Day 11: Thursday - Homeward Bound!!

Sunrise at San Pedro, Belize August 2, 2012

The Lord is my light and my salvation - 

whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life - 

of whom shall I be afraid?

Psalm 27:1-2

Come though house of Jacob,

let us walk in the light of the Lord

Isaiah 2:5

I am the light of the world.

 Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness,

 but will have the light of life.

John 8:12

For God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness,"

made his light shine in our hearts to give us

the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:6

Day 10: Wednesday - San Pedro and Day 11: Thursday - HOME

This was a relaxing day for us all.  There were a couple excursions for some and a lot of pool, sea, and shopping time for most everyone.  After breakfast the bicycle group of 8 took off for the north island. We rode along the beach for several miles looking at the Caribbean Sea on one side and some impressive homes and condos on the other side.  Lunch was a a small seaside restaurant.
A couple pictures:

 The pier at our restaurant

Restaurant parking lot

Four of our group took advantage of an opportunity to go fishing at sea this morning.  Jake seems to have been the lucky one to land a five foot barracuda.  Lots of fish were caught (or so the tale is told) but no proof, the fish were returned to the sea after they were caught.

Pizza was delivered at the villas tonight and after devotions we walked for ice cream.  Packing and one last swim on the pool before bed.

The morning will be busy with checking out, eating breakfast and catching the 8:00 AM water taxi.  We meet our vans in Belize City then then transfer to the airport.  We will check bags, go through security, and wait for our flight which departs at 12:50.  Arrival in Charlotte at 6:12 PM.  It will take time to clear immigration and customs, get he bus from parking, load up and drive to Marion.  We will let the call chain know if we are ahead or behind schedule once we are on the road from the airport.  We are all looking forward to seeing family at FBC Marion tomorrow night.  

We know prayers for travel mercies are being lifted up.  Say a prayer for Markham Orange, he is been feeling sick this evening, but it is good his Mom and doctor is here.  We pray that he is ready to travel tomorrow.

Last post for this day and tomorrow.  By the way we have reached almost 7,000 page views on the blog.  Thanks for checking in.

Day 10: Wednesday - San Pedro

Our last full day here in Belize and the last day of R&R.  Sun and blue skies early this morning, so it should be clear today - and hot.  Looks like some pool time today.  A few are planning a half-day fishing trip this morning, some will bike up the coast if bikes are available to rent, and just general down time to relax.

San Pedro is a busy town with narrow streets.  Golf carts and bicycles are the main method of transportation, with some cars and minivans.  It all makes for crowded busy streets.

Traffic circle with the town's statue of its name sake San Pedro - St. Peter.  Notice the K-Mart or CayeMart behind it.

The beach is narrow, and in many places a seawall and walkway divide the land and water.  Scuba diving is very popular here due to the long coral reef off-shore and the many cayes.  Scuba outfitters line the beach and offer daily tours to many diving destinations.

Here is a view of the beach and waterfront near our hotel:

Most are sleeping in tis morning; breakfast is not until 9:00.  I know where to get a cup of coffee early.

Day 9: Tuesday - San Pedro (part 3)

Our day in San Pedro:

Breakfast at Lilly's seaside restaurant
Snorkeling
Lunch at Elvie's Restaurant
Some shopping
Pool time/rest
Pizza dinner by the pool
Devotions

Not a bad day!!

A small sampling of pictures from Matt:
SHARKS!!

There are lots more pictures to come.  A CD will be prepared with a collections of pictures from several of us who have been snapping away all week.  

Our last day of R&R tomorrow will have a later wake up in the morning, breakfast and a relaxing day around the pool.  Optional bike riding if we can get rental bikes.  Lunch and dinner at nearby restaurants.

Day 9: Tuesday - San Pedro (part 2)

Here are a few pictures of where we are "roughing it."

And a couple pictures as the snorkelers took off:

Does it look like island life agrees with them?

Day 9: Tuesday - San Pedro

The sun is up and soon everyone will be getting up and going to breakfast at a nearby restaurant.  After that most will go snorkeling.  Off to get early morning pictures.

Here is a link to the video of the youth singing at Belmopan Baptist Church last Sunday.  It was the fastest way to get the video uploaded.

Youth singing "Come Ye Poor and Needy" at Belmopan Baptist Church, Sunday, July 29, 2012.
http://youtu.be/HucZYGKIeHA

Sorry about the choppy start and slight movement during the video, I was videoing with two cameras at once.

