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Belize Short Term Missions Trip
August 3rd through 12th, 2007
By: Joyce Tracey
This is so far the most memorable short-term missions trip that I have been on. The bug bites were horrible; the temperature was extremely hot and humid; there was little time for rest between activities; but the satisfaction of the work that was accomplished was amazing and miraculous!
First of all it was apparent to each of us that God ordained this trip and this team as we saw Him provide above and beyond not only our financial needs but getting all our passports in time, giving us dreams and visions and laying the people of Belize on our hearts before we met them. He kept us all safe and healthy. God gave me direction and wisdom in the purchase of VBS and craft materials as far as how much, what and where to buy things. He visited each of us at our group meeting in a supernatural time of prayer and prophecy just a few days before we left and He allowed us to witness these words being fulfilled in many different ways during the trip.
Another major reason that I feel this trip was as wonderful as it was is due to our hosts, Jeff and Shira Ellsworth. First of all I know there was a lot of prayer from them about the team and our itinerary. Before the trip there was plenty of communication between them and me about what was expected from both sides and that communication continued during the trip. There was unity between all of us. We were on similar levels spiritually as far as what we wanted to accomplish.
Jeff and Shira planned the days of our trip to be fulfilling with a great diversity of spiritual and physical activities. They used the team's gifts, talents and preparations to the maximum. During our stay in Belize, Jeff, Shira, and their children Ben and Leilani were always loving, uplifting, encouraging and great fun for the team to be with. They shared their wealth of information about the land and peoples of Belize with us. The Ellsworth family did an exceptional job as gracious hosts.
It is my opinion another reason that this trip was successful was due to the fact that there was a large variety of activities during each day. Our team was able to visit many villages each with its diversity of peoples, cultures, and financial status. The areas we ministered in were mostly underprivileged financially. It was an exciting and heart wrenching hands-on lesson to see how these people live from day to day.
Our days were filled with church services at our host's home church, passing out flyers in another village and inviting the children to our one-day VBS camp, as well as playing with and teaching crafts to children in several villages.
One day we were welcomed by the Mayor of Orange Walk Village, cleaned up the grounds of the village's oldest cemetery where drug deals and drinking go on during the night time hours. Later that day the team walked through the town passing out bracelets and inviting people to a concert in the park. That night's concert was held in a park in the middle of town. Jim put his heart in to sharing the word, the team did a magnificent job performing a couple dramas and Aaron put everything in to leading the worship. The audience was small, however, God spoke to me during the concert and said, "If only for one!" Several people did come up for prayer and ministry.
Our team spent time visiting with people in their homes, prayer walking, laying a partial cement foundation for a church building in the village of More Tomorrow that has been in process of being built for two years. The people in Belize start a building when they have the money and then wait, sometimes for years, before they can continue on to the next part based on when they have more money. In More Tomorrow a group of us spent time working on building bookshelves for the school, passing out school supplies to the teachers and donating book bags that we brought with us to several children. We were able to lay hands on and pray for the teachers of the school. We also were able to feed several children of the village.
For me, More Tomorrow was one of the most significant parts of the trip because I received a great sense of satisfaction from both the physical and spiritual work and relationships that we as a team built with the citizens. I can see ways that those relationships can expand and improve as we go back in future years.
The relaxation times were also educational and a lot of fun with things like sight seeing at Altun Ha Mayan Ruins, walking through the jungle, swimming in the Belize River, cave tubing and enjoying a few relaxing hours swimming in a pool at a small resort called Bacab where we also were enjoying some awesome nachos and virgin drinks and just laying around in hammocks.
The Belize Zoo was like walking in to a jungle with stone paths and wooden bridges for lookouts. Seeing the unique animals of Belize in their natural habitats even though they were caged was a lot of fun.
Thursday we went to a girls' home where a couple, the originally from the States and his wife from Belize, have "adopted" these girls to live in a home where they are taken care of by the couple and several ladies who stay with the girls two at a time for 12 hour shifts. We held "Princess Day" for the girls who range in age from 9 to 18. The guys from our team became the servers, dish washers and escorted each of us ladies to our table for dinner. It was fantastic again to see how God pulled the days events all together as unknown to us, Shira had a book, which I read to the girls called, "The Princess Kiss" about abstinence. Robyn and Emily both shared their testimonies, which, of course, fit right in with the theme because God was in control. Several members of the team spent time teaching and working with the girls to make boondoggles. Everyone involved had a great time there.
Our one-day VBS on Friday turned out to be much larger than we expected. We had over 80 children attend and with some last minute changes brought out by different team members things worked out very well.
There is so much more I could share about our trip epically how God moved through each and every one of us stretching us and causing us to grow in leaps and bounds closer to Him and closer to each other as a unit. True to our prophetic words, FLEXIBILITY played an important part of our trip as each day there were plans that needed to be adjusted and changed.
I, as the leader of this team, am very proud of each member for their cooperation, dependence on God, maintaining a level head and even temper in trying times and their flexibility. It was truly inspiring for me to see each of us participate in activities, share testimonies, and do things that I've never seen us do at home. I am so very grateful to God for allowing me to be a part of this life changing experience. I am ready to go back!
