October newsletter

Greetings,

It is hard to believe that fall is already here.  The summer months were jam packed with many great things that God is doing!  We had a wonderful time seeing so many people being saved.  There were also a number of baptisms, weddings, child dedications, in addition to several teams.  What a glorious and awesome God we serve!

First Baptist, Parsons, TN VBS

We are thankful for all of the teams that came to minister to the people of Belize in so many ways.  In a period of six weeks we hosted five different teams from various locations that were very instrumental in changing lives for the Kingdom of God.  These teams served in both northern villages and southern villages.  Their ministry activities included VBS, adult Bible study, food distribution, door to door evangelism, and revival services and the anointing on each was undeniable.  It was amazing to see these folks from various backgrounds and of all ages ministering to both the physical and spiritual needs of others from a very different cultural background as they shared the love of Jesus Christ.  The impact made by these teams was phenomenal with eternal rewards! 

 

Young boy examined by Milan, TN medical team

In addition to the activities mentioned above, one team that was comprised of three different churches provided medical care and conducted a pastor’s training workshop for the pastors of the GEM churches.   The medical team saw 866 patients in five different villages over a period of four days.  As patients were being seen in the make-shift medical clinic, other team members were teaching Bible stories to the children.  Meanwhile, another “branch” of this team was at our southern campus teaching an introduction to all of the books of the Bible to some of our pastors.  As the number of

Some pastors & wives at training

churches has risen to 20 (18 in Belize and 2 in Guatemala), one of our primary focuses has been on adequate training for our leadership.  It was such a blessing to see the local leaders feasting on the truths they were being taught!  

Valley of Peace Preschool

More Tomorrow Preschool

Amongst all the teams, we also had the joy of seeing 34 students graduate from our two preschools on June 27^th.  The preschool in Valley of Peace had 30 graduates and the preschool in More Tomorrow had 4graduates.  These students not only did a wonderful job on learning basic school-readiness skills, they also learned English as a second language.  Special thanks to all of our preschool teachers as well as Kingdom Mission Fund, Zion Baptist Church of Fordyce, AR, and Living Hope Bible Church of Eldon, IA for providing the funding for our preschools for the 2012-2013 school year.

All in all, it would be impossible to accomplish everything that is happening without your prayers, encouragement, and financial support.  The opportunities to win people to Jesus are even greater now than when we first began our ministry in Belize.  Please continue to stand with us as we press on for Christ Jesus our Lord.  Now more than ever we need your help with funding the growth of the ministry we are experiencing as well as sponsoring the preschools for the current school year.

 

Monkeys on jungle vine

As far as Gaither family news, we are still trying to catch our breath from such a busy schedule.  This summer was bitter sweet for us as we thoroughly enjoyed all the teams and activities, but we knew that the end of summer meant the end of Brandon being with us full-time.  Brandon is now a college freshman at Ouachita Baptist University pursuing a degree in biology.  He is enjoying college life, though he admits it would be better if he didn’t have classes to interfere with his schedule.  In Brandon’s absence, Micah (a.k.a. Batman) has appointed Randy as Robin and Sheila as Batgirl, but Micah gets a little frustrated with the lack of speed and endurance from his trusty sidekicks as he tries to save the world.  “Infinity and beyond” seem a lot larger when you are trying to keep up with a 4 year old…oh, wait…wrong character.  Nevertheless, we are now taking volunteers for the Justice League!

Randy, Sheila, Brandon, and Micah

June Newsletter

Greetings,

It is difficult to put into words all of the amazing things we have been able to see God do in Belize.  In the last couple of months there has been an overwhelming explosion of people coming to Christ and requests from villages for churches.  With everything going on, this has been the most challenging year for us yet, but also the most blessed year.

As you can see from the picture at the right, there have been literally hundreds of people lining up along the river banks for baptism services.  There is a lot of excitement and joy in the hearts and lives of those who are coming to Christ.  New Christians are coming together in their homes to study the Word of God in the villages where they live.  With all of this in mind, we are focusing on and gearing up for intense discipleship training for all the new believers.  We are also faced with the challenge of not having facilities for the folks to gather for corporate worship, but what an exciting challenge to be facing.  

The school year will be coming to a close at the end of June; therefore, we are nearing graduation time at both of our preschools and are very excited to have a total of thirty-four students graduating. We would like to mention a very special word of thanks to some groups that made this school year possible.  Kingdom Mission Fund out of Little Rock, AR; Zion Baptist Church from Fordyce, AR ; and Living Hope Bible Church in Eldon, IA provided the funding for our two preschools for the 2012-2013 school year.  Thank you all for such a tremendous blessing!  We would also like to thank those of you who sponsored primary and high school students for this school term.  School fees for the 2013-2014 year will be due soon so please contact Sheila at sgaither37@yahoo.com if you would like to sponsor a student for the upcoming school year.  The cost is $250.00 per student for the entire school year.

 

We have also had the privilege of hosting several teams in the past few months.  A team of physicians, physician assistants, nurses, and students from Bethel University in Tennessee worked in some very remote villages in the southern part of Belize providing much needed health and wellness services.  A group of teens from Rogers, AR ministered through VBS activities as well as working on the construction of a church building in one of our southern villages.  And in the past couple of weeks a team of engineers from the University of Arkansas completed the foundation for a water tower to provide clean drinking water for the village of More Tomorrow.  We are so thankful for the teams who came and for all of you who support and pray for the ministry.

Congratulations Brandon!

Regarding the Gaither family, Sheila and the boys are wrapping up their time in the states and will be joining Randy back in Belize later this month.  Brandon had a fantastic senior year of high school here in the states and graduated 3^rd in his class while concurrently earning six hours of college credit.  Although Brandon is a little sad that school is over already (which was NEVER the case with home school), Micah is glad that “Bam Bam” is home with him in the mornings when he wakes up.  We are all looking forward to a great summer!

Blessings,

Randy, Sheila, Brandon, and Micah