WHAT GIVES????

The smile says it all!

Praying over their meal.

Sweet girls enjoying a lunch they might not have had otherwise.

Well, it’s more like what you’re giving to Habit Missions gives! I wanted to once again thank you and make you aware of what giving to this ministry allows us to do, as well as fill you in on NEW ministries that are able to happen because of your giving!

Although the vision for Belize Habit Missions has always been made crystal clear to us by God, we are thankful that we are able to see needs and new opportunities to outreach to others. Through your prayers and support our mission is evolving to reach more and more people! As many of you know by now, we originally set out to reach the youth of Belize through youth rallies, training youth workers, and starting “Belize Youth Net”, a place where youth leaders can come together, encourage one another, share resources, and build each other up. Along with these ministries an amazing weekly street ministry provides peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, water, and prayer to the homeless and needy. There has also been numerous amounts of mission’s teams who have mastered much needed work projects vacation Bible schools, and have now seen the need in Belize firsthand.

We are so pleased to announce the latest ways that God is using Habit Missions to go, do, and reach even more! I know most of you have heard about our amazing group of volunteers and partners in making these ministries happen while we are away. Mt. Zion is one of them. We are gladly the covering for this church. For those of you who have been to Belize (especially Belize City) it is an all too often sight to see children begging in the streets for money or for food. It is quite heartbreaking to see. We are now able to provide money for Mt. Zion to purchase food to feed children who otherwise might not be able to eat. Also, we are partnering with Philadelphia Church in the Cayo district who runs our Belize Youth Net Program to offer our very first youth camp. To anyone who ever attended camp as a youth, you know how transforming these camps can be and is also a great way to escape the everyday while growing closer to God.

It is only by your giving, prayers, and encouragement that we are able to keep these ministries alive and flourishing! Please continue to pray for our mission and our faithful volunteers. If you would like to support Habit Missions financially, I would like to ask that you pray and remember there is no amount to small.

Proverbs 22:9
“He who is generous will be blessed, for he gives some of his food to the poor."

I am truly blessed to have people like you in my life. I love you all so much!
Blessings ~Amanda:)

"The Awakening"

Youth Rally in Santa Elena

Me presenting the Pastor's wife with the dresses the DUMC ladies made.

Street Ministry in Belize City

The men fixing the roof of the Evangelical Philadelphia Church in Cayo.

Sharing the word at Mount Zion Ministries in Belize City.

The group from DUMC and our volunteer Paul. (Have I mentioned  just how much I love them?????)

Please forgive me for not posting this sooner. This blog will recall events that happened in February of this year (and yes, I realize it is now May!) Every time I have thought of sitting down to write this I have had this feeling of "You don't have time for this" and "Who really reads your blog anyway?" So you see, I have put those thoughts aside and want to tell you this story from February.

We prepared a trip with a team from Denver UMC to go to Belize on a missions trip. Several meetings took place in preparation. We discussed what our goals were for the trip ~ costs, lodging, etc. Before anyone committed to go, Heath and I had prayed for the trip. We prayed that the Lord would send those people from the church He wanted to come. It was wonderful to watch the group become filled with excitement and anticipation of the trip!. When the big day came to fly to Belize, there were twelve of us. It was funny, we laughed and joked about being like the twelve disciples, and it was so amazing what this group of twelve were able to do! Immediately after landing we headed straight to Santa Elena where we would be spending our next few days and hosting a youth rally that night. On the way we picked up several of our Habit Missions volunteers. The rally was exciting and it was awesome to see youth using their talents for the Lord to reach other youth! Our volunteers did great (as always :) and the team from Denver jumped right in as if they had been in Belize for weeks even though it was their first day! The group made great use of their time in Santa Elena as they lead in worship, children's worship, sharing the word and testimonies, and fixing the much need ceiling in a church. We were also able to give ladies dresses to the church that an incredible group of women from Denver sent with us to give (they were adorable!) As the men worked on the ceiling, we ladies gathered and separated supplies to distribute to different churches/ministries in Belize. It was nice for us to get to know each other better and that was something that I personally needed.

The next stop on our trip was Belize City. Our "agenda" was to do street ministry with our volunteers, lead a worship service, and most importantly give resources and encouragement to our volunteers (by this time the group from Denver had already fallen in love with the volunteers.) Things were successful and went as planned ( it is always such a blessing to serve in Belize!) Later on in the week our friends/volunteers/ prayer warriors from Mount Zion in Belize City made it a point to have us come to their church to receive prayer and a word for each one of us. This is where I struggle to even put things into words. Pastor Juan and Noemi and their congregants began to pray. They offered prophetic words, exhortations and visions to us individually and as a group. Heath and I know the pastors, but the pastors did NOT know those we brought from Denver UMC. It was amazing to hear the pastors give spiritual insight into the "strangers" they had just recently met and have visions of how God wants to use them and their lives! God had used this week to minister to us while we had spent so much time and preparation to minister to others! That is how He works. We were suddenly all "awake." Not that I believe we were asleep...but awake as if you just tasted a fresh mango for the first time and every bit of your taste buds are dancing, or your eyes have been blurry and tired and are now clear. Or you see the most beautiful sky, sun, lovely flowers as if you had never seen or appreciated them before and all you can say is "Yes, God, Yes!" It is the realization of what you think you may already know, but it comes more increasingly clear...THAT GOD IS ALIVE AND HE IS DOING THE SAME MIRACLES TODAY THAT ARE IN THE BIBLE!! We often forget that! He has given us the power and the authority to cast out demons, heal the sick, help mend the broken, and speak life!! If you don't believe me that’s OK …it is all right there in the Bible for our discovery. We need to always remember what a big God we serve and that as His children He has called us to do great things! This world can be tough, can rip us apart and tear us down. But we can seek Him and He will renew us and show us just how much more He has to offer us. What HE offers is better than anything the world could EVER offer! If you are a Christian, don't let the fear of what God wants or has called you to do hold you back. He is asking for obedience! I assure you our God has great things in store when you are willing to say, "Yes Lord; use me Lord.” Please don’t hold back because of any person or circumstance or obstacle in your way! There are blessings far greater then you know when you allow God to use you.

