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1/3/2002 – There is a gap between this update and the previous one (July 30, 2001). We returned to Belize in November 2001, after Hurricane Iris swept through the Toledo District in October leaving many temporarily homeless, and crops devastated, but thankfully, very few people injured. Though, as noted in the last update, we had planned to drive the pickup truck back, circumstances dictated that we fly instead. The airline didn’t exactly smile on the nine trunks we had in tow, but we were able to get many of the supplies we had gathered in the States down to Belize. Returning to San Jose, we felt led to seek permission from the village to build a teaching facility/mission station to use as a permanent base for outreach. We were still living in the bus, but knew we needed something more were we to have the liberty to hold Bible studies and children’s programs. Greetings from The Mayan Mountains! We hope everyone received our e-mail update last month. At this point we are still in waiting concerning the prayer requests. The village council did meet last Thursday and approved our request to build a thatch house in San Jose, but they decided it would need to go before the whole village for a vote. We don't know when the meeting will occur, but have reason to believe it may be soon. Because of the holidays and school break, we also have not gotten to meet with the school superintendent concerning our future involvement with the primary schools, but Patrick is going to try to do this Monday when he goes into town. Thank you for all your prayers. Please continue to pray with us as we wait upon God, in His time, to reveal the answers we seek. We have spent the past month here in seeking to lay a foundation for what we hope will be a long term work in San Jose. Mainly our mornings and early afternoons have consisted of study and the necessary chores to sustain village living. After the men return from their farms in the afternoon, we have tried to use the evening hours to become better acquainted with the village and the people we still have not gotten a chance to talk with. Lately we have had a few youth coming to the bus at night to play dominos and eat whatever sweet American dessert we happened to have prepared, which has proved to be great opportunities for fellowship and a start to making disciples. The unusual experience of the week is that one of our dogs (Mubi) seems to have been bitten by a tarantula (or scorpion, as some have suggested), which caused a swelling in her neck and a nasty sore on her side. That's a dog's life on the mission field. The next few months among the villages struck by the hurricane will be interesting to see unfold. Today is the last Red Cross food relief distribution in San Jose. The birds and other animals of the bush that typically eat fruits and nuts from the jungle have begun eating the corn and bean crop due to all of the big trees having blown over and their food source being scarce. The harvest in two to three months could be very small for the families here. Please keep this in your prayers as well. We will keep you informed as the weeks ahead unfold. Your continued prayers are mightily effective and needed as we seek to follow His leading.
1/14/2002 – This past week for us has been one of both joy and sadness. Many things have changed since our last e-mail. First, the Lord has truly been blessing us and meeting our needs in some amazing ways. As we were approaching a time of need, without anyone else knowing of it, people were raised up by the Lord to help provide. The first assistance came just as we were renewing our visas to be in Belize. Upon arriving in town we found that a friend had sent us a much needed $100. Then, while in the village we began to be given many gifts of food: four coconuts, bread, tortillas, rice, beans, flour, oranges (from which I made us some jelly), eggs, and $47 (given to us by a young American man who was passing through the village). Each of these gifts came from different people, none of whom knew that there was a need at the time. "Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' For the Gentiles (heathen) eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matthew 6:31-33). Our first sad news came Wednesday morning (1/9) when I was able to meet with the school superintendent. Things seemed to go well at the start of the meeting and it looked as if we would be back in the school to help the teachers with Bible classes. But near the end he said that if he let us in to help, he would have to do so for others. And at that, the door closed. He did go on to say that it was ok with him if we worked with the children in the village after school, though we did not need his permission to do this. We now just thank the Lord for the chance which was given to us to be in the school last year, allowing us to get to know many of the children in San Jose. The next sad news came later that same night. I was made aware that our request to build a thatch house in the village has now become a village political matter. A group is opposing not only us putting up a little house here, but is also wanting us out of the village. A friend has told me that if I push the issue I'll be hurt! Now I must say that we have had a low-key presence in the village so far, with our work mostly having been house visitations and people coming to visit us for fellowship and discipleship at the bus. I do not feel that we have made any denominational stand that could have offended anyone. "If this world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you" (John 15:18-19). "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed" (John 3:20). I have said that this news is challenging, and it is in many ways. For one, we have a young married couple (Nick and Candice Broom) who will be joining our work here this week. They will be with us till May 6th, doing an internship work in preparation for going to do mission work in another country which is closed to missionaries. We will be renting a house for them in the village for their stay. Our hope had been to use them in our work at the school, but now it looks like they will be taught how to have the patience of a missionary as we wait upon the Lord together to open other doors. Another challenge that may be before us is if we are not allowed to stay in the village. This will mean that we will be back on the road in search of a new home and we will be, for the most part, starting all over again. These villages are difficult to minister in because for one, no missionary has ever lived in them that we know of. However, mission work does take place here quite often in terms of short-term mission trips of one to two weeks in length. For the most part these teams do not even stay in the village over night. I point this out to say that short-term workers see the people here in a much different light. Many of the villagers tend to be able to put on a good act as long as the short-term missionaries are giving out gifts; we have seen this more than once. Most of the churches here are very unhealthy and are in need of godly men and women of faith to hold them accountable to the Word of the Lord. This is why we feel that we were called to live among the people and teach the Bible in a class setting open to the whole community. To give you a picture of the church here and the need for full time mission work, a mainstream evangelical church in the village, which has a sign at the front that reads "Holiness unto the Lord," has active members who are publicly drunk most weekends and members who are openly living in sexual immorality. Yet the mission workers, without knowing the true nature of the church, come and reward them with gifts, though not challenging the sin that they know nothing about. We have prayed that through our continuing presence in the village that the Lord will call many here unto true holiness. I must add that the only real opposition we have had so far has been from a small (though powerful) group. I feel that through our joint prayers their hearts can be softened. "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16). Please pray: 1. That new doors for ministry would open to us. 2. The hearts of the village council will be softened. 3. The Lord will provide us with safety. 4. Our time with Nick and Candice Broom will be full of joy and time to build one another up in faith. And, that they will have patience as the ministry is growing.
