Well it was our final full day in Belize.  It began at 5:45 am.  We departed the hotel and then traveled to Belize City where we boarded a water Taxi to Cay Cauker Island in the Keys off of Belize.  About a 1000 yards past the shore line of Belize the water dramatically changed from a murky brown to tourquoise.  When we arrived we had another boat awaiting us and traveled to a snorkeling spot on the reef off the island.  It was quite beautiful and fantastic snorkeling.  Belinda freaked out when she realized we were not wading out into the water but in the middle of the ocean, but she soon got over it.  We saw all kinds of fish including a barracuda.  Our guide led us on a swim and would dive down and take a stick and try to provoke eels out of their hiding places.  We then traveled to another spot where we were swarmed by stingrays over 4 feet in diameter.  It was unbelievable as we swam in 5 feet of water with sting rays swimming all around us.

We checked into the Anchor hotel right on the beach, and then headed out to the slow paced town with dirt roads.  Very small island with several shops and restaurants.  We returned back to the hotel after buying souvenirs and had a closing worship time at sunset on the beach.  It was an emotional time as we recapped the week and then we closed with singing on the beach under the moon light.  I thought about my mom, because the moon was extra bright and she is a moon lover. 

We then traveled by foot back into the town for a final feast of bbq chicken, fried shrimp, and broiled snapper.  After our meal we got ice cream and then came back to the hotel.  I fell asleep in the hammock next to the ocean under the moonlight.  Pretty relaxing.  A world away from our surroundings during the week.

Final recap…

·                    Our teenagers blew me away.  They never complained when we had many things we could have complained about.  They ministered in unbelievable ways, and represented Christ and our church very well.  I was so proud of them.

·                    We shared the gospel with 275 children and gave away 200 soccer balls with colors representing the message of the gospel.

·                    We lead 4 worship services for the church.

·                    We had several children and adults come to know Christ and plan to be baptized.

·                    We developed a partnership with Pomona Christian Community Church that will be a lasting.

·                    We encouraged the beginning of a men’s group at the church.  It was the first men’s gathering they had had in quite some time.

·                    We encouraged Pastor Wayne who is a bivocational pastor with 5 children.  He is a teacher and only gets reimbursed for expenses at the church.  He also serves as the chairman for the Baptist churches in the district.

·                    We impacted lives at the children’s home and brightened their week as many of our teenagers played and prayed with them.

·                    We developed a passion for international missions which will last a lifetime.

Our final day in Pomona was such an encouraging day.  It was hard to leave tonight.  The people have been so welcoming and warm.

We began the day with another wonderful breakfast of oatmeal and fresh pineapple.  The children began to arrive for sports camp early and we were into full swing.  I prayed today that the Lord would save someone from their sin.   I first went to Mattison’s group and during his Bible study a child, Jeremiah, kept getting up and walking away from the group doing his own thing.  I pulled him off to the side and picked him up like a baby and started talking to him.  He was a cute 8 year old.  I asked him if he knew who Jesus was.  He said, “No”.  I then one on one shared the gospel with him.  I asked him if he wanted to follow Jesus and be baptized.  He said, “Not now.”  He was a cute kid.

Then I began to walk across the field and an 18 year old that was in our worship time last night came up and asked me what he could do to get his life back on track.  I told him that it was impossible and kept walking.  He followed and said, “What?”  I said, “It is impossible to do on your own.  The real question is What do I need to do to be saved from my sin?”  The night before he was very engaged with the gospel message even during invitation.  He told me he became a Christian the night before.  I then asked him to pray and confess Christ as Lord right then.  He did.  Then we encouraged him to be baptized.  His name was Alex.  His friend, Jerrel, walked up and also asked almost the same question as Alex walked away to get a Bible.  I told him the same thing and he prayed and confessed Christ as Lord.  They both came tonight to the closing worship time and met Pastor Wayne.  He encouraged them to come to the baptism classes next week.  So the Lord answered my prayer times two!  We had a closing ceremony where the kids recited their memory verses and we sang a few songs.

After lunch half of our team went back to the children’s home and the other half painted children’s furniture for the preschool.  It was very rustic furniture.  Nothing like what we would use in the states.  I had the opportunity to talk to the pastor’s oldest daughter Christy.  The Lord has his hand on her life.  She is such a strong, teenager in her faith.  It was good to listen, encourage, and pray with her.  As I listened I couldn’t help but think about how similiar teenagers are all around the world.

The team came back and we all gathered in the worship center with the cooks, the team, and the pastor.  We presented him with a tee shirt, left over soccer goals, and a love offering.  He presented me with a Belize flag from their worship area.  We plan to hang it in the merge.

Then they prepared a feast for us!  Fresh Lobster tails, fried shrimp, and some type of bread pudding made from a root and ginger.  To top it off our third coke product this week in a glass bottle.

