Gone Fishin

Rachel and I THOUGHT we were just going to see how badly the Mullins River temporary bridge had washed out.  Little did we know that we were gonna go fishin!!!

As we took the little detour turn off we noticed 3 guys wading thru the river where it is generally low...and then we saw THE CAR.  A little less than 1/2 way across and stopped at an odd angle we saw in an instant that this guy was in trouble. His passenger side was tilted into the water and just getting to the bottom of the door.  I put the car in reverse, backed out of the detour road and headed to camp to get Ray.  All of this happened in about 2 minutes. 

Up to the house I quickly drove &  explained to Ray that he had to come...NOW.

On the way to the bridge we stopped at the only other home within miles of our home and borrowed a chain.  We were hoping the neighbor boys were home to be able to bring the tractor to help.  No dice as they were out in their fields not due home for awhile.  It was up to us.  

Meanwhile another truck had entered the picture...a meat truck.  The guys we saw earlier were delivering product (WHO KNOWS WHAT!) to this meat truck from across the river in 5 gallon buckets when the little red blazer showed up.  The guys convinced him that he could make it across in the shallow part.  So, after driving 1 1/2 hours from Belize City and having no bridge to cross, he decided to go for it.  OOPS!  Big Mistake!

Just shy of half way, he drove off the 'shallow' part and there he remained until we showed up!

To their credit, the 3 guys stayed to help this poor fellow.  So with a rope from the meat truck, the chain we had borrowed from the neighbor and our truck we were still short. Ray went up the hill again to see if he could find anything else at the neighbors and he came back with two very thick pieces of rope.  The meat truck guy ties them together, hooks it on the back of Rays truck and one of the three guys goes into the river to tie it onto the chain and other rope, already attached to the sinking car.  Oh yeah, by now the water is up to the passenger door windows.

Ray backs into the water, hoping that HE was in the shallow part, but still had to back up until his bumper was under water.  But it works....after a LONG 30 seconds the little Blazer starts to move and all of the chain/ropes held until he was on dry ground.

Unbelievably the car is still running.  Introductions all around, the meat guy packs it up, the 3 guys wade back across the river and then the car chugs to a stop.  And after many attempts, will not restart.  

During all of this, sort of an insult added to injury, 2 other trucks pull up.  They are there from the government Dept. of Works to inspect the bridge!!!  They try to help restart the car, but still no dice.  But I did have a chat with them and found out that money has come in to rebuild the 'temporary bridge' a little bit better so it isn't washing out every other day ( no kidding).  And the same for the bridge in Kendall that stranded us in Punta Gorda the 1st week we were here.  That is a whole other story tho...since then both bridges have been repaired and washed out again.

So we tow our new friend, Jerome, a Frenchman, off of the detour road and up to our camp.  He proceeds to quickly take his soaked computer apart and dry it out.  After dinner, a load of clean clothes, email on my laptop and a good conversation with Ray about what WE were doing out here in the jungle and making a bunk for our guest we called it a night. 

Next day, the car is still not working, but  a tow truck arrives that had been arranged the night before and he is off to Dangriga.  A very grateful Jerome let us take his picture.  Feliz, who doesn't do much with a camera took the pix, so it is blurry, but you'll get the idea.  Isadoro, the camp worker said that we caught a red snapper!!

Indeed!!

Minty Clean Scorpion!

Becki must be blessed....

she finds nearly all the scorpions!

This morning when she grabbed the Listerine, there was one of her little 'friends' lurking just behind the bottle! So she went to find one of my sandals and sent the little fellow into the next realm - never to return.

Then she left it on the top step for me to see when I came back - nice...

sort of like a cat bringing its latest catch home to show off.

Good job Beck!

JUST made it across in time...!

Today was a day of visiting a few pastors, encouraging and helping as able. It was a good day, not as busy as most, which made the heavy rain seem not so impressive. It rained hard off and on, stopping progress on the foundation for the new San Roman church, making driving rather slow at times and cooling the air off quite nicely (some were too cool, but for me the 78 degree air was fantastic!).

We did not mind being inside during downpours. Perhaps providentially, I wore my Crocs today, so I really did not mind getting my feet soaked either. The plastic shoes are fine wet - and I knew my socks would dry in time also.

The leisurely but productive day was interrupted by yet another flat tire. I attempted to plug it myself...when that failed, I changed the flat for the repaired spare I had - and then went to get it fixed again...large patch number 2 inside of it!