1/20/2002 – Praise the Lord! We attended a village meeting today where almost every man from San Jose was present. Our request to build a house here was on the agenda and we were given the opportunity to present our plan to build and begin Bible studies in San Jose. As you know, we have been in a state of waiting and praying for this time of decision for the past month and a half. This last week has been especially one of anticipation in light of our presence here causing some ripples within the village council, as Patrick spoke of in the last update. With the aid of Francisco, a friend and supporter of us here in San Jose who interpreted our English into Maya, we read out our requests to the men. At first the response seemed to be negative as a few begin speaking of what they saw as disadvantages to us being here. But then a man spoke up in our defense because of a recent incident in which we gave first aid to his son who had fallen off his bike. This prompted more to stand up for us and speak about our positive influence, including our planned Sunday School we will be having for the children. After this more said that we deserved a chance in light of the fact that we would be serving the community and not just simply living here. The tide shifted and there was a resounding, "Okay," as the men voted yes with their voice. After more discussion, an agreement was come to and a suitable place to build discussed. The agreement is for us to build a thatch house for Bible study for a five year period, after which if we still feel led to continue work in San Jose, our request will come up for vote again. Truly God moved in mighty ways today as He softened the hearts of the people here and opened the door for our vision to become a reality. Prayer accomplished this and for all of you who kept us in you prayers, the fruit and evidence of God's faithfulness to respond is now seen. Thank you for the crucial role you play in this work. The next step is to now get a local work crew together who can gather the needed materials from the jungle and begin building as soon as possible. In the mean time, we will be beginning Sunday school for all the village children this Sunday in Francisco's classroom at the primary school. We continue to ask for your prayers in these matters. Nick and Candice Broom, who will be doing an internship with us through May, arrived in San Jose this past Wednesday. They are now settled in their own thatch house we are currently renting and have begun to adapt to their new surroundings and lifestyle. Candice has already learned to wash clothes in the river and make tortillas. Nick has made fast friends with some nearby children and been a great help with the daily chores. With the next few months looking extremely busy, their extra hands and encouragement will be much appreciated. We are in awe of the Lord's mighty hand at work and hope that this news is a joy and cause for praise for you as well.
1/25/2002 – We just wanted to send out a short update on the progress of our plans to build here in San Jose. At first, after gaining permission from the village to construct a thatch house, we originally looked at a flat, clear area beside the local creek that use to serve as the soccer field. But as the week progressed various circumstances led us to reconsider and look at a sight on top of a hill across from the family who is graciously now allowing us to park the bus in their yard. We gained permission to use this new location from the village leaders and the neighbors on Wednesday. The plot has been lived on before, but nothing is there now and the bush had grown back to three or four feet in height. On Thursday we donned the machetes and after a few lessons from the locals on sharpening, went to work clearing. We finished by lunch Friday with the help of Rodrigo and Theodoro. We are scheduled to have a truckload of sand and rocks brought in on Tuesday to begin the foundation of the house. Then we can begin gathering the needed logs and posts from the jungle as soon as possible. Since our knowledge is limited, a friend, Gregorio, is spearheading the project and seems to be quite excited to give us a hand. Lord willing, the "Bible House" will be complete in one to two months. Although much of the materials can be obtained freely, we are looking at roughly $1500 to pay for the concrete pad and labor. That’s not bad for a Bible study facility and surely God will meet our needs as He has so faithfully brought us this far. We are still awed at this next step God has opened the way for and want to thank those of you who have sent us encouraging e-mails over these past few weeks, and most of all, for all of your prayers. Our first Sunday School for the children is this Sunday. Please pray for this and the opportunities it represents.