The final worship service was awesome.  We had a sharing time.  Many from the village came out.  The women’s group got up to share and their was a black out in electricity.  When their is a blackout in the village, it is dark!  I guess this happens all the time.  A few of the children got a bit scared and the ladies calmed them as they lit candles and told them to sit down, we weren’t finished.  They began to sing worship songs by candle light.  At the end of their song the lights were restored.  It was one of those Wow moments.  Pastor Wayne shared a brief message and thanked us, and then we sang Shout to the Lord (which was a song I learned with our students my second year in student ministry at Barnwell on our first mission trip.)  There was many hugs and tears and we returned home.  The people of Belize may not have as nice of things as the average American, but they have each other and they value relationships.  If there is one thing I have been challenged with it is this:  We should use things, and value people…Not use people, and value things.

Now starts a beautiful partnership with a missional church in Pomona, Belize.

Check out pics from the day at www.facebook.com/leeclamp

Today I spent the beginning of the day with Katie at sport camp.  She did an excellent job ministering to her group and leading her group in Bible Study.  I was so impressed with her.  I then went and hung out with Grady’s group.  The boys in his group really like him and he is a natural at leading them.  They are all 10-13 years old.  Then we had some great news.  Mattison led a little boy named Haden to the Lord.  He was so excited.  He prayed with him and he wants to get baptized.  Wesley, his friend, was not ready.  We will pray for him for tomorrow.  We gave out all of the 200 soccer balls and we still have little children surrounding us saying, “Sir, please sir.  Sir, please sir.  Write my  name down for a ball.”

We had enchilada’s and mango’s for lunch.  Excellent.  The ladies of the church including Ms. Taylor, Carla (the pastor’s wife), and 2 others ladies have slaved in the kitchen for us.

In the afternoon, we finally had down time.  We traveled into the rain forest mountains to St. Helen’s Cave.  It felt like we were stepping into the Indian Jones movie.  We traveled into the cave which had a river running in it and was about 30 feet tall.  We stood with all the lights out and it was a darkness that no one had experienced before.  We stood silent and listened to the trickling of the river.  It was eary.  Ancient Mayan’s used to venture into the cave with no light and spend weeks there alone in a purfication process.  They thought it to be the closest thing to death.

Then we went to the Blue Hole.  It was in the middle of the jungle.  A bluish green water hole that was 25 foot deep.  A natural spring bubbled from underneath with extremely cold water and caused a river to flow away from it into the caves.  It was so refreshing after being drenched in sweat from the hike in the 110 percent humidity of the rain forest.

We traveled back to the church.  The pastor’s family is becoming close friends.  He told us of his desires for the church to be the church to the community.  They have a preschool of 3-4 year olds.  Because there is a lower expectation in facilities they are able to provide schooling in their building.  $6000 will purchase a building for 15 children.  They would like to extend their preschool to K5.  $1500 will help them finish their bathroom.  $15000 will finish their entire second story to expand their school as well which is a long range plan.  Copying machine $1500, and pastor’s office $4000.

After a dinner of fresh fried Red Snapper, rice, split pea soup, and cake; we had a youth service.  There were about 25 teenagers who came.  Our students did a funny drama that they came up with, and Mattison gave his testimony.  I then preached the gospel from Ephesians 2.  I was sweating bullets.  It was rolling off my face and neck, and rolling down his arm.  No students got saved, but I think a few Geckos on the wall were contemplating.  I was able to encourage the youth leader, Yovan, and prayer with her.  She is doing a good work, and has about 40 teenagers that meet every Saturday night.

We closed out the day on the roof of our hotel singing praise songs and praying together.  Now if only I could call my family, it would be a perfect day.  I miss them very much and not being able to call is killing me.

Check out pics from the day at www.facebook.com/leeclamp

Ready for the day!

We slept well as did the gecko in our room.  We awoke at 5 am, thanks to Ren and Grady again.  We were dressed and ready by 6:30 am.  We did not need to be ready until 7:30 am, but it did give us time to read the Word!  We then went to Pomona Christian Community Church where they fed us eggs, cheese, fried jacks (like an elephant ear!), and fruit.  We were finished with breakfast by 8:30 am. 

Pomona

Children’s Sunday School (they do not meet with everyone on Sunday AM) started at 10 am, so we had plenty of time to talk with children as they trickled in for an hour and a half.  I spoke with the pastor’s sons Aaron and Jesse.  They are really cool and full of personality.  A dog was using the bathroom in the yard and I said, “The dog is poo pooing.” Jesse looked puzzed and asked what I was talking about.  I said, “Do you not call it poo poo?” He said, “No.”  I said, “What do you call it?”  With an innocent straight face said, “Sheet.” with a creole accent.  I died laughing and said, “I don’t guess that is a cuss word here.”

