Proverbs 16:3

January 6th: We landed in Belize City approximately 30 minutes behind schedule, a lovely introduction to Belizean culture. Landing in Belize was such a broad contrast from our departure from Columbus. As we left Columbus the lights of the city seemed to outnumber the stars, but as we landed in Belize dense vegetation was the only thing in sight. By the grace of God we made it through customs with all of school supplies and workshop materials. By the time we got out of the airport we witnessed our first beautiful sunset and loaded up the bus for the hour long ride to the campground where we were joining other MVNU classes studying in Belize. Let me just say that Americans have the most structured roadways and traffic laws that I have ever seen!! It was quite a fun experience to sit on the bus and pass cars on a road that you don't even think is wide enough for one vehicle! We all safely arrived at the Kindred Spirit Campground and sat down for a spaghetti dinner. I honestly don't remember what the spaghetti tasted like because we ate it all so quickly. We were all pretty exhausted from traveling so we found our cabins and settled in for the night. Our cabins were our first harsh realization that Belize is not like USA. Our bunk beds had a combination of mattresses too big for the frame and and boards too short for the beds, to the point that Liz Lovejoy fell through her top bunk and spent the night sharing a twin bed with me. I didn't mind sharing the bed because it got much colder than any of us expected. Liz, Heather, Alycia, and I did devotions around a palm tree outside with the sound of howler monkies in the distance.

January 7th: We woke up lizards and frogs under the bed, toilets that don't flush, and freezing river water for showers. It was quite eye opening. On the plus side, the freezing river water has made all of our hair super smooth. I was proud to be first in line for breakfast at 7:00 am, it is rather hard to sleep past the sunrise. Multiple types of cereal, hard-boiled eggs, bananas and COFFEE were the delicious options for our first morning meal. After breakfast we packed our bags and headed to the Belize Zoo. The zoo was so beautiful, you can tell that the
zoo was made to be natural habitats for the animals. The zoo was full of animals native to Belize and was a beautiful representation of the country. While observing the jaguar we ran across a crew filming for PBS, to get a good shot they had to turn of the electric fence and cut a small hole in the wire. Luckily the jaguar was content with the treats in the cage and avoided eating us tasty Northern Americans. While at the zoo I somehow managed to get 64 bug bites on my legs, none of them are mosquito bites and they don't itch yet but I can't complain. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous, couldn't ask for anything better. Lunch was tacos at Cheers, the chips and salsa was literally the best I had ever had and the lemonade was homemade and fresh. There are absolutely no complaints to be had about the food. We then loaded all of our luggage in the bed of two pick up trucks for our hour long journey to our new home in Succotz. I am still surprised that we made it the whole way without luggage flying off the trucks, these Belizeans are supreme packers. I never realized how mountainous the country was until we left Belize City. Belize is truly a beautiful country!! We all had a bit of culture shock when we arrived at our cabins in Succotz, we arrived to our cabins and realized that even with bunks three high there weren't enough beds for all of us. In Belizean culture two people to a bed is not uncommon. We remedied the situation by bring over some unused bunks from the boys cabin. Problem solved. We had our first Belizean dinner of chicken, rice and beans, fried plantains, and coke products in glass bottles. I can get very used to the food here! One song lyric has been repeating in my head today, "Praise the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all his benefits." In all circumstances we have been praising God and his benefits have been overflowing on our journey. During our devotions tonight Professor Crouso reminded us that "We can't mess this up because this is God's and we are just his instrument of mercy." I think I can speak collectively when I say that this reminder brought us all so much peace. We say that we live in community when we are on campus, but I feel that the community on this trip is much more like what Jesus is calling us to. By sharing beds, toilet paper, bug spray, clothes, and emotions all of girls have built closer relationships with each other and with Christ. God is good.
January 8th: Our breakfast this morning was another delicious Belizean meal of eggs, beans, and fried jacks (kind of like elephant ears without the sugar). We went to the local Nazarene church this morning and were truly blessed. I don't think I have cried so much during a church service in my whole life. Praising God in music with the local people was such a blessing, they poured out their whole hearts thanking God for all of the blessings that they were given. I was so humbled. I don't think there was a dry eye in the church when we sang "How Great Is Our God". Church was such a good time of renewal. During one part of the service the pastor had us go around to four other people in the congregation, embrace them in a hug, then look them in the eyes and say "God bless you." For some reason this broke me, to have these Belizeans who live in shacks without clean drinking water to bless me was so humbling. During praise and worship they focused on Proverbs 16:3 "Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established." God has been speaking words of comfort and peace to us this whole trip and we could not be growing and enjoying it more. Lunch was the most delicious empanadas I have ever had, I am really becoming addicted to this food. We went to the Mayan ruins of Xunantunich. It was a truly amazing experience to climb to the top of the ruins and look out over Belize and Guatemala. The ruins date between 800 and 900 AD. During our devotions tonight we talked about all of the different cultural differences that we have seen. The reflections ranged from the relational focus of the people, the trust of the children, and how the communication is so genuine. God is doing great things, can't wait to share more.