2/15/2002 – We wanted to let everyone know about the progress of the Bible House and ministry in San Jose. The past two weeks have actually been slow concerning the undertaking of gathering materials and establishing dates to begin. We have simply been waiting upon God to raise up willing helpers within the village. We now have a man who is not only willing, but seems excited to spearhead the project for us and coordinate the necessary particulars that we are ignorant of when it comes to building a thatch house. The sand and gravel for the concrete flooring were to arrive this past Monday, but instead came Tuesday after a long afternoon drizzle. As the dump truck began its ascent up the slippery dirt road to our lot, the tires began to spin and the load caused the truck to roll back into a small ditch. The driver couldn't get out without dumping the load right there (which happened to be the village leader's yard). Then with difficulty, after backing up and getting the frame hung up on top of the pile, he managed to lurch back to the road. The Lord held the rains off until Wednesday when we were able to hire a tractor with a trailer to come. Thankfully we also found three workers to help us shovel the flattened pile onto the trailer and get it up the hill. We discovered the dump truck driver was driving with no brakes, save downshifting, and this was obviously a major reason for the incident. Next Wednesday I will be accompanying five men to another village roughly 30 miles to the east that wasn't affected by the hurricane. It would be very hard to find the necessary logs here in San Jose for the frame of the house due to the hurricane. So we will have to transport them in from outside of the village. However, the big trees that have fallen are to our advantage when it comes to obtaining the posts that will support the frame; for we can go almost anywhere nearby to cut them out of a downed tree. It looks at this point that we could begin the actual construction in two to three weeks. Once the materials are gathered, the actual constructing of the house will only take three days. The concrete floor will be poured last. As many of you know, Patrick's horse, Allenby, has been afflicted with a saddle sore for over a year now. It has not yet completely healed and may never toughen up again. So we were recently able to purchase a horse that originally came from Guatemala. It is much bigger than many of the local horses. Our desire continues to be to use the horses for transportation in future outreach to surrounding villages. Michael Hunter, who was with us for four months last year in Belize, will be arriving on Tuesday to assist us once again. Please pray for his journey and for the customs officials he will deal with in bringing down some needed supplies. As we await the time of actually beginning adult Bible studies in the new house, our primary focus continues to be to seize whatever opportunities are daily at hand for building relationships. The children's Sunday school is going great. We are averaging about 50 children a week. We have just finished teaching on Joseph's life and will begin this Sunday on the life of Moses. One specific prayer request concerns a young man named Paul. He approached us when we first arrived expressing interest in learning the Bible. I have been meeting with him about twice a week to study the book of Luke. We just finished chapter 12. Though his interest seems genuine, there is not yet a realization of the need for repentance and surrender. Please pray for this revelation that comes only from God's Spirit. And our animal story for the week is the 4-inch tarantula that made its way into the bus and caused quite a stir as the two of us jumped around, doused it with ineffective spray, and finally succeeded in beating it with a large stick.
2/28/2002 – The last week and a half has been quite busy as we now have a partially completed thatch house. Patrick was out of the village for two days to pick up Michael Hunter at the Punta Gorda airport on February 19. Michael has come to assist us in our work once again and could not have arrived at a better time. As they headed back to San Jose, I went with six men to another area about 35 miles away on an overnight trip to cut all of the trees needed for building the frame of the house. By Friday the 22nd the logs for the posts were cut from a fallen tree about two miles from San Jose. We had ten posts cut, each measuring ten feet in length and weighing well over a hundred pounds apiece. Using Pershing, Patrick's horse, we hauled two posts out of the bush and hired a few other men to get the rest. This past Monday, 12 men came to construct the frame. The following day, 30 men gathered the needed cahoun leaves for the roof, and on Wednesday the same 30 men came back to thatch the house. The Ical family, who have allowed us to park the bus in their yard and been such a blessing to us, gathered some women together and cooked lunch for the men on Monday and Wednesday: rice, beans and chicken one day, and then caldo cosh (chicken soup) and corn tortillas the next. Today three large piles of rock were gathered for the cement floor, and the framing for the floor will probably begin on Monday. So as you can see, the days have been full ones, and full of praise as we watch the Bible House become a reality. All of the men who have worked on the house have afforded us great opportunities for getting better acquainted with many we already knew and some we met for the first time. After pouring the flooring, we will still need to put the boards on for the siding and section off a small living area from the teaching area. We hope to begin Sunday school there as early as next week, though we will still be without walling. Be in prayer over the next few weeks as we gear up to begin adult Bible studies. And for all of you who enjoy the animal stories, today Mubi (the dog) was trying to eat a very large rhinoceros beetle and it latched onto her nose with its front prong-shaped legs. Since she couldn’t pull it off, I had to hold her frantically jerking head while I pried it off with a stick. So goes a dog's life with so many interesting creatures around. Please pray as we seize by faith the opportunities of the days to serve and show the love of Messiah to the people here.