One of the things that we are learning is that cultures other than America are not as consumed with time and the program.  They are more concerned with relationship and people.  This is a lesson the church could really do well to learn and grasp.  We started fifteen minutes or so late, we ended 30 minutes late, but it was all on time.  The pastor’s children are full of personality.  His oldest daughter led the children in singing.  Her name is Christy.  His next two children are sons, Jesse and Aaron.  His next two children are full of smiles and dimples Abigal and Ruth. 

After singing, the children stood up in classes and recited a Bible verse.  We split into groups and taught them the story of Zacceaus, and discussed how we could apply the principles of his transformation to our lives.  We had lunch and then came back to the hotel for ministry training which was an excercise for us to tell one another our spiritual story in 7 minutes. 

We set out to tour around our hotel and went for ice cream and a small shop with only ice cream.  We walked down to the beach which was cluttered with liter and the water resembled the brackish water of the beaches of South Carolina.  Nice palms everywhere and a man throwing a cast net into the water to try to catch bait. 

Mattison and Grady purchased a coconut from a man riding a bike.  He sliced it and they drank the coconut milk out of it.  They pretended to like it and tried to get others to drink, but I didn’t buy it.  They finally admitted that it was pretty bad and put it down.

Tonight we worshipped with the church.  It was a packed house of about 75 adults and children.  Full of Spirit.  No air conditioning.  I wondered if we would still conduct services in America if there was no air conditioned building.  They spent an hour singing, sharing testimony, a few students sang Reggae Christian. 

Then we did a skit that the students put together.  Grady gave a testimony, and Mike led in worship.  Bert sang a song and I preached on being a missionary to the community using the story of the good .  The founding pastor of the church was there.  He led Pastor Wayne to the Lord 16 years ago.   

The congregation sang a birthday song to me.  I can’t think of better way to spend my 35th birthday. 

We embarked on our trip to Belize this morning.  The day started at 5:15 am with Ren taking a shower and Grady talking constantly.  We then hopped on a van to the airport and met a sharp young man named Abou from Liberia.  He talked to me about his muslim faith and his understanding of the differences between his faith and Christians.  I encouraged him to seek out the validity of the resurrection of Christ, because that is the corner stone of our faith.  I also encouraged him to seek out if the book of John spoke truth.

We made it to the airport and Ren got stopped at security and was interrogated in “the room”.  We then got on the plane and took off.  Kirsten squealed like a pig the entire lift off and was extremely excited.  The flight was smooth and we touched down in Belize at noon.  We went through customs and had 11 bags full of stuff that we were donating.  We thought we may have to pay a tax but Ren, Ashley, and I made it through.  Next thing I hear is Belinda yelling my name across the customs area saying they need the key to check her bag, which causes a chain reaction of all the customs people noticing all of our bags being the same.  They then summoned us all together to ask us to give an itemized list of everything in the bag, which K had all ready for us!  Then they said we would have to pay a customs tax unless we had a letter stating we were exempt…which I pulled out that K had ready for us.  Then he said, “No.  It needs to be from our Prime Minister of Finance.”  I said, “Really.”  I then found myself in front of the counter paying a $100 tax, which was actually good because we should have had to pay 5 times that much with the stuff we were bringing into the country. 

We met our missionary guides Mike and Sarah outside.  Burt was our bus driver.  He is native to Belize, a preacher’s kid, and cool as ice under pressure.  We will get to that in a minute. 

We had lunch at a pizza place and our students talked with a crippled beggar, and also fed a child who was on the street.  They were able to share their faith with him as well.

We headed to a children’s home and I was so impressed with our kids.  The home was depressed by American standards, but was a haven for children.  Our kids jumped right in and started picking up children and loving on them.  Even those with special needs and chicken pox!  It was so encouraging to watch them.  Over half of our group already shared their faith.  I am so proud of them.  I met a cool guy named Aaron.  He had been there for 11 years.  I told him he was going to be a preacher some day.  Solid athlete.Nick Williams held the hand of a special needs girl who was mute for over an hour just because she wanted him to and needed some attention.   

We then traveled two hours through the mountains to Pomona Christian Community Church.  This is where things started to get interesting.  We had  a tire blow out on our luxury school bus.  Bert then went to change the tire on the duelly system.  No jack.  Decided to find a rock and run it up on the other tire.  This jacked it off the ground enough to change the tire.  The spare had the radials sticking out.  We then proceeded through the mountains at record speeds, and then we got to our first bridge going 60 mph.  It was one lane and Burt never took his foot off the accelerator.  As we are passing someone on a bicycle, the spare exploded.  I thought we hit him.  I know he is cleaning out his shorts. 

Finally we pulled up at the church, and were greeted by children and youth.  Pastor Wayne was so inviting and we were brought in like royalty.  They treated us to fried chicken, mashed potatoes, noodles, and chocolate cake.  We felt at home.  

Home sweat Home

We then rode to our hotel in Dangriga and settled in.  We are exhausted, but excited to start our mission tomorrow.  We will be leading children’s Sunday School in the morning and I will be preaching tomorrow night for their service.