Casa De Esperanza

Submitted by Jason:

     It's been about 4 weeks since our last post. This period of time has undoubtedly been an interesting stretch of our time here in Belize. On a personal level, we celebrated the one year anniversary of our arrival in Belize, Francie & my 19th wedding anniversary, our son, Joey's 14th birthday, our daughter-in-law, Asia's 22nd birthday, our 16 yr old son, Andrew's completion of an intensive 3 week discipleship course called LCI (Life Change Institute), and our oldest daughter Kayla's wedding engagement. In this time, we were also introduced to the "not so glamorous" side of the mission field with whooping cough, high fevers, staph infection and the departure of our American friends, the Reeds, who after 10 months in Belize, returned to South Carolina to regroup.
     While the details of all of these circumstances and events crammed into a 4 week period of time could certainly provide enough material for an entertaining and informative look into our lives here in Belize, I would prefer to focus your attention on the ministerial side of what is developing here.
     I've been continuing to lead the Men Of Honor group for our Fountain Of Life Church here in Spanish Lookout in the absence of our pastor, who has been ministering in the states for the last 5 weeks or so. I'm encouraged by the commitment level that I've seen from the "men" that have been attending the meetings to date. I'm thankful to have an opportunity to be a part of what I believe will be a major movement among the young men in Belize, particularly the Cayo district.
     There is another ministry work that we've been invited to take part in that has me equally excited. A couple of American friends here, one of which has lived in a small, needy, Spanish village called Buena Vista just on the outskirts of our current hometown of Spanish Lookout, for over 5 years as the hands and feet of Christ to that village, have invited us to join them in a Saturday night outreach to the youth of that village. These men approached us with on open invitation to join them as they prayed and planned the logistics of this ministry.
     Our friend who lives in Buena Vista has been purchasing, storing and administering medical supplies to this village for several years now. With many of the villagers living without their own transportation, he often gives them rides to the local hospital at all hours of the day and night, whenever the need arises. He has told me of how he has driven people to the hospital after drunken machete fights and gunfights.
     He has currently put several thousands of dollars of his own money to build a modest sized cement block building with a concrete foundation on a small parcel of land, which he recently acquired, adjacent to his property and calls Casa De Esperanza (House Of Hope). His vision for this building has multiple purposes. He would like to use this building as a more sterile, clinical environment from which he could continue to medically minister to the village. He has a passion to see the drug addicts recover and hold regular support meetings here for them. He would also like to use this building as a means to separate the wide age range of youth that have attended the Sat night meetings.
     For now, as we await the necessary finances to complete Casa De Esperanza, we have erected a temporary structure consisting of a wooden framed room with a tarped ceiling, screened walls and a shipping container serving as the backdrop of the structure. In our first two meetings, we had over 40 youth in attendance on each night. The space in this temporary structure is already somewhat limited and we've only just begun to evangelize Buena Vista. There has been an older demographic of youth that has been a little reluctant to come in and join us. They stand back in the shadows of the night and watch from a distance just outside of the reach of the light. With more room to minister, we're confident that we could split the meeting into age appropriate groups that would encourage the growth of this work there.
     We're working with interpreters as we gain a better understanding of the Spanish language. While English is the official language of Belize, there are many small Spanish villages that comprise of Guatamalans, Hondurans, El Salvadorans, etc. spread throughout Belize. Because of this, we are learning that most of the adults, who have not been through a Belizean school where English is taught, do not have a good understanding of the English language. So, for the most part, only those who have at least been in school for a few years have a fair understanding of English.
     It's been a joy thus far as we build relationships with the children, as well as the adults, in this village. The joy on the faces of these people as we minister with the word, activities and snacks speaks volumes to us about the affect that we're already having on the community there. These people are looking for love, hope and joy in a village where these things come less frequently than in most places that I've ever been to.
     On one occasion, one of our ministry leaders recounted something that he saw during one of the meetings that changed his perspective on what these people are dealing with in the village. He told our ministry team during a mid-week planning meeting of how he watched a couple of the children consume the wrappers of the candy that was given to them during a snack time. He said that he watched the candy and the wrapper go into their mouths and never come back out. He was personally humbled as this event put his "needs" into perspective.
     On a separate evening, one of our leaders had planned an "ice breaker" game in which he blindfolded three kids and had them taste something and afterward predict what they were tasting. He made it a bit interesting by covering the items in Hershey's chocolate syrup. One of the items was a chocolate covered pickle. When it was the boy's turn to tell us what he was eating he said that it was a chile. After the meeting, I was discussing this with another leader and he told me that the kids in this village don't even know what a pickle is. They've never eaten one before. So, the boy guessed the closest thing that he thought resembled what he was chewing.
     These are just small examples of the cultural differences that we have from these beautiful people that have come to our attention in our first two meetings. I'm sure that there will be many more that will arise in the upcoming weeks, but one thing remains the same. The same Holy Spirit that moves in and through us across the whole earth has no language barrier. He has no cultural barrier. There is no division among social classes when it comes to Him.
     This is why we have given ourselves away. We're called out to abandon everything. The riches of this world have nothing to offer compared to the riches of walking in the purpose for which you've been designed for by your Creator. This is why every man or woman who has ever stepped out into a strange land in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ have sacrificed in different ways. The heart of every missionary is to be about the Father's business. It's in these moments that we are able to look into someone's eyes who is experiencing the freedom that can only come from the price that Christ paid on the cross and feel every bit of our being aligned with His purpose for our existence.
     Thank you in advance for prayerfully consider partnering with us and Casa De Esperanza, the hands and feet of Jesus Christ to Buena Vista, Belize. We're looking for prayer partners, financial partners and missions minded laborers to join us for short term missionary trips.