3/14/2002 – Though not complete, the Bible House is now functional. Last week we learned the local way to mix concrete. One bag of cement was mixed with 12 buckets of sand, plus lots of water that had to be pumped from the hand pump and backed up the hill to the site via horseback. Nick and Michael spent the day making water trips while Patrick and I helped the workers mix and pour. So we now have a thatch roof over a concrete pad. This past Sunday we held our first Sunday School at the new place. Much to our surprise, almost 60 children showed up. We moved the bus onto our lot beside the thatch and have begun to situate the area for more established living, which includes scouting out a place for a garden and a small shelter for the horses. We still need to cut the lumber from trees in the nearby bush for the sides of the house. The trees we will use are ready; we are just awaiting the man with the chainsaw and the necessary finances to complete it. It is harvest time for the beans and corn here in San Jose. Last Thursday we went to help Mr. Cho, one of the men who headed up the thatch construction, reap and shell red beans. Then on Tuesday Nick and Michael went to another farm and under the hot sun, got thoroughly worn out beating piles of black beans with a large stick in order to separate the beans from the shells. The "green" corn is abundant and resulting in many different corn products to eat such as shep (shape), a bean and corn tamale, and dukinu, something that tastes similar to corn casserole. On Tuesday, Patrick and I took a short trip on the horses to Santa Cruz to visit two friends, Rehinaldo and Marcos. Today we rode the 15-mile loop from San Jose through three villages and back again in order to visit friends in other places. We are in the process of building the horses' endurance for longer and more frequent rides as we desire to use them for outreach in surrounding villages, including some villages that are difficult to reach by car. There is currently a handful of people in San Jose who it seems we have really been able to befriend and in whom we sense a desire to know us and the message we bear. One is Daniel, a young man in his senior year of high school, who has been acting as our interpreter for the Sunday School. Please pray for him as he is at a crucial decision making time in his life and has much potential for discipleship.
Daniel Cho interpreting for me while we were still holding children's classes at the village school.
4/19/2002 – Another month has slipped by here in San Jose. During the last week in March we were able to begin cutting the trees needed for lumber for the house. The sight was about a 20-minute walk and we were able to use the horses to haul out much of the cut lumber. It was amazing to watch the local workers cut smooth and straight 2 x 4's and 2 x 8's with only a chainsaw and guide. The Bible House now has half the walling up. We are waiting to purchase the rest of the lumber to complete it, but as it stands we have continued with the Sunday Bible School for the children. We now have over 100 on the roll and last week gave out an attendance prize for those who had come four weeks in a row. We just finished teaching on Moses' life and have now moved into Joshua. Many of the children are beginning to learn the songs and their participation has really increased over the past two weeks. Much of this month has been spent working around the house. We've been clearing the yard on the backside of the lot and recently started a small nursery. We're also in the process of preparing for the rainy season by digging a drainage trench around the house. Nick and Candice, the married couple that have been with us since January, will be leaving Belize a week from Monday. They will be in the U.S. for two months and then head off to a country closed to missionaries to minister for a year. Please pray not only for there closure here, but most especially that God will continue to prepare them for their upcoming ministry. Also please continue to pray for Daniel, Paul, and another young man named Rodrigo, each of whom we have been given opportunities to reach out to over the past few months. Daniel and Rodrigo took all of us to a cave in the high bush two Saturdays ago. It was a great time to spend with them outside of the village setting in more of an atmosphere open for discipleship. Both have been present for a few short stories from a book we have been reading through as a group about 16th century Anabaptist martyrs. To both, I'm sure the reality of a faith in God strong enough to die for rather than compromise is a totally new and never thought of concept.
5/6/2002 – We want to let everyone know of our upcoming plans for the week and to ask for your prayers. Last Thursday we rode the horses to Santa Cruz (four mile round trip) to begin meeting with Marcos, a man we’ve mentioned in previous updates, for Bible study. On Friday we took the horses and rode to a waterfall about two miles past Santa Cruz to camp out for the night. The next morning we rode further on to two villages down the rode, Santa Elena and Pueblo Viejo. We had only briefly visited these villages in the past and were curious to seek out potential future ministry opportunities and visit the few people we knew. We arrived back to the bus in San Jose Saturday night. The horses did very well after three consecutive days of riding. Because of this and the fact that it is dry season here for another month, we are going to try and seize the opportunity before us to travel to some remote villages we have not yet been to south of San Jose. If the horses continue to do well, we will try and make a week long trip out of it, again seeking out future outreach opportunities and seeking to share the Gospel with those we meet along the way. Please pray that God will guide our steps and keep the three horses in good health (we'll be using one as a pack horse). Michael will be staying in San Jose, taking care of the Bible House and the bus, and to be available for the ministry opportunities here.
