I’ve just returned from a week-long trip to Belize. Our team consisted of seven people. Five were from Bethel Evangelical Free Church of Fairmont, MN. Mark Doss and I came on board through GoServ Global.
Our objective, unlike any other mission trip I’ve been on before, was exploratory. Bethel had a connection with The Belize Project, a Christian ministry involved in agriculture, fish farms, rehab, prison ministry, schools, churches, church leader training, education training, micro lending, and more with the objective of restoration and wholeness – all for the glory of Christ.
Was the Lord leading us to cooperate with The Belize Project? Would the result of that cooperation be a good fit for short-term mission teams? Would there be places where GoServ could provide SafeTHomes® that would be useful and helpful? Would we really be helping and bringing glory to the LORD Jesus?
Before we get into all that, a little background on Belize: It’s located on the Yucatan Peninsula, not that far from Cancun. It’s a popular vacation spot, so commercial air flights are frequent and reasonably-priced. It’s an English-speaking country formerly known as British Honduras and it’s very safe and welcoming for people from the US. The food is excellent and safe, the climate is tropical, the scenery is gorgeous, and the people are absolutely wonderful. The currency is easy as one Belize dollar equals one-half US dollar, but don’t count on spending your Belizean dollars on a Big Mac as there is not a single McDonald’s in the entire country. In fact, there are no fast-food restaurants, Wal-marts, or Starbucks anywhere in the country.
Belize is a tiny country at 180 miles north-to-south and 68 miles east-to-west. It is six times smaller than Iowa and ten times smaller than Minnesota. It is also gloriously underpopulated at less than 400,000 people in the entire country. We drove all the way from Punta Gorda in the south to Corazol in the north and never encountered a traffic jam or anything that resembled a congested road. (We did occasionally have to slow down for trucks hauling sugar cane and the numerous speed bumps.)
Our driver was Fred Threet, a member of the Board of Directors of The Belize Project USA. Our guide was Adrian Bartley, a native Belizean and the Executive Coordinator of the The Belize Project in Belize. These two men were absolutely outstanding and amazing in every capacity throughout the week.
In our travels we visited many sites including St Andrews and Unity Presbyterian churches in Belize City, the “London Bridges” area of Belize City, government schools at Chan Chen and Mabil Ha, a Christian Day School, a shelter for abused women, a Presbyterian School Management site, and an addiction rehabilitation site for men called Jacob’s Farm.
We also ended our visit with an outstanding time of rest and relaxation at Caye Caulker, a popular tourist destination amidst the islands on the barrier reef off the coast of Belize, but that’s a story for another blog.
Two of the places we visited were strikingly different and truly stood out for me. .
The first was in the southern part of Belize City, which is known as the murder capital of all of Central America. It’s an area of extreme poverty ruled by drug lords. Much of it is built on a swamp with ramshackle homes built on stilts and surrounded by garbage. I could see an attempt had been made to supply water to the homes by “plumbing” half-inch PVC pipe which was laying directly on the ground to the homes, but it was broken and leaking to the point of being useless. Virtually every home is enclosed by an improvised fence of rusting corrugated metal, reclaimed wood, or whatever could be put into service to define the edge of the property and keep trespassers out. There are old used and worn pallets laid down to link the homes and serve as “bridges” to keep one’s feet out of the swamp water. The name, “London Bridges,” is an ironic recognition of those pallets.
In the middle of all of this, Adrian had met a woman named Marsha whose son, Kyron, had been shot in the neck six years ago. He survived the shooting, but the doctors had expected him to be dead in less than a year. Amazingly, he’s still alive today although confined to a wheelchair. When Adrian met him, he had not been outside the home for over a year, so he and Fred miraculously found the materials and the ability to build a porch outside Marsha’s home.
On a Tuesday night, our team and about sixty people from London Bridges gathered on and around that very porch. A nutritious meal was provided and all heard a testimony of deliverance. The Word of LORD was proclaimed and we all praised His holy name. Food was distributed to those in need at the end of the night.
It was the real Church with a capital “C” on Marsha’s porch that night and it wasn’t hard to believe Jesus was right there in the midst of us. Many of those present would probably not feel welcome or wanted in a “respectable” church.