Day 8: Monday - Marla's and San Pedro

We are in San Pedro ahead of schedule!!  The youth spent the morning playing with the children at Marla's House of Hope and had a group photo with the completed mural.  Melanie, Lydia,  Grace, and Felipe spent many hours on it, and the results speak for themselves.

The mural is on a wall where the children have their meals.  Imagine how it brightens the room and remind them that Jesus loves all children.

There were lots of hugs as we said goodbye to the children.  There were some thank-you notes and cards made by the children for our youth.  They left knowing that what they did mattered in the lives of the children there.

After a quick lunch at the BTC we checked out and drove to the Art Box, a nice gift shop just outside Belmopan.  A few more souvenirs tucked away and we were off to Belize City to meet the water taxi.  We arrived before the 3:30 taxi, so were bumped up our departure to 3:30 instead of 5:00; so we arrived in Sam Pedro at 5:15 instead of 7:00.  Everyone is checked in to the Paradise Villas (free Wi-Fi by the way) and relaxing until dinner at 6:45.  We will eat at a restaurant a short walk away and then return for devotions.

Pictures of the area tomorrow morning.  Tuesday is snorkeling in the morning and pool time in the afternoon.  Weather is nice, sunny with a sea breeze on arrival.

Everyone is well and ready to eat.  More tomorrow.

Day 8: Monday - Marla's and San Pedro

This morning will be the last half-day at Marla's before loading up and leaving the BTC.  Our work phase of the mission trip is ending, and the R&R phase begins.  During devotions we have talked that even though our work is ending, we are still on mission and represent Christ during the R&R time and the entire trip.

The water taxi will be a new experience for the youth. They will see densely-populated Belize City; quite a contrast to the rural areas we have seen.  The boat will take 1 hour and 20 minutes to go from Belize City to San Pedro.  Once there we check into Paradise Villas, go to dinner, and then have devotions.  Tuesday and Wednesday will be snorkeling, pool time, and other activities.

Prayers for safe travel and safe adventures over the next few days.  Blogging will be dependent on Internet availability over the next few days.

Day 7: Sunday - Worship and Xunantunich (part 2)

Our youth sang beautifully this morning at Belmopan Baptist Church.  The video file is too large to upload, but it will be posted as soon as we are home.

We left for Xunantunich at 1:30 (after church) and had time to shop at the small market and then explore the ruins.  The group photo shows El Castillio in the background, which I believe, everyone climbed.  More pictures from the top will have to wait until later.

Tonight we are packing up and getting ready to spend the morning with the kids at Marla's and complete the mural.  We then load up at the BTC and travel to Belize City to get a water taxi to San Pedro.  We should be in San Pedro after 6:00 PM, check in and then eat dinner at a local restaurant.  Tuesday and Wednesday will be R&R activities and pool time at our resort.

There is no guarantee that I will haveInternet service on San Pedro, so you may or may not see blog posts.  Just keep checking, but don't be alarmed if there are no posts for a day or so.

Day 7: Sunday - Worship and Xunantunich

My computer is having some problems that prevent me from using it at all.  It is working now, but it may not another time.  Just to let you know that if there is not a blog update at the usual times, it is due to computer problems.

Today we get a later start, so an extra hour sleep.  We leave for worship at Belmopan Baptist Church 9:45 tis morning.  Pastor Norman Willacy is also the principal of the high school we painted yesterday. Our youth will be singing the hymn, "Come Ye Sinners Poor and Needy" during the service.  This was not in the plans, but they were asked/volunteered, and we know they can sing.   They sounded great at rehearsal last night!  Say a prayer fir them, they are a little nervous.

We have a full day after church.  After a quick change at the BTC and a bag lunch in the vans, we head west to Xunantunich, a Mayan archaeological site near the border with Guatemala.  There are several structures that have been excavated there, the central one is El Castillio.  It is a pyramid-type structure that rises 130 feet.  Climbing the steep stairs gives a great view of the surrounding forest.  The site is one of many scattered across Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico.  Often spider monkeys are seen in the trees, and where the ferry takes us across the Mopan River we should see iguanas.  Along the highway at the entrance to the ferry many local people have market stalls where we can shop.  Clarissa Falls for dinner is the last stop before returning to the BTC for devotions.   The blog update for the day will be later because we won't return to the BTC until after dinner.

Thank you for your affirming comments and continuing to support the youth and adults in prayer and encouraging words.  Pray for safe travel today.  Our devotions over the next few nights will be in Philippians, so if you want to follow along, last night was chapter 1, chapter 2 tonight, and so on.  Each family is leading the discussion and guiding questions for small groups.