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.