Standing Firm

    

                                                     Youth Rally that was held in San Pedro

                                                                                               
                                                          Our "newly remodeled" car

                                                     
                                                 Our newest family member "Jasmine"

 

                                               Just "part" of the ceiling that caved in

 

Ahhh, where do I begin??? I guess I will start where we ended. We had a lot of good and bad this month. I will start with the good.

We had a truly amazing youth rally in San Pedro. The outreach to the community was incredible! We had between 150-175 people in attendance. I have to say, by far, this was my favorite rally (not just because it took place on the island)! It is because the way our team of rally volunteers performed and worked so well with each other. The Holy Spirit just soared! I can’t thank them enough for their commitment to the mission. Some of our volunteers had never been to San Pedro. It was a real treat for them to escape the city and see a different side of Belize.

We also had a movie night at the Embassy Missions Hotel. The hotel is run by our new found friends John and Judy Collier. They have a huge projection screen and a great Bose system and a wonderful place to watch movies. We had 100 in attendance and enjoyed watching “Facing the Giants.” John and Judy have a great heart for the youth of Belize and a great facility to hold gatherings. We were blessed to help them get the word out and in getting people to attend. Several youth made decisions to accept Christ!

I also want to tell you about the newest member of our family, “Jasmine”. (It is a very long story to tell so I will just fill you in on the importants). She was a stray that was at our apartment when we moved in. She was taken in by someone who treated her badly, and almost killed her. For those of you who know me… you know how much I LOVE animals, but I really didn’t want/need a dog’s inconveniences. We felt responsible for her though, and just couldn’t let her risk death. Heath is crazy about her too! I have never seen him act this way about a dog ever! It makes me love him even more. She is now spayed, vaccinated, and putting on weight. She has a wonderful spirit too!

Sadly after returning to the city, Heath and I were in a car accident. While turning into the civic center (where our next youth rally will be held) a car came from behind us and smashed into Heath’s (driver side) door. We took a pretty bad hit. Thankfully the door stopped just short of crushing Heath’s leg. Heath had to go to the hospital and was treated for second degree whiplash. We didn’t have any broken bones, just a long week of recuperating from soreness and bruising. While the other driver was clearly at fault to everyone else, the police are not in agreement. They expected/wanted us to give them bribe money. Please pray this issue is resolved quickly and appropriately.

I am delighted to say that the very same week; we were overjoyed to have our very first family members come to Belize! It was wonderful (and just what we needed)! Al and Bonnie (my in-laws) came down from North Carolina and spent a week with us. While they were here they joined us in our weekly street ministry, and got to see first-hand the need in Belize. We spent the end of the week in San Pedro spending some quality time together (not forgetting to watch the NCAA games… GO DUKE…lol). Then we returned to the city and said our goodbyes.

Upon entering our apartment from our time away, I discovered that pretty much the ENTIRE ceiling in our kitchen/dining area had fallen in! Sheet rock and water were everywhere! What a mess! Apparently we have a plumbing issue with the toilet upstairs and that created the problem. It is currently being fixed.

So once again, it is a blog with filled with highs and lows, but that is life. It makes me think, “What are you made of “? It is so easy to get frustrated and want to roll up our mats, go home, and enjoy the simpler life. That is when the devil thinks he has us defeated. God never said life would be easy. He only promises to be there through the hard times. He is here. He shows us what we are made of and just what we can accomplish through His strength (not our own). So at the risk of sounding cheesy… God made me “Ford Tough” I will not be shaken or moved. I will not flee when times are hard or difficult. He has set a plan before me, and the job is not finished. Like Psalms 16:8-9 says, “I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices: my body also will rest secure,” God has done mighty things here in Belize, but the work is not complete yet. Please continue to pray for us and Belize. I truly love you all so much!

Blessings- Amanda

PS: Thanks for all you prayers for Chase. He has improved greatly, and continues to get stronger daily. 

       Please continue to remember him in your prayers.

Parting is such sweet sorrow... 2/10/10

       Just a small part of our family we got to see!

                                                                                                                                                            Bethany Baptist Youth Group



I have to say as sad as it is to leave behind our family and friends and return to Belize, we are happy to be back and “digging in” the ministry. We have been back in Belize now a little over a week. I must say, "It has been a week!"

