After a long day of travel we all made it back safe and sound and it was nice to see our loved ones meet us as we arrived. I will never forget this trip and hope to continue to do God's work in many ways in the future. I hope to get all my pics together on a disc in the next few weeks (I tend to get obsessed with this until its done and everything else lacks behind!). I will share with anyone who is interested so just let me know! Thanks for following and stay tuned for new adventures in the day in the life of me!
Friday, February 5, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
FUN DAY!!!
Woke up early this morning and so did MP - she had a headache and nauseated! Oh no!! Not today! So without going into details she was able to upchuck and thought she was gonna be ok but no.....so I went up to breakfast and to look for a doc to get some meds! Fortunately I was able to find some and she miraculously got somewhat better so she wouldnt miss out on our last day! Even though she wasnt 100% at least she still got to go to the beach and relax some.
After breakfast we left for the little airpot here and took about a 12 seater plane over to San Pedro. It was a beautiful day and perfect for flying! I thought I would be scared but it was pretty cool and very smooth! Once we got there a lot of the people went snorkeling and snuba-ing on a tour but we just wanted to chill so after walking around a bit we settled on some beach chairs by the water and i read and MP slept. Ann and Cindy talked. It was heavenly! There was a nice breeze and a great time to refresh!
We were supposed to meet at a restaurant called Fido's (pronounce fee-doz) so we headed there. I had a wonderful Bailey's colada and a snapper fish sandwich - delish!!! THen we decided to walk around and shop a little. It was nice not to have a schedule to follow and just veg!
We took the plane back about 4 and shoered up and now I am here enjoying the sunset and waiting for dinner on the beach! We are having a barbecue which should be wonderful - I just hope the mosquitos arent too bad! I cant wait to see everyone - it seems longer than a week! Miss you all!
After breakfast we left for the little airpot here and took about a 12 seater plane over to San Pedro. It was a beautiful day and perfect for flying! I thought I would be scared but it was pretty cool and very smooth! Once we got there a lot of the people went snorkeling and snuba-ing on a tour but we just wanted to chill so after walking around a bit we settled on some beach chairs by the water and i read and MP slept. Ann and Cindy talked. It was heavenly! There was a nice breeze and a great time to refresh!
We were supposed to meet at a restaurant called Fido's (pronounce fee-doz) so we headed there. I had a wonderful Bailey's colada and a snapper fish sandwich - delish!!! THen we decided to walk around and shop a little. It was nice not to have a schedule to follow and just veg!
We took the plane back about 4 and shoered up and now I am here enjoying the sunset and waiting for dinner on the beach! We are having a barbecue which should be wonderful - I just hope the mosquitos arent too bad! I cant wait to see everyone - it seems longer than a week! Miss you all!
A frustrating day
Tried to find the rooster this morning to take a picture but no luck!! We really dont have much time at the hotel before we leave-by the time we shower ,eat, catch up on emails and have devotions its time to go! I have been rising early as usual but it still seems to go fast!
Today was our last day of service and I have to admit I am spent! In one of our first meetings about coming to Belize , they handed out journals and on the first page they pasted a penny with the words, " For we are God's workmanship or masterpiece created in Christ Jesus to do good works that God prepared in advance for us to do". We are pennies in God's hands - spend us in whatever way He chooses.....well he certainly did that!I have emptied my cup! Amy said it well this morning at devotions when she talked about when your cup is filled there is not enough room for God to fill in with his love, desires, and hopes so you need to empty or filter out some once in awhile to make room for the new!
I have given what I had to give and now I am ready to fill up with new adventures and ways to serve Him. I miss my family a lot and I cant wait to see them so that is first priority when I get home!
But for today - we had one more day to finish our work here in Belize. It was a very frustrating day because we had had 2 ORs to work in on Sat. and Sun. and had things pretty much running smoothly and then emergencies came up and the regular crew had to take over one of the ORs! That made us fall behind and we had to put all our surgeries in one room and alternate teams. We did a lot more sitting and waiting which is always hard when you want things to work like clockwork. But this mission is all about improvising and being flexible so we tried to keep plugging on. As it turned out we had to cancel 3 of the surgeries and have them come next week wehn the 2nd mission crew will be here because it was getting too late. It was sad that those people had to come a long way and wait just to be told it will have to be another time. But there was only so much we could do!
We finished up about 6:00 or so and said our goodbyes to all of the wonderful staff there and took down contact info from them so we could send them things throughout the year. They need so much!
It was 5 o'clock somwhere and much later than that when we reached Tony's! We had a few drinks, ate some fajitas and I did some blogtime - then off to bed about 11:30. We are all looking forward to our fun day in San Pedro tomorrow!
