Project Serve Belize 2009

coming home....

2009-02-23T05:59:00.001-08:00

Good morning everyone.

I don't have long to write, but I wanted to check in before we head out today. It is impossible to believe that this is it... we're about to get on a plane. We had a great debrief last night as a team, and we talked about why God chose us to be on this team. What is He trying to teach us? How can we effectively bring this trip back to Canada, and share our experience with all of you? It's hard to know for sure, but we're ready to try. We went to the orphanage yesterday for the last time. We spent the afternoon at the park, handing out as many hugs as possible. As to be expected, our goodbyes there were very tough. It was really emotional... but it was also filled with hope. Yesterday Curt and I had the privaledge of touring the new land that the orphanage has recently aquired. There is a Canadian man who has spent a lot of time in Beilze who was given the vision of helping to build a new home for these kids. In partnership with the orphanage, he is launching a fundraising campaign to raise the funds for the land and the new house. The plans are AMAZING and as I saw yesterday, so is the land. They have raised enough to purchase 40 acers of land and are in the process of clearing it. As Curt and I walked the land yesterday with a few of the kids, it was easy to dream. We saw visions of the kids running and running and running all over their new land. So much space that they won't know what to do with it. It was very encouraging, and as we left our little friends last night we were filled with the hope and the dream of this new home for them. As we come home we will join the team who are raising funds for this project. We want to help!

We have mixed emotions about coming home. It's always INCREDIBLY exciting to see our friends and family. But Belize has captured our hearts, and it's very hard to leave. As we come home I want to ask for your patience and grace. Our hearts are tender, and we have so many stories that we don't know where to begin. We want to share Belize with you, but also kind of want to keep it safely tucked away in our hearts. We want to settle back into our homes and our schools, but we've also experienced a new way of life. We're now stuck in the middle, trying to figure out how to combine the two. I ask that you please pray for us as we come home. Pray for safety as we travel, but also that our hearts and our minds will be ready for Canada. In some ways we've only just started processing this trip, and it will be a long process. We are excited to have so much love and support to come home to. It means the world to us. We'll see you soon! Our flight comes in on Tuesday night at 9:55pm (with the Nicaragua team!)

Signing off from Belize....

Kristin and the team.

PS. I think it's worth noting that yes, ALL of the team members held a tarantula!!! I told you that the jungle is empowering!

Empowered by the Jungle

2009-02-20T09:47:00.000-08:00

Good morning!

How can it possibly be Friday already? We've settled right into the laid back culture of Belize, but somehow the time is still flying by. The idea of coming home is becoming very real, and we're facing it with mixed emotions. This morning during worship at the YWAM base we were asked for some highlights from our trip. I think that we're all having a hard time processing through exactly what we're learning, and what God is drawing out of each one of us. I know that our minds are reeling as we try and imagine ourselves back home.

Yesterday was another day at the work site. When we first started last Saturday, we had the ultimate goal of not only finishing the foundation, but pouring the floor as well. We were prepared to work as hard as we had to to make that happen, but yesterday we had to give up on that goal. I know the kids felt a little disapointed, or frustrated feeling that maybe we hadn't worked hard enough. We talked about it last night, and I reminded them that they have been give 110% at the work site. There were circumstances beyond our control that are preventing us from finishing the floor. But we have completed the foundation and more. I've been told by our friends down here that this team has worked incredibly hard (even harder then they were expecting I think), and I know that we can leave here feeling good about what we've accomplished. Right now the kids are finishing up the last day at the work site. Mixing cement by hand, and shoveling and leveling the dirt. I think we'll be done early today, so we'll head to a near by Mennonite colony for some home made ice cream.

Last night we held our annual tarantula hunt! Nothing had made us feel more empowered then conquering our fears and holding some tarantulas. It was a ton of fun! Our friends Philip and Omar were our fearless leaders, and they lead us around to all the good spots. We found lots of tarantulas, and once Philip said it was safe we were able to hold them and take some awesome pictures. Even the team members with huge spider phobias felt tough enough to get a pic with the tarantulas. We have declared ourselves to be tough jungle people now... nothing can stop us!

Tonight we're heading into town to attend youth group with our friends Omar and Alyssa. Tomorrow morning we're up early to go snorkeling! Belize is incredibly beautiful, but nothing will compare to the incredible water that we will be swimming in this time tomorrow. We can't wait!!!

