Easter Sunday

Happy Easter! He is RISEN!!
This morning we are off to a lazy start as we slept in until 8:00. The girls woke up to discover that the Belizean Easter bunny had shown up. They even got to take part in their own version of an Easter egg hunt. They (along with Ryan and Josh) sought revenge on the boys for demoting Ryan to the lowest rank of TSF. They used water balloons (eggs) and they hunted the boys. Our bags are packed, and loaded in the trailer. We are saying our last good byes to the people who during the week have made camp home away from home for us. Some of them have been our Belizean family for a few years. There are some changes happening here at camp, so there is uncertainty as to who will be here both for us in terms of team members next year, but for them also. We're so grateful for them and their consistent love and servant hearts. It's like someone turned on the waterworks. :)
We are going to do our own Easter service out in the chapel. We will be not only the first service in the chapel, but the first Easter Service in the chapel area. Mrs. Orr brought resurrection eggs and we're going to make sure that we celebrate the joyfulness of this day! As soon as we finish with our service we are going to start our 4 1/2 hour drive to the airport, and then our 5+ hour flight home. We are a group with mixed emotions, as we are excited to come home and see you but sad because in many ways we have become our own miniature family here, and that family time is ending. Please pray for our safety in travel,  as well as for the hearts of our kids as they leave Belize. Please make sure you keep an eye out for any delays on our flights. We are on the following flights:

April 8 Belize City to El Salvador departs 5:20pm arrives 6:25pm TACA 411
April 8 El Salvador to LAX departs 7:40pm arrives 12:05am LACSA 670

We love you ALL!!! See you soon!

finishing up in Belize

Where to begin? This has been an emotional last 2 days for us all. We did our last day of VBS yesterday. We had 82 kids come. We were excited for that number as it was higher than previous days. We did the story of the parting of the Red Sea. We were so glad to have the bracelets from the 4^th graders from RCDS with the translation in Spanish to give the salvation message. At the end of VBS, we passed out ositos (little bears) from Chelsea’s Bears to each of the kids. They were very grateful and excited for their special treat! We then came home had a wonderful dinner of fried chicken, french fries, cole slaw, cheesecake, and bread pudding. We then loaded up our vans and headed back into the village for a special Good Friday service in Bella Vista. The church shared multiple songs that they had prepared just for us. Several of the children of the church even performed dances for us to worship songs. It was so precious. Then our kids sang 2 songs for the church, which they loved. They then asked Mr. C to come up and preach. He hadn’t prepared anything. Even more comical was that his reading glasses had been left at camp, and so he had to borrow one of the ladies’ from the congregation’s glasses. They weren’t quite the right prescription but he did just fine anyways. He gave a wonderful message in both English and Spanish. It was on passages from 2 Corinthians 4 and Revelation 21. We said tearful goodbyes to kids from the church and some of the church members. As we were outside the church, there was a processional from the Catholic Church with the crucified Jesus covered with a shroud and about 250 people following behind it with candles and music. It was a very different experience from anything we have in the US.

After church we came back and did devotions. The kids were pretty tired after our time of sharing and diving into the Word. They headed to bed. Mr. C. and Miss Frost stayed in the dining room as the kids worked to finish their “shout outs”. When Miss Frost went to bed, the lights were still on in the girls’ dorms, only to find out that moments before the lights had been turned back on due to a scorpion sighting. It was a mama scorpion, which Makayla and Shanice (our Belizean teenage girls staying at camp with us) were quick to point out and kill one of the babies. They also were quick to point out that there is usually more than one baby with a mama. Mrs. Clark and Miss Frost needless to say were thrilled to hear that news! NOT!! Most of the girls were asleep already, so it didn’t phase them. We have been keeping a very close eye out for any of the babies that might have strayed after their mama was murdered. They were not the only scorpions we saw though. Miss Frost had a fairly decent sized one jump on her leg this afternoon while working at the trenches. She quickly brushed it off (with a slight scream) and then squished it.  

This morning we were moving more sluggishly. But today was a day for victory!!! We FINALLY conquered the trenches! HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There was much rejoicing in the camp! After finishing our digging, we donned our swimsuits and headed to the river for more rock hunting. We took the trailer to fill with rocks to line the bottom of our trenches. We ended up making two trips, which allowed us some time to play in the river and cool off on another HOT Belizean day. (Easily over 100 again). A few nights ago, we asked the kids to come up with a verse to write on a rock from the river that would be placed in the foundation of the chapel’s trenches. So today we wrote our verses, prayed over the completed trenches, read them out loud to each other and then placed the rocks in a trench. It was so cool!

