Monday, July 23, 2007
A Busy Summer
The States
Staying Busy
WOW!! Things have been very busy here. We decided to go home for our annual Conference in June. It has been two years since we have been there. We had a great time of Fellowship. It was so good to see everyone!! The conference was also very generous to pledge money for the new church at Progresso. It is small sticks covered over with plaster and it is over twenty years old. The people are faithful and need a Church very badly before the one they have fall down on them. We are very excited about it. Don is excited to lay the foundation for it. The outside is only held up with a prayer and the roof is sagging.
It was good to see everyone at Union Church and Don had the pleasure of Baptizing John Paul Smith our grandson in a pond near the church. It was a great privilege. We tried to see everyone of the family we could while we were home. We had a great time being with friends and family.
The fence around the Mission house is finished and the dogs are running loose in it. This should help with anyone wanting to take the tools from the buildings. It looks good and we are proud of it. The fence around the school at San Lazaro will be started this next week. Hopefully the rain will hold off. The men have also built a little thatch house for the teams to rest under. It looks really impressive. We are proud of it.
Our return to Belize was a little eventful. We ended up staying in Houston overnight because of belays. The airline paid for it. At first we were very annoyed because that meant we would miss the pastors meeting. But then we saw that God was blessing us. It gave us a time of much needed rest. We have been running 7days a week for months. We did however make it back for Marion’s retirement party. We had a great time. Brother Nick Carrillo came up and met us there. I never laughed so much. There was also a great time of sharing what Marion had meant to us. It was great to be a part of the night. It all ended up with a sing-a-long. Everyone had a great time. It was after two in the morning when we finally got back to San Lazaro. We went to Progresso on Sunday to check on them. They are anxious to get started on the new church.
Youth Camp
We went to Youth Camp and carried the Spanish area. There were only 5 youths and 3 adults that attended from the Spanish area. However the camp was a great success there was about 75 there from Sand Hill, Ladyville, and Hattieville. The programs were well put together and everyone had a great time. The people from Sand Hill and Hattieville cooked this year. The people from the campground did the preaching. The youth loved the new songs. On Saturday the ladies from the Spanish area cooked tamales. The food was great. I celebrated my birthday there and everyone sang to me. Don bought me a cake and I shared it with everyone. It was a good day and we all had a blessed time.
Arkansas Team
The Arkansas team was very disappointed they were not going to be able to take part in the Blitz because of the date change. They had worked all year and raised money to go. They ask if there was any work for a work team to do. WELL THERE IS ALWAYS A NEED FOR WORKERS. Don gave them a list and they chose their projects. The team came in on July 8th and stayed two weeks. They paid for and roofed San Lazaro Church and painted the windows. The church then wanted to ceiling put in so they bought the plywood and the men put it in also new lights. They all worked very hard. But the church looks great. They even painted the toilet. After they finished they went on to Guinea Grass and bought and put in 9 new fans there and also put in lights. They also lowered them and hang them on chains. The church looks great. The church has started putting tile on the floors. They have new curtains, and bars over the windows. The church is working. They need a new ceiling now. But that will have to wait until another day!! While the men were working the ladies decided they needed a project. We e-mailed Carol to see if it would be ok to do a VBS in Fireburn since they didn’t have one planned. Carol agreed. So the ladies and Brad Lemons and myself went to Fireburn and did a VBS. We had a great time there were a little over 50 that attended. There were about 25 ladies. We had a great time and Brother Daniel was pleased. We had one night of revival. It was a very good service and there were a lot of prayers lifted up. After a hard two weeks the team left on Friday. The Arkansas team also bought Guinea Grass and Fireburn a lawnmower. The Lord seems to have multiplied the moneys they would have spent on the VBS and blessed in another way. Thanks Arkansas we appreciate all that you have done and the people do as well!!!
Workshop
Saturday we had workshop for the Blitz. There were 25 that attended. All the churches were there but APR they do not have a pastor and we didn’t make connections with the lady in charge. Everyone took part and we had a good time. The books were given out and questions answered. We had a good day of Fellowship and a time to prepare. We are all looking forward to the Blitz. We are praying for its success.
APR & Progresso
We went to APR and talked to the teachers there. Hopefully things are prepared for the Blitz. We then went on to Progresso to check on the people there. Brother Carrello is still preaching there as he has for several months..
The men are mowing today at Sand Hill and Don is trying to get tickets and bills in. We are trying to get prepared for the Blitz. . I am washing clothes and trying to get caught up on contacts and the blog. Brother Mark and Paul and there families will be here tomorrow. The rest of the teams will to here on Thursday. We are anxious to see everyone.
The annual conference will be here on Aug 10th – 11th. It has been a busy summer. Pray for us as we seek the Lords will for our lives.