Thanks for staying in tough. I just ask today that you pray for our hearts and our minds as we start to think about coming home. Leaving here will be tricky, especially when we have to say good by at the orphanage on Sunday. Pray for strength and clarity and we start to imagine ourselves back home. We're so thankful to have wonderful friends and family back home who will welcome us with open arms. We're so thankful for you today!!

God bless,

Kristin and the tough jungle people

2009-02-19T13:01:00.000-08:00

Good afternoon! It's another hot day in Belize, and right now the team is at the work site putting in another long day. We have loved working on this project for John and Patti. It's been a ton of work, always something to do. But it's been easy to track our progress. The work site has been transformed from a big pile of dirt to a sturdy foundation. It's been awesome, and now that the foundation is nearly done building the rest of the house should go very smoothly. We've learned a lot about construction, and shoveled A LOT of dirt.

Yesterday turned out really well. We went to John and Patti's to help do some spring cleaning and organizing for the baby, and then headed to the orphanage at about 3:00. Our visit there was really wonderful. On the first day the team is always a little cautious, not really knowing what to expect. The kids are a little guarded, getting to know us. We're a little guarded, trying to figure out how to react and respond to the kids. The kids at the orphanage are quite different then the kids we know back home. They're extremally independant... always willing to play with us but not really needing us around. Yesterday all of the walls came down and we had a fantastic time with the kids. Everyone on the team seemed to make at least one special friend, and we spent the afternoon helping with homework and playing at the park. The kids were so excited to have us there, and we were able to give out a ton of hugs and kisses. We bought the whole house fried chicken for supper (57 orders in total!), and it was a blessing to sit and eat with them. Their family supper times are very different then back home. There are rows and rows of kids in a very small kitchen, but all the kids were very polite and well behaved. After supper we got to stay for family devotions. This always brings tears to my eyes, watching the kids sing worship songs with their WHOLE hearts and reciting scripture by heart. They're such a wonderful family, everyone looking out for eachother and loving eachother. There is much to learn from these kids. They've been dished out more than their fair share of challenges, but they're overcoming them with so much grace. They are incredible, and I know we will cherish the time spent with them for a long time. We got to stay until bed time, and help tuck them in. It was so nice to be able to give them good night hugs and make sure they were all tucked in. It was very hard to leave there last night. Many of us were very emotional already, which doesn't bode well for our final good bye on Sunday. Please be praying for us as we lead up to that. The team started facing the reality last night that our trip is more than half over, and soon we will have to say good bye. It's hard to imagine our lives with out these kids, it seems like we've known them forever. It's only been a short time, but now the idea of never seeing them again is feeling very foreign.

That's all for today, I need to get back to work. But here are some prayer requests for today:
-Pray for the Nicaragua team. They are close to our hearts, and we feel close to them as we both work hard at completing our work projects. Pray for continued safety and grace for their team.
-the YWAM staff. They are facing some changes and transitions as a staff team.
-Continued safety and health. There has been hardly any illness at all, and we'd love to keep it that way.
-Team moral. We are starting to get tired. These have been long days in the sun. The team is doing an awesome job of keeping up their energy on the worksite. Pray that we can finish our last day tomorrow as strong as we started.

Thanks so much for reading! We love and miss you....

Kristin and team

Another day in paradise.

2009-02-18T08:20:00.001-08:00

Good morning!

I'm writing to you this morning with a full heart and a smile on my face. We continue to have a GREAT time in Belize. Let me fill you in on the last couple of days.

Yesterday we had the oppertunity to head to a school in the neighborhood to lead some chapel times. True to normal Belizian culture, our plans changed once we arrived at school. Instead of doing 3 full chapels as we had planned, they decided last minute to get the whole school together in only one assembly. The rest of the morning the team was split up and sent into classrooms to help out. They had a whole range of experiences in the classrooms, all the way from sitting in the back and observing to getting up front and teaching several lessons. Curt and Kathryn were teamed up in a classroom, and much to their surprise as soon as they walked in the teacher announced that they would be taking over for the rest of the morning. They did a great job of teaching math and english to their class. Like I always say to the team, you always have to be on your toes when in Belize! Going to the school is always a ton of fun because the kids here are incredibly excited to get to know us. The team was a hit during recess especially. I heard Carly say that she started playing catch with one girl, and within about a minute there were 50 kids trying to get in on the game. This is also the school where a lot of the kids from our Sunday school class attend, so we were greeted by many familiar faces. What an incredible welcome. We are continually humbled to be showered with so much love and appreciation.

After school, we came back to the base for lunch and then headed down to the river for a swim. It doesn't get more authentically jungly then swimming in the river in Belize. The kids had an awesome time, and were glad to have a chance to cool off. The weather here has been very hot every day.

