Sunday

     We have reached our final destinations back home here in Canada. The day started with a lengthy but needed time of team affirmation and debriefing. For those of you who don't know what this time is, it is a chance for everyone on the team to speak to each individual as to how they saw God in them, how they grew, or what stood out for them. It took us about 3 hours to do every single person; can you tell that we love each other :p? There were many tears, many laughs, and everyone walked away with a better sense of the trip, its meaning to them, and a better idea of who they were.

      For all of us, the ending of this trip is an unwelcome one. We all formed many relationships with the people in Belize and we have all fallen in love with the country. God is doing some unique and exciting things in Belize and we all want to continue to be a part of it. Some of us are even beginning to plan our next trip back. This trip is truly a testament to what God's community is suppose to look like. In the early church it is written in the book of Acts that all sold/shared what they had so that none were without; it is a glimpse at the solution to poverty being Jesus and his church. Because everyone carried each others burdens and spent lots of. time together, love was inevitable. When we began to listen to the stories of the locals in Belize we began to fall in love, and when you fall in love you will do what ever it takes to try and help. We saw on this trip through people like Troy, Barbara, Santi and Liliana that through obedience to God and close fellowship with eachother, that poverty can be eroded and eliminated. It was a beautiful thing.

     This is my last blog post for this trip but I hope and pray that this blog continues to grow. I am moving on to a calling that God has for me in Toronto but I do not believe that this will be my last involvement with this church, its people or its mission in Belize. To all the people reading this Blog, consider getting involved with the next mission to Belize and continue to lift the nation and all of us in prayer. Each and every person on this team would tell you that you will never regret getting involved with the trip, weather you be 14 or well into your later years, this experience will change you just as it changed us.

Saturday

Off the blocks, out of the schools and to the beaches, coral and sting ray infested Carribean :). We left early this morning and went to Belize city to catch our speedboat to Caya Caulker, one of the most popular keys in Belize. We first had a guided snorkeling tour through the coral reef and a sting ray and dr. Shark area; it was something else. Literally, its everything you think it is; beautiful and colorful.

After, we made our way to the island to hangout, shop and relax. For some of us (me included) this meant getting a burn. still the relaxation and day was much needed and very memorable. Every single one of us had stories to share with eachother by the end of the day. To top it all off we had supper at Cheers, the Canadian owned restraint the team ate at 2 years ago. Simply amazing food.

I'm writing from our hotel in Portland and we are all ready for bed. We hope to be home at the church of the rez by 530 or 6 tomorrow. Come on out and give us a warm welcome home :)

Friday

Well we have finished up our work week. The school team spent the first part of the day visiting the school and saying goodbye and helping around the base. The brick crew spent the first part finishing as much of the bible schoolmaster we could. Although we did not finish, the emotional effect of seeing such a large part done was overwhelming, especially for Troy and Barb. All together we laid around 800 Blocks!

After we had a big family supper at a local restaurant and ate a very local meal of wraps and tortillas. We also spent dome time visiting a local store that sells local art and memorabilia. Between Richards ( base staff) driving and our on the bus shenanigans, enjoyed quite a few laughs. And oh ya, we of course made a stop for local hot sauce!

Finally, we spent our evening participating in a local youth conference being held at the base called Legacy. This event forced us to relocate into a large white house (which we cleverly called the white house :p) where we would test our patience levels with eachother by sharing life under one roof. The opportunity to engage in such a free format of worship with from across Belize was nothing short of Amazing. Around 120 youth were there to seek Jesus and receive education and discipleship. It was an opportunity of a lifetime and God was truly amongst us

One Brick at a Time...

Thursday

In Belize there are a couple things you can count on. 1) the weather and local flora is amazing. 2) bumpy roads 3) awesome people and 4) time is no where near as important. It seems like where ever we go we are always the ones who are focused on the time, but it has still been one of the most care free trips many of us have had. The job site is coming along great, and the school kids are loving the team there. And yes, almost every night we go to the creek and have a team bath :p.

It's absolutely amazing how effective the prayers back home have been. I (Brent) have worked in construction and carpentry quite a bit and if you would have told me I could have worked hard in the blazing sun and heat building concrete brick walls, I would have laughed! But it's happening!!! Everyone on the job site is healthy, energetic and learning some pretty advanced stuff. And the team going to the school continues to pour out physically and emotionally non stop. It is incredible.

Tonight we had a great time of prayer and many people opened up in a deeper way. God has blessed each of us with his love and it was great to be able to share in that with one another. Afterward we had a game of mafia and ate some snacks :)

Keep praying everyone!

Love you all.

Shout out Wednesday's

So we are roasting in the heat having lunch down here in Belize on the job site and everyone wants to give a little shout out to back home. So here it goes :
April & Matthew made a banana call to Ashley, hope she gets its.
Tracey & Cameron are sending love to Anna, Melanie, and David
Tracey and Luke are missing Colby and Allan soooooooooooooooooooooooooo much
Sadaf and Soda are missing you Jamila!
Elyse says hi to you mom, dad Ian and all the animals
Liz says that she loves and Mississippi you Ty, Brydon, Graceann, and the whole family....
Joe says he is a ok to the family
Carlyle says hi mom!
Andrew says hello dear mother and that he misses you
Mike says that he misses and loves Anna very much.
Benaiah says he is thinking of you mom, noms and Maren
And Brent says he is missing everyone back home, he is missing you.
Jamie and Marie Helen say that they miss you Danny, Dixie, and Jim. All are well :)
P. S hugs from April and Tracey to you Marie.

Well it's clear that everyone here would want to bring their loved ones from back home if they could :) sorry for the sporadic updates, the Internet is spotty at best. Love you all!!!

Images from Sunday/Monday