Hi Everyone,
Well, our first full day in Belize was absolutely amazing! We had planned to have a day of no work to allow the team to adjust to the new temperature and surroundings. It was a wonderful day, and full of amazing moments! We had breakfast together with the team (hot & sticky cinnamon rolls) and then we had a couple hours to relax before church. This was a great time for people to nap, take walks and chat as we adjusted to life in 27+C weather.
Church took place at the school where we will be working at tomorrow. It was a room filled with children and about 6 adults. It turns out that most of the adults were attending synod in Belize City, so it was the most youthful congregation imaginable :) The children's choir led all of the worship and Mike gave a 5 minute testimony and talk. It was really wonderful to meet some of the children that we will be working with for the week.
After church we arrived back to the mission house for a quick lunch of nachos & cheese. Then we were off to the Blue Hole National Park. In one afternoon, we hiked in an enormous rain-forest, explored a huge cave that was absolutely amazing, and swam in a turquoise pool of cool, clean water. One of these activities would have amazed us, but to do all three in the same day, has given us reason to praise God at the splendor of his creation. We were also touched by the hospitality of our hosts (Carmen & Faye), who not only arranged the trip, but also came along with us as tour guides and friends on the journey.
After this outdoor experience, we rested and planned our morning devotions for the week. Each person is working with a partner to provide a morning devotion for the rest of the team. That way, each day will start with our focus on God.
After supper, we had an amazing display of chain lightening off over the hills that connect Belize to Guatemala. It was like we were watching heavenly fireworks :)
The evening was filled with planning for tomorrow's activities with the children. We focused on putting the final touches on our VBS program that we are running at the learning center in the nearby village. All of the team members feel extremely blessed by the richness of the day. We are looking forward to starting the projects tomorrow that we have been planning for all winter.
We continue to see God answer prayer in the simple things of our day:
1. One team member's missing glasses were found
2. A safe and spectacular trip to see some of the beauty here in Belize
3. The team is continuing to stretch and grow in our faith as we spend time in prayer & worship together
We ask for your continued prayer for:
1. Good health, both physically, mentally and spiritually
2. Unity - that we would continue to grow closer as a team
3. For discerning hearts - as always!
Thank you so much for your support in this journey!!
Blessings,
Anna Caines
Belize Team
Monday, March 7, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Arrived Safe and Sound
Hi Everyone,
We have arrived in Belize!! The team are all pretty sleepy, but we are feeling really blessed to have arrived with all of our people and luggage :) We had a wonderful send-off in Grand-Bay / Westfield, with many of our church family coming to say good-bye. Thank you to Marie's small group for the awesome cookies that they baked for us :)
We drove a five- car convoy to Portland on Friday morning. Thankfully we had walkie-talkies to help keep us all in formation. A huge thank you to Father Vic and Carole for driving with us with the extra luggage.
We enjoyed an awesome supper together at Chili's, then we met to go over airport protocol and then many of the team hit the swimming pool at our hotel :) Everyone hit the sack early because our wake-up call came at 3:45am Saturday.
Our hotel was amazing, we awoke to find hot egg sandwiches and coffee waiting for everyone in the lobby. Then we hit the road for the airport. Unfortunately, our check-in at the airport was very slow. I'm not sure that the airline knew what to do with a group booking. Therefore, the most exciting part of our travels involved rushing to an airplane that had already announced its final boarding call. We were also told that the flight had been over-booked and not all of us may be able to board. Thankfully, we squeaked in our last team member because a mother agreed to place her young toddler on her lap. We are all thanking God, that despite this obstacle, we all safely boarded the flight in Portland.
Our layover in Newark was quick and painless. Then we had a 4.5 hour flight to Belize city. For most of us, this was a great chance to get caught up on some much needed sleep :)
Once we landed we were met by Carmen and his son Troy, who are both from the mission house where we are staying. Everyone packed into the vehicles and we drove 45 minutes until we arrived at a wonderful restaurant for lunch :) We ate a traditional Belizian meal, and then set out for the next 45 minute drive to the mission house.
The mission house will be home for the next week, and it is a tropical paradise. It will take too long to describe, so I will try to include photos in the upcoming posts :)
We had a great spaghetti supper and a worship & team time together to debrief the day. We are all feeling very grateful for the ways God has been providing for our team. Some of our answered prayers include:
1. Safe travel with no lost luggage (or bad weather)
2. The huge improvement of the health of some team members who were not feeling well when we left Grand Bay/Westfield.
3. A fast connection with people here in Belize.
Please continue to pray:
1. For health, with the lack of sleep, some people are feeling a little under-the-weather
2. For safety, that our team would be accident free for the entire duration of the mission
3. For us to have discerning hearts, and that God would move powerfully in us and through us.
Thanks for all of your prayer support! We are truly blessed by our church family.
