It's Out of My Control

When we moved here I decided to start a personal journal, a new concept for me. Granted, I haven't exactly made regular journal entries but when I do, I often find it to be an uplifting experience. One of the main reasons is that when I get back to the States, I don't want to reread a journal full of complaints, and negativity. Therefore, I tend to work to steer my writings into a more positive direction. And when I do, I find that often God opens me up to a particular lesson or awareness that I might not have otherwise realized (I'd encourage you give it a try as well). Today's journal entry was a good realization for me and so I thought I'd share the gist of it with you.

As I was in the middle of writing today, we were stricken with another power outage. Only this time, upon investigation, we realized that it was not a blackout but rather, the electric co. had shut off the power to our apartment. Apparently, the landlord had gotten the bill and failed to share it with us, resulting in a non-payment and subsequent shut off (just 10 days after the bill was due mind you). We immediately paid the bill but were told that it'd be all day before power would be restored.

The irony of this is that I was in the middle of journaling about how living here has been a real lesson in patience. Things break, all the time. Things get fixed, very slowly or not at all. Appointments get scheduled, circumstances sometimes result in reschedules. Grocery lists get made, items are regularly missing from the store shelves. It's easy to view these all as bad things but living here has taught me that with the bad, comes a lot of good as well. "Belizean time," as we like to call it, forces me to spend a lot less time being angry and feeling stressed--it just is no way to live. It really does force a person to slow down and not be in such a hurry all the time. The result, I believe, is a lot let stress in our lives. In spite of the struggles that many Belizeans face (whether they know it or not) I tend to see them as living far less stressful lives than their American counterparts.

So as I began to ponder this--wonder why I don't live this way in the States--and reflect on how changes can be made in my personal life as I return to the U.S.. I feel like I finally can begin to understand it now. So much of one's life is out of our hands and living here makes that incredibly obvious. The problem is that in the States, with our modern conveniences, our 8 hr workdays, and our ability to fill up our free time with errands, activities, and subsequent obligations, we inherently come to feel that we are in control of our lives. And the more we try to control, the more stressed we feel. Now hear this: God is in control, not us. In Jeremiah 29:11 He makes that very clear. 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' If I just stop, step back, and choose to stop feeling the burden of everything I'm involved in then I'm giving it up to God--the one who is and should be in control and the one who wants nothing but the best for us. Choosing to put it out of my control at all times is what I've done here out of necessity but only now have I come to learn that actually it's a necessity everywhere in the world not just here. We must stop wrestling with our Savior to be in charge--we'll never win that battle anyway. I'd encourage you to try it yourself as well, in all aspects of your life. I'm sure that once you do, you too will feel liberated by the freedom that ensues. God can handle it all and if we'd just let Him do His job of loving and caring for us, then He'll remove the stress and fill us with the peace that can only come from Him. Now, I feel so good to be able to say "it's out of my control." It makes life feel like what it's actually supposed to be, and that is good.

Texas Hold 'Em Fundraiser

This fundraiser is being organized by some close friends and supporters.  Sounds like a fun event!  Please help by sharing this link with your friends.  RSVP is on the bottom of the flyer.

