Transport

From Transport

Transport

Just a small sampling of the different ways people in Belize travel compared to home.

Last day

The clinic is closed today. We are spending the morning packing and preparing for our departure tomorrow.

Hurricane Rina affected us minimally. A small breeze and a very small amount of rain. If you followed the storms path, you would have that it veered north before really affecting Belize. We are thankful for having been spared any of Rina's effects and have prayed for those who have.

Today will be a bittersweet day.

We will be celebrating Athan's third birthday, with 2 pinatas (both Batman) and three cakes (including one Tres Leches). We are all looking forward to returning to the many comforts of home and reconnecting with our friends and families.

We are sad, though, to say goodbye to our many friends in Belize. Barring anything we cannot foresee, our next visit here won't be for at least three years, if at all. A lot can happen to our friends here in that timespan, especially to the children whose lives we have touched and who have touched ours.

We are earnestly committing them to Gods care.

Fiesta(s)

Fiesta

We have had the pleasure and privilege to enter into the lives of the people here.

We have been invited to their 8th grade pageant, the wedding of the 16th (and last) Yam child and several birthdays.

Enjoy the attached photos.

Clinic Work

So here is my post about work in the clinic ... you know, one of the main reasons we came to Patchakan, Belize.

Patient volume has been low to moderate. Occasional busy days, but mostly a comfortable pace ... providing time to research cases and talk with patients, as well as some downtime to learn spanish. I would have liked things to be busier but many patients have had to find a more dependable source for their medical care as the clinic has been very sporadically open these past two years.

Patient care has been mostly hypertension and diabetes management. Occasional upper respiratory illnesses too. A couple of patients have needed stitches and one needed his elbow relocated (I was playing soccer with him at the time of his accident). We even raced to the local hospital with a patient I feared had a pneumothorax - fortunately for him, the needle with which I was going to decompress his lung stayed in my pocket. As well, I have performed a couple of procedures that I normally don't in the U.S. ... plantar fasciitis injections and skin tag removals.

I have seen 3-4 patients who most assuredly have cancer ... elderly with profound weight loss without a good reason. Limited resources make finding this cancer difficult. Limited resources would make treating these cancers impossible. These folks assuredly had something wrong with them, though they otherwise looked well.

We saw a few others who did not look well at all and their medical options were few ... patients with severe cardiomegaly, uremia and liver failure.

The future of the clinic is unclear. It will mostly be closed over the next 8 months. A doctor here, a dentist there. There are plans for a doctor to come in July, who will then stay for a couple of years. That should offer some stability and provide effective outreach. As I may have said before, the long-term goal is to have the clinic staffed only by nationals ... pray for that result.

Wordless Book

Wordless Book

As I wrote, our last VBS was to be this past Saturday.

The labeled sheets of paper were to assist the children in making their own wordless books ... with a little bit of words.

Charity had the brilliant idea of using different flavored JellyBelly jelly beans to reinforce the different colors. As an added bonus the black bean, denoting sin, had a licorice taste - something none of them had tasted before. Some of the kids really did not like the taste of it ... so a good object lesson for sin. Some of the kids really did like though ... so the contrary lesson was the fleeting pleasures of sin. Fun to make any outcome fit your purpose!

And then everyone got a bracelet.

Hurricane Rina

Hopefully, this doesn't get too fun.

Creatures

Creatures

Attached are some of Gods creation that we have witnessed here.

This should give you a taste of the "wild" Bram mentioned.

Last VBS

Charity bought these gospel bracelets from Threads of Hope.

Their mission statement is to ... assist the economically oppressed in under-developed countries to establish home enterprises that will provide an income, through the development of products that can be sold world-wide. Funds generated through sales and donations will primarily be used to help meet the physical, educational and spiritual needs of the communities where the products are made.

We have been glad to support this ministry.

We are excited to distribute these unique renderings of a common evangelistic tool today.

It has been great for us to review the basics of the gospel message!

Quotable III

Hudson : The rooster crowed five times and I didn't deny Christ

Shane : Hopefully they will "make" me drink a beer (MTW policy states no alcohol by missionaries, unless it might be considered offensive to decline - we were invited to our friends wedding)

Hudson/Bram/Grattan : What's for lunch?
Shane : If you know what day it is, you have your answer (Sunday is spaghettii day, Mon-Sat is likely rice/beans/chicken).

Good Book #2

When running, I spend most of my time listening to sermons or audiobooks.

Last week I had the pleasure of listening to Don't waste your cancer by John Piper. Its transcript can be found here.

He wrote this on the eve of his own cancer surgery. I hope I have his perspective when encountering a similar problem.

He makes 10 points.


You will waste your cancer if ...

... you don't believe your cancer is designed by God for you.
... you believe it is a curse rather than a gift.
... you seek your comfort from odds, rather than God.
... you refuse to think about death.
... you think beating cancer entails staying alive rather than cherishing Christ.
... you spend more time reading about your cancer than about God.
... you let it drive you into solitude, rather than deepen your relationships.
... you grieve as though you have no hope.
... you treat sin as casually as before.
... you fail to use it as a means of witness to the truth glory of Christ

School

Charity is never sure how school will go when we travel like this. She tried to get a lot done in the couple of months leading up to our arrival here.

However, she is pleased to report that she had to request more worksheets from home and the picture is of her very used pencil!