We had a more relaxing afternoon. We packed, cleaned and prepared for tonight and our departure tomorrow. Tonight our dinner was sautéed garlic shrimp and fried shrimp with fries, cole slaw and pineapple upside-down cake. Our missionary Darlene is turning 50 in May, so tonight we threw her an early surprise Birthday Party. She was definitely surprised, and we had fun. We also had a talent show complete with all sorts of acts. Skits, limericks, dances, songs, and even a comedy act. Josh emceed the event for us! Gregorio, Flor, Micah (their grandson) even came out for the talent show. At the end of the evening, we gave out the gifts we had brought for all of the people we were ministering with. It was difficult to say goodbye to Gregorio, Flor, and Micah tonight.

We had a great time of sharing again tonight during devotions as we looked at how we can continue to make an impact in each other’s lives beyond our time here in Belize. After devotions, the kids stuck around to play Mafia, and then we called curfew at midnight. We are all anxious to see you tomorrow. We will leave here around 11:30 (10:30am your time) to begin our journey up to Belize City to then fly home. We look forward to seeing you on the other side of Customs at LAX! Love you all!!  

shout outs!!

We thought we'd give the kids a chance to tell things from their perspective for a little bit! Enjoy! 

Hannah- Mom, Dad, Logan, Bradley & Michael.. I miss you guys so much and I can’t wait to see everybody. I hope you guys are enjoying your spring break, I know I am. I really love it here and wish you could see how amazing it is!! The people are soo great and it is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. I really love my team and they are just like family. We definitely have had some crazy times.  I have so much to tell you and so many pictures to show you!! Duuuuude I got one gnarly farmers tan (nothing like Logans though) lol. Tell Logan that I am thinking about him and wish him luck with his lifeguard test if he hasn’t already taken it. Text Farris and Jimmy for me thanking them for the nice comment and that I miss them too! Only 2 more days so don’t miss me too much. i hope you guys have a fantastic Easter, ill be thinking about you! Love you all!!! <3<3<3

Brian- Mom, Dad, Blair, and whoever else reads these: tough week so far! Picking/axing/shoveling 370 feet of trenches has probably topped the 100+ bags of cement last year, something I never thought would be topped. Sweating more than I ever have, blisters everywhere, sick, but they kinda need me so no rest for the weary eh? Finally saw the Lopezs yesterday when we got lucky and found them and the Central team at the same beach we went to so now the trip is all worth it. Carla says hello and said she would probably going to write Mom a note or do something over facebook. Christi says hi to all three of you and told me to give you all hugs. I think she misses Dads meat off the bar-b-que. Matthias bought me a machete! Let me know how the Yankees are doing!

Megan- How’s my brother Addi Abbs doing? Working your abbs? I think by now my biceps will be bigger than yours with all the digging of trenches that is going on. Dad, I love you and miss you! Hopefully you all are having some guy bonding time. And I hope you have a fantastic Easter! Ryan, I know you cry to sleep every night because you miss me, but it’s okay, I am still alive and will be home soon. Till then, you can have a hug fest with Adam and Piggy.

Erin-Hello Clark boys, just a reminder for you to finish watching all your man movies—be ready for some Pride and Prejudice when we get home.  Well I am missing you all and praying for you.  Don’t forget to feed my kitty, hug Miss Bell, clean the house (ha), and have a good Easter!  Love you--can’t wait to catch up on the Dodgers too.  P. S.  My biceps will probably be bigger than dad’s.

Rachel- hey mom, dad, Tracy, Jasmine, Roxy, Sam(if you’re reading this), and Casey.  J  How is everyone doing?  I’m doing good over here despite the extreamly hot days.  (If you thought church camp at Vail Lake was bad, you havn’t been here.  Mom, if you could keep my hand in prayer that would be awesome.  The muscle on my thumb really hurts, but it’s nothing that keeps me from work, just being able to write well.  I love you Big Nut Brown Hare.   Dad, I will try to never complain about pulling weeds again.  I will still hate doing it, but it’s nothing compared to what we’re doing right now.   Also, I got some Beliezian money for the money collection. Tracy, I hope you’re having a good Easter Break from school.  If it’s hot enough over there, take a dip in the pool for me.  Tell LoLo I say hi and will be home soon for him to sit on my shoulder.  Roxers, and Jasers, I love the both of you so much, and expect a lot of kisses when I get home.  Sam, I miss you like heck my sister, and you too Kelsey.  When I get back, we’re all going out for Ice Cream, and seeing Hunger games together.  Count on it.  And Casey, Glub, Glub.  I love all of you very much and hope you’re having a good break. 

