Wow. I am currently in Belize! How cool is that?! Two of my favorite things are happening this week - sharing the gospel and playing basketball! I'm hoping to post once or twice this week if I have enough wifi time because I want to share all about my experience and if I wait until I am home, you will have to read a novel all at once, which might make you bored, and then you probably won't ready any of it! Hopefully, you do take the time to ready this and whether you end up coming to Belize or not, hopefully you are inspired in some sort of way to change your "circle of influence" wherever you are right now!
Day 1
August 2, 2014
5 PM
I am getting way too old to be pulling an
all-nighter! The worst part was that I thought it was a good idea. In theory, it made sense for me to not go to
bed last night since we had to be at the airport at 3 AM and I thought it would
help me fall asleep on the plane ride.
In reality, I couldn’t fall asleep on the plane ride and it’s only 5 PM
while I write this and I am dozing as I type!
There are worse things in this world though! Other than not getting any sleep, the plane ride(s) went extremely well – we had two different three-hour flights, which is a lot shorter than the last mission trip I went on to Kenya. We landed in Belize City, met up with our other team members, and then took an hour bus ride to the Baptist Training Center (owned by an organization called Fishers of Men) where we will be staying for the week. We did stop for lunch though at a place called Cheers (I didn’t take my camera in to the restaurant but I wish I would have!).
There is a lot that is going to be happening tomorrow. The founder of Fishers of Men, Buddy Hardy, recently passed away this year. A memorial service is being held in his honor in the afternoon and it will be an extremely emotional experience. Many of our other team members have been to Belize before so they all knew Buddy; I have only heard great stories. His wife, sons, and one grandson are also in Belize with us for the first time since Buddy’s passing.
While I know tomorrow will be sad, I can’t help but think of what a cool picture I, and so many others, will witness tomorrow. It’s always hard when someone leaves Earth but to know the impact Buddy had on a country and close knit community because of the fellowship and relationships he built is truly remarkable! Many people die and are forgotten, but Buddy is not and I think that paints an incredible picture to all people on the legacy he left behind and we ourselves should want to leave behind someday.
10 PM
After I finished writing my first section I left my room to explore the camp area where we are staying. I met an eight-year-old girl named Lizzie who is the daughter of another couple who is staying here on site. We played soccer for quite awhile and she showed me some of her “gymnastics tricks” as she called them.
A little while later, some of the other guys on our team came onto the court near where we were playing and they starting playing basketball. I can never resist a good game so we started out playing H-O-R-S-E. Before I go into details, I want to declare that I wasn’t exactly “basketball ready” as I was wearing my Birkenstock slip-on sandals BUT I still managed to win! And that “W” word is really the only detail that I want to share!!!
Following our game of H-O-R-S-E we ate supper, which was pizza from a local Belize pizza parlor and it was delicious! They had a shrimp pizza, which I must say was divine because it wasn’t too fishy and it had the perfect amount of garlic and cheese on top!
We had a time of worship and prayer after dinner. One of my favorite songs is “10,000 Reasons” so I was excited to sing that already on my first night in Belize! One of our leaders spoke briefly before singing how often times before an event like coming to Belize, it feels like there can be 10,000 reasons to NOT come, whether it be work, time, or other commitments. Rest assured, God works in wonderful ways, he stated, and I agree with, “I am confident that by the end of the week, there will be 10,000 reasons that each person on this team was supposed to be here.”
Day 2
August 3, 2014
2:30 PM
The heat makes me extremely tired! I had a wonderful night of sleep but I was tired again before we left for church because it was already incredibly warm out. Church went for about 2 ½ hours and went as followed:
- Sunday school
After my ice cream earlier today, the memorial service for Buddy Hardy was held. I was made officially in charge of videotaping the service (for those who don’t know me, I LOVE making videos so this was a perfect task for me!). Listening to his son, Stewart, talk was one of the most inspiring messages. The statement that caught me the most was, “We are not here to celebrate WHO Buddy was, but rather WHOSE Buddy was.” It was incredible listening to someone so connected to Buddy ready to celebrate the life his dad lived for Christ rather than becoming and staying bitter with God. The memorial service ended so I walked around, taking pictures, videotaping, and talking to many of the local people who knew Buddy.
After the service, we got together with our team to pump up basketballs and get together prizes since we start our basketball camp tomorrow. There were a total of 200 basketballs but we only pumped up 50 of them tonight. We took a quick break for supper (where I had more ice cream as I mentioned above) and then we went back out to the court to walk through some of the drills we will be teaching the kids tomorrow.
I am super excited for the basketball camp tomorrow, but it will be quite the experience. Fishers of Men have never held a basketball camp through their organization before so we aren’t quite sure how this first camp will go. I’m extremely confident in the leaders and coaches we have, but it will be interesting to see how many students show up. I do know that whatever happens, God works in mysterious ways and he will continue to work no matter how tomorrow works out.
-Courage, dear heart. C.S. Lewis
Lexi