5/13/2002 – Last Tuesday (May 7), Patrick and I began our trip via horseback to an area southwest of San Jose. This particular area of Mayan villages was one we had visited only briefly during our trip to Belize in 1999. We have both had the desire over the last couple years to do a return visit designed to make contacts for future ministry opportunities and to know better how to pray for the villages and the specific needs they have. After spending Tuesday morning packing supplies, we loaded Allenby down as our packhorse and saddled up Barak and Pershing to carry us. Not knowing how far our trip would lead or when exactly we would return to San Jose, we left Michael to take care of the house and bus, and to handle the children's Bible School on Sunday. Leaving San Jose at 1:30 PM, we rode about 10 miles and camped outside of a village called Blue Creek in a nice clearing with plenty of grass for the horses. That first night little brushfires dotted the foothills directly behind us. It is dry season here and fires seem to be continually getting out of the control of those who practice slash-and-burn farming. So we anticipated having to move if the fires got to close, but we ended up sleeping the night through with no problems. The next morning we left the campsite at 7:00 and after stopping at a local Mennonite settlement to water the horses, rode into Blue Creek. From there we made the four mile trip to a village of about 350 named Aguacate. We knew the road dead-ended there, so it was our hope that one of the two bush trails was still passable after the hurricane last October. A village 10 minutes from the Guatemala border named San Benito Poite was our intended destination after visiting Aguacate. We spent the early part of the afternoon in a local store, taking advantage of the rarity of finding a village with a phone to make a necessary call to the U.S., and chatting with the storeowner. As always, the presence of two white men drew the village children's attention, and this time even more so since we were probably the first to ever arrive on horses. This gave us a chance to hand out quite a number of Bible study booklets we have put together on the life of Abraham, complete with correspondents questions in the back so the responder can receive the next booklet in the series upon completing the questions and mailing the answers to us. We discovered the trail to Poite was indeed blocked, but there was another trail open to a village named Santa Theresa. We left Aguacate about 4 PM and made our way along this narrow bush trail with mountains on the right, cornfields on the left, and Patrick leading the way with machete in hand, the horses behind us. We made it to the Moho River in a little over an hour and began scouting out places to cross. Not seeing any potential sights, Patrick made his way across the river on foot to try and locate Santa Theresa and possibly find the correct trail. Since dusk was approaching, I began unloading the horses and setting up camp at the corner of the last cornfield. An hour after dark Patrick returned tired and with the news of no sign of Santa Theresa. It had gotten dark quickly in the jungle and the trails were innumerable, forking off in every direction to various plots of farmland. However, with his ever faithful dog Kia along, she led Patrick straight back to where I was almost two miles away. The next morning (Friday), we packed up and found a group of local farmers nearby. One offered to lead us across the river at a spot which we had first thought to be impassable. He then showed us the correct trail and we discovered Patrick was only a half-mile from Santa Theresa when he had turned back, not knowing how close or far he could have been. In Santa Theresa we met up with the eight mile road to San Benito Poite. Until last May, Poite was only reachable by a footpath. Poite has about 500 people in it, many having migrated from Guatemala. We left Santa Theresa at 10:30 AM and arrived in Poite around 5 PM. We discovered an American archaeologist was doing some work there and we were able to pitch our tent beside the house he was renting. One of our desires for visiting Poite was because of its remote location. It has not received nearly the missionary work, short or long-term, as the majority of the other villages in the Toledo District. The people we talked with, including the principal of the school, were very open to our return at some point to hold a week long Vacation Bible School for the children and possibly show Bible videos at night to the adults. If this is the Lord's will, doing some initial short-term work there could be a reality as soon as December or the spring of next year. After spending the morning there we rode out of Poite at noontime and stopped at a campsite beside the Moho an hour outside of the village. We discovered that our location was perfect for making individual contacts as many people passed us that afternoon on the way home from their farms. We were able to pass out more booklets and meet two young men in particular, both of which had never seen a fishing pole which shows how remote this village actually was. The next morning we had planned to head out, but decided to take advantage of the location and use the day to rest the horses and ourselves. The young guys came back again and brought us grasshoppers to fish with, which worked, but only in catching a very small catfish. The weather had been hot and dry. But that ended Sunday morning. It began to rain at 5 AM and didn't stop till 8:00. Needless to say, with no pavilions to take advantage of, us, the supplies, the horses and Kia were soaked through and through. Though planning to spend one or two more nights on the road, we decided to try and make the almost 20 mile trip back to San Jose in one day, since all our supplies were wet. We did make it, or rather the horses did, taking a slightly different route through a small village named Jordan, arriving in San Jose at 9 PM much to Michael's surprise. Thank you for your prayers. The horses lost weight, but passed the endurance test with flying colors, letting us know the feasibility of longer and more frequent trips of this manner in the future. Kia, our lookout and path-clearer of all the pigs and local dogs that stand in our way, also made it, though she is now moving slowly and carefully due to her aching paws and muscles. All in all, we covered roughly 50 miles on horseback, which proved quite a test for us as well since our horse-riding experience is extremely limited. The trip confirmed to us the advantage of having the horses. Our pace of travel is reduced to the pace of life in the villages. We have the opportunity to chat with those we pass along the way and always get asked questions as to who we are and what we are doing. But as we have mentioned before, there is a hardness towards the Gospel here. Instead of interest in the Savior we are here to proclaim, we meet with many already made-up minds when we tell of our purpose. But the youth, and especially the children, almost always are open and surely God can change hardened hearts. We hope for more trips like this one in the future as the Lord directs. Though our base is in San Jose, holding Bible studies in other villages throughout the week is feasible since the whole district we are in covers such a small amount of land area, making almost anywhere accessible by horse. As for the news in San Jose, Michael handed out the eighth week prize for attendance at Bible School. This included a cupcake, four pencils, and an Abraham booklet.
