Flying all evening and night can be an exhausting adventure. Who knew that the adventure would just be beginning when we arrived in Belize. After a little hassle from the immigration official we met up with the Praying Pelican Mission staff who took us to an area called Old Belize for us to relax and rest since the teams we would be meeting with would not arrive for several hours.

Old Belize provided us a place to relax along a man-made beach and swim in the lagoon. While there were no takers on the lagoon, the lounge chairs got a workout and lunch was provided in the restaurant. It was nice for our group to have some time to connect before the others arrived.

After a little down time, we met the rest of the teams at the airport, loaded the two buses, and set off for Sarteneja. The village of Sarteneja is quite a drive from the airport and it took over 3 hours for us to arrive. However, after arriving the pastor and members of the church treated us to dinner of chicken, homemade rolls, beans, salad, banana shakes and pudding. We are blessed to have such great cooks this week.

Since we had traveled most of the day and the night was already upon us we took spent the remainder of the evening getting situated and get some sleep. God has great plans for us this week, and we can feel his presence already in the few hours we have been here.

***** Note ***** Please note a new emergency contact number has been set up for the week. The new number is 011-501-665-0024

Saturday morning seemed to come earlier than we had expected it. The sun was out and the rooster was crowing. We all got a good night sleep after adjusting to sleeping in a hot, humid environment without the luxury of air-conditioning.

Since we had arrived in Sarteneja late in the evening we started our day with our orientation meeting. This time was full of ways to ensure that everyone stays safe and healthy and has a full week of ministry.

After completing the orientation we broke into 2 groups. Some of us participated in leading a sports ministry at the local fields. While it took a little while for the kids to realize we were there, they soon started flocking to the fields in force. Volleyball, soccer, jumpropes and bubbles were a big hit with everyone.

The painting crew began to tackle the local Nazarene Primary School. After only two hours of painting we completed two classrooms and one exterior wall of the church. Not bad work of the team at all.

We finished a quick lunch and set out into the community to hand out invitations to VBS which will begin tomorrow. Lots of flyers were handed out and the we had a chance to really see what the community was like and get a feel for the people here.

We returned to the church for some mission training. During this time we had the opportunity to add to out ministry tool box and develop skills focusing on conversation areas. While practicing with members of the other teams we had a chance to start bonding with our missions brothers and sisters.

The night provided us the opportunity to lead some worship for the local community with an emphasis on the fisherman. After we lead the singing for a little bit, the church lead us and taught us some music as well. Wow, was worship fun with a Caribbean flavor to it. Cody shared his testimony and was greatly appreciated by the church community.

Cory from Faith Lutheran in MN lead a bible study and others played more sports with some of the younger aged children from the community. The day ended with a team meeting reviewing the ways that God worked in the lives of the students today.

I can't wait to see what is in store for tomorrow.

Cody poses for a quick picture before helping with VBS.

Things on mission trips don't always go as expected, and today we had some changes to the schedule. We were told in the morning that the church we had planned on attending in the morning had canceled church and Sunday School so that the mission team could sleep a little longer. However, this information was not shared with us. Even with the change, God still moves and we decided we would have our own Sunday School and worship.

Sunday school looked at the Biblical Call to Missions. We explored different scripture and how God has called people throughout history, and then how they responded.

Sunday School was followed by a time of worship that was lead by a local Belizean, Elwin. Pastor Ruperto preached a sermon focusing on Isaiah 6:8 and tying it onto the fact that there had not been a mission team in Sarteneja in 25 years.

After a quick lunch we prepared for VBS. Setting up, creating crafts and preparing snacks for the kids we had invited yesterday. When VBS started we had 96 youth show up for the adventure.

While VBS was going on, others of us worked on continuing the painting project at the Nazarene Primary School. The exterior is starting to look really good and 2 more interior rooms were completed.

The evening provided us an opportunity to worship at 2 churches. Most of the team stayed at the Nazarene Church while a smaller group attended worship at Life Church. Even though a majority of the service was in Spanish the Spirit was evident and we were amazed as to the joy that the churches have in worshipping God.

What an amazing day of worship and ministry. Tomorrow will be here before we know it.

Jessica takes a break from painting. It was a hot day.

Jackie takes a break from painting. It was a hot day.