On the way back towards home, I had stopped to see a couple more people and ---- a l m o s t ---- did not make it home at all! The temporary bridge at Kendall, which has been more than temporary, was quickly becoming in danger of being submerged once again by the rapidly rising water. It appeared that I would be the lsat truck across as some of the gravel had already slipped back into the river creating a small gap at one side of the wooden platform bridge.

Somehow, 2 others small trucks made mad dashes across, the second of which nearly did not make it at all, prompting a hasty retreat from the mini-van that had been following the little truck. Many people gathered on both sides of the river to watch this act of nature perform once again. It has become more common since the major flood a few months ago.

I can confidently say this - it is a WHOLE lot more fun to watch the river rise to flood stage - when you are on the side that leads towards home!! The last time was a real bummer.

Here's a few pics for you...

Ray

  

PRAY FOR PERMISSION

Actually - our current prayer request is that you join us in praying for the approval of our WORK PERMITS so we can stay in Belize. After a couple of days of driving to Belize City to pick up a letter, then to Belmopan, to deliver the letter and purchase applications, photos, copies, etc, etc, etc - - we found out when we first attempted to turn in our applications that they needed more information...

So, back to Belize City, obtained further documents needed, back to Belmopan, more copies, more smiles and more papers delivered and now...

we wait 2 - 3 weeks to find out if we will be approved. THIS IS VITAL!!

So we are asking you to pray for our WORK PERMITS to be approved.

After that, we can then apply for Rachel as well. But each step has to follow in its proper sequence, so.......

We cannot stress enough that we NEED THIS - so help us pray please!!

(Sorry to not have written in awhile - um, been busy...!?!!!

I'll do better I hope...)

I can say that Pastors' Classes are going well - keeping me busy that's for sure. Between teaching and grading and reporting and preparing for the next class - it's BUSY! But it's GOOD!!

Keep praying for these classes, the pastors and future pastors that are attending - 

and 

those who are not but should be! We want them in too!!

Thanks friends!

Ray & Becki

One Month Later....

....and I STILL can't believe that a month has gone by.  It's weird that just this morning I was realizing how I remember things by the week now as opposed to day by day.

4 weeks ago, we arrived in BZ.

3 weeks ago, our friend Homer was here.

2 weeks ago, Brittany was here still with us.

1 week ago, we finally got our 'stuff' out of customs.

This week, Ray has been gone since early Saturday morning teaching.

So standing at the sink tonight doing dishes,  things just slowed to a stop in my mind and EVERYTHING felt so surreal.  The things I do as a routine now...fill the water bottles for the freezer and move the already frozen bottles to the fridge to keep things cold.  (only the freezer works)

Gathering up food to go across to the dining hall to fix lunch or dinner.  And ALWAYS, without fail, forgetting one little ingredient!

Ever so carefully pulling the dish cloth off of the towel rack to make sure there are no scorpions in it.  And doing the same, careful thing with the shower curtain each night.

Going outside to hang out the laundry and always stopping to put bug repellent on my legs first.

Always remembering to blow up the air mattresses before trying to sleep on a too soft bed....AND making sure not to make Ray's too hard, because he likes it 'too soft'!

It's a bit surprising to realize what creatures of habit we are and how easy it is to make new habits when the situation requires it.  Call it change in routine, call it adapting to unusual circumstances, call it WHATEVER!!!  Ya just better enjoy doing it or you are in a heap of unhappiness!!

For me, it's all good.  I like the new challenges....well, I like trying to find an easier way to do it instead of the way it's usually done.  For those who know me well, this is no surprise!!  One thing I have found out in a trial and error situation is that there are NO shortcuts to making tortillas.  And Rachel LOVES her tortillas.  Me, I can take or leave them, but Rachel loves her PBJ's on a tortilla and her chicken on a tortilla and pasta with her tortillas.   I'm looking to hire a tortilla maker.   

Other than tortillas, I am in love with Belize.  Hot?  Sure it's hot.  But sweating is supposed to be a good thing, right?  I was painting in the new house today and sweat was pouring down into my eyes, soaking my shirt, my pants, my hair, my sweatband...and all I could think of was how much I love the people here, the birds we get to see.....4 days ago we saw 8 toucans in one tree, all in a little group together... awesome!!!  And the jungle and the mountains are amazingly beautiful.

Ray and I (and Rachel, wether she believes it or not) are just simply blessed to be here. We know it's going to be a bit difficult at times and I'm not real keen on Ray being gone so many nights a month, but it is the job and every single job on earth comes with some personal sacrifice every now and then.  But with our job, the Kingdom just seems a little bit closer... every time a pastor comes to class and is excited to be one step closer to ordination... every time a sister shakes your hand in church and says

'God Bless'... every time someone writes to us to tell us they are praying for us... everyday.  Does it get any better than this??  I think not.  