6/12/2002 – I am sending you this update to fill you in on what we've been up to this past week and to let you know of my up and coming trip to the States. When Jeff and I came back to Belize in November 2001, we did not know exactly what our ministry would look like by this time. We knew that the Lord was leading us to start a Bible study house, but had no clear idea of when or how it would come together. Now the house is nearing completion and we have an ever-growing children's ministry, along with our travels to nearby Santa Cruz via horseback for our new Bible study class there. The Children's Bible School has an average attendance of 65 children a week with 130 now on the roll, and we are currently up to the life of David in our teaching. As for the completion of the Bible House, I don't want you to think that we are working on it all the time. I am reminded often in our building of how my grandfather built his lake cabin. Each week my grandparents would pay for their groceries, daily supply needs, etc.; and then with the money that was left over, they would buy a little wood and some nails to work on the cabin over the weekend. That is a bit like things have been for us here. Last Monday we were able to have some more wood cut from the jungle, which then left us with the job of bringing it the two miles to the house. Once it arrived at the house we were left with the job of cutting each piece with a handsaw to fit it in place. We are now left with only two outside walls, one inside wall (for a kitchen/guest room), and the windows and doors in order for the house to be finished. As for my return, I will be back in Birmingham next week on the 12th, Lord willing, and will be there till the first part of August. During the time of my return I will be rounding up some of our much needed teaching supplies for the children's school and adult study (which prayerfully will be starting at the end of August). I have also had a few people who have expressed a desire to come down to help us with a VBS (Vacation Bible School) for the children. I will be meeting with them to see how the Lord may bring this event together, along with seeing what kind of other future church mission teams we may be able to coordinate. I will also be putting a little time of each week of my visit into working on my house (let me know if you want to help do a little painting!). My time in the States is sure to go by quickly and I really want to see as many of you as I can in order to share with you what God has been doing here. So if you or your church group would like to meet with me, do drop me an e-mail so I can put a schedule together in order see as many of you as I can. Jeff and Michael will be keeping the work going in my absence. I am sure they will not miss a beat. Do pray for us this week as we try to bring some of our pressing work to a close. I am currently working on a group of Bible study notes which Jeff will teach from in Santa Cruz while I am gone. Michael is working on a number of drawings that will be used in a set of tracks we are putting together. And, Jeff is trying to keep everything running as well on his own Bible study work in between attending to the villagers' first-aid needs for the week. I do thank each of you so much for your prayers and for the support you have been to us, for in the end you have blessed the Father with your actions and not us alone. Jeff has an animal story for the week which I feel will give you a good picture of some of the challenges we can meet with at times. (Jeff writing) Michael and I took Barak (my horse) to make some trips with the lumber that had been cut in the jungle. She made the first trip okay, but on the second one acted much outside of her compatible personality. She literally refused to go on, and instead fell over in protest, rolling off the trail, down a hill, and ending up on her back like a turtle, with her legs sprawling in the air. She was unable to get up at first with the wood on her, and there was not much Mike and I could do. Finally she struggled to her feet. So as not to be defeated we loaded her again, but this time lighter. Much to our surprise she fell down again, not from the weight but out of stubbornness, ending up on her back in what was at this point pouring rain. My words don't do justice to the madness; such a good horse to ride, but so belligerent with wood. Other than a few scratches she was ok, but our return trip with her to the house was done empty-handed. In the end, we had to pay some villagers to make the rest of the trips for us with their mules. But at least we now have some more wood to work with.