Two days after returning we woke up at 2:00 am with soaking wet floors. The water pipe that comes in from the outside had burst, shooting water through our bathroom! The very next day there was a small leak under the kitchen sink. Thank the Lord for plumbers! The next morning we headed out to the streets to begin our street ministry with the twins (Michael and Lynsford). We had made it halfway through our normal route when we ran into Raymond. (Raymond is a friend we made when we purchased our car from him.) We hadn’t seen him in a while, so we stopped to say hello. The next thing you know the police are telling all of our friends to come to the wall to be searched, and for us to move on. (Perhaps because of the needless violence here in the city the police are trying to make statements in front of large crowds.) I was shocked, angry, and hurt. These are some of the most precious Christian people I know! It is sad to see things like this happen to good people while the gang members go untouched.

By now you may be thinking, what a horrible week! Well, I must go on. After the police stopped us and showed their muscle, we headed to see our friends near the canal. We always visit a group of men (normally 5-6 of them) who wash cars at the canal behind the courthouse. They were SO EXCITED to see us! We hadn’t even been there a minute and they were all asking for prayer! It was amazing! When the prayer was over, they said how they felt a difference already. The devil tried to come discourage us and steal our joy, but the Lord pushed through the darkness.

Saturday we were asked to assist and speak at Bethany Baptist Church here in the city. They were “kicking off” their youth program. (They have not had a functioning program in quite some time.) Heath spoke to the youth, we sang songs, and played games. But there was one moment that night that truly broke my heart. We were asking the kids what they wanted to get out of attending youth group. One kid responded, “I want a safe place to come to get away from all the killings.” What a shame that he has to even worry about things like that. Although his words hurt my heart, the night was still a great success. There were around 19 people in attendance. (Not bad for starting over!) Note: (This is the same day we noticed our flat as a board tire.)

Since I have been writing you this blog, the ceiling in our living room has started to leak. While it maybe raining in now in Belize, the Son is shining. We are called to be more than conquerors, and that is exactly what we will do… Conquer. I realize this is just another obstacle trying to keep us from what He would have us achieve this week. Maybe He just wants us to witness to the plumber? Regardless, we will overcome!

We are excited to be back and thankful we had some time to spend with most of you. Thank you for your prayers, love, and support. Thank you for coming to churches and listening to us talk about Belize; and thank you, churches, for letting us speak! You guys are missed and loved more than you know. Please continue to pray for us and Belize.

I also have a personal prayer request. If you could please pray for Chase Rogers, he is my cousin’s three -year old son with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He has been struggling for his life in ICU. Please pray for his family also.

“When my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” Psalms 61:2



                                                             I love you all so much- Amanda

A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE FROM BELIZE

“RUNNING TOWARD THE CHRIST CHILD”

(Luke 2:15-20) “When the angels left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”

Our Christmas message from Belize is to remind us to be running toward Jesus Christ the King. Notice that once the angels had left the shepherds, they immediately were obedient to what they had just heard about Jesus. When the shepherds reached Jesus, they were blessed for their obedience and others who heard their story were amazed. When we seek Jesus with all our heart, we will be truly blessed and others will be amazed at God’s work in our lives! We see that running toward Christ means listening to Him then moving accordingly.

One night in our apartment in Belize City, Amanda shared that she felt moved by God to make a pillow for our homeless neighbor Poppy who sleeps in a truck bed in our parking lot. I encouraged her to follow her heart. Amanda obeyed God’s call and stayed up late one night sewing the pillow together while I tried to rest. The next day Amanda asked if I would deliver the pillow to Poppy. Little did I know what that would mean. As I delivered the pillow and told Poppy that Amanda felt led by God to make it for him, God began to move. Poppy got choked up and fought back the tears as he said that he had no doubt that Amanda had heard from God. He went on to explain that his pillow had gotten ruined in the rain and that it had been hard to sleep. He was almost speechless that God would have someone do this for him and that someone would care that much. I had a very busy day ahead and I started to head down the road as Poppy ran over to me and asked if I was a Christian. From there he told me of his desperation and that he was miserable and ashamed that at age 59 he was in this situation. He told me that he was hooked on drugs and that it was destroying his body and he was in torment. My heart broke for Poppy as I heard his story. I shared my testimony with him. We then had a discussion and prayed together. He even shared with me two gospel songs he had written that were beautiful and then we parted ways. Many have received Christ as Lord at one time in their lives and yet have been running from Him rather than running toward Him. I would encourage all of us to run toward Jesus all the days of our life and that we stop to rest in the arms of His love!

We recently held our second youth rally in BTL Park in Belize City. It was a great success and we thank you for all of your prayers! The rain held off and we had around 150 in attendance. We handed out 250 fried tacos and many young people had an opportunity to use their talents for God. We ministered to drug addicts and gang members and shared the hope we have in Christ. Praise be to God! Tell someone this Christmas that Jesus Christ is Lord! Merry Christmas to all of you and thank you for your continued support!