Today was our last day of service and I have to admit I am spent! In one of our first meetings about coming to Belize , they handed out journals and on the first page they pasted a penny with the words, " For we are God's workmanship or masterpiece created in Christ Jesus to do good works that God prepared in advance for us to do". We are pennies in God's hands - spend us in whatever way He chooses.....well he certainly did that!I have emptied my cup! Amy said it well this morning at devotions when she talked about when your cup is filled there is not enough room for God to fill in with his love, desires, and hopes so you need to empty or filter out some once in awhile to make room for the new!
I have given what I had to give and now I am ready to fill up with new adventures and ways to serve Him. I miss my family a lot and I cant wait to see them so that is first priority when I get home!
But for today - we had one more day to finish our work here in Belize. It was a very frustrating day because we had had 2 ORs to work in on Sat. and Sun. and had things pretty much running smoothly and then emergencies came up and the regular crew had to take over one of the ORs! That made us fall behind and we had to put all our surgeries in one room and alternate teams. We did a lot more sitting and waiting which is always hard when you want things to work like clockwork. But this mission is all about improvising and being flexible so we tried to keep plugging on. As it turned out we had to cancel 3 of the surgeries and have them come next week wehn the 2nd mission crew will be here because it was getting too late. It was sad that those people had to come a long way and wait just to be told it will have to be another time. But there was only so much we could do!
We finished up about 6:00 or so and said our goodbyes to all of the wonderful staff there and took down contact info from them so we could send them things throughout the year. They need so much!
It was 5 o'clock somwhere and much later than that when we reached Tony's! We had a few drinks, ate some fajitas and I did some blogtime - then off to bed about 11:30. We are all looking forward to our fun day in San Pedro tomorrow!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
A different world
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to ride an amusement park ride for about 2 hours straight? Well our trip to the Mennonite village was kinda similar to that! Our whole group (40 plus people) took all the vans south to Little Belize for an adventure to another way of life! We had to take 2 small ferrys on the way - that were powered by a hand crank! Then a very long bumpy ride throught the country. You thought our pot holes were bad...I have not experienced anything this bad! But the ride was enjoyable seeing lots of things along the way! You could tell when we were approaching Mennonite country because all of the fields were very neatly manicured and there were fields and fields of pinto beans growing (and by the way they pick those all by hand!!!!!!!!)
We arrived at the clinic with several buggys parked outside and people waiting in line. We took a quick tour of the immaculately clean inside and then we began to unload and set up for the day. We brought a lot of our supplies because we didnt know what we were going to incur. The visits began with the family docs and then they would send them to the surgeons if necessary to either schedule a surgery at the hospital the next day or perform a minor one there in the clinic. They had several rooms that were equipped with beds, a pharmacy, and a back room that had a delivery table and a bassinette for the baby. It was there that we performed some small surgeries. It seemed to go really well - but most of the Mennonites speak German so there was a language barrier but fortunately there were interpreters for us!
The clinic was run by a doctor named Abrahm who lived in the house next door. He was a lot of fun to listen to and very accomodating to us and very grateful we were all there.
The kids were so adorable in ther classic outfits! Even though they couldnt speak English - their faces told us a lot! The worship team had brought some crayons and books and some bubbles and small toys to give to them and it was such a joy in my heart to see their faces light up with the simplest things! One young man about 6 years old came up to me to get some bubbles and he had a smile that would melt your heart! He got so excited to see how the bubble wand worked and it kept him entertained for quite a while!
I was asked to do some ear washings on several people that had some bad ear wax build up. I had never done that before but after being shown what to do by Laura (another nurse), she said it can be quite painful and noisy and the kids hate it. Well there is something about those children unlike most of the children we see in the US. You could tell they were apprehensive but they sat there diligently as they were told and hardly flinched. It was after I was done that some tears would fall. Broke my heart!!! But it did a world of good for them so I knew it was necessary
After things slowed down for awhile I began talking to one of the young interpreters named Henry. He was 16 and a very insightful and mature young man. He had no qualms about opening his heart and thoughts to me and I had a lengthy conversation with him. He was born in Canada and lived there for 6 years and then moved to Belize. That's how he knew English and he thought he didnt speak it very well but I had no problem understanding him
His story was intrigung because he really would rather be living in Canada. He has 6 brothers and 2 sisters and one of his brothers lives in Canada and he went there last summer to work. He would get $30/hour up there and only $4 in Belize! He also doesnt really agree with the Mennonite philosophy but is commited to his father and the family. If they leave the country and their home and move away it is considered a sin in the community.
