A GREAT Day

I can’t even count how many times I heard the words ‘today was a great day’. Today was just so much FUN, from start to finish. It was full of joy and laughter and a ton of memories. Let me explain . . .

We started out this morning by heading to the local market for breakfast. We each had a plate of eggs and beans and fried jack (a deep fried dough that is super common in Belize), as well as a delicious glass of fresh squeezed juice. Some of us also added a side of chicken, because chicken for breakfast is a thing here. Market breakfast is AMAZING, and everyone enjoyed it so much. 

With full bellies we headed back to the Kids Home and the team was super eager and excited to get back to work. We started a lot of jobs yesterday that needed to be finished, and there was a huge sense of determination to work as hard as we could. One of the biggest accomplishments of the day was finishing the hole. Check out the video that Corwin posted today to see the intensity of trying to shovel in Belize and you can easily see that digging a hole is a HUGE job that takes a lot of patience, strength and determination. The hole is a crucial part of the structure we are building, and it was very important it was done right with specific dimensions. The team did an incredible job of continuously working together to accomplish the goal. They were taking turns, encouraging each other, taking care of each other by filling up water bottles for those who were digging, and when it was finally done they could stand back and look at something that did not exist yesterday morning and know they did a great job. In addition to the hole digging, there was some work to do to prep the roof for the concrete pour we will be doing next week. So even those who were a little afraid of heights were willing to get up on the roof to nail some plywood down to the structure. There was also a lot of rock that had to be moved over to the worksite, and hauling load after load of heavy rock in this kind of heat was no easy task. It was also amazing to watch the team work along side some of the kids from the home who were not in school today. The kids wanted to help us so badly, and the team was so patient and kind with them. Instead of just doing the job themselves and saving time and energy, they would patiently help one of the kids to contribute to the job even if it took ten times longer. The kids from the home were so proud to be contributing to this important project and were happy to get to know our team better. 

As our work day ended we were able to experience something that none of us were expecting to see today. This will take some explaining, but but bear with me. I have mentioned before that the Kids Home is working very hard at become self sustaining. They run 100% off donations from others, and have to save very wisely to be able to provide a safe place for all of these kids. So for the last several years they have been working hard to develop their land into a farm to cut down on food costs and provide for the children. They put a lot of their time and energy into helping teams that come to volunteer to work with the land. They have been able to build a barn and a greenhouse, and they have goats, chickens, sheep, and cows. We are contributing to the farm by building a structure that can help them properly process the animals they use for meat. It is such a huge necessity for them right now. They do not have a proper building right now, which we witnessed today as the crew working with us and some of the older boys slaughtered a cow in the field beside the home. I am only writing about this because it ended up being a significant moment for our team today, seeing that something we are building is of great need and will be used consistently at the home. The team had the option of watching this process today, and not everyone chose to watch, which was totally fine. But those of us who did were really impacted by how much they respect their animals at the Kids Home. It was a very respectful, humane, sanitary, calm process. It wasn’t disturbing, and was actually a very interesting thing to be a part of. During our team debrief tonight almost everyone talked about how we were glad to be a part of that process today. It was a further glimpse into life here, into the needs they have at the farm, and into the integrity of the people who work and live here. It is very much a way of life here, and we felt like a part of the family being able to sit and watch them work today. 

After that unique opportunity we jumped right back into playing with the kids and enjoying our time with them. We are only two sleeps away from our funnest day of the year, which is coming up on Sunday. We are having everyone from the home over to the YWAM base for Sunday Funday, and to say the kids are excited is a giant understatement. I could not even come close to guessing how many times we all got asked today ‘how many more sleeps until Sunday Funday’. It is the highlight of the year for the kids, and we are getting so excited to have them over! 

After we left the home we headed into Belmopan to try out one of the BEST treats you can imagine… a cholis! It is a coffee/ice cream type drink and it is AMAZING. Especially after a long day in the sun working so hard. And we have all decided that any day that begins with a market breakfast and ends with a cholis is a winner. 

Tonight we came home to YWAM for supper and to enjoy some downtime together. We had an awesome night… eating, laughing, playing carpet pool. We had a team debrief and took some time to speak encouraging words to each other which was so great. We sat in a circle tonight and shared our thoughts on the day and every single one of us could only sum it up by saying, it was a GREAT DAY. 

Prayer Requests: 

-Kelsea and Brett are doing well! ALMOST back to 100%!! Thanks for praying for them!

-Ethan is also doing great, and had no signs of sickness or heatstroke this morning. And everyone else managed to avoid it today which is great!

-thank God with us that things are going great, and continue to pray for safety and protection as we work

Thank you so much for all of your support and prayers and comments! We love to hear from you and love to know you are thinking of us. We are thinking of you too! 

Tomorrow we will be at the base in the morning preparing for Sunday Funday, and then we are taking the afternoon off to head to the Myan Ruins which the team is really excited to see!

Until tomorrow… signing off from the jungle

Kristin and the team