Toddler Rescue

O.K. - It may have been too long since your last blog if you've forgotten how to access your account! But here I am, and here's the latest. Two Sundays ago, we were merrily on our way to church services at Christian Life Center. Charlie was slated to teach Sunday school so we left a little early. We were travelling down the highway in a monster truck when we rounded a curve to find a toddler in diapers shuffling across the HIGHWAY! Charlie and I both looked from side to side to see where the parents or older siblings were, but no one was in sight. Charlie pulled off the road and we both got out. We were walking slowly toward the child and talking "sweetly" so as not to scare him. But then, I heard a car coming so I rushed forward and grabbed him up. He didn't seemed scared of me, but he couldn't tell me where he lived. There were a few apartments off to the side and a single house on stilts. I took him toward the apartments, but then someone pulled up and said that he lived in the house. So off to the house we went. At the base of the long flight of steps we called out "Good Morning," as is the custom here. The mother came out with several children. She was grateful to see her son, but she hadn't know that he was gone. After all that, we made it to church on time, and Charlie did a great job teaching on faith. I wonder what our next adventure will be. Oh, ya. . . I already know. I'll blog about it next. :-)

Operation Christmas Child comes to Toledo District

For years our family has participated in Samaritan's Purse's Operation Christmas Child's shoebox program. Devon would even write letters to the children, and in all but one case, he received a letter in return. We think this is a great way to share the joy of Christmas and the love of Jesus with children who so desperately need it.

Well, imagine my surprise when missionary Bob Farley asks us to deliver around 500 shoe boxes in the district in which we live! I never dreamed we would have the privilege of seeing the children receive their gifts. Right now the boxes are sitting in my living room. :-)

We have 5 different groups to deliver the boxes to. Here's how it works. The children will be gathered and given the good news of Jesus' birth and why He came, and then they'll be given their boxes. Most of these children go home to share their gifts with the rest of their families.

I hope to visit with many of these children and take lots of pictures, too! What an awesome opportunity to be goodwill ambassadors for Jesus Christ!

Devon helping to deliver shoeboxes to CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) missionaries

Kekchi Indian

Today, while Devon and I were mowing the lawn, a Kekchi man walked up to us and spoke in Spanish. He explained that he was Kekchi and wanted to know if we understood Spanish, because he didn't know English. We said, "yes" and he asked if we had any work he could do. Well, Charlie wasn't here (he was visiting a village named Hicatee with other health care workers) so I told him that I didn't have any work, but I would give him lunch.

While I was making a sandwich, I remembered the Bible Charlie had just bought in the Kekchi language. I had looked at it, but couldn't make any sense of it. So, I had the idea to give the man a small job.

I asked him to read me verses so I could hear how to pronounce the words. I chose John 3:16, Romans 3:23, and Romans 6:23. I tried to record him with my flip so I could practice later, but I didn't push the right button. Hopefully, he'll come back, and we can go over some more verses. Next time, I'll add Romans 5:8!

It was awesome hearing him read verses I know in English, in Kekchi, and then discuss them in Spanish. I was on a high for several hours after that. Please take a moment and pray for him and his people. He lives in a remote village on the Guatemalan border.

Can You Belize It!

"Can you Belize it?" is almost the national motto of Belize, and right now it is very appropriate for us. We have finally made it to Belize. We are so excited to be here and very grateful for all the prayer and financial support that helped us get here. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

We have just finished our second week here and already alot has happened. Being ready for the plane trip was a feat in itself. After pulling an all-nighter (not unusual for Charlie, but HIGHLY irregular for me) we made it through airport security with no minutes to spare to board our flight. I thought, oh, no, we'll never be able to walk all the way to the terminal in time, but our terminal was the first one after security! That's never happened before. I thought it was mandatory that one must walk 2 miles to get anywhere in an airport. :-)

I forgot to mention that due to airline regulations, I had to take my preciouses (Emmy and Iggy) to the airport the day before the rest of us flew out. That was an adventure for my mom and me to find the right cargo bay for shipping animals. Hint: it isn't anywhere near the main terminal! But all is well, and they met us the next day in Belize customs.

We had a connecting flight in Houston. When we landed we were hungry so Charlie went off in search of food. When he came we started to eat and before we were finished, we were called to board our flight. Talk about short lay-overs. We made it to Belize at 11:30 in the morning!

We were greeted by Iggy and Emmy first and then by veteran missionary to Belize, Bob Farley, his wife, Rhonda, and Belize Votech missionary, Lyle Rainey. What a blessed sight they were. It was hard to take in that we had finally made it. Praise be to God who doesn't give up on us and promises to finish what he has started.

We still had several hours to travel by road, so after lunch in the capital city of Belmopan, and a brief shopping trip, we headed on our way south in a borrowed van (Thank you, Bob and Rhonda) to our new home.

We arrived after dark (it gets dark between 5:30-6:00) to a welcome sight. Our wonderful neighbors had cut the grass, cleaned the house and made the beds. Global missionaries Cohen and Amie Ezelle had stocked us with necessary foods and with cake and ice cream to celebrate my birthday, which was the next day (15th) We couldn't feel more love and accepted.

After sleeping well, we awoke to roosters crowning at 5:30 - not a bad wake up call. Charlie was anxious to take us on a walk around the property, so off we went with Emmy and Iggy in tow. About half way through our "tour" Devon and I came across a coral snake (Charlie and the girls were a little a head) After a constrained squeal of "SN-SN-SNAKE!" the snake made a little for us and then turned into the jungle. Our property abuts a jungle, and sort of mountain. It's very pretty.

