May 12, 2008

Exciting Updates

Just wanted to bring everyone up to date on all of the exciting things have been happening in the past few months...
 
First of all, we have rented a house in Belize just outside Belmopan City in the Roaring Creek area.  It is a beautiful piece of property right on the Belize River.  We have also registered our ministry with the Belize government with full recognition as a non-profit ministry of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Furthermore, God has provided the funds to enable us to purchase a personal vehicle in Belize.  It is a small 4 cylinder diesel KIA which gets good fuel mileage...very important due to the high cost of fuel in Belize.  There, diesel is about half the cost of gasoline.
 
In a difficult housing market God orchestrated the sell of our house in the U.S. at the end of March.  Praise the Lord!  I have been spending much of my time in Belize while Sheila and Brandon have been in the states.  They will now be able to join me in Belize for full-time mission work as a family.  Brandon has approximately 2 weeks left of school to finish before he and Sheila can come to Belize. 
 
Regarding the work in Belize, God has opened many doors for our ministry.  We are actively involved in church plants in two different villages with several more asking us to come.  The response in the villages has been overwhelming and the excitement is high about the Lord and all that He has in store.  The people are already meeting as a congregation in one village and the work has begun to construct a church building for them.  At the second location, there will be a formal meeting with the leaders and the people of the village as a whole in a few weeks.  This village not only needs a church but also a preschool to prepare the children for the exam they must pass in order to be allowed to attend public school.  They have already set aside some land for this purpose. 
 
So far this year we have been involved with two medical teams and one dental team providing much needed services.  The medical teams traveled to the remote areas of the country and treated people who have no medical services available to them.  Likewise, the dental team ministered to the needs of people who in some cases had never even seen a dentist.  Each team witnessed and prayed with the people and provided Bibles for anyone who wanted one.  A lot of decisions were made for the Lord as the love of Christ was being shared.  In addition, there was an evangelistic team that ministered in several communities with a huge impact for Christ. 
 
The Lord has placed before us some opportunities to be able to provide Christian education from preschool children to the graduate level.  The details of those plans are being developed very quickly and we will update everyone when everything is finalized. 
 
God has truly opened the windows of heaven and is making the impossible not only possible but a reality!
 
Randy