertaining the children of the men and women participating in this week's camp.  The infants and some toddlers spent time in the Maya House kitchen watching movies, napping and screaming.  Vickie Veatch helped to organize activities for older children on the large screened porch - and from the sounds of things, an exhaustively good time was had by all.  :)

Our day ended around 4pm and everyone gathered around the vans to say goodbye and return home.
The weather was perfect, the fellowship was great and the Lord's work continued.

In Christ (and on behalf of Quest missionaries)

Joey