September Update

Greetings from Belize,

It is hard to believe that summer has come to a close and the school year has already started. Things have not slowed down any as we are continuing to see the Lord’s blessings poured out upon us and the work here in Belize.

The busy summer ended with two great teams in August from Central Christian Church in Fort Smith, AR. Both of these teams consisted primary of youth with a focus on evangelism. They had VBS activities for the children in the villages in addition to conducting sports camps. The first team spent one day in More Tomorrow and then headed south to our southern campus and spent the rest of the week in the village of San Isidro. The second team ministered in both San Pablo and Bella Vista which are located in southern Belize. All of these guys did a great job sharing Bible stories, their own personal testimonies, and the love of Jesus Christ in general to people of all ages. For several of these youth, it was the first time they had shared their personal testimony and God moved mightily as several folks accepted Christ as their Savior.

Three of the pastors from Central Christian also accompanied the teams. The pastors and team members made such a close connection with the people here in Belize that they have decided as a church to partner with us and adopt the village of Bella Vista. We are looking forward to many great things to come as this church is planning several trips throughout the year to help grow the church and disciple new Christians as they work through GEM.

September started off with a team of friends that we have known for years from our home area in Arkansas (Hartford & Mansfield). We had a wonderful time with the Tobey and Hancock families showing them the various aspects of the ministry and a little of the culture here in Belize. This group brought blankets and “goodie bags” filled with toys, candy, etc. for the children. The blankets were made by children in the states as a VBS activity and each blanket was accompanied by a note from and a photo of the children who made it. The team also purchased, bagged, and distributed much needed food (beans, rice, flour, sugar, and lard) to the people in both More Tomorrow and Valley of Peace.

The Gaither family is doing well. Brandon is staying very busy being back in school (and you know he is excited about that). He has Spanish I this year and although he is doing well in the class and making A’s, Micah is giving “Bam Bam” a run for his money when it comes to speaking Spanish. Micah is not speaking in sentences in Spanish as he is in English, but he is naming common objects in Spanish. The other day he even hollered “vamos” when he wanted to go outside to play in the dirt. He has also learned to turn on the outside faucet and spray the dog with “agua”. I guess Captain Jack (the dog) is learning Spanish as well…it didn’t take him long to figure out what it means when Micah says agua. Meanwhile, Randy has recently discovered that there are chiggers in Belize and he was voted “Best Host” by the little critters. Sheila, on the other hand, is just trying to keep up with her three guys while trying to figure out how the mold even grows on the shoes you wear daily when it is the rainy season in Belize…hmmm.

Blessings,

Randy, Sheila, Brandon, and Micah