Some people may not understand this blog and may think "What is she talking about...?" That is okay. I will pray that all who read this may come to understand. It has been amazing to see the words that were spoken in Belize over this wonderful group of people (my new BFF's) come to light. Like the song says., "God's not dead... NO! He is Alive"! My question to you is: Are you awake to see what He has prepared for you, and are you willing to say, “Yes?” I leave you with this scripture:

”A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” Proverbs 16:9

God Bless you all! I love you so much ~ Amanda:)

 

ENCOURAGEMENT...PASS IT ON!!!!!



Some of our volunteers





Volunteers tithing to the ministry!!

                         

More volunteers!





Heath's Aunt and Grandmother

 We arrived back in Belize on Saturday, December 31st ~ a week filled with plans of things to do, people to see, and places to go. It was New Year's Eve and Heath and I were exhausted and asleep by 8 pm. (Yes, I know this does mean we are getting older... and wiser!) The next morning before breakfast I was checking email and read a message from Aunt Janet that Heath's grandmother Bonnie had passed away that morning at 2 am. Although we knew this day was coming... it was still hard to hear. The first thought that came to my mind was to start checking flights back home. Unfortunately, we had purchased our round-trip tickets with US Air and they only fly to and from Belize on Saturday to Saturday, so there wasn't any chance of flying home early with them. My heart began to sink as I checked other airlines which either had overnight layovers and there was only one that would fit into the time needed to return for the funeral. Of course, it came with the hefty price tag. What would we do? I am so thankful that a couple weeks before our trip we had visited grandmom and were able to love on her and spend time with her. Heath also made a quick trip to see her the day before we left for Belize. Neither one of us could feel at complete peace about staying in Belize and not flying back to be with our grieving family. It was then we received another email from his aunt. Her words were simple but encouraging. The email said that she and Heath's granddad understood completely if we decided to stay. She also said that it almost seemed as this was the way God had intended in the first place and that she would be praying for us and our ministries, and that we would be able to get things completed. This may not sound like much to you, but it was exactly what we needed to hear to have peace about staying and to be encouraged.

So as originally planned, we headed out to Santa Elena in the district. We have a group from Denver UMC coming to Belize next month and we went to plan a youth rally there. It was great to have so many friends we have missed around us and to see their smiling faces and hug their necks (it was well worth the drive just for that. On our way back to the city our car broke down on the Western Highway in the middle of nowhere. I started to get concerned. (Our friend, Ian, says driving in Belize City is like driving on the moon!) It is full of potholes! We only had our debit card and not enough money for Heath, our friend Shane, and myself to try to catch a bus to make it back to the city. As I am pregnant, I was reluctant to give my water to meet the demands of our radiator that was overheating. Thankfully, the sacrifice of all of our bottled waters helped us make it a few miles down the road until the car overheated...again. Shane saw a fresh creek (that itself is miraculous!). Along with Heath, he headed out to fill all of our empty containers. This process was repeated several times until we made it back to the city. During the ride home I felt myself stressed and irritated. I wanted out of this unreliable car and to find the comfort of air conditioning, food, and water! Shane and Heath remained as cool as cucumbers. Our car trouble was going to make Shane late for work and I was feeling bad that we weren’t going to get him there on time. So what do you think happened next? Shane starts saying encouraging words. Once again, exactly what I needed to hear! Thanks, Shane, and thanks for walking so far to get the fresh water.

Most of you who read our other blogs or receive our newsletter know we have a wonderful group from Mt Zion Church that faithfully continue every week with street ministry in Belize City. When we first met them we knew that God had put us together. Since then they have been given a facility to meet as a church and have a growing congregation. Just as we in our own churches here, with the loss/lack of employment, many members of this new church live below the poverty line. We love this church and are thankful for all that they do for the ministry in Belize! They are incredible prayer warriors and pray for us daily. While we were there, they informed us that they want to start tithing to Habit Missions! I would have never expected them to give to this ministry while they have their own church and members in need. Of course, the tithe will go right back into the ministry in Belize. How encouraging! It is amazing when people see the fruit of your ministry first hand and want to be a contributing part to what God is doing! Thank you, Lord!

So, I hope you see my point that encouragement rocks! It doesn't take much either! Just a few words or an act of kindness can let someone know that you support them and care for them. This week I was encouraged by three different people.

Now I want to encourage you. Here are a few of my favorite encouraging quotes and scriptures:

John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid”

Proverbs 25:11 “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” (NKJ)

"You are valuable because you exist. Not because of what you do or what you have done, but simply because you are." –Max Lucado

"Be assured, if you walk with Him and look to Him, and expect help from Him, He will never fail you." –George Mueller

As a side note, on the passing of Heath's grandmother, Bonnie... I do believe that the timing of her death was not coincidence. Eleven years ago we grieved the loss of Heath’s mother, Debbie, also on New Year's Eve. This mother and daughter were two beautiful women of God and passed within just hours of each other, years apart. Both left this world and entered their new home while fireworks were lighting up the sky, while the rejoicing in Heaven began as these two saints entered in!

Thank you for your continued prayers. love, support and encouragement. You guys are the best! May God bless you all, big time!

                            I truly love you all so much! ~Amanda