Update From Belize

OCTOBER 2009

Dear Supporters and Prayer Warriors,

I have to say that I'm amazed as to how quickly this year seems to be passing! I wonder if those who haven't truly accepted the Lord realize just how quickly time is slipping away? Do they realize that their time is coming to an end? And at some point and are they ready for their location in eternity? I'm afraid some of them, at this time may not be going to the right location for an eternity. Eternity is a place that we as believers are assured of. I know for a fact that I wouldn't want to spend my eternity in a place of fire consumed with the sounds of gnashing teeth and wails of those being tormented.

I made that statement because we have been helping Kenny and Shannon by going house-to-house praying with the villagers, which includes some Americans. At the beginning of Oct. we went and visited with one of those Americans. He is basically hiding out in this remote village not wanting to deal with life itself. His name is Hank, he is in his 70's and the consumption of his meals is Caribbean Rum for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I don't know about you but to me this appears that he is truly running from something that must haunt him daily; to have to drown the fears, sorrows and cares with this numbing solution. We went to pray with him, but he wouldn't let us come into his home, he say however, that we could stay on the road, which was about 15' from his window that he was leaning out of. I asked him how could we pray for him? Wow, tha this took him by surprise, he was speechless. It took him awhile to respond, but when he did he said, "Well, that took me by surprise, I wasn't expecting that, no one has ever asked me that question before?" There were about 15 of us who had gone to pray with the villagers, that in itself had to impress Hank. The only request he had was that someone would bring in the cement he needs to finish building the fence so people wouldn't come into his yard and his dogs wouldn't get out, so we prayed for that and much more. Hmmmm, seems like he's putting the fence up to keep himself from accepting Christ's love! I shared this with you as we would encourage you to pray for Hank, he is truly a lost soul. BTW, God answered his prayer, cement was delivered, although he expected to pay for it and organize it, when it just showed up, he was totally taken back. Praise be to God!

We continued thru the village; it was encouraging to hear some of the villagers who come to church at times, but don't come in because they fear that the walls will fall in on them should they step inside the church. One such man, Cisco is his name, shared that he has accepted Christ in his heart. He doesn't understand though and is amazed that Basil and I have remained faithful to serving God in this remote village. When he realized all the persecution that we have been under yet we are still there trying to continue to love the people and share with them Christ's love! I am reminded in 1Peter 1:6-7 "So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold - though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world." This comes from the Living Translation. It encourages us to remain strong and faithful to the end.

We started our first bible study for both men, women and older youth! It has been pretty successful. We have anywhere from 12 to 25 people coming. We have decided to go back to the basics and start at the beginning in What Christians Believe, it is a very simple format that they can read easily and study on their own. We are taking it slow, praying that this will help those who don't truly understand that they will finally for the first time. This study was created for third world countries for those who have trouble with reading. Please pray for them that God reveals Himself to them in this study and that they will share it with others so that they may thirst for the word of God!

The end of Oct. we were asked by the Principal, Mrs. Aranda to teach on a Thurs and Friday as the teachers had a training session in Dangriga and she wanted the students to remain in school. I felt this was a bit overwhelming, since we had no teams to do VBS. So we asked Tiffara, Shannon (one of our staff now, he stays at night with us), Amanda, Davine and a few others to help us hold VBS in the morning. It was refreshing and a relief for us not to have to do this by ourselves. We had story time, crafts, music and sports, I (Vera) did the story time, helped with crafts and the rest was lead by the village church leaders, now this truly is a Praise! It is one of our prayers answered, that the village would start to take responsibility for their own, and it is happening!

The last day of the month was spent helping at the schools Halloween Fundraiser. They asked us to give them prizes for games and donate food, so we donated the chicken and most of their prizes. We weren't really excited about celebrating this holiday as we prefer celebrating the day after; All Saints Day! We stayed in the morning and Vera painted faces with flowers, hearts and butterflies, they kept asking how much it cost and Vera said 'I don't charge, I just love sharing Christ's love with you". They liked that so she was probably the most popular next to the Inflatable Jump Castle that they got to jump around in. I have to say, we were amazed when we drove into the village we saw this inflatable jump castle, that totally looked out of place in such a remote village, it is something you would find in the states at one of your children's birthday parties or at a carnival. LOL.

That was the events of our month of Oct. Please remember to pray for those I've mentioned above and the rest of the village. We are praying that the Holy Spirit will continue to grip the hearts of all of them, draw them in one by one without them knowing what has hit them until they have truly accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior in their hearts! We also need prayer for the school lunch program; it was discontinued since Paradise Shrimp Farms have stopped providing the chicken and butane for cooking. The Belize Mission & Retreat provides all the other groceries on a monthly basis. We have talked with some of the men in the village to "donate FISH" once a week, of which they have agreed to do and we will be calling on some of the Poultry places to see if they will contribute the chicken. There are many children that need this program, as it is their only meal for the whole day!

Blessings and prayers for each of you, Basil and Vera

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