Sale

What's for sale has yet to be released ... or at least I couldn't find it.

It's sure to be good, though!

The Zoo

Last VBS

No VBS today. We plan our last installment to be next Saturday ... thanks for tuning in.

Today we are off to the Belize Zoo, with Bram set to reacquaint himself with his old nemesis, the Tapir.

Hospitality

Paul, in his letter to the Romans, after explaining the condition of man without and then with Christ, exhorts his readers to offer themselves as living sacrifices to God. He then expounds on what this means, including the directive to "practice hospitality"(1).

We are in the process of inviting our different neighbors over for dinner. These will mostly be the parents of the different children that have to come to our VBS's and play with our children.

These are folks of Mayan descent possessing a variety of familiarity with the gospel. We are excited, but nervous, about this opportunity. We have already made some errors in our efforts, though my wife will tell you that I am fond of telling her that we are called to practice hospitality - and worry less about how well you are doing it.

In case you are interested, this is a good resource.

Mayan Humor II

Good book

I have read the book Radical (twice) while in Belize.


Thanks to Mark Hundscheid (found here) for making me aware of it. Please get it yourself.


What follows are some things written that struck me ...

... my biggest fear is that I will do exactly what most people did when they encountered Jesus in the first century.

... the cost of our non-discipleship is paid by those without Christ, the poor of the world, and us.

... the gospel does not require reflection; it requires a response.

... when Jesus evangelized, He did so in a way that you would think He was trying to talk people out of following Him.

... the analogy that all religions are the same and we are all trying to climb the same mountain, though on different paths, to God fails at one important point - Christianity claims that God came down the mountain to us.

... the strange development that the obligations/commands of following Christ (evangelism, forsaking the world, giving all possessions away) apply only to a few, but that the privileges apply to us all.

... at most our scraps are sent to the world, while we indulge our pleasures here.

... that Jesus did not command all His followers to sell all their possessions gives comfort only to the kind of people to whom He would issue that command.

... which is the better question - what can we spare to ensure worldwide evangelism takes place vs. what will it take.

... (paraphrased from Romans 10) God sends His servants, His servants preach, People hear, Hearers believe, Believers call, Everyone who calls is saved ... and the breakdown in this progression is when His servants don't preach

... the ability of Coca-Cola to reach the remotest parts of the world in contrast to the church


I suppose that's enough for now.

VBS#5

VBS#5

Last week, our craft and snack were almejas (clams). Charity told the children that there was no pearl inside because the gospel is the treasure. She later remembered that another reason why there were no pearls inside is that we made clams, not oysters!

We still need to present our gospel bracelets, which we will do in the next week or so ... but today is the last day of our five day VBS.

Our bible verse is from Matthew 28:19-20 ... Go and tell others about Me. I am with you always.

Our question is What does Jesus want me to do.

And the answer? Jesus wants me to know Him better and tell others abut His love.

Exciting stuff.

Quotable II

Bram : I am tired of living in the wild. When will we go home?

Grattan : You can't. She won't like your milk (to a lady that jokingly threatened to take Fanny home with her)

Athan : Batman! (trust me, everyone here thinks this is funny)

Shane : (to my patient) Yo quiero leer su ano
(he doesn't understand, so I repeat myself) Yo quiero leer su ano
(he still doesn't understand, and looks at me funny, and then I get it) Yo quiero ver su ano

Hudson : Raspberry Jam is like the promise to Abraham ... look at all the seeds (Genesis 13, 16, 28)

Conference

This Friday, Saturday and Monday the Belize Presbyterian Theological Seminary is presenting a conference titled "Guiando La Iglesia En Tiempos Dificiles" ... Guiding the Church in Difficult Times.

Richard Crane, an MTW missionary, will be here to speak.

It is hoped that the church in Belize will be strengthened as a result of this undertaking.

Pray.

Lost Tooth #2

Lost tooth - #2

In a very short time since this, we now have a top-toothless 6 year old.

Good question

If you are curious as to how things are going, let me just say I am thinking of attending this.

Prodigal Son

Our theme at yesterdays VBS was forgiveness. The story read was an abridgment of the well-known parable, the Prodigal Son.

For those interested, the original can be found here.

Tim Keller does an excellent job of expounding it here.

One thing that he points out, that I missed for many years, is that this story is addressed to the Pharisees and not "lost" sinners. This parable is often cited as an example of Gods love to those who have left the fold, who have spent years in prodigious living. These things are true and are important truths to know. But what is often missed is that the target audience are those within the church, those who have been slaving, er living, by the rules and that the Father seeks them out as well.

It is also interesting that the story gives us resolution of the relationship between the Father and the younger son - but the resolution of the conflict between the Father and the older son is left open. It would seem as though Jesus wants us to write the ending to our own story.

Anyway, I just had to get this off my chest because I couldn't do so in our VBS with our 2-14 year olds.

Thanks.

VBS#4

VBS#4

Images from last weeks VBS ... including an Octopus craft, more coloring, super-hero masks and "sandwich!".

The fourth installment is today.
Our question posed today is How can Jesus help me when I mess up?
The answer is When I ask Jesus, He forgives me for the wrongs I do and helps me to obey Him.
From Daniel 9:9, the paraphrase is The Lord our God is forgiving.

Today also marks the half-way point of this mission. The days seem a little longer here ... though we knew we would get to this point sooner than we thought.
Pray that we would be found faithful.