Greetings from Samuel's Sanctuary! We began the day well-rested and ready to get started on our mission after a very comfortable night here. After coffee and personal devotions, we ate a five-star breakfast provided by our amazing hosts. Then we hopped into our rental van and headed to the nearby village of St. Margaret to begin house-to-house visits. Each member of our FC team was paired with a Spanish-speaking friend who knew the village well, and we began walking up and down streets to visit with people. Our purpose was to invite local children to a play day at the "Field of New Ideas," previously known as the "Rodeo Field" and infamous for drunken rodeos and revelry, fortunately in the past. This field now has a massive pavilion with picnic tables on one end and is absolutely perfect for hosting day camps for children. Secondly, we informed St. Margaret residents that a medical team is coming on Saturday and will be performing cataract surgeries. We took pictures of people with eye trouble and collected contact information to hand off to the Grace Bible Palestine team coming next week. Many in the village reported eye trouble and were grateful and eager to receive medical attention. We prayed with several of the people we spoke to and hoped that many children would show up to play at 1:00 PM with our team.
After a quick and delicious lunch of veal burgers, we hustled back to play with the village children. About 60 kids joined us for a variety of field activities, including kickball, steal the bacon, duck duck goose, frisbee, three ball and a rubber chicken baseball, and lots of bracelet making with the yarn we brought. We presented the Gospel with bead bracelets and a translator, although many of the children speak English. We played together for two hours before circling for prayer and giving an invitation to join us for more activities this week. School is in session, so we are flexing around that schedule.
After returning from the field time to Samuel's Sanctuary, our host Dino strongly encouraged us to hike down to the river that flows behind our cabins. We were not disappointed. Less than a hundred yards down the hillside through the lush green, heavily forested jungle lies a clear, cool waterfall our team was able to play in until dinner time. Once again, we ate like kings, then dressed in our Sunday clothes to go back to the village for a service in a home church pastored by a young Belizian named Wilson. Three of our team taught a group of about 15 children outside, while the rest attended the teaching, an expository message from Galatians.
We returned to Samuel's Sanctuary ready to head to bed, but with hearts full of gratitude for the day God gave us and with anticipation for another good day of ministry tomorrow.
Thank you for praying for us. Keep praying that the Gospel goes forth clearly and for a spiritual harvest!
Goodnight from Belize Team 1