Woke up this morning to a beautiful day and sunrise! We had a great breakfast! Our cooks called it "Patty" but we named them "Belizean Blankets." We had some quite time with God before we loaded the bus for the Cerros Mayan Ruins. It was stunning!

The Ruins are right on the Corozal Bay. We had time to explore the shore, the pier and a tree rope for a little while before heading out for our Mayan tour. Our first stop was full of 5 feet by 8 feet wide masks! We climbed all over it before moving to our next stop, the high temple! Some of us raced to the top while the others who were afraid of heights, admired from the bottom. We were surprised and entertained by our tour guide discovering a tarantula! Can you believe that some of us even held the nonpoisonous spider! After a fun break and a cultural experience, we loaded the bus up to head back to Sarteneja.

We arrived back to a Snapper Fish lunch! We then had time to prepare and organize for the rest of the day. Some of us headed to the school to continue painting! We got all of the exterior done so far and a couple more class rooms! Its really starting to come together! Meanwhile, the rest of us were blessed with over a 166 children today at VBS! 166 kids got to hear the word of God today! Its been amazing to see so many kids come out for VBS! We all enjoyed crafts, snack, skits and storytime and games! After VBS, we had another opportunity to engage in sports ministry in the nearby field. Just as many kids, if not more at Sports Ministry! God is doing great things through this community!

We all gathered back together as a group for a huge surprise at dinner! We had LOBSTER!! It was perfect. The whole team was really excited to have such a treat! Next, we had our group meeting where we just enjoyed time with God and shared how we saw God and His work in each other. It was a good time of worship and fellowship. Later, we had time to talk as a group and to prepare for the next day! Tomorrow will be our last day of ministry here in Sarteneja.

Please continue to pray for the children that come in and through our lives here. Pray that we will be an example of Christ to them. Pray that we glorify God through our service projects and painting. Pray for the teams here that we will have energy to give all that we have for tomorrow. Pray that God will continue to find favor in all of us, blessing us with good health and an urgency to serve. Pray for this trip and for our last day to serve in Sarteneja.

God is doing amazing things here. Lives are being changed! Praise God!

Woke up this morning to a beautiful day and sunrise! We had a great breakfast! Our cooks called it "Patty" but we named them "Belizean Blankets." We had some quite time with God before we loaded the bus for the Cerros Mayan Ruins. It was stunning!

The Ruins are right on the Corozal Bay. We had time to explore the shore, the pier and a tree rope for a little while before heading out for our Mayan tour. Our first stop was full of 5 feet by 8 feet wide masks! We climbed all over it before moving to our next stop, the high temple! Some of us raced to the top while the others who were afraid of heights, admired from the bottom. We were surprised and entertained by our tour guide discovering a tarantula! Can you believe that some of us even held the nonpoisonous spider! After a fun break and a cultural experience, we loaded the bus up to head back to Sarteneja.

We arrived back to a Snapper Fish lunch! We then had time to prepare and organize for the rest of the day. Some of us headed to the school to continue painting! We got all of the exterior done so far and a couple more class rooms! Its really starting to come together! Meanwhile, the rest of us were blessed with over a 166 children today at VBS! 166 kids got to hear the word of God today! Its been amazing to see so many kids come out for VBS! We all enjoyed crafts, snack, skits and storytime and games! After VBS, we had another opportunity to engage in sports ministry in the nearby field. Just as many kids, if not more at Sports Ministry! God is doing great things through this community!

We all gathered back together as a group for a huge surprise at dinner! We had LOBSTER!! It was perfect. The whole team was really excited to have such a treat! Next, we had our group meeting where we just enjoyed time with God and shared how we saw God and His work in each other. It was a good time of worship and fellowship. Later, we had time to talk as a group and to prepare for the next day! Tomorrow will be our last day of ministry here in Sarteneja.

Please continue to pray for the children that come in and through our lives here. Pray that we will be an example of Christ to them. Pray that we glorify God through our service projects and painting. Pray for the teams here that we will have energy to give all that we have for tomorrow. Pray that God will continue to find favor in all of us, blessing us with good health and an urgency to serve. Pray for this trip and for our last day to serve in Sarteneja.

God is doing amazing things here. Lives are being changed! Praise God!

Group Picture!