Dylan-  Hey Mom, Dad, Kyle and AngelJ. I really miss you guys!! It has been and still is one of the best experiences of my life, and I am soo glad I am here. I love my team, and we all have really bonded. Everyday I have been wielding a pickaxe and diggging trenches, for hours upon hours in the hot sun. It is definitely an experience I will never forget. My walk with God has grown soo much in this week, than I have in a while. I hope you guys have an amazing Easter, and it will definitely be weird without you. I appreciate your prayers, and I hope you guys have had fun while I am gone. We went to Placencia yesterday, and the beach was amazing! You couldn’t even belive it, the water was warm!! Haha I got souveniers for all of you guys as well!! I love and miss you all!! J

Amber- Mom, Dad, J, Em and everyone else! I am having a great trip and I can’t wait to tell you ALL about it!! Although we have been digging trenches all day long the team has bonded a ton and I have really seen God work in my life.  I miss you so much and seeing you on Thursday was great Justin J can’t wait to hear all about your trips.   

Josh- hey mom dad meg and jenna. Here in Belize and having an awesome time and happy birthday jeniball miss being with you on our birthday I’ll see you all in a couple days miss you all see ya.

Carly- Hey Mom, Dad, and Kraemer! I’m having so much fun! I lost my voice like Tuesday so it’s been fun trying to speak in the VBS and stuff, but it all adds to the memories J We’re having such an amazing trip, and I’ve been able to reconnect a ton with all of the kids I met last year. I’m glad to hear that Uncle Keith is okay, that was scary when I first read your comment dad. Wish I was able to see you guys while you were home, but I’ll be back soon! Love you all J

Kalina &Cheyenne- Hey Mom, Dad, Chad, Trent, Ginger, and Brotha Sam!! Having so much fun here in BealizeJ Haven’t got many bug bites.. but there is a problem with trantuals haha bet Chad would love to see them! We Love you all and miss you so much! The team is doing great and we are having so many funny, memorable times together. We can’t wait to tell you all about it! Trent, we hope your baseball tournament went well and we are happy to hear about Ginger’s first mountain walkJ Hope your spring break has been relaxing. Happy Easter Family! We love you so so so so so so so so so (cheyenne J ) much <3

Katie- Hey mom and dad, im doing great. Im having oodles of fun. I hope daisy is not so depressed! Tell her im almost home! I miss you guya soo much. I hope 50 is not lonesome at night. Im doing very hard work heere. I believe I have seen the light of death. Jk it’s the burning sun. everybody is awesome here. We are digging trenches. The children are so loving and welcoming. Some of them laugh at mine and cheyenne’s spanish accents but that’s ok. Well I gotta go. Love you and miss you very very very very much. J <3

Joseph- tell my brother I love him.

Hiliary- Hi!!!!! I love you and miss you all and I can’t wait to see you again! I am having so much fun here! I hope you had fun touring colleges and I can’t wait to hear the verdict.  I have so MANY fun stories to share with you.  John showed us this animal called a paca and it reminded me of Hei BooBear.  VBS has been lifechanging and I have learned so much more from the little kids than I expected.  I love my team soo much and we have bonded a ton.  I am sure you heard that we ran into the central Belize team in Placentia, and it was really nice to be able to talk to Mr. Andrew and then Glenna for half an hour.  Our whole team went out to eat during that time and after we were done talking to central, Morgan and I started looking for our team and she almost asked, “Where is our family?”.  After five days of trench digging, Muscles has got muscles :).  It was really hard to say goodbye to all of my VBS/ church friends today, but I took lots of pics.  I am anxious to see what the outcome of Garrett’s appointment was on Monday.  Tell Ann and Ashley that the magazine was amazing and saved me from boredom on a LONG layover.  Sorry I am talking so much, but I will tell you more later.  Dad: {hugs} Mom: your baby girl is safe Mickey: hope you had a great time and can’t wait to see you.  Love you all as much as God loves us! <3 Happy Easter and remember to get a lot of rolls.  :) love, Hililee

Lauren- Hey mom and dad! I miss you guys a lot and I hope you are having a good break! I’m having a lot of fun and I can’t wait to see you guys. I love you guys a lot and tell Alexa I miss her. See you in a few days!

