The Reentry

Reentry is defined as a second or new entry.  This will be my third Reentry from Belize and easier is not used when I define what lays ahead of me. I will try to put into words what the first time team members might be feeling and what I feel today.  I am all heart in making descions but the word tells us,The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9 ESV). So my first advice is to  take a deep breath and allow your heart time to feel and let your head time to process.
I am a mommy and a wife. Two jobs that require much of my heart and dedication. It was not normal to turn those jobs off for a week.  In fact I have never experienced a mission trip without my husband or children. I was able to spend time alone with God and was able to listen on ways I could return home a better wife and a better mommy.  I pray all of our team will come home and find things where they could serve The Lord better than they did before. So my second advice is to write it down.   Write down the answered prayers. Write down the areas you need to make changes in your life. Write down where you need to serve more and worry less. Write it down.
Jesus example to us and His command, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (Matthew 28:19 ESV) are words that don't go away upon Reentry. I was so encouraged by the youth we took on our trip. Boldness was a word I could use to describe each one of them. I watched them take time to pray with each waiter, bus driver, team member or child. Without hesitation they shared the gospel. My third piece of advice is to keep it up. Your pictures.  Your experience.  Your story is His story. Don't keep it to your self. I recently read an article that stated only 11% of churchgoers would ever go on a mission trip. Your experience is worth telling to all that will listen.
My heart is speaking louder than my head in the first few days at home. My heart remembers the hugs, the conversations, the homes we walked in, the hands I held, the kisses I stole, the tickles I gave, the words they spoke, the songs we sang and the tears we cried.  Piper says it best, "The really wonderful moments of joy in this world are not moments of self-satisfaction, but self-forgetfulness.” 

 My last advice is to forget your self again. If I close my eyes I can hear the crunch of the gravel wet road under my shoes and I can feel the humid air and I remember not myself but the love that was worth it. My last advice is to remember. Remember it was worth it. 

The Little Things

Yesterday was a great day.  It was our day to share the gospel with both groups.  At both the boys' and the girls' camps, you could have heard a pin drop (something that has been rare all week).  At both places, we used a wooden cross with nails on it to have a visual for the kids to see.  Marsha (to the girls) and Kenneth (to the boys) explained that Jesus took those sins and carried them on the cross.  During different times at both locations, the kids took handprints they had made earlier in the week and placed them on the nails.  Talk about a gut wrenching time.  At the girls' camp, one of the sweet little ones told her leaders that she just could not put her hand on the cross.  Marsha told her that Jesus had already taken her sin to the cross, and that she could rest in that.  She finally did, and then sat back down to cry in her seat.  Wow, what a sign that there is power in the gospel!

The hands on the cross at the boys' camp 

After we finished the camps, we took off for Steadfast, which is the village where many of our kids who attend Light of the Valley live.  We had a small amount of food to take to them.  Please pray.  There is a shipment of food waiting in customs here that has not been released.  These sweet babies are hungry.  We have heard from them day after day about how hungry they are.  Some through their words, but many through their actions.  We need God to do amazing things to allow Kidz Konnect 4 Jesus to be able to provide the food these families are so desperately needing. Fast.

One praise we have had all week, and it seems like a little thing in the big picture.  This is the rainy season in Belize.  It pretty much rains every day here during this time.  We have had about 100 boys and 100 girls to keep entertained and moving without a large amount of indoor space if it rains.  Praise the Lord, the rain has held off the last 2 days until the camp is cleared out!  He has done great things for us in this.  We pray that favor continues today.

The sunrise this morning

Our team will have to say goodbye to the kids at camp today.  This is always an emotional day because of the relationships that have been built through the week.  Our hope is that we have given them Jesus, the One who will love them, care for them, and be there with them always, much better than we can.  Still it will be hard to leave those sweet faces behind.

But God

Queen Shirley sends her love.

Kingdom Rock started on Monday.  We had a great start and then the forecast for Tuesday was heavy rain.  We were wondering if our numbers would decrease to the point of no children.  In Belize rain and storms is frightening to not only children but parents.  Floods had hit areas of southern Belize the week before and most of the children we are working with will tell you of the water coming into their homes.  We spent Sunday at Pomona talking to the kids about Noah and the flood. His words are true.  He is our shelter from the storm.
Isaiah 25:4 You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;

And then my favorite words of scripture, But God!
But God sent the rain in the night.  The storm passed and the buses filled and the children came.  The boys camp had about a 25 % increase and the girls camp had about a 50% increase.  Praise God!

Just wanted to also let you know that the youth we brought on this trip have shined bright.  Their boldness and witness is admiring.  They have challenged me this week.  At night we share our God moment for the day.  To hear their hearts and see their love for missions and the Lord is something I wish I could record to show their parents.

Pray today as we share the gospel.  The children and adults will be placing their cut out hands on a nail on a cross.  Pray as the Gospel demonstrates it's power.

In Him,
Marsha