Tropical Rain

   When you live in the tropics you experience tropical weather, plain and simple.  We live in the tropics.  Where we live gets 160+ inches of rain each year.  That's a lot of rain.  Bear in mind that the majority of that rain falls during the rainy season (June-Nov.) and about 90% of which falls at night.
   Seeing that we've lived here now for over 2 months, we'd arguably say that we've seen our fair share of rain.
   The one comment that we most often hear from people around here is "are you tolerating those awful storms?" Andy and I never fully understood. We liked the rain, we welcomed it.  Every time it rains the air gets cooled down and the heat becomes that much more bearable.  If it had been up to us, we'd want it to rain every night.  (Though really it pretty much does.)
   Well last night, we finally understood what they've all been talking about.  Three nights in a row now we've had big storms.  The 2nd night included a power outage that had all 5 of the kids awake and unsettled.  When we lose power in this town at night it gets black and we're talking pitch-black-unable-to-see-your-hand-in-front-of-your-face-black.  When it gets that dark it's hard to move around let alone work to calm the fears of 5 frightened children.  Needless to say it was a long night that night.
   Thanks to our daughters' homemade rain gauge, we've been able to keep track of the rain here.  Over the past 3 nights we've received over 9" of rain.  Last night, we got 5" of rain--4 of which fell in about 45 minutes time.  We live on the 2nd floor but no one, and I mean no one can do much to prevent 4" of rain in 45 minutes from wreaking havoc.  Fortunately for us this was another night in which we found ourselves with a frightened child standing over our bed.  As I escorted her back to her bed that's when I realized what the rain had done. It had come up under our front door and flooded half of our living room, hallway, master bedroom and bathroom.  So at 1:30 a.m. we did what we had to do.  We cleaned up the water.  Within 30 minutes we had the water swept up enough to where we felt like we could go to bed.  Our neighbors, Peter's family, didn't fare so well.  They live on the ground floor and had probably 4 times as much water in their house as we had.  It was disheartening to watch them sweep out so much water from their house in the middle of the night.  Yet I would consider their house to be one of the more sturdy structures around.  Many houses here have openings in their walls as well as where the walls meet the roof--a lot of places for rain to come in.  I imagine that there were a lot of people up last night trying to dry out their houses.  I also imagine that a few slept through the storm and awoke to even more water to clean up this morning.  This whole town will be moving a bit slower today.  Nearly everyone will be that much more tired.
   After 2 1/2 months of living here we finally seem to get it.  Rain can certainly be a good thing but it can also create a lot of burden.  It can literally drain you of your energy and leave you feeling depleted.  As we continue to pick up the pieces of last night's storm, we certainly won't take the rain for granted.  Not any time soon anyway.

Jaguar Preserve

Even though we are here on missionary work and this blog is mostly related to that, I thought it worthy to take a moment to discuss some of our experiences outside of our missionary efforts. These past two months we've been so focused on getting settled and focusing ourselves on service opportunities that it's been all too easy to forget that there is a whole other world outside of Punta Gorda and it's surrounding villages. So we decided to take a much needed excursion before school starts to view some of that world. While we for the most part, subsist on the donations of our supporters, we also have personal funds for just such getaways and this experience was well worth it.

Our family decided to take a two day overnight getaway to Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary (aka. Jaguar Preserve). Cockscomb is about 1 1/2 hrs north of PG and it is a jungle basin surrounded by the Maya Mountains. The area is a true rain forest, and thus it is not without it's fair share of beauty. The nature preserve is only about 6 miles off the highway but feels worlds away from civilization. Upon our arrival we were greeted by Gregorio Chun, who owns and operates Tutzil Nah Cottages and Tours. He was an original inhabitant of Quam Bank village, the village forced to relocate once the area was declared a preserve in 1985. 5 Of those families, including the Chun's, relocated 6 miles away under the new name, Maya Center. We stayed on Gregorio's property in simple but clean, and cheap, accommodations. Our original intentions were to spend one day at the nature preserve and one day at a nearby beach but after just a few hours, the decision was unanimous--we skipped the beach and opted for 2 days in the jungle. Because the road into the preserve is unpaved we decided to pay Gregorio to give us a ride there both days. He does do guided tours, which I'm sure are well worth it, but the wealth of info that he shared with us on the ride in was even priceless.

The second day of our visit was definitely the more relaxing day. We rented some inner tubes and took a float down the river. We were able to really observe the rain forest from the river--not only a peaceful experience but also an excellent way to view some of the unique birds there. Our first day was the most active of the two yet uniquely spiritual. We hiked to an amazing waterfall (one of two in the park) and then up to a bluff with gorgeous panoramic views of the Cockscomb Basin and surrounding mountains. The waterfall was cool, clear and shallow and everyone loved the refreshing swim. All the while we kept stopping to think, here we are in a place as beautiful as can be, in a place like what we read about in school! To stop, and soak it all in is nothing short of overwhelming--every flower, every butterfly, every beautiful bird. These are the infinite details that remind us of God's beautiful creation, that of which we are all a part. How amazing it is the way He puts it all together to create such a beautiful world.