I decided that sitting on the porch might be safer, so that's what I did. Charlie and the children were in the front yard talking with a neighbor when a wild bull moseyed into our yard. The children thought that was great and started to run toward the bull, but Charlie warned them that he could be dangerous. Just then the bull started bucking his hind legs in the air and then charged our neighbor. No one was hurt and the bull eventually wandered off down the highway. Our house is right on "the highway" but really it looks just like a regular street.

About 2 days later we were having our family Bible time and reading from the book of Exodus, when Mary-Esther saw a scorpion crawling down our wall. I knew there were bats in the attic, but scorpions? Oh, well, Charlie fought it bravely, and after the scorpion stung the weapon (broom) many times and hissed its heart out, it gave up the ghost and died. One more victory!

The children were a little apprehensive about reading anymore in Exodus because they likened the incident to the story of Inkheart. If you are familiar with Inkheart, you know that characters from the books the father read came to life in our world. Poor Mary-Esther didn't want us to get read about the fiery serpents!

I have so much more to tell you, but I'll save it for another day. Right now, I have to go make tortilla from scratch.

Until then, joyful in Belize

Charlie and Devon in Belize

Charlie and Devon flew to Belize on Thursday, Sept. 16 for a 6 week reconnaissance trip to set up our mission and to make living arrangements for the rest of us. As you've probably guessed the girls and I are staying in the states until Charlie and Devon return. Their return coincides with the Global Outreach Missions Conference in November.

For those new to our ministry, Charlie will be training evangelistic health care workers. There is a desperate need for health care as well as the gospel of Jesus Christ among the Belizeans in the remote southern region along the Guatemalan border.

This is a time of transition for us. We are of course enjoying seeing everybody and catching up, but we also want to get to Belize as soon as possible. We are currently on deputation to raise the funds needed to begin and sustain the medical mission in Belize.

You can be a part of this mission with monthly support or a one time gift to:

Global Outreach International
PO Box 1
Tupelo, MS 38802

Please note our account number on the memo line: #3017

100% of donations are given to our specific ministry. The home office keeps NO portion for their operations. And, of course, all gifts are tax deductible.

We need everyones prayers for we cannot do this in our own strength, but in the Lord's.

God bless you all.

Gringo Daddy in Costa Rica

After a near eternity waiting for a delayed plane to arrive - after a missed plane - my Dad arrived in San Jose on July 7. We were all thrilled to see him and to show him our Costa Rican world.

Daddy was eager to see new things, try new things, and do several mission projects. He was a real trooper while walking most places in a deluge. It is the rainy season, after all.

New tastes for him included mango, payjibayas, and mamon chinos. New experiences included attending a Spanish speaking church, riding public buses, and surviving the taxi "thriller" rides. Also shopping at open air markets.

While here, Daddy represented the Voice of the Martyrs four different times. Once to a men's prayer breakfast, once in church, once at a youth camp, and once in our chapel at school. He also helped our family pass out lunches and tracks to homeless people in downtown San Jose.

At the end of one short week it was time for him to leave, and as arranged, he escorted our four children back to Mississippi to have a summer vacation in the country. They're having a great time with Grandmother and Grandaddy and have had a visit from Grandma and Grandpa, as well.

We will join them August 12 for a month of preparation for Belize and to visit family and friends. These are exciting times!

Nicaragua

Well, these next couple of posts are a little late, but I don't think posterity will mind too much!

Because all of our visa forms were lost or stolen, we had to stay in Costa Rica on tourist visas instead of student visas. Which meant that we twice had to leave the country for roughly 72 hours. I have an earlier post of our first trip out that we took to Panama.

For our final trip, we decided to head north to Nicaragua. Some dear missionary friends, the Johnson family, that we went to school with had recently moved to Nicaragua. We would be able to visit with them, stay in their home, and see the work that they are involved in.

We took a pretty nice bus that had a working (albeit, stinky) bathroom that we were very grateful for. At the Costa Rican border we had to get out in the rain and stand in a line with our luggage for 3 1/2 hours. With four children, you can imagine what I was thinking about this situation, but instead of complaining, I decided to pray that God would use this circumstance as a way to strengthen our character (which meant I definitely had to keep a cheerful disposition for the sake of the children). The way Devon, Colleen, Scarlett, & Mary-Esther responded to the challenge can only be called a miracle. I am eternally grateful to God, and so proud of my children for the grace in which they comported themselves.

We were so excited to be back on the bus after waiting for so long, and proud of ourselves, that when we drove for 5 minutes and then had to get off again at the Nicaraguan border and wait another hour, it was almost too much. I compare the experience to giving birth to Devon. How I was happy that the whole ordeal was over, only to be confronted with afterbirth pains. I just wasn't prepared for it! I guess we shouldn't take anything for granted, or get cocky.

We found out later that the Johnsons waited 4 hours on the side of the road for us so that they wouldn't miss us. We didn't have any way to communicate with and tell them of our delays. I am so humbled that they cared so much for us that they gave up their own comfort confined in a van (due to the rain) beside the bus stop.

We immensly enjoyed our time with them and seeing the work that they are doing, but all too soon, we were heading back to Costa Rica. Thankfully, the wait at both borders was less than an hour. Praise the Lord. Our next trip will be to beautiful Mississippi!