Ryan- hey guys ill be home in 2 days and im tired so night night love you  

Brittany- Hey guys! I’ve been having an absoutely amazing time in Belize so far. During the day we have been working ridiculously hard on these massive trenches and during the evening we’ve been running VBS at the church which has been a blast (the church part that is).  Yesterday was by far the best day yet because we ran into the central belize team at the beach…and the LOPEZ FAMILY!! I got to catch up with a lot of them which was super great.  Our team had bonded so much and we’ve become a family.  I never thought this trip would come remotely close to my experience last year, but it really has and God has taught me so much just about trusting in Him always and knowing his plan and purpose for me this year is way better than I could have ever imagined.  Well I hope everyone is doing great and I can’t wait to see you all! Hope you guys have a good Easter! Love you

Xoxoxo brit

pictures

We have heard your pleas for more pictures, and we are working on uploading them. The internet connection we are on is about the same speed as the old dialup, so it takes almost all day to upload 2 pictures. Most of the little pictures we've gotten up are from our phones. Make sure you check back to see some of our older pictures as well as sometimes we backtrack and put pictures up on posts after the fact so that the info can get out to you all.

 This is how deep each of our ten corners has to be. As you can see the red clay is not easy to dig out.

 VBS worship.. Father Abraham or Padre Abraam

some of the girls at the beach

a few of our boys

digging the ditches. Look closely, and you can see almost everyone on our team here. 

Fish guts Jonah!

Our Jonah skit

more trenches

early morning weather on Weds. 

farmer girls

Placentia

A busy day at the beach!

A busy day at the beach!

We began our morning with breakfast burritos from our wonderful cooks Darlene and Aretha. The burritos had ham, eggs and homemade tortillas. We also had watermelon available. We ate a hearty breakfast and then once again trudged out to the trenches. We were pretty good about all we had to accomplish today until we learned the 4 square corners we had spent lots of time yesterday hollowing out to be 30in deep and wide enough to fit at least 4 people (Mr C knows the exact measurements) were not the only ones we had to do. We needed to have 6 more deep squares like that. Wow!! That was not our favorite news to hear. The kids reacted well though, and got right down to work to hammer it out. They mostly worked in pairs sometimes trios to complete their respective deep holes. They even made it a contest to see which group could dig theirs out the fastest. We worked until noon then ran to the bathrooms to shower VERY quickly and change into beach clothes. We loaded up the vans and headed to Placentia, a resort town about 45 minutes from camp. We planned to have lunch at Da Tatch, an AMAZING restaurant right there on the ocean. Once we walked up to the restaurant it was clear there was another group there. We were pleasantly surprised to find the Central Belize team there. It was a lot screaming hugging and laughing as our team mixed with the Central team, and the Lopez family. Most of our team went decided Da Tatch was too crowded for them, so they walked down to Wendys, another yummy restaurant John and Darlene recommended as well. The service was slow, but almost everyone LOVED their food! They wandered around the small coastal town shopping and playing on the beach. Everyone got in the water and most were surprised by the warmth of the Caribbean Ocean. We swam, and got out just as the sun was setting. We took pictures of our team and hung out on the beach as Mr. C and Joseph changed the flat tire on one of the vans that we had acquired while enjoying our beach day. We then headed over to the famous Tutti Frutti’s Gelato. We each got triple scoops and the establishment was filled with no complaints and all smiles. It was another wonderful bonding moment for our team. Brian said “It was the best banana gelato!” We came home and had yummy pizza for dinner and everyone was so excited. We had a great time of debrief and devotions after dinner. The kids then stayed up until 2am to play around and hang out. Our team has become in many cases instant friends and they love to play together. We finally have internet again at camp! So we plan to put up a few pictures today.

Our plans today are to head into the village and taking a break from our trenches to freshen up the outside of the church. We’re hoping the stores will be open for us to get paint. We’ll update a little later today or tonight when we get a chance. Thanks for the messages. We love you and miss you all!

love hearing from you

Just a little note to you parents and loved ones. Our kids really do love hearing from you. If you don't have a blogger account, you can always post as anonymous, just make sure to sign your name so we know who it's from. We read the comments to the kids, and they LOVE hearing them. It's an encouragement to them. Just wanted you to know! :)

The view from lunch today.

We ate lunch in placencia today. this was our view... (Mr. Orr she is alive!!)

Tuesday and Weds.

Wow! We have a lot to catch everyone up on. First of all, we’re sorry we didn’t update yesterday, our internet was down all day.

Tuesday Night…

After dinner we had devotions. It was by far the most open and meaningful discussion we have had as a team. God’s spirit was definitely at work, as each of our members shared from their heart. There was not a dry eye in the house (except for Mrs. Orr whose tear ducts don’t work). The kids shared for over 2 hours and it was very late by the time we finally crawled into bed. Especially the girls who wanted to chat a little more into the wee hours of the morning. The morning hours came much too soon for our tired and sore bodies.