7/31/2002 – Well August is almost among us and Patrick will be returning to San Jose in two weeks. For Michael and me it has been a summer that has seen both an increase in ministry opportunities as well as a slow down in the pace of many of our days. We now have consistent village water from a tank on a nearby mountain, so the frequent trips with the horse to the pump have been eradicated (for the time being at least). With the Bible House near completion and the yard in shape, we now only have to maintain the upkeep, which includes chopping the grass with machetes and keeping our new garden weed free. We average rain about two or three days a week, which keeps us under the thatch till it passes. We have been trying to seize all of the free time the Lord has given us in this season to engage in study and prayer for the work here and for our many friends in the US. The latest project has been erecting a hitching post in the front yard which will make brushing and saddling the horses much easier. As I mentioned, new doors for outreach to those around us have been opening. Around the middle of June we began a Tuesday Bible School in the afternoons for the children since school is out for the summer. It has been well attended and we have mainly sung songs and played games at the local soccer field with those present. Our Sunday Bible School has continued and we will be finishing up the Old Testament teaching within a month or so. This coming Sunday we have two children that will be receiving the attendance prize for 20 straight weeks. On Thursdays I have continued in Patrick's absence to travel by horse to Santa Cruz for Bible study with Marcos and his two boys. We began the study two months ago in Genesis and are now up to Adam's sin. Do pray that the Holy Spirit will give him and his sons understanding as we are slowly making our way through the foundational truths of the Bible. Three weeks ago a 13 yr. old named Marino approached Michael and I about teaching him the Bible. He is one we have longed for this kind of opportunity with since first coming to San Jose. Marino has been coming each Friday evening since and has been very attentive with a genuine interest in the lessons. He has also been interpreting for us on Sundays for the younger children. Our other interpreter, Daniel, graduated high school in June and left the village to look for a job. Marino seems very teachable and at a crucial age for ministering to. But he is also in a potentially dangerous place atmospherically. Both his father and brother, of whom we have good relationships with and pray for often, are getting heavily involved with the local Jehovah's Witnesses. But praise God that Marino has gravitated towards us. Please pray for the whole family and for Marino's protection from false teaching. Some of you may remember us mentioning our 18 yr. old neighbor Rodrigo in a previous update. He has been visiting quite often and I had the opportunity to go fishing with him two weeks ago. (The local manner means no pole—just a line with a hook and tortilla bait. You have to be quick. I only caught two, Rodrigo caught 37). He came during the study this past Friday and we seemed to have earned a lot of respect from him over the months. Please continue in prayer for him as well. Daily we have visitors drop by to say hello, mainly nearby neighbors and a few children coming to visit, which at times keeps Michael quite busy trying to entertain and watch. As you can see God is moving and what a growing privilege that we continue to be a part of His work; a work He called us to and that belongs to Him. He alone gives us grace and strength daily to do anything in the advancement of His kingdom. Pray that we may be selfless vessels and pray for the people here. I hope this finds each of you in the peace of Messiah.
9/1/2002 – Patrick made it safely back to Belize on August 13 after two months in the States. Because of a strange local immigration policy, the time was due for me to have to leave the country for a day in order to get my visa renewed. So we took this opportunity to take a boat ride across the bay from Punta Gorda to Guatemala. We ended up spending the night in a small coastal town named Livingston, which served as an ideal setting for us to catch up and prepare to return to San Jose for the beginning of a new season of ministry. Today was the six-month mark of having Children’s Bible School in the Bible House. We gave out prizes to one boy who has had 100% attendance since we began, and to numerous other children who have also regularly attended. Today also marked finishing up the Old Testament teaching with the book of Esther. Next Sunday we will begin the New Testament and a new attendance chart, as the children of the village will also be starting school for the year. We continue to ask for your prayers. The Friday night youth Bible study we began in July is remaining steady with Marino, Rodrigo, and now a teenager named Herman and his little brother Arnaldo. Marino is the boy we mentioned whose family is rapidly getting involved with the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Pray especially that he will be protected from this influence and that his older brother, who is the most zealous JW follower of the family, will find only restlessness and conflict within his own heart over the path he is walking in. Also pray for us as we seek to seize opportunities to address Marino concerning the false teachings which are before him. Our other weekly study in Santa Cruz with Marcos is going well. But we are convinced that it has to be the Holy Spirit that brings true realization to words on the page of a Bible. Your prayers do matter! They are so crucial to the effectiveness of our service here. One of the reasons for Patrick’s trip back to the US was to gather supplies to bring back now that we know San Jose will be home for at least five years. Some of these items are general living related; but some we are in need of for ministry purposes. We now have many visual aids to draw from to help us convey the Bible through pictures to both children and adults. Plus, with the expectation of more and more horse trips in the future, we now have on hand much more of the needed equipment to make this a reality. Over the past nine months of living in San Jose, we have been asked by many of you what our needs are. Many of you are aware that as a mission we live daily by faith. Essentially this means we have chosen not to use any method of soliciting money, but rather allow God to provide through you as individuals according to what He lays upon your heart to give. This means as we travel to town a few times a month to check our bank account, we never know what awaits us. But God is ever faithful and we have never failed to get what was necessary for the moment, some weeks needing more to cover expenses than others. We only write these things now because there are probably those of you who do not know, but are interested in how we obtain finances for living and working in Belize. We feel it appropriate at this time, because of your expressed interest, to list a few of our current needs. 1) The Bible House is very near completion, but we are still in need of lumber to finish two outside sections, one indoor section, and the doors and windows. 2) One expense we incur weekly is that we try to supply the children that come to Bible School with kool-aid and a snack after the lesson, as well as giving out monthly attendance prizes. 3) In addition to the aforementioned, we also have monthly living expenses which include our food, propane for cooking, travel to and from town (Punta Gorda), visa renewal, internet communication, and supplemental feed for the horses when possible. If you would like a listing of more specific needs or are interested in how you could help out with anything listed above, simply e-mail us and we will get back with you as soon as possible – patrick@dayspringmission.com . All of the support we receive goes towards our ministry and living expenses. Neither of us draws a salary, nor does support received go towards any type of administrative costs. Everything given goes directly towards our mission work. We hope this gives you a better picture of how your support is used. We also hope that these updates paint a realistic picture for you of our work in Belize and how God is working through both your prayers and ours.