Last night we headed into Belmopan to do some souvenier shopping at the Art Box, and then went out for a nice supper. We were happy to have Alyssa, Omar, John and Patti join us for supper. It was a lot of fun to take some time to relax together. One highlight was spending time with John and Patti's daughter, Evangeline. I don't have enough words to express how cute this little girl is! She's 2 years old, and FULL of energy. She loves a crowd, and I think it's safe to say she's captured the hearts of our whole team.

Today is going really well so far. We had some breakfast, and then joined the YWAM staff for worship this morning. It was a powerful time, and we were all able to feel God's presence in a very real way. We took some time to pray for each other. Not just light hearted prayers of encouragment, but surrounding our team mates and lifting up their burdens to God as if they were our own. It's always such a blessing to be able to worship with teh YWAM staff. They are some of the most incredible people I've ever met, and their passion for God is contagious. They had many encouraging words and prayers to share with us this morning, and I think that we are all very grateful for their willingness to come along side and pray with us. I think it was just the life we needed to regain our energy and remain focused for the rest of the week. There's a lot of hard work ahead, and we want to give it all we've got to the very end.

The rest of today should be great. Right now some of the kids are in the kitchen baking some cookies to deliver to John and Patti's house, because we're heading there right after lunch to help with some spring cleaning. Patti is very pregnant with her second child, and we're happy to be able to spend a couple of hours there helping her sort through clothes and make sure everything is perfect for their new arrival. When we're done there, we're heading back to the orphanage for the afternoon and evening. We'll help with homework when all the kids get home from school, and then buy fried chicken for the whole house for supper. Fried chicken is an all time favorite for the kids there, and they don't get it more then once a year. There will be much rejoicing around the table tonight!

I need to head out for lunch. Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers. They mean the world to us. Here are some prayer requests for the day:

-Unfortunately I have developed the same skin infection in my legs that I had last year. It turns out that I have a severe allergic reaction to the bugs down here, and my bug bites get very infected very quickly. I went to the Dr. yesterday, and am on antibiotics. I know that I'll be fine, but the Dr. instructed me to completely stay out of the sun. That's a little tricky in Belize, so I'm still trying to work out how to lead the team and be in the shade at the same time. Please pray that these antibiotics do their job quickly, and this infection can disapear.
-Pray for our team. Like I said, this morning was a powerful time of worship. I know that God is at work in our team, and He's asking us to shift and change our perspectives a bit in preperation of coming home. Pray that we can truly gain all we need to out of this trip, and come home ready to bless others with everything we have.
-Pray for our afternoon at the orphanage. There are a ton of kids there who need our love and affection. Pray that we can give it our all today as we hang out with these awesome kids.
-Pray for the YWAM staff. There are some new staff members and shifting of roles. Pray for the peace of God in all the new changes and beginings.

That's all for today. Thanks for all of your constant support. We love and miss you!!!!

Kristin and the team

Project Serve hearts Belize

2009-02-16T19:26:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!
I'm so sorry that I haven't been able to blog until now. We have been unbelievably busy, and I haven't had a free moment. Right now the whole team has gone to bed, and I'm stealing a moment away with the computer to let you know what we've been up to. So much has happened, it will be hard to express everything to you. But I'll do my best!

Our travel days went very well, and all though they were long I think that it was important time for us to bond as a team. We had fun on the plane, even more fun in California. We laughed a lot, and expressed MUCH excitment about our upcoming adventure. We landed in Palm Springs and were immidiately greeted with perfect weather, palm trees, and our friend Taylor with his team of interns. It was incredible to be in paradise, and meet such an awesome team of Californians who were so willing to host us. We went to In and Out Burger for lunch (a BIG hit), and then headed to Huntington Beach for the afternoon. The locals were complaining about the "cold" weather, but it felt perfect to us. Of course, now that we've been in the stagerring heat of Belize for a few days that California breeze would probably feel quite cold. As I mentioned in our last post, our evening ended by heading back to the intern house to have a birthday party for Mitch. We ordered pizza and had a great ice cream cake and loaded up the vans to head back to the airport. Our only traveling glitch occured in the LAX. As some of you know, we had a change of team members a few weeks before we left. One of our team members was no longer able to make the trip, so we were able to still use his ticket by arranging for Taylor Pfeifer to join us. Taylor has been living in LA all year, so this flight was his first with the team. I made the arrangements with the airline to change the name on his ticket, and confirmed with them three times before we left. Apparently the person I was confirming the details with made some major errors, so when we went to check in Taylor's name was not on our itinerary. After explaining (again and again) to the airline the arrangments that I had made previously, the man we were dealing with looked up at us and said "I've just talked to my supervisor, and he is officially not willing to help you. Taylor won't be able to get on the plane". That was a low point, and a scary moment for all of us. But I wasn't willing to take no for an answer, and I wasn't willing to underestimate what God wanted to accomplish in this moment so I asked the team to pray as I asked to speak to this man's supervisor one more time. The supervisor came back over to me to hear me out one more time. My previous encounter with her had found her very agitated and qutie snappy. This time, however, I was surprised to see that she was completely calm and willing to hear me out. I explained my situation AGAIN, determined to have her hear me. God worked it out, as she looked back at me and said, "Ok, I"ll make the change". Just like that she had totally changed her mind and was willing to put her neck on the line by changing the ticket. We were all relieved to be able to continue on as a full team, and shortly after we boarded our red eye flight.