Wednesday…

We started breakfast a little later than normal due to the late night last night. We had homemade French toast, eggs, and bacon. DELICIOUS!!!! After breakfast we marched straight to the trenches for another day of battle. We finally conquered the stumps with a little help from the tractor. The TSF was deployed on multiple occasions throughout the day as our little friends decided to join us in the trenches as we disturbed their homes. At one point our missionary Darlene said in her sweet southern way “That little guy didn’t stand a chance!” as the TSF pounced and annihilated the terrorizers of the girls and Ryan (the lead vocalist in the battle cry/scream for the TSF, of whom he’s a card-carrying member). Though this may come as a shock to you… We dug trenches AGAIN! We unfortunately are not finished yet. We made lots of progress though, and have now finished using the pick on all of the trenches and are down to the final steps (hopefully) of clearing the dirt and reaching the proper depth. We were joined today by Pastor Gregorio and Mynor, one of the local workers. We came in for lunch and had yummy burritos with homemade tortillas from our wonderful cooks. After lunch we did VBS prep, and showered to rinse off the grime. We then loaded up the vans and headed in to Bella Vista for VBS. As the vans pulled into the village, the kids started running towards the church! Our kids were excited for that. We had a jump in attendance today. We hit 100 kids!! Morgan, Josh, Cheyenne, Ryan, and Dylan helped lead worship. They got the kids up and moving around for worship. Our story today focused on Jonah.  Our Jonah had a little bit of a split personality. Brian portrayed the handsome, clean Jonah, and Paul (birthday boy) portrayed the nasty, fish guts Jonah. Paul donned a blonde wig/beard; put Vaseline and baby powder on his skin to add to the effects (see the attached picture). The kids all loved it, as did we! The VBS craft was very colorful as the kids turned plastic colored Solo cups into colorful cup in ball games that simulated Jonah’s head being swallowed by the fish. We know that sounds creepy, but the pictures make it seem much cuter than words. Brittany, Kalina, Katie, and Lauren all worked to prep the crafts before VBS, so things went much smoother with our larger numbers. After a successful day of VBS, we loaded the vans and returned home. At the request of the kids, we gave them the opportunity to voluntarily serve in the trenches again. They all came out and worked. The best part was that we were all still wearing our VBS clothing and had our matching lime green shirts on. John and Darlene said it looked like there were a bunch of leprechauns in their field. We worked for the ½ hr. that was left prior to dinner. No one complained about the homemade tortillas, barbecue chicken, baked beans, coleslaw, and cake we were served for dinner. We are definitely roughing it in Belize for dinners! NOT! After dinner, the kids headed off to devotions and then we enjoyed another thought provoking and spiritually deep discussion from the passage of I John 3 relating to how we show love. The kids then asked to be able to pray in small groups together. We were very proud of them. We decided to show our love for two of our team members who we are celebrating today and yesterday. Paul’s 17^th birthday was yesterday and Josh’s 16^th birthday is today! We asked the cooks to bake two cakes for the boys. Amber had brought pillowcases she’d decorated for the boys’ birthdays, and each team member had signed the pillowcases with a birthday message. The girls decorated the dining hall for the celebration complete with singing candles. The birthday boys seemed surprised by the festivities of the evening.

