September 18, 2012

September Newsletter



Greetings,

It has been a wonderfully busy summer!  As we are just stopping long enough to catch our breath, we realized that we haven’t sent out a newsletter since June.  Wow!  So much to share…where do we start?

The summer began with a team from Fellowship in NW Arkansas.  This group ministered in the village of Otoxha which is in the southern part of Belize near the Guatemala border.  Not only did they minister to the folks in the village through food distribution and door to door evangelism, but they really put their backs into their work and dug the footing and poured the cement to prepare for a concrete slab for the construction of a new church building.  This team is so excited about the work in Otoxha that they have already scheduled a date to return early in 2013 to work on the next stage of the building.

The village of More Tomorrow was really a buzz this summer too with several teams and lots of work taking place.  A team from 1st Baptist Albertville in Alabama ministered to the children through VBS activities and built a playground for the new preschool complete with swings and a really cool slide.  As you can see from the picture (right), the equipment has been thoroughly Micah inspected and approved.  In addition, Grace Community Methodist Church in Arkansas decided to make the preschool in More Tomorrow their project for VBS.  This wonderful group of youngsters did not travel to Belize, but they raised enough money to furnish the preschool with tables and chairs… children helping children.  To top it off, an individual from Tennessee graciously donated the funds to complete the final construction and furnishings for the preschool and bathrooms.  With all of these folks working together to help us, we were finally able to open the preschool in More Tomorrow.  The preschool opened on August 31st with a total of fourteen students enrolled.  We have been working on this project for about two years and are so excited to finally have it open!  Through the efforts of many of you over the course of two years we are now able to provide preschool education through a Christian curriculum at absolutely no cost to the students/parents.  Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible!
                         
 
 

The preschool is not the only exciting news from More Tomorrow.  Another team from Arkansas (Zion Baptist) built benches for the church.  Since the construction of the church building, the congregation has been sitting on dilapidated benches or on the concrete floor for services.  We now have beautiful new benches.  The folks were so excited when they arrived at church on Wednesday for the midweek service and saw the new furniture.  This team not only worked hard on constructing benches, but they also ministered to the children and adults alike through VBS activities both in More Tomorrow and Frank’s Eddy.  This was the first team toever conduct a VBS in Frank’s Eddy and the villagers were thrilled and truly blessed by all the activities and the love shown by this group.  The folks at Frank’s Eddy are already looking forward to “next time” (hint, hint).  In addition, this team also brought down to Belize children’s Bibles for the preschool students at both More Tomorrow and Valley of Peace that were purchased with funds raised from the VBS children at Zion.  Once again, children are ministering to children. 
 

Pictured left: a preschool student at More Tomorrow carrying the Bible she received the first day of school and Mr. Santos (head teacher) helping another student read his Bible.



Our “Veteran VBSers” as we call them from Corinth Baptist in Tennessee also came down again this summer.  This group has been coming down for several years ministering to children and adults alike.  This year, however, the team stayed at our southern campus and conducted VBS for children and Bible studies for adults in Dump, Jalacté, and San Pablo.  They did a great job pioneering the way as they shared the message of Jesus Christ through various activities. 

With summer coming to an end, it also means a few changes for the Gaither household.  Brandon has begun his last year of high school (where have the years gone?), and we decided it was best for him to complete his senior year of high school in the states.  So, Sheila, Brandon, and Micah have returned to the US for the duration of the school year while Randy will be traveling back and forth between Belize and the US.  It is a toss up between Sheila and Brandon as far as which one is the most thrilled about no more home school.  Micah has been enjoying spending more time with Nana and Grandpa and has quickly learned to spot the “Golden Arches” from a mile away.  Randy, on the other hand, has been busy with the wildlife that has decided to make our home their home in Belize including a black jaguar that was hanging out under Sheila’s car in the carport.  Hachi (our dog) was a bit upset about the jaguar under the car and the monkeys on the trampoline so he decided to make the welcome mat his new chew toy to remove any temptation from other wildlife. 

God has blessed tremendously and there is so much more to share, but not enough space on the paper.  More to come in the next newsletter…stay tuned.

Blessings,
 
Randy, Sheila, Brandon, and Micah