So after leaving Jamaica, my first mission trip, I knew that I had found a new-found passion - missions! A few members from our church were gearing up for a mission trip to Belize in May, and I figured .... why not? I had received a tax refund, so I had the extra money to go! So I immediately signed up for that trip, traveling with our Associate Pastor and another gentleman from our church.
We stayed near Punta Gorda, at the very southern tip of Belize, with Jimmy and Angel Justice, of CHMI Ministries, based out of Kokomo. I immediately knew that these were some fantastic people, and how awesome to see a married couple working together in ministry and on the mission field!
The first thing we did was visit a local school in a very small village (pic below). This whole "missions thing" was still new to me, so I really had no idea what to expect on this trip, other than I knew that we were there to help out with a youth conference that was to take place on the grounds that following weekend. So, anyway, we get into the van the morning after we arrived, to head to the school, and Angel looks at me and says: "so, were you able to prepare anything for the kids today," or something to that effect. YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE LOOK OF BEWILDERMENT ON MY FACE! What? Me? Prepare something? I have no idea what I'm doing here! Graciously, Angel was already prepared and explained to us a few activities we would be doing, and let me know how I could help out with one of them. I was clueless, and I had never really worked with small children, but okay...I'm ready...let's do this! I led a short activity, and though it didn't feel like I did much, I now see that this was just a small piece of the puzzle of this thing called MY LIFE and was preparing me for MY CALLING! It truly was a fun time, and oh how touching it was to see and hear those small children worshiping in song with us! It truly blessed my heart that day!
We also visited another larger school in Punta Gorda that week (pics above). It was about the same - worship in song - do a few activities - then Jimmy spoke about God's love. OH, and we handed out candy to the children - a special treat for them! Again, a very blessed time.
The majority of the time, we were preparing the grounds for the arrival of many teens who were coming in for a youth conference to take place Friday through Sunday. We did hard labor (pic of me above using a machete to chop down dead palm leaves), we swept, mopped, made beds, etc, etc. We also made several trips into town to gather supplies, which I soon learned was a chore in itself! Supplies are limited, and we would continually have to make trips back to see if things had arrived.
Then, the youth arrived for the conference. There was an opening service, worship, fun outdoor activities, workshops, guest speakers, etc. I felt like a fish out of water, not really knowing what to do or to say, not really feeling like I was doing much, but again, this was a learning and preparation experience, and I met a lot of great people, and learned a LOT from talking with them!
10 days later - time to return to Indiana! :(
No comments:
Post a Comment