trench warfare

Today was another hot one. It was at least as hot as yesterday, if not hotter. We’re not quite sure what the heat index was but we’re going to guess it was at least 125. Never the less we’re still AMAZING!!! J Our trenches are also amazing, and so is our stump crew! Just thought we should let you know that! Today we started day 2 of the battle of the trenches. First on our list was tackling the stumps. Brian, Paul, and Dylan were given this weighty (no pun intended) task. Cheyenne, Hiliary, Katie, and Lauren provided addition support in the removal of the stump. Rachel, Megan, Hannah, and Mrs. Clark formed another specialized unit (no, we’re not training your children for military service we promised) the RRU... River Rock Unit. They were given the task of selecting and retrieving the “prime” rocks for lining the trenches for rebar. Carly and Amber decided to follow in Josh and Ryan’s lead from yesterday and finish perfecting that same length of trench in addition to digging it out a little. Ryan left the partnership he and Josh had created yesterday to partner with Morgan on another trench. Josh and Brittany also forged ahead in the trenches. Joseph worked alongside Pastor Gregorio and Johnny (our missionary) on rebar which Megan and Rachel had previously cut. Mrs. Orr continued to be our inspector of all things trench related (height, depth, and width). Mr. C served as the overseer of the stump crew as well as the chief rock inspector of the River Rock Unit. Kalina and Miss Frost worked on organizing and sorting some of the crafts for this afternoon’s VBS most of the morning in addition to updating the blog. Neither of them were feeling 100% today, and so we thought it best to stay in the dining hall to keep cool so we would be able to be at VBS this afternoon. The kids worked really hard to accomplish their work; I don’t think any of them will be pursuing a career in trench digging in the future based on their desire to be finished with the trenches. At the end of the day, the majority of the big stump was removed, and there was much rejoicing!! We had a delicious lunch of hamburgers grilled by Miss Darlene and Aretha our fabulous cooks. We all gulped down the food. Mr. C had a 3x3 and there were multiple homemade double doubles around the room. We showered and then changed and headed off to VBS. We were a little disappointed that our numbers didn’t grow as much as we hoped. By the end of the day, we had 65 kids at VBS. The kids seemed to enjoy our skit on Jesus calming the storm. Dylan played Jesus and Hannah, Amber, and Hiliary were the fearful disciples, while Carly and Megan provided the moving tarp to simulate wave action. Our 4D skit was complete with water bottle sprays from the audience provided by Josh and Ryan. A few of the local kids were quite surprised by the refreshing blast of water that came at them. We wrapped up our time there at 5 and headed home. Dinner was SPECTACULAR!!! Pork chops marinated in a really yummy gravy type sauce, potatoes almost soaked in butter, fresh homemade bread, salad, and 2 types of homemade cheesecake. Almost all of the kids had seconds, some even had 3rds. It was THAT good! We are all stuffed and now getting ready to head to our devotions for the night. Last night we had a great discussion and wonderful bonding time afterwards. No one wanted to go to bed. Mafia, Teradactyl, Spoons, and other games were among the festivities. The kids’ enjoyment could be heard from the dorms. Who knows what tonight will bring. 

Battling the trenches

Rock collectors

Searching for rocks to line the trenches

TSF!!

Our boys have decided that the Belizean government is missing a vital component locally at camp. They have as a result taken the necessary steps to create a unit they have dubbed the TSF! Tarantula Special Forces. This elite group of 6 American boys has developed a special war cry that sounds similar to that of screaming girls. They even have a logo and motto created as well. The flag is currently under construction but when completed (if completed) we will post pictures of it as well. Let’s back track in order for you to understand why the TSF is an important part of life at camp (or at least for the girls it is). Upon our arrival we learned we were not the only beings to call the girls’ dorms home. There was living under the toilet of the second stall of the bathroom a tarantula. So we carefully avoided the 2nd stall and kept a wary eye out for our new “friend”. As April 1st arrived, Rachel and others whose identities have been kept secret from Miss Frost for their protection, devised “the perfect April Fools Joke!” They used the black pipecleaners to create a fake tarantula. While Miss Frost was fighting the internet for hours in order to send precious tidbits of information home to anxious parents, your children were plotting! :) They hid the fuzzy critter on Miss Frost’s bed and waited to hear the screams when she went to change to get ready for church. The whole team got in on it (except Mr. C). There were girls screaming in the dorm that the spider was on the move. Despite the screams Miss Frost had to change for church, so she ventured into the dorms anyways. To the dismay of the team members who were behaving “o so nicely” in the dining room waiting for the feardriven shrieks, there were none when the critter was discovered. Miss Frost found the fake one upside down on her bed and realized it was not real. She calmly walked back to the dining hall where they were sadly greeted with the evidence of their April fool’s joke. Later that evening… The shrieks again filled the air as girls discovered the critter really was on the move, and the boys were sent in to kill the beast. All 6 of them shouted their war cries (we couldn’t tell the difference between the girls and the boys’ screams) and they killed the spider. The next day we found tarantula #2 shriveled up in the 2nd stall (it was already dead) and Mrs. Clark and Miss Frost disposed of it without a grand parade. Now the saga continues as tarantula #3 (affectionately now named Tarry) has coincidentally taken up residence in the third stall of the bathroom. The TSF was called in, however they were unable to drive the critter from its hole. It is probably shaking in its hole in fear of the TSF. Since they were unable to drive it from its home, a rock has been employed to block its access to our bathroom. The boys are not detered however and are ever vigilant of activity regarding Tarantulas (a native Belizean). Stay tuned for more information as the saga continues..

