Date and Time Posted: Wednesday July 27, 2011 - 10:45:33 pm

Day Five – July 27, 2011 VBS – Today was our second to last day and we had 169 children attend VBS. It was full in our little sanctuary, and all the children were so loud when we were singing our VBS songs. Some of our team members saw some children without flip-flops, and we began to hand out flip-flops to those children. Even mothers of the children were coming up asking for shoes for the kids at home or for themselves. During lunch we were running a little close when it came to the sack lunch so some of our team members had to make more lunches. It’s such a blessing to have all these children wanting to learn more about Jesus so we will gladly make extra lunches. As the children left from bible school they all wanted to hug us, and told everyone they would be back tomorrow. Also today two of our team members decided to sponsor two children from Belize. It was amazing to see the happiness in the children’s eyes when they meet their sponsor, and to see the excitement. Today was a very eventful day for our team. We are truly blessed! The construction group spent most of the morning getting the frame ready for the concrete top plate. The temperature today was over 100 degrees and we were a little worried about the amount of work that would be needed to get the concrete mixed and lifted in order to pour it into the frame. We had Andy Reyes find us another local helper that we could hire for a couple hours. Antonio joined our crew and worked very hard mixing concrete and lifting the buckets up to us. After we finished pouring the concrete top place we spent some time ministering to Antonio. The lord worked it out so that he could work to make some money and hear his word all in the same afternoon. We completed the hardest work today. Tomorrow we will place the roof back on. It was a very blessed day.

Posted By:Stan Hall

Date and Time Posted: Wednesday July 27, 2011 - 10:44:21 pm

Day 4—July 26, 2011 VBS—Today, we increased our number of kids to 129 and things today were a lot smoother than yesterday. We started the morning by worshiping with two songs and a puppet show. Then we divided up into our various age groups for a morning of learning and lots of fun. The construction crew finished up the block part of the kitchen and got all the metal rebar put together and in place for the top concrete plate. Tomorrow we will build the wood frame and pour the concrete in. After the concrete top plate is poured we will build a frame for a concrete countertop for the kitchen area. Afternoon: Many of us this afternoon, went to the Artbox, a local store with Belizian crafts. Afterwards, we headed to the local swinging bridge where we saw howler monkeys and an iguana. This was a real treat since these are things that we would never see back home. A few of us also ventured out to the local bike shop to purchase bikes for our sponsored child. What a blessing to do this for them!!

Posted By:Stan Hall

Date and Time Posted: Wednesday July 27, 2011 - 10:44:07 pm

Day 4—July 26, 2011 VBS—Today, we increased our number of kids to 129 and things today were a lot smoother than yesterday. We started the morning by worshiping with two songs and a puppet show. Then we divided up into our various age groups for a morning of learning and lots of fun. The construction crew finished up the block part of the kitchen and got all the metal rebar put together and in place for the top concrete plate. Tomorrow we will build the wood frame and pour the concrete in. After the concrete top plate is poured we will build a frame for a concrete countertop for the kitchen area. Afternoon: Many of us this afternoon, went to the Artbox, a local store with Belizian crafts. Afterwards, we headed to the local swinging bridge where we saw howler monkeys and an iguana. This was a real treat since these are things that we would never see back home. A few of us also ventured out to the local bike shop to purchase bikes for our sponsored child. What a blessing to do this for them!!

Posted By:Stan Hall

Date and Time Posted: Tuesday July 26, 2011 - 7:28:17 pm

Day 3 A great first day of VBS—80 kids in attendance and Mary brought one to the Lord today. What an awesome experience!! VBS began with worshiping in song and with a puppet show. Afterwards, we divided up into four age groups which rotated among recreation, bible lesson, lunch and crafts. For closing, we ended with one of my favorites “Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Praise Ye The Lord”. The construction crew started the day off right after breakfast. The crew was able to add four courses to the current walls. Adding the steel to the walls and mixing the cement on the kitchen floor. All of learned something new, the biggest lesson was how we could mix the cement and put the block up with nothing more than a couple trowels, 4 - 5 gallon buckets and 20 feet of string. We plan on finishing the block work tomorrow and framing in the cement top plate. After having to re-bag the beans, we headed off into two local villages—Camolotte and Rivero. Our team divided into 5 groups to hand out the beans, rice, milk and Bibles to the local villagers. As we walked through the villages, we would stop and talk with the families asking if they knew how much the Lord loved them and had they asked Jesus into their heart. We would also ask them if they wanted a Bible and if we could pray for them and their families. This was such a blessing to both the villagers and to the team!

Posted By:Stan Hall

Date and Time Posted: Tuesday July 26, 2011 - 7:26:26 pm

Sunday, July 24, 2011 First full day in Belize, we spend attending two awesome church services. This morning, we attended a Baptist Church in Belmopan. Sunday School began around 10:00 and then the actual service started around 11:00. Sunday School was very simple in nature but was also very powerful. Worship service was wonderful, as always. After welcoming the team and after a few announcements, a group of reformed former prisoners sang followed by members of our team singing. The pastor, Norman Willisy delivered a powerful message before a packed congregation. After filling our belly at lunch, we divided up several projects that we needed to complete before the start of VBS. The men who would be working on the Reyes’ house went to see what they would be doing throughout the week, while the rest of the team fixed 26 bags of rice, 30 bags of beans and 34 bags of powdered milk for the village feeding we would have later in the week. After all of the bags had been fixed, we were told that we had to redo the bean bags since there were bugs in the beans. The evening time was spent with a great service at the small church in the Body and Soul area. The team is tired from the day’s event and is finalizing the work for the start of VBS tomorrow.

Posted By:Stan Hall

Date and Time Posted: Tuesday July 26, 2011 - 7:24:54 pm

Saturday, July 23, 2011 Our team started off from Tri-Cities airport and Atlanta International Airport early Saturday morning. After catching connecting flights, we all eventually arrived in Belize City, Belize. Customs, like normal, was lots of fun—not really!! A big bus from Body and Soul met us at the airport to take us to our home away from home. Before arriving at Body and Soul, we stopped for lunch at Cheers. It was a great start to what we hope will be a GREAT week!! Once we arrived at Body and Soul, we held a team meeting to go over rules and unpacked. Afterwards, we headed to Blue Thumb Missions to check out where we would be having VBS for the week. After moving things around for crafts, lunch and worship, the men decided to put together the puppet stage. This was a real treat to watch. After leaving Blue Thumb, we headed back to Body and Soul for supper. Yolanda and her team are excellent cooks!!! Before adjourning for the night, Nathan and Lisa held a brief meeting about the week’s events and our music team practiced the songs they would be singing throughout the week. Most headed for a COLD shower and turned in for an early night.

Posted By:Stan Hall

Date and Time Posted: Tuesday July 26, 2011 - 8:38:59 am

Wow, what a wonderful week so far and its only Tuesday. Yesterday was our first day of vbs and it was wonderful, This week im teaching a class for the mothers of the villages and children 0-4 years old. I got to pray individually with each mother and encourage them. The team is really coming together and becoming a family. The biggest blessing so far is that Maverick (my 4 year old) is with us. We went last night to do the village feeding and he gave away ALL his silly bands to the children that he saw. He was so selfless!!! That is awesome to see God work in the life of a 4 year old to humble all the rest of us. Hope everyone back home is alright. So glad that my family and i will be here next week too.

Posted By:Shaunna Linkins