Greetings,
There is nothing more
powerful than a personal testimony when telling others about Christ. In recent months we have seen many lives in
Belize changed through the love and labor of our churches and teams sharing the
hope of our Lord Jesus Christ. A few people
filled with the love of our Savior taking a few moments to share that love has
had a tremendous impact on several villages throughout Belize as well as the
Kingdom of God. There have been so many
great things taking place that in our last newsletter we literally ran out of
space to print everything.
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| River of Life Church at Santa Rosa |
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| River of Life Church at Maya Mopan |
As more and more people are
coming to know Christ, the requests for churches continue to grow. In the United States we no longer think much
about having a neighborhood church within walking distance from our homes. However, in a country where roads and
vehicles are limited and in villages where the primary mode of transportation
is walking, a “neighborhood church” becomes very important. It is a place where Christians can learn,
grow, mature in their faith, and reach others.
In response to some of these requests we have recently started two new
churches. One of these is located in
Santa Rosa in the central part of Belize and it is primarily a Kekchi
congregation. The other church is
located in Maya Mopan just outside the capitol city of Belmopan and is a
multicultural congregation including Maya, Kekchi, and Spanish.
Speaking of new churches, we are
excited to share with everyone that we now have a church building in Hope
Creek. The congregation has been meeting
in homes for over a year now since we did not have a building. We were able to acquire some land and God put
it on the hearts of the people of Hopewell Baptist Church in Parsons, TN to
provide the funds and build a building.
The Hopewell team has dubbed their project “Hope to Hope” as they are
working in Hope Creek, Belize. The Hope
to Hope team completed the foundation and walls of the new building in the summer of
2011. In July of this year, the team
returned to Belize to put the roof on the building and we have since added the
windows and doors. The team actually
finished the roof just in time to have a huge celebration service during the
Thursday night service of that week and the crowd was so large it was standing
room only with many people standing outside the building just to hear the Word
of God and rejoice in the new building He provided.
In August we were privileged
to host a first-time team from Milan CP Church in Milan, TN. This team was comprised of physicians,
nurses, ministers, and several other professionals who volunteered their
services providing much needed medical care in remote villages in the southern
part of Belize. These guys did a
fantastic job and we are looking forward already to them being back in Belize
in the summer of 2013.
In this season of giving we
would like to take a moment to express our gratitude to all of you who have
given and those of you who continue to give faithfully to the ministry in
Belize. Your prayers and financial
support have helped in making so many great things possible. The ministry and work is growing so rapidly
that now more than ever we are in need of your continued financial support to
reach as many people as possible for Christ.
There are a number of villages we are reaching with the gospel that are
waiting for us to start a church. We are
also asking that if you have not already done so, you would prayerfully consider
being a part of the ministry through monthly support or a one-time gift. It is because of you and your heart for
missions that we are able to carry on the work to which God has called us.
As far as family news, the Gaither
family has been buried under boxes. Not
Christmas boxes…moving boxes. With
Sheila, Brandon, and Micah remaining in the states for the duration of the
school year, we have moved our home office to Bismarck, AR. This location puts us much closer to family
as well as an airport Randy can fly in and out of on his trips back and forth
between the US and Belize without an overnight stay in Miami or Dallas as he
continues the work in Belize. Please
note that our new office mailing address is PO Box 348, Bismarck, AR 71929 and our new phone number is
501-865-2257.
Otherwise in the Gaither household we
are getting ready for Christmas and trying to figure out how to stay warm when
the mercury drops below 70° F.
Brrrrrrrrr….. Though the four of
us prefer to believe that living in a tropical climate for several years caused
our bodies to be altered physically so that we are unable to withstand colder
temperatures, the common comment from the rest of the world is that we are just
wimps. Nevertheless, we are enjoying the
changing seasons and Micah is hoping to see snow for the first time in his
life.
Merry Christmas!
from the Gaithers