** the only wildlife harmed in the making of this post was that of tarantula #1 and #2 and hopefully #3!
Below are the pictures of the fake tarantula and the real tarantula. (the fake one is on the left)

VBS day 1

Ok recap... We’ve had a very busy last couple of days…

Sunday night we headed to church and enjoyed a very different church service than what we are used to. The worship was all accapella and the church though small was singing very mightily. We sang two songs in English for them which they seemed to enjoy and even joined us in Spanish on Open the Eye of my Heart Lord. What a cool moment. In devotions later that night we talked about how amazing it is that we live thousands of miles from these precious people but we still serve the same mighty God by singing the same music even if it’s in a different language. After worship several church members shared verses and exhortations with the congregation. Pastor Jose gave a message Isaiah 43. He asked Joseph to come up and translate for him. That was an awesome experience (probably very nerve racking too) for Joseph. We were very proud of him. After service we played plato plato gonzo with the kids for a while, then came home to do our devotions and debrief for the next day.

Monday

Yesterday with hit the ground running with a 6:30am breakfast. Right after breakfast we headed out to pray over the ground for the chapel. We then started in on our construction project. Pick axes in hand we started digging the trenches. We completed 190 feet out of the 370 feet of trenches that are 12in and 18in wide. To say it is hard work is an understatement. Yesterday’s heat index was 120. (That is the heat and the humidity combined) Ryan and Josh committed to the long haul on one of the 40 ft. trenches. Brian, Paul, Dylan, and Joseph were beasts with the pick axe. Morgan was the queen of the axe chopping up a massive stump that sits right in the middle of one of our trench lines. Cheyenne, Lauren, Kalina, Carly, Katie and Amber faithfully rotated in behind our pick axers and shoveled out the trenches. Megan, Hiliary, and Rachel, and Hannah worked hard at taking out one of the other tree stumps with shovels and pickaxes. We worked pretty steadily in the heat (making sure to hydrate) until 1:00pm. We took a ½ hr. break in the midst of it in order to cool down and regroup for assignments and string out the new trenches. We ate lunch showered. All of us smelled really nasty! We changed clothes for VBS and then loaded up the vans to go to church. When we arrived in Bella Vista, the pastor apologized because he had forgotten to announce we would be doing VBS this week. We seized the opportunity and then split into 2 groups and headed out to do our own invitations. This gave the kids a chance to see the village and the living conditions of the people they are ministering to. I think this helped to give them a softer heart for the people around them. We had 60 kids come to VBS, which we were actually thankful for the first day at least, was not the 300 we were warned about. We did worship with the kids and then a skit on Noah and the ark. After worship and skits, our kids divided the kids up into 2 groups, older and younger, and they did games and crafts. We talked about the obedience that God calls us to have even in the midst of uncertainty. To say the heat was taxing on a few of us would be accurate. Miss Frost had to come home in the midst of VBS because of a bad case of heat exhaustion (which was why there was no blog entry last night, sorry). In Mr. C’s words, “blogging isn’t really my ministry.” Today everyone seems to have pretty recovered from anything they may have been feeling. Dinner and devotions were earlier last night to give the kids a chance to cool off and rest after the long day.

Today…

While I type this, we’re sitting in the dining room just finishing up a delicious breakfast of johnny cakes (sort of like biscuits but not as thick) with jam, eggs, and hot dog links. The kids are laughing and joking excited for the day ahead. We’re ready to conquer day 2 of VBS and the trenches!! We'll try and catch you all up on our day at the end of the day. We're trying to post pictures as well, but our internet is pretty slow and has a hard time putting up large pictures. :) 

Pato (duck), pato (duck), goose (gonzo)

From our first day of VBS, on Monday.

Floor rugs

Alaska may have a polar bear rug, but we have Ryan.

Hey batter batter

Mrs. Clark bleeds Dodger blue even in Belize. Miss Frost wants an at-bat as well

Bring it on!

Our team flexing muscles and preparing mentally to begin digging foundation trenches this morning.

Our translator

Joseph translated the Pastor's message from Spanish to English.

At the river

Miss Frost - "Looks like a river."

Mrs. Clark - "Cool."

Arrival at the airport - pics.

I know that you know that the teams arrived, but here are a few pics.

Internet is working!! FINALLY!

Well it's been quite the afternoon.. After a multi-hour battle with the internet I think we've finally won. We were having problems with the extender in the dining hall, so I'm posting from John and Darlene's living room. 

