Picture of the day...

Running low on air (again!) the team pulled into a Shell station in Belize City. In the picture you can see the station's official "air" supply! and thus our picture of the day!

Romans 10:13

Every mission leaves lasting impressions. The most memorable and joyous moment on our recent mission to Belize was witnessing a handful of people come forward to recieve Christ at the 8 Miles Community Bible Chapel. The man in the white shirt here was one of them.

Whoever calls upon the name of the LORD shall be saved (Romans 10:13)

8 Mile Update from Edwards in Belize

Hi,
Following James and Chantal's blog brings us an encouraging update from 8 Mile. Today they write...

"The work at 8 Mile is increasing rapidly. A number of us were able to be out on Saturday to hold the first Good News Club and we had over 20 kids come out. Then on Sunday, we had maybe half a dozen or so people from the community come out for the gospel meeting and almost 20 kids again. This has created the need to start a Sunday school during the Sunday gospel meetings! Praise the Lord!"

Follow up is so important. Our prayers are behind them as they nurture the fledgeling work. Below is a picture of some of the many children from the area taken during the grand opening of 8 Mile Community Bible Chapel.

Xunantunich

Say {Soo-nan-two-nich} (Not, "Soon have an itch"!)

Xunantunich is located across from San Jose Succotz, a few miles from the western border. The partially-excavated and largest pyramid, El Castillo, rises 130 feet above the main plaza and offers an impressive panoramic view of the Belize's Cayo District and nearby Guatemala.

The team in special rain gear ready to scale the ruins. Bob is upset and pointing at the place where my umbrella is getting him wet (like we were dry!!! Ha, Ha!)

A hand powered ferry is used to cross the river just before the ruins

The rain never let up but did not detract from the spectacular view, cuaght here by James and Chantal



It is a mystery what exactly happened to the Maya civilization. It is evident from their calendars and engineering that they were quite advanced. I wonder how much they knew of God, what light they had.

Pallet Boys

Hi,
This photo of Leigh and I flaked out after a day at 8 Mile just dropped into my inbox. It means that Bob and John are back in Timmins. I dropped them off at the Toronto airport this am, so we thank God that they too are safely home.
Thanks Bob for that shot!

Sean

point your browser here now and then to see more post Belize blogging on our trip.

8 Mile Bible Chapel Grand Opening

With well over 100 in attendance, the opening of 8 Mile Community Bible Chapel exceeded our expectations. Several area assemblies were well represented and the new facilities were packed. It was so good to see local people we had invited. The greatest blessing was seeing a number of people came forward to accept Christ as Lord and Savior. I think a couple of them had done it before but we can only trust that there was a true harvest of previous sowing and pray for them. We believe God is working at 8 Mile and what we are witnessing is the birth of a new assembly. It will take a few more posts to tell the story of 8 Mile, but we'll display a few photos right away.


A tent was erected outside for the children and refreshments. Many of the neighborhood children came for the activities.

We were blessed by the Berea and Grace Chapel choir. Herbert Cain, a man who has inviested a lot of prayer and footwork in the community, shared a brief history of the 8 Mile outreach (for future posts). Bob shared a word of thanksgiving and dedication to God and Sean preached the gospel from Acts 16:30,31. Maybe you are reading these lines and have never answered the question from these verses: "What must I do to be saved?" The answer is "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved."

To God be the glory, great things He has done

"Where's the water?"

"Where's the water?" I don't know how many times I heard that, but during the pour it was so hot we had to drink gallons. Over 14 cubic yards completed the bridge and the sidewalk. Today we tore off the forms and backfilled.
This morning the team was joined by others from Grace Chapel and the whole community was visited with invitations to the grand opening tomorrow. After we handed out tracts we finished up the benches, cleaned up and stripped the forms. You just have to look at Bob and Leigh in the last picture to get an idea of how we feel. As I type Eric is at Young Peoples in Belize City sharing his testimony. Bob and I are preparing for a full day of speaking tomorrow. Now that the internet is up again we can try and post a few more pictures later.

For the team,
Sean

God's Amazing Creatures

Today we thought we would show you some of God's Amazing Creatures that we have seen in Belize. Some of them you might recognize, some of them you might not. All of them are in their natural habitat, except the Canadians. They are in a cage of wire mesh that the are getting ready to place in the forms for tomorrows pour.

Her is Curious George who jumped into our vehicle as we were driving in Belize City.

Can you recognize this funny looking creature? It is a known here as the Gibnut. We saw it at Mark's house where the team was invited for a Birthday dinner for his wife.

In this picture you can see a good size Nurse Shark trying to get away from Derry.

This Iguana wanted to bask in the sun and enjoy a quiet afternoon, but was disturbed by a bunch of noisy Canadian tourists.

We have seen so many of God's amazing creatures. These seagulls remind us of our Savior's words: "Look at the birds of the air, for they niether sow nor reep nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" (Matthew 6:26) These words remind us of God's special care. As we said goodbye to Derry and Esther today we thanked God for His comfort and knowing that He is in control of all our circumstances.

Please continue to pray as we work to complete renoviations to the 8 Mile site. We hope to have everything done for the grand opening on Sunday.

signing off....

Sean and Eric

1 Peter 5:7 "Casting all your care..."

Dear praying friends,

Today brought sad news: Esther, my sister-in-law, recieved news that her dad passed away. He had been suffering with a brain tomor for some time now. It is a comfort to know that he knew and loved the Lord. Arrangements have been made for Derry and Esther to return to Canada tomorrow. They will be sorely missed, especially as Derry was key in the construction part of the mission. We are thankful that most of the formwork is done and ready for the cement pour on Friday. Esther was able to paint the bathroom a nice cheery color.
Tonight the team joined the believers at Burrel Boom. Derry shared a message on the promises of God and Sean spoke on 1 Peter 5:7, "Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."
We have so many good photos to share with you. Here you can see some of our new friends, including Justin & Dion, Derry's eager helpers who learned a few tricks of the trade. They want to join others on Sunday for the opening.
You can see we've had our challenges on the road as well. So, our thoughts and prayers go with Esther and her family. May the Lord, the God of all comfort, give them strength and grace.

Thank you for your prayers and support.
For the rest of the team,

Sean