Then, to make it up to the top of the bluff, to see the view--that is where both Andy and I can really see God's work. To hike up a mountainside, with a toddler on Andy's back, and myself carrying a 3 year old about half the time stretched us to the limit, physically. But to suddenly get to the point where we find ourselves peering over the trees, into a space of openness--it literally takes my breath away. How could I ever doubt the amazing abilities of God when I get this opportunity to look at his magnificent creation--stretching for miles upon miles? "I will lift up my eyes unto the hills from whence comes my help." (Ps. 121:1) "Great is Yahweh and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, the mountain of His holiness." (Ps. 8:1)"In [His] hands are the depths of the earth; and the height of the hills are His." (Ps. 95:4)

While Belize does have it's fair share of problems--poverty, poor infrastructure, etc--it is one of the most beautiful countries in the Western Hemisphere, if not the entire world. To immerse ourselves in that beauty for a couple of days has proven to be very spiritual & therapeutic for our family. I would gladly recommend a visit to this country to anyone who asks and I'm so thankful that God called us to be here.

Village Church Dedication

(This post is from an experience on day two but we are just now getting around to posting it along with the photos. We hope you find it to be informative nonetheless.)
 Shortly after our arrival in Punta Gorda, the pastor, Fr. Perl, invited us to a church dedication in the village of Delores.  Delores is one of the most remote villages in all of Belize and just a couple of miles from the Guatemalan border.  They had just built a new church and were having a dedication ceremony.  Fr. Perl suggested that it was a unique opportunity and worth the trip.  So in spite of just having traveled 12 hours to reach our final destination in PG, Belize,  myself (Julie) and our 11 year old anxiously awaited our pick up at 7 a.m. the next day.
  While Delores is only about 45 miles away, it takes over 2 hours to get there via bumpy dirt and gravel roads.  Being so new to the country, that didn't bother my daughter and I as there were many interesting sites to take in along the way.
   We passed several villages with houses made of wood and thatched roofs.  To see bare breasted women was not uncommon nor was it unusual to see women and and children bathing in the river.  Chickens and pigs ran loose and we could even see farmers working in their fields (without the advantage of machinery).  The last few villages we passed had solar panels hooked up to their homes (enough to power abut 2 light bulbs) as their only means of electricity.  The village of Delores, however,  has fresh water but no electricity.
   Finally we arrived at Delores.  There is a town center where the church is located and about 300 villagers were waiting.  People had come from neighboring villages (some had literally walked 4 hours to get there) to participate in the celebration.
   The first thing we noticed were the people.  Delores is a Kekchi Mayan village.  Southern Belize is made up of mostly Kekchi Maya but also Mopan Maya.  The Kekchi women have a distinctive plaid skirt and a solid color blouse.  Most noticeable of the Mayan women are that they carry their babies (up to 2 or 3 years old) in a hammock style sling that they wear hanging from their heads (see pics).  Women are usually under 5 feet and by speaking with some of the children, we learned that they tend to run about 6 inches shorter than a typical child in the US.
   Then the festivities began.  They starting things off with a traditional Mayan dance called the Deer Dance.  Only men participated and they wore masks, elaborate capes, and several layers of clothing.  It was great to watch but looked to be very hot (see pics).
   After the dance came the procession.  Villagers, along with the priest, processed into the plaza carrying a crucifix, burning incense, and carrying a statue of St. Peter, all while members sang hymns in their Kekchi language (see pics).  They processed around the church several times, sprinkling holy water on the building and setting off fireworks intermittently.  After the procession was mass but because so many were gathered, mass was held outside.  About half of the service was in English and the other half was in Kekchi (including the Bible readings).
   After mass it was time to eat.  The village had killed 5 pigs 2 days earlier to prepare for the celebration.  The meal consisted of a traditional Mayan dish called caldo (literal translation is "soup") and pach.  Caldo is a spicy broth with large pieces of meat in it (usually one per bowl)--in this case, pork.  Pach is similar to the masa in a tamale minus the filling but a bit more firm and cooked inside a banana leaf.  Both are meant to be eaten with your hands.  Both dishes had been cooked in a communal kitchen over an open fire (see pics).  Being the adventurous eaters that we are, both my daughter and I really enjoyed ourselves.  Clean up was at the town's only clean water source--a spigot near the central plaza--though my daughter and I did notice some villagers drinking the murky water from the creek.
   For it being one of our first experiences in Belize, this was a true delight and a blessing.  Fr. Perl told us that this was probably one of the biggest celebrations he had been to in his 15 years in Belize.