After a couple of days in Belize City, we headed south to Punta Gorda, a beautiful sea-side town. From there, we headed inland for 90 minutes on sometimes very rough gravel roads to Mabil Ha, a Mayan village in one of the most remote parts of the country. The homes here have tall traditional thatched roofs, making them easily identifiable as Mayan. Adrian told us a thousand years before Christ was born, it’s estimated that as many as two million Mayans lived in what is now Belize. That’s five times the entire present population.
Mayans still practice communal land ownership. Individual land use is granted through the community and there are no deeds or land titles or fences. This has been recognized and accepted by the government of Belize. That means it's not unusual to see goats, pigs, chickens, and dogs walking freely around Mabil Ha. The area is lush and green and well-kept. There was no garbage lying around and the village felt peaceful and idyllic.
We met the Principal, the teachers, and the students at the government school. They sang for us and prayed with us and touched our hearts with their graciousness and appreciation. They even had a presentation of gratitude for Ruth Ku, the Education Director for The Belize Project, who had joined us for this part of the trip. Even though The Belize Project is unashamedly Christian, the government of Belize has no problem with Christianity in the schools. Teachers were not discouraged from teaching about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ in the schools and I saw The Belize National Prayer posted in more than one classroom on our travels.
Through its work in the government schools, The Belize Project has been able to raise literacy rates from 15% in some schools up to 70% in just a few years. That opens up amazing opportunities for children, not to mention an enormous increase in the amount of people who can read the Bible.
While in Mabil Ha, we also met with Carlos Galvez, the leader of the village. Adrian and Fred told us, in Mayan terms, he could properly be called the king of the village – and he had a rod and scepter and a large framed certificate signed by Queen Elizabeth the Second verifying his title. The king, who was also the pastor of the local Christian church, graciously offered a portion of his home as sleeping quarters should we decide to send teams.
The contrast between Mabil Ha and London Bridges was striking.
Both are small and poor but one is ruled by drug lords while the other is ruled by a king who is a servant of the King of kings and LORD of lords. The individual homes in London Bridges are surrounded by rusty, ramshackle fences for protection while the community in Mabil Ha is open and free. Darkness and fear seemed to prevail in London Bridges while Mabil Ha was bathed in the light of praise and gratitude.
But, even with their differences, Jesus Christ is alive and moving in both places. We talked at length about bringing SafeTHomes® into London Bridges, but decided against it. The swampy land is unstable and unsuitable. The typical American “solution” of draining and/or filling the swamp would be enormously expensive – with no guarantee of truly helping the people we’re trying to help.
The current course of action is to love these people, help them, and bring the love of Jesus Christ to them one Tuesday night meal and church at a time. As that continues, I can foresee a day when Jesus Christ changes sons and daughters so they no longer suffer the effects of families whose fathers are drug addicted, in prison, or dead. I believe The Belize Project is on the right track in London Bridges, and I hope someday teams will go in and love them with the real and genuine love of Jesus Christ. I also believe, because I was told there are about 14 churches in this area, spiritual warfare training in London Bridges would be very appropriate.
I also believe Mabil Ha is on the right track, but we could be the servants we are called to be in two areas: The principal of the school told us he makes that same 90-minute drive on those bumpy gravel roads twice a day – on a small motorcycle. The drive during the rainy season must be beyond challenging. He would very much appreciate being able to live beside the school. A SafeTHome® or two could do that very nicely and there is a suitable concrete pad already there.
I have absolutely no desire to turn the people of Mabil Ha into Americans with Wal-Marts, McDonalds, and Starbucks on every corner. I firmly believe the last thing they need is prosperity. But I also believe sending teams to Mabil Ha to love those children in that school, help them learn to read, and love and connect with our brothers and sisters in Christ in that beautiful, idyllic setting would undoubtedly shatter some boxes as my fellow Americans come to understand the amazing, endless blessings we have are given to us with the intent and purpose that we bless and love others as Christ has loved us.
Lord, send me back to Belize as soon and as many times as you want! AMEN!
(Photo of students in Mabil Ha Government School by author. The smiling fellow in the orange shirt is the Principal of the school.)
Add comment
Comments