He would love to go to college up there and his boss there even offered to pay but his dad refused. At 16, he says he sometimes drinks with his buddies, and I also saw him smoking and told him it was bad for him. He usually drinks rum and cokes but not too much because he doesn't like to get so drunk that he gets angry or fights or can't remember the next day what he did! He has also tried pot but says he doesn't like the way it makes his heart feel.
He doesn't have a girlfriend and doesn't want one! He doesn't always go to church because he says there is no love felt there - that the preacher is always talking about how the boys are bad and never about bettering yourselves and how to be a better person. And he never talks about the girls and Henry says the girls sometime drink more than the boys!
I asked if he believed in God and he said "Oh yes, - I would be nowhere without God."
I wished him well before we parted and told him to have faith that God would lead him to where he was to go in his life. I am so glad I was able to meet this young man and I will pray for him!
Soon afte we packed up and headed back for a wild (and I mean WILD!) ride home.
Ric was driving and gets a kick out of trying to see how fast he can fly over those pot holes. I on the other hand feel like I need to be in traction from all the banging around in the back of the van! At least he bought us a pina colada when we got back to Tonys!!
We arrived at the clinic with several buggys parked outside and people waiting in line. We took a quick tour of the immaculately clean inside and then we began to unload and set up for the day. We brought a lot of our supplies because we didnt know what we were going to incur. The visits began with the family docs and then they would send them to the surgeons if necessary to either schedule a surgery at the hospital the next day or perform a minor one there in the clinic. They had several rooms that were equipped with beds, a pharmacy, and a back room that had a delivery table and a bassinette for the baby. It was there that we performed some small surgeries. It seemed to go really well - but most of the Mennonites speak German so there was a language barrier but fortunately there were interpreters for us!
The clinic was run by a doctor named Abrahm who lived in the house next door. He was a lot of fun to listen to and very accomodating to us and very grateful we were all there.
The kids were so adorable in ther classic outfits! Even though they couldnt speak English - their faces told us a lot! The worship team had brought some crayons and books and some bubbles and small toys to give to them and it was such a joy in my heart to see their faces light up with the simplest things! One young man about 6 years old came up to me to get some bubbles and he had a smile that would melt your heart! He got so excited to see how the bubble wand worked and it kept him entertained for quite a while!
I was asked to do some ear washings on several people that had some bad ear wax build up. I had never done that before but after being shown what to do by Laura (another nurse), she said it can be quite painful and noisy and the kids hate it. Well there is something about those children unlike most of the children we see in the US. You could tell they were apprehensive but they sat there diligently as they were told and hardly flinched. It was after I was done that some tears would fall. Broke my heart!!! But it did a world of good for them so I knew it was necessary
After things slowed down for awhile I began talking to one of the young interpreters named Henry. He was 16 and a very insightful and mature young man. He had no qualms about opening his heart and thoughts to me and I had a lengthy conversation with him. He was born in Canada and lived there for 6 years and then moved to Belize. That's how he knew English and he thought he didnt speak it very well but I had no problem understanding him
His story was intrigung because he really would rather be living in Canada. He has 6 brothers and 2 sisters and one of his brothers lives in Canada and he went there last summer to work. He would get $30/hour up there and only $4 in Belize! He also doesnt really agree with the Mennonite philosophy but is commited to his father and the family. If they leave the country and their home and move away it is considered a sin in the community.
He would love to go to college up there and his boss there even offered to pay but his dad refused. At 16, he says he sometimes drinks with his buddies, and I also saw him smoking and told him it was bad for him. He usually drinks rum and cokes but not too much because he doesn't like to get so drunk that he gets angry or fights or can't remember the next day what he did! He has also tried pot but says he doesn't like the way it makes his heart feel.
He doesn't have a girlfriend and doesn't want one! He doesn't always go to church because he says there is no love felt there - that the preacher is always talking about how the boys are bad and never about bettering yourselves and how to be a better person. And he never talks about the girls and Henry says the girls sometime drink more than the boys!
I asked if he believed in God and he said "Oh yes, - I would be nowhere without God."
I wished him well before we parted and told him to have faith that God would lead him to where he was to go in his life. I am so glad I was able to meet this young man and I will pray for him!
Soon afte we packed up and headed back for a wild (and I mean WILD!) ride home.
Ric was driving and gets a kick out of trying to see how fast he can fly over those pot holes. I on the other hand feel like I need to be in traction from all the banging around in the back of the van! At least he bought us a pina colada when we got back to Tonys!!
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