Greetings from Belize,
Wow, what a fantastic start
to 2014! God continues to demonstrate
His love and pour out his blessings.
This is evidenced by so many people being saved and the growing
excitement among the congregations within GEM.
Although we operate two
preschools, sponsor students financially who desire to attend school, provide
medical care through volunteer teams, and distribute food and clothing to
people in need, the primary calling of GEM is church planting and
discipleship. We are seeing tremendous
growth among the various congregations.
Congregations are outgrowing the homes or temporary structures where
they are meeting with a hunger for the Word of God. Our biggest obstacle right now seems to be
trying to keep up with the activities and the needs of churches that are a part
of GEM…but what a wonderful problem to have!
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One village in particular where we
have seen a lot of growth and excitement is in Otoxha. That church began with a handful of
Christians and one man called to preach.
The congregation was meeting in a small building that had literally
begun to fall apart. We hosted teams of
youth and college students from Fellowship church in Rogers, AR that initially
went to Otoxha to conduct sports camps and VBS activities. Those team members established a bond with
the people in Otoxha and went back home wanting to do more. As a result, they began to raise the funds to
build a new church building. A
construction team from Darden, TN saw what was going on and wanted to help as
well. We are excited to report that a
team from Rogers, AR and a team from Darden, TN completed the roof on the
church building in January and a second team from Rogers, AR installed the
doors and windows and painted the church in March. The congregation now averages 45 in
attendance and they are thrilled to have a beautiful building to come together
to worship and learn about the Word of God.
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| Braving the mud & jungle to reach a village |
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| Come on guys...just a little farther |
the love of Jesus and the
message of His salvation.
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| Our newly painted bus. Thanks mechanical team! |
With the hot, dry season apparently
coming early this year we are even more grateful for the carport built by a
team from Living Hope Church in Eldon, IA.
This team blesses us each year by coming down to take care of various
maintenance and repair issues. In
addition to repairs, last year this team began construction on a roof to cover
our storage trailer. They completed the
carport this year which has made a huge difference in us being able to keep
equipment and supplies cooler and as a result makes them last much longer.
The Gaither family is doing
all we can to keep up with everything.
We have had to make huge adjustments to being in Belize without Brandon
while he attends college stateside. With
the onset of our “team season” we have really missed having him to help with
teams, projects, and basic day to day activities. Besides, Randy and Sheila find themselves
drawing straws over who has to take out the trash and put away the dishes! Micah has enjoyed the beautiful warm weather swimming
in his pool or playing in the sprinkler while everyone in the states was
covered in layers of ice and snow (ever think of moving to Belize?). On another note, some of you know that
Randy’s mother has had a significant decline in her health. We would like to express our appreciation for
all of the prayers for Randy and his family during this tough time. We feel truly blessed to have so many people
lifting us up in prayer each day. Thank
you for loving us and continuing to pray for us.
There are so many other
wonderful things to share about other teams and congregations, but space on the
paper will not allow us to do so all in one newsletter. So…to be continued!
Blessings,
Randy, Sheila, and Micah
