Greetings from your Missionaries in Camalote, Belize. Our first day, while long, has come to a
close without any issues. Today was our
travel day down to Belize and it began with the team meeting at Augusta
Regional Airport – Bush Field at 04:00 a.m. which was quite early most, if not all of us. Many of us were up sometime between 03:00
a.m. and 03:30 a.m. which has made today an incredibly long one. After meeting at the airport,
snack bags were distributed to the team so that we would have something for the
plane rides ahead of us. Thank you
Heather Thomas for taking care of these bags for us. The team has much appreciated the items you
packed.
Next it was off to the Delta counter where we would begin
the check-in process for the team. This
usually has some challenges associated with it due to the size of the team and
we expected some complications with check-in today. Expectations were correct since the Delta
computer system in Augusta was not working properly and this extended our time
there in line while they worked around the problem. The staff with Delta was great and they
worked diligently to resolve the issue.
Thank you Delta for your effort!
We boarded our flight in Augusta shortly thereafter and were
on our way. This was a quiet flight all
in all since it was still early, but God spoke volumes to the team by
displaying an incredible sunshine in the morning sky that worked to clear out
some of the clouds in the sky. It was an incredible sight. We landed in Atlanta and made our way to
various establishments for breakfast before heading to our departure gate. There we boarded our flight and we were on
our way.
The flight to Belize from Atlanta was uneventful and many of
us took the opportunity to catch up on some much needed rest. When we landed in Belize, we were greeted with a mild 89 degree temperature and would soon face what we thought would be a large hurdle. We had to get our 17 team bags (not including book bags and carry-ons) through customs. We were concerned about some of the contents
being taxed at a higher rate since we were delivering supplies to “A Better Belize” which was founded by Joey and
Heather Barrs from the Quest Church. (You
can find out more about their ministry by clicking on the link.) Anyways, our concerns were pointless as we
breezed through customs with one the lowest taxes paid yet. Of course, our friend Ernesto was waiting to
pick up the bags once they cleared the customs counter.
Upon our exit from the airport, we were reunited with the Barrs
family. Joey, Heather and Sophia were
there with smiling faces to greet our team and drive us to camp. Once the luggage was loaded into the trailer,
we climbed into the vans and headed out towards camp, but first we had to take
care of a minor detail called lunch. Ms.
Ethel, who cooks at Camalote Camp, prepared a lunch for us consisting of
homemade tortillas, shredded chicken, lettuce, tomato and cheese that we would
combine as we wished to make a burrito of sorts. It would be our first taste of Belize and it
was delicious. Joey took us to an area
park in Belize City where we could sit down and eat with views of the ocean as our backdrop. While there, we took advantage of a sign that
was erected and used it as a backdrop for a group photo.
After lunch, it was back to the vans and on the road to
Camalote Camp. If you are not familiar
with where Camalote is located, we are just a few miles outside the capital
city of Belmopan. We are located about
an hour and 15 minutes inland from Belize City. Once we arrived at camp, we unloaded the
vehicles and met the rest of the camp staff and heard the story about how and
why A Better Belize was founded. Next,
we received a tour of the camp. As a
person who has been to Camalote a number of times over the past four years, it
was amazing to see some of the improvements that have been made here. There are upgrades to the bunkrooms, the
dining facility has been renovated completely and can now seat 80 people, a new
and improved kitchen was built, a soccer field was established, a concrete pad
was poured for a basketball court and even a new bunk room was constructed. It was great to see the improvements that
have been done in the past year.
Near the end of the tour, we met two additional members of
the staff, Andre and Dragon. Andre has
been on staff at Camalote for a couple of years and he handles the maintenance,
construction and grounds keeping here just to name a few things. Dragon just started recently, but has earned
his keep through his hard work according to Joey. Andre and
Dragon were not scheduled to be working at this time, but they did come by to
meet the team and of course, cut down a few fresh coconuts and mangos for the
team to share. So refreshing.
The team then worked to unpack the many bags that we had
brought in preparation for our upcoming camp.
The new dishes and towels that we were able to bring for use at the camp
pleasantly surprised Joey and Heather.
Though, I think Ms. Ethel was most excited about the new dishes that
would be used in the dining facility.
Ms. Ethel and her husband prepared dinner for us consisting of stewed
beef, rice, beans, coleslaw and fried plantains. Then she surprised us with cheesecake
flavored ice cream from Western Dairies.
Everything was delicious!
We finished our night with circle time to discuss today’s
events and go over what the week ahead would look like. During this time, Pastor German arrived after
a long day of working and we were able to introduce him to the team members
that he did not yet know. It was about
7:30 PM Belize time when we concluded and we were now ready to start winding
down for the night. After a long day of
traveling and unpacking, we found the hammocks to be most comfortable.
Your missionaries are all doing well and we cannot wait for
what the Lord has in store for us this week.
We have a great team and it is important to note that two of our team
members come from Trinity on the Hill United Methodist Church in Augusta. They are serving with us on this trip while
also looking into how Trinity might be able to get involved here in
Belize. We are happy to have them. We also have the Director of Family Promise of Augusta serving on our
team and we are glad to have her as well. Thank you to all of our missionaries and to those who support us back home.
Until next time…
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