The all night flights felt very long, but looking back we seemed to arrive in Belize in record time. I love the first moments as we step off the plane. Everything is so new and exciting. A country that I have now grown very accustom to comes alive to me again as I see it through the eyes of the team. Many pictures are snapped, many fingers pointing out the bus window exclaiming "look at that!!". Everyone is so full of nervous anticipation, not ever really sure of what they should be doing. We arrived at the base and everyone seemed quite impressed with our new "home". We didn't stay up very long to check it out. We ate a very early supper and were literally in bed by about 6:30. Saturday morning was our first day of work, and we wanted to be ready!

Saturday we got our first glimpse of our work site, and MAN were we excited. We are helping to build a house for my dear friends John and Patti George, who are missionaries living here in Belize. They are a truly amazing family, and I feel so blessed to be able to contribute to this project for them. We are building the foundation of their new house, which at one point may have seemed fairly simple in my head... but my expectations sure shifted once we pulled up on the work site. Building a foundation for a house is A LOT of work. It's quite complicated and percise, and requires a lot of man power. But seeing the work laid out in front of us made us all the more eager to jump in and get started. Saturday was spent cutting and tieing the rebar to cover the trenches of the foundation. It was an awesome day, and I was happy for my team to spend some time with John and Patti. We experienced the true Belizian heat and humidity for the first time, as we began to sweat from places that we didn't even know we had. But it was all worth it, and we all agree that putting in a hard days work in Belize is quickly becoming our favorite past time.

Saturday night we were so lucky to be able to take in YC Belize, which is a huge youth conference put on by the same team that puts on YC in Edmonton. We had a ton of fun at the event. There were some great worship bands followed by a guest speaker. It was great to watch the team worship with the youth of Belize. We come from such different back grounds, but we were all there under the same roof worshiping the same God. I'm sad to say that by the time the concert rolled around, we were feeling the burn of our long day of construction so we decided to pack it in and head to bed. Sunday promised to be another long day.

Sunday morning was our first encounter with the incredible children here in Belize. We went to a wonderful little church in Roaring Creek, just 5 min. from our base. We lead Sunday school that morning, and it was SO MUCH FUN. There were about 50 kids, all decked out in their Sunday best, ready and willing to become our friends. It was so fun to watch the team as they started to open up to these kids, give them piggy back rides, hold their hand during worship, make crafts with them. The kids here have such incredible energy and enthusiasm, and their relationship with God is very real and very contagious. It was a honor to share the day with them, and I think that we learned far more from them then they ever could from us. After Sunday school we were invited into some of the children's homes for lunch. We split up and headed out into the community to experience some true Belzian culture and food. It was humbling to be taken care of so well. All of us were treated like royalty, with each family dishing out heaping plates of incredible food. Many of the families went out of their way to provide Fanta or ice cream for our team, which is most likely well beyond their means. We were told again and again that it was a true honor to be able to have us over. They felt blessed that we would even want to spend an afternoon in their house, so they spared no expense. It was a true window into the hearts of the people here. We are learning that in their eyes, it is far greater to give then to receive. Even when you have little, everything is shared. It's a lesson that I think will stick with us long after we leave here.