11/2/2002 – San Jose life is moving quietly along. October was a wet month which helped the various plants in the yard we have recently planted. There have been no new ministry developments since our last update, however, we do want to let everyone know the current situation with the prayer request we had made some of you aware of concerning our interpreter for the children’s Bible school. As many of you know, he is a boy here in the village who had been assisting both with the children and attending our Friday night studies. His teachableness and potential for surrendering his life to Jesus has been evident over the past year and a half that we have known him. But our growing concern for him has been his family’s involvement with the Jehovah’s Witnesses. He informed us about a month ago that his interpreting and visits to our house had been causing him persecution from other boys and men in the village. For this reason he said he would be stopping interpreting. We talked at length with him, stressing that anyone seeking to “live godly in Christ Jesus” will suffer a certain amount of persecution. We urged him to see that the decision to follow Jesus on the narrow path was before him. This was the point in time in which we sent out the e-mail asking for prayer. The next week, he came back to us and this time gave a different reason for no longer wanting to come and interpret. He said that at his parents’ suggestion he would be going with them to the Jehovah’s Witnesses meetings. We have shared much truth with him over the months and explained to him the errors in JW doctrine, the biggest error being their denial of Jesus as the Son of God, both fully God and fully man, therefore making it possible for sins to be forgiven only through Him because of the perfect and sinless blood He shed. We spent more time reasoning with him, expressing our concern for him, but his mind was already made up. We have not seen him since this last conversation, but we do continue in prayer for him and ask that you would do the same. His potential for being used by either kingdom, darkness or light, is great indeed. Please pray that the Spirit will continue stirring in his heart and that he will have “ears to hear,” not being able to ignore the Scripture we have shared with him. The Lord has provided interpreters for us to fill in the last few weeks, which is crucial for the younger children. Thank you for each one who has remembered him in their prayers, as well as for remembering all the people here who so desperately need their eyes opened to the light and are blind to the darkness they’re in.
12/17/2002 – Well I (Jeff) made it safely and soundly back to San Jose [after being in the US for three weeks]. I thank the Lord for all of you that I was able to visit with this time back. He truly allowed me to accomplish much and to see many in a short time. The Sunday after my return, as we were getting up in the morning, one of our neighbors, who allows us to tie our horses near his house, came to tell us that Patrick's black horse, Pershing, was sick. When we went to check it out we discovered he had lain down during the night and was unable to find the strength to get back up. Throughout the day he progressively worsened and later that night he died. We believe the death was related to a possible sickness going around, due to the fact that three other horses in our village alone have died in the past month. We are also in a constant battle with ticks that get on all of the horses, at times causing weight loss or fever. So Monday we hired three men to help us and commenced digging the very large hole necessary for burying an animal that size. Please pray for our other three horses, that they will be strong and able to be used consistently in the future for travel purposes. I brought down a VCR with me from the US and we were also able to purchase a small TV in town, both of which we can power off of a car battery. The last two Sundays we have shown a few Bible cartoons to the children. This seems to have helped this past Sunday to bring a record of over 90 children to Bible School. Though the ability to show Bible-based videos to supplement our teaching is very beneficial for the amount of people it will draw, we are in prayer for a small video projector that will be both more practical for a large audience, and can be packed with us when we travel to other villages. This week we have been working on putting together the remaining windows for the Bible House. This has meant cutting small straight trees out of the bush and then, after sawing them to length, piecing the sticks together side by side on a frame for an inexpensive, yet customized look. One of our neighbors also brought us a big bag of local peanuts with which we have boiled some, made peanut brittle with others, and added to our garden for what we hope will yield us our own in a few months.
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