Blessings,
Anna Caines
We have arrived in Belize!! The team are all pretty sleepy, but we are feeling really blessed to have arrived with all of our people and luggage :) We had a wonderful send-off in Grand-Bay / Westfield, with many of our church family coming to say good-bye. Thank you to Marie's small group for the awesome cookies that they baked for us :)
We drove a five- car convoy to Portland on Friday morning. Thankfully we had walkie-talkies to help keep us all in formation. A huge thank you to Father Vic and Carole for driving with us with the extra luggage.
We enjoyed an awesome supper together at Chili's, then we met to go over airport protocol and then many of the team hit the swimming pool at our hotel :) Everyone hit the sack early because our wake-up call came at 3:45am Saturday.
Our hotel was amazing, we awoke to find hot egg sandwiches and coffee waiting for everyone in the lobby. Then we hit the road for the airport. Unfortunately, our check-in at the airport was very slow. I'm not sure that the airline knew what to do with a group booking. Therefore, the most exciting part of our travels involved rushing to an airplane that had already announced its final boarding call. We were also told that the flight had been over-booked and not all of us may be able to board. Thankfully, we squeaked in our last team member because a mother agreed to place her young toddler on her lap. We are all thanking God, that despite this obstacle, we all safely boarded the flight in Portland.
Our layover in Newark was quick and painless. Then we had a 4.5 hour flight to Belize city. For most of us, this was a great chance to get caught up on some much needed sleep :)
Once we landed we were met by Carmen and his son Troy, who are both from the mission house where we are staying. Everyone packed into the vehicles and we drove 45 minutes until we arrived at a wonderful restaurant for lunch :) We ate a traditional Belizian meal, and then set out for the next 45 minute drive to the mission house.
The mission house will be home for the next week, and it is a tropical paradise. It will take too long to describe, so I will try to include photos in the upcoming posts :)
We had a great spaghetti supper and a worship & team time together to debrief the day. We are all feeling very grateful for the ways God has been providing for our team. Some of our answered prayers include:
1. Safe travel with no lost luggage (or bad weather)
2. The huge improvement of the health of some team members who were not feeling well when we left Grand Bay/Westfield.
3. A fast connection with people here in Belize.
Please continue to pray:
1. For health, with the lack of sleep, some people are feeling a little under-the-weather
2. For safety, that our team would be accident free for the entire duration of the mission
3. For us to have discerning hearts, and that God would move powerfully in us and through us.
Thanks for all of your prayer support! We are truly blessed by our church family.
Blessings,
Anna Caines
Thursday, March 3, 2011
One Sleep Away
Hi Everyone,
Well, it's here, we leave for Belize tomorrow morning!! Our last team meeting was on Tuesday. This meeting involved many last minute details, some packing, and a talk about about laying down our hopes, expectations and fears for the trip. As a team, we prayerfully gave God all of these things and prayed that we would be free to let the mission unfold according to God's plans. Now, everyone is in the final stages of packing their bags and preparing for their time away.
We are meeting tomorrow at 10am at the Church of the Resurrection. We are planning on weighing everyone's luggage before packing up the vehicles for our drive to Portland. The plan is to drive our convoy across the border and arrive in Portland around supper time. We will then be spending the night in a hotel in Portland as we wait for our very early morning flight to Belize. Our wake-up call will be at 3:45am so that we can make it to the airport for our 6am flight.
We ask for your continued prayer support for:
1. Safety for traveling (both driving & flying)
2. Good health for all those who are going on the mission
3. Flexibility in the week ahead so that our team will be able to 'role with the punches'
We will be updating the blog on a daily basis while we are away.
Our next communication will be from Belize :) Thanks again for all of your prayers and support!
Blessings,
Anna Caines
On behalf of the Belize Mission Away Team
Monday, February 28, 2011
Commissioned Service and Sea Dogs!
We felt incredibly blessed to be commissioned by our church family. Receiving prayer from so many hearts was very humbling and to see some tears of joy being shed was more than we can express! We are so excited for this new experience, but just as excited to come back and tell all our stories to those who have supported us and sent us out. We know that God is with us, and that the prayers so many people will cover us wherever we go. Thank to you all who have contributed time, money and volumes of prayers to our preparation - now we ask you to continue to pray for our continued protection and safety, as well as God's Spirit on us as we do His work!!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
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