God Bless,  Becki

A "Custom - mized" Experience!

We FINALLY got our stuff from Customs yesterday.

What an interesting, long patience testing process! I can say this with great confidence now: We are SO GLAD we had a broker working for us or we would likely still be there, shaking our heads, going in circles, wondering who, what , why are we in this line again, what did they say, what do you mean we don't have the right paperwork?!

I'll spare you the number of phone calls, hours of waiting, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc....that all came after 3 weeks of waiting and numerous phone calls, emails, and letter drops - and the broker saying "Give me just 5 minutes, okay?"

Um, okay....

Yet, by the end of the day we were on our way, too late to properly drop off the rental vehicle but we did anyhow, too late to grab a decent dinner, so we made do as we headed south, happy to be reunited with our truck and our "stuff".

Our granddaughter Rachel had prayed for God to put 'iron bars' around our stuff. Seems like God liked that prayer! Between that, Becki's resolution that it was all God's stuff anyhow and some healthy patience on all our part, we came through this with some new perspectives, new understandings of the system here and an appreciation of realized values.

The other thing we REALLY gained was all YOUR PRAYERS!

Thank you so much!!!

Ray, Becki and Rachel

2 Districts - 2 Churches - 2 Blessings

Busy Sunday here! We left home at 6:30 am to drive to Belmopan. We picked up Tito along the way. He was thumbing for a ride and we gave in. Tito is an elderly man who only spoke Spanish so our conversations did not last long. We did finally make out that he was taking his heavy bag of potatoes to the market in Belmopan to try to sell them. As we parted, we gave  a blessing in Spanish which was returned with excited exclamations about God and Tito's heart! Nice.

In Belmopan, we met up with the Maya Mopan Church of the Nazarene and followed their bus along a long, winding bumpy, dusty, bumpy, winding, bumpy road to a vacant lot. This used to be the location of the church of the Nazarene in this village in the Cayo District, called Valley of Peace.  All that remains now, after a family that had lived there moved out, are several concrete pillars, a very broken thin concrete floor and a lot of trash. Undaunted, the people from the church spilled out of their bus and began to work. Some setting up the sound system, some gathering large rocks and firewood, to cook the lunch we would eventually enjoy. Others scoured the grounds and created some make shift benches. A number of children attacked a Golden Plum tree with glee. It was like watching a pinata being broken open, as they would throw sticks high up into the tree so that when one 'scored' and knocked loose some of the fruit, children would quickly run to collect the treasures!

During the service, Pastor Tiul revealed a remnant of the former church. This was all that was really left to show that anything remained of the once living church. He brought out a metal sign with the Nazarene logo on it. In Spanish, this aged sign still carried the declaration of Iglesia del Nazareno, Sanctidad o Jehova. Pastor Tiul wept as he shared its discovery. My minimal Spanish was not enough to understand all his words, but my heart understood his heart quite clearly! It was a very moving moment.

The Lord spoke into my heart this verse, "Once again, it will take root below and bear fruit above." 

This former church WILL rise again from the ruins to become a place where the lost can find their way. In addition to the busload of church people who came to help restart this church, a few from the village of Valley of Peace made a cautious return visit. Several young men came by on their bicycles, creating an impromptu gathering there in the road.

As we met under the shade of a tree, we sang, prayed, testified, preached and worshipped - all to the Glory of God, who is able to do exeedingly, abundantly beyond all that we can ask or imagine. Pray for this restart church in Valley of Peace.

Next stop, rush back down to where we live in Stann Creek District. We got back just in time to hurry to Hope Creek. This was to be the first of our Bible Story Telling times to help establish a new church here. To be brutally honest, I found myself very challenged as everyone was culturally late. Those who made it were far fewer in number than I had expected. Some of the young children that came with their mothers were SO distracting that the two mothers took their crying, squabbling toddlers and left. To their credit and my appreciation, they did come back again later. Discussion seem awkward and felt a lot like pulling teeth. In actuality, it probably went better than I thought but I had such high hopes for Hope Creek that I could not fight off my disappointments.

I found out later that there were 2 major events competing against us at that very same time. A Billiards Tournament just down the street and in the park across from that - a futbol (soccer) marathon. A quick glance down the street confirmed that most of the men of the village were there instead of joining this Bible session.

A dozen of the 14 did stay, mostly women ( I didn't count all the ninos and ninas running around). We discussed the story of Zaccheus and saw how God already knows our name and is looking for each one of us. PRAY that this holds true and becomes a personal reality for many new people in Hope Creek!