We’ve had quite the crazy schedule the last two days. After leaving all of you at Woodcrest, we headed to the airport, smoothly checked into LAX with no problems. We boarded our flight and attempted to settle in and get some sleep on the flight down. Some of us got more sleep than others. ;) We disembarked into San Salvador’s airport and then headed off to our ziplining adventure. Customs took us longer than we had hoped, but after an hour and a half we climbed into the vans and began our 45 minute commute towards the coast of El Salvador. We arrived at the Canopy Zipline company and after instructions, getting outfitted with our proper equipment (gloves, harnesses, and helmets) and receiving an education on how to zipline we all conquerored any fears we had and began the adventure. We flew over a coffee plantation, river, and tropical forests. One of the best parts was being able to watch each other and cheer each other on as we conquered the different sections of the course. After finishing our adventure, we came back to the airport thinking we’d have maybe a ½ hour before our flight boarded, only find out we were scheduled to be delayed until 6pm. We found our gate, grabbed lunch and settled in. We read, slept, and bonded together. Needless to say as it approached 6pm we were anxious to head home, and we were really excited when our plane actually started taxiing on the runway at 7:30pm! When we got in to Belize, we were the last plane before the airport closed. The many prayers you sent up and we were praying were totally answered! The immigration agents and customs agents were not up for the challenge of checking up on our 40 students/adults and the 85 bags we brought with us! Can ya blame them?! Mr. Reynolds paid the $40 duty that was the total amount for the 85 bags we had, and the customs agents did not open one bag! Praise the Lord!!! Our God is sooooo good! All of our 300 bears, supplies for VBS, and gifts went through without any problems! It was the fastest I’ve ever seen customs happen. We walked out the doors and were greeted by Mr. C and Mrs. Orr. We then loaded up our two vans and trailer, and began our 3 ½ hour commute home. We rolled into camp and crawled out of the vans at 12:05am. There were no arguments about heading straight to bed. We started our morning at 8:30 with a yummy breakfast of fry jacks (kind of like fried tortillas), eggs, and ham. We were quite happy. We ate, unpacked and then Mrs. Orr and John (our missionary from Alabama) and the kids headed off on a hike to the creek on the camp property. We unpacked and organized the bags, prepped our crafts for tomorrow’s VBS and practiced our skits. Mr. C, Mrs. Clark, and Miss Frost dropped by the church to meet with Pastor Jose. We ironed out some of the details of VBS and chatted about projects and our hopes for the partnership we have with the church there in Bella Vista. We had hot dogs for lunch and then divided back up to work on crafts and the games group headed in to look at the village field we’re using for games and pick up some snacks for the kids at VBS. Right now we are finishing our craft prep hanging out in the dining room at camp listening to the thunderstorm outside. So far we haven’t had any rain, but it’s definitely cooled off, for which we’re glad. Tonight after dinner we will head to church for the evening service. Thanks for the prayer. We are all doing well and are drinking LOTS of water! J Tomorrow we start our first day of VBS in the afternoon, and Pastor Jose said we could very easily have more than 300 kids! Yikes!!! 

We are here!

We are at camp. We are having internet problems. We will update you as soon as we can. We are trying to fix the problems.

Welcome to El Salavador!

After a long night of travelling, we finally arrived safely with no incidents in San Salvador. We then journeyed through customs and headed out to meet our guides for the ziplining tour. We had a blast!! (pictures to follow) We returned to the airport to check in for our 2:30 flight only to find out that it had been delayed until 6pm. :( We are currently hanging out at gate 12 (our home for the last 3 hours) doing devotions, snacking on Subway, and playing card games, and having good conversations to keep ourselves occupied. We expect it's going to be another long evening of travel. Since we will be getting back to base rather late (probably after midnight), we most likely will not be blogging again tonight, but we promise to update you on our safe arrival at base camp in the morning. Mr. C, Mrs. Orr and The Glasgows are aware of our delay and are hanging out waiting for us.

We appreciate your prayers... Keep them coming, we still have to tackle Belizean customs! :)
We love you and miss you all!!
-Miss Frost, Mrs. Clark and the Southern Belize team

Ready set...

Loading the bus!!!!

Flight info getting ready to go...

Central and Southern Belize teams:
March 31 LAX to El Salvador departs 1:35am arrives 7:25am LACSA 671
March 31 El Salvador to Belize City departs 2:37pm arrives 3:42pm TACA 414
April 8 Belize City to El Salvador departs 5:20pm arrives 6:25pm TACA 411
April 8 El Salvador to LAX departs 7:40pm arrives 12:05am LACSA 670

In case of an emergency please contact Mr.Sullivan and he can get in touch with us. His email is hsprincipal@woodcrestchristian.org