After lunch we went to the King's Children's Home!! Some of you may know that this is my favorite place on earth, and I was beyond excited to get there. I was greeted by tons of kids (most importantly, Marlon!) and was immidiately instructed that we should all go to the park. We took most of the kids to a near by park and spent a lovely afternoon pushing them on swings, sitting with them in the grass, watching them perform all of the monkey bar tricks they could think of. It was quite relaxing and heart warming, and we were happy to be the recipients of so many hugs and smiles. Many of those kids have come from very rough circumstances, but I heard comments from the team that they were surprised to find these kids so full of joy. Again, we begin to learn another lesson about being thankful for what we have. There are many people in the world who have been dealt a worse hand then us, but are playing that hand with incredible grace. It's impossible to walk away from that situation unchanged.

Sunday night was our first experience at church (are you beginning to see what I haven't had time to write??). We headed back to the same church that we taught Sunday school at, and were greeted by many of our new friends. Church here is quite different then at home, and I could tell that the team didnt' really know what to expect. We took a few moments to share some testimonies and music, and I could tell that the congregation felt truly blessed to have us there. It was a new window into worshiping God, and we were thankful for the experience. We were greeted so warmly, and invited back into different homes in the community later on this week.

Today was day 2 at the work site. I wouldn't have been able to imagine that we could have worked as hard as we did. We mixed cement to fill the trenches, but the thing about mixing cement is once you start you can't stop. We got to the work site at 8am, and were finished by 4 but we were working constantly. We wern't even able to stop for lunch. We were shoveling gravel and moving cement all day, and were probably a little surprised at how much fun it was. It was great to see the team rally together, especially as the afternoon started to drag and we were all feeling exhausted. I often heard the team say "come on guys, one more mix, we can do it!" And those encouraging words were just what we needed to hear to keep going. We had a huge sense of accomplishment once we finished. It was a huge job, and even my Belizian friends told us that "for Canadians, we sure know how to work hard". They were really blown away by the work ethic of the team, which made me so happy as a leader. I knew that this team was ready to work, but even when faced with grueling heat and no energy they totally blew me away. You should be proud of them!! They're doing such an incredible job.

I feel like I've just written a novel, hopefully you were able to hang in there with me! I will try and update more quickly next time. Tomorrow morning we're heading to the school to lead chapel, and then taking the afternoon off to experience the near by swimming hole.

I'll leave you with some prayer requests as I go:
-we have not experienced any sickness or serious ailments. Praise God! Pray that our energy will remain high and we will continue to be safe and healthy.
-pray for the Nicaragua team, they are being held near to our hearts as they experience many of the same emotions as we are.
-pray for chapel tomorrow, that we can pour our hearts into serving this school and make a lot more friends

Thank you so much for joining in this journey with us. We feel like you are a part of us, and we can sense your love and support from here. God bless you with MUCH love....

Kristin and team

WE'RE HERE!!

2009-02-13T15:56:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!
I wanted to check in and let you know that we've arrived in Belize safe and sound. It feels like it's been a VERY long day, since we haven't really gone to bed since you saw us at the airport yesterday morning. Our traveling days went really well, and we had a great lay over in LA yesterday. We spent the afternoon at Hungitngton Beach, and had an awesome birthday supper for Mitch before we went to LAX last night. We were able to connect with the intern team at Cornerstone Church in Fountain Valley, and they were incredbile hosts to us. We're really grateful to them for all of their hard work in hauling us around yesterday!
I have some more stories of our adventure so far, but I will have to save them until my next post. I've been awake for about 36 hours, and I don't think I could do justice in telling them. I just wanted to let you know that we're here safe and sound, and everyone is happy and excited. Right now the team is unpacking and exploring the base. We'll get to bed really early tonight, since we start construction on the house first thing tomorrow morning. Tomorrow night we have the privaledge of attending YC Belize (which is run by the same team who put on YC Edmonton every year). There are bands flying in, a really awesome guest speaker lined up, and about 5000 Belizian youth who will be in attendance. I think it will be an awesome night. I also think that we will stick out in the crowd!!
Feel free to leave your comments, I'll be happy to pass them onto the team.
I'll leave you with a few prayer requests for the weekend:
-Pray that we can rest well tonight, and be rejuvinated for work first thing tomorrow
-We're leading Sunday school on Sunday morning, as well as sharing in church on Sunday night. Pray that this team can be a true testimony of God's goodness and faithfulness, and that we can be an encouragment to the people we meet.
-Pray for YC Belize. This is a huge event in this country, and an incredible oppertunity for God to reveal Himself in new ways to the youth of Belize.

I will update again on Saturday or Sunday, until then God bless and thanks for your thoughts and prayers. We're very excited to share this journey with you, and I know the team is full of excitement and anticipation of things to come!!!

God bless,
Kristin