   

Peter, the Quiet One

About 12 hours after our arrival here last month we had the privilege of meeting Peter. This quiet, very shy, boy of 14 years approached us and asked us if we wanted to buy "bread buns" from his mother who was selling them out of her house across the street from us. We purchased a half dozen warm delicious buns and thus began our relationship. Peter rarely says more than a few sentences and his shyness can easily be seen in his eyes, as he holds his gaze down often. Peter lives with his mom, step dad, and 4 siblings, one of whom is severely handicapped (2 other siblings have grown and are out of the house). Being 14, Peter is finished with his education (many children do not finish beyond 8th grade). Yet, he is unable to read or write. Peter certainly is not a "normal" child, as you would have it. His step dad explains, "Peter is just a dummy." When he would attend school, he would hide in the bushes, run home for lunch and then return only to hide in the bushes once more. When you live in a country with no special education, this is what happens--your future becomes even more bleak. But, his parents say that he is gifted in the kitchen and perhaps, this will help to pave a future for him.

As we currently have 4 house guests--staff members of a group called Catholic Missions Trip--the house has been a bit more lively than usual. Peter stopped by today, selling bread pudding, a bit curious of all the activity. As he returned with the bread pudding that we purchased Andy invited him into the kitchen to help with dinner. Andy showed Peter how to squeeze limes with a juicer to make limeade. He also showed Peter how to make spaghetti, of which Peter says that he has had only once before. Since he helped with the dinner preparations, we invited Peter to stay for dinner and he quietly agreed. Just as we were setting the table, Peter shot off and said he had to finish selling bread pudding for his mother and would be back at 7. A few minutes after we all sat down to eat Peter showed up again, peering his head around the corner of the top steps. We asked, no insisted, that he sit to eat with us. He timidly sat next to me (Julie) at the long table and we began to serve him up--garlic bread, sauteed vegetables, and spaghetti. He asked for a large serving of spaghetti, something I found to be very normal for a 14 year old boy. Then he began to eat. When I watched Peter eat, it was almost a bit awkward--he would have a bite here a bite there but nothing you would expect from a hungry teenager. (It was also very apparent that he had no familiarity with how to eat spaghetti). All the while, Peter sat quietly as the rest of us had a discussion about some of our favorite foods from the States. Then it was time to serve up dessert, Peter's mom's bread pudding with some caramel sauce we'd made. Peter wanted dessert on his plate but it was strange, he still had most of his food still on his plate (except the seconds of garlic bread which he'd already eaten). Something tells me that in all his silence, Peter was very happy there, he was enjoying this moment. Still, I couldn't quite figure out why he wasn't eating very much, and so slowly. As the meal ended many of us jumped up to clear our plates and the table. And then I watched Peter--he was taking the leftovers from his plate and putting them into a bowl which he'd used to bring over the bread pudding in. And then I realized what he was doing, Peter was taking his food home to his family.

Not acknowledging that of course, it was confirmed when I asked him if he wanted me to put more food in his bowl and he quietly said 'yes.' We gave him all that was left of the vegetables and spaghetti and went into the kitchen to give him more leftover pasta from our refrigerator. Fortunately, Peter left with a large bowl of food, to which he was very gracious.

Our hearts ache for all the Peters of the world--the gentle spirit, quiet personality, and generous and sharing heart. If only we could feed them every night. Thank you Peter for enriching our lives today.

just added: Peter graciously agreed to let me photograph him from our veranda.  That is his house in the background (the chalkboard lists what things his mom is selling that day).

Sarah's Report after visiting a Mayan Funeral

Sarah and Andy accompanied Fr. Perl into the village of San Pedro Columbia while he conducted a funeral Mass.  It is rare for the priest to travel to the villages for this, but the funeral was for the mother-in-law of a church catechist.  Catechists are lay ministers trained by the church to lead prayer services and perform other church functions in the villages.  Sarah will tell you about this and more in her first internet news debut.  Enjoy!