We Love You,

Heath & Amanda

What a Week!!!

October 24, 2009
Wow! Where do I begin? On our last blog I had mentioned posting some pictures of Belize’s “Carnival” celebration. Sadly to say, our Belizean friends suggested that the events may not be safe for us, so we opted out. However, we did get to enjoy the display of fireworks from the security of our rooftop. We missed fireworks on the fourth of July since we were here, so it was nice to see the excitement. Just recently we received an email from a couple who live in Gainesville, FL who were taking a cruise with a day stop in Belize. Trent and his wife Sharon found us via the internet and wanted to meet us. They asked if they could bring us anything. We told them of our need for more bibles (as we give them out constantly, and are asked for them constantly). They (Trent, his wife, and the McDonald’s) planned to join us in our street ministry. We met them at the tourist village and Trent couldn’t wait to tell us how they got their hands on 100 bibles in under a week. He told us how they could only find a few bibles here and there and how they were quite pricey. With the stress of packing for the trip and the time coming quickly, they were pressed. Trent finally found a Lifeway store that had just received a shipment of a hundred bibles, but they were all in their Jacksonville store. Trent disappointed, told the Lord if this was going to happen, then He was going to have to make it happen. Just then the McDonald’s called. They were in Jacksonville right down the road from the bookstore! Trent told us he knew God’s hand was involved in this trip. We spent the day together passing out sandwiches, bibles and praying for people. The fellowship was awesome, and we received an email afterward saying their best day on the cruise was the time they spent serving alongside us. God is so Good!
We held the first youth rally in Ladyville last Saturday night. Lots of time and preparation went into the planning. Heath and some of our Belizean friends took to the airways to get word out for the upcoming event. I would have never guessed Heath would be on the radio for an hour and rapping to the nation of Belize! The rally was a great collaboration of several local churches with dance, music, skits, and food. It is great to see what God can do when His people get together. We had around 160 in attendance, and gave out 180 servings of chicken. We did get rained out about three quarters of the way through, but I know the Spirit and Word of God are spreading in the community. We are thankful that things went smoothly, and our first rally is under our belt. I cannot thank all of you enough for your prayers. We are already planning for the next rally here in Belize City.
We have also had the joy of making plenty of new friends this month. One of which is a local Belizean Christian artist, Andrew. He is also known as “Reality Youth”. He and his friends recently taped a video from our rooftop. It will be surreal to see Heath and myself in music video! Our street ministry seems to be growing. We have found more people who share desire to serve the people of Belize. It is always great to have more volunteers and supporters. The relationships we have developed with the people on the streets continue to grow and it will always be something I cherish and is close to my heart. I rejoice along with the angels that during our last street ministry Heath was blessed enough to lead someone to the Lord! Yesterday we met with Maggie; she is the district program leader for the Methodist Churches/Schools for Belize and Honduras. Her vision also coincides with ours, and we look forward to working with and supporting each other.
I cannot say how busy but amazing this month has been. There is a huge feeling of excitement and urgency in my heart. Please continue to pray for us and the Nation of Belize. I wish you guys could all come and see this first-hand, I know you would be blessed. I know I am. I am grateful to you and our Lord for making all this possible. God Bless you all. I love you so much!

–Amanda

God Speaks

September 24, 2009

Its carnival time here in Belize! I am not really sure what all that entails yet, but I do know that part of it is a celebration of Belize gaining it’s independence from England. Belize was formerly known as British Honduras. I plan to post some pictures of some of the events on our next blog. The official date of carnival is actually September 19th.
This month has been the hardest for us thus far. We have been challenged with difficulties at immigration, where we were threatened a $5,000 fine and imprisonment for six months. We went again yesterday to renew our visa and, thanks to a lot of prayers, things couldn’t have gone any more smoothly. Thank you Lord!
As you can see from the photos above, Belize has recently been listed as the #1 murder capitol in the world. We knew things were getting worse, but there is something about actually seeing it in print. I know that there are angels around us, and I thank you all for your constant prayers. The need here is huge, but my God is bigger! He called us here and I pray he continues to use and guide us.
This week we made a new friend named Raymond. He is also a Christian who sells cars here in the city for a living. He asked us yesterday about how we came to Belize and if God called us here. He asked us, “How do you know when God is talking to you?” I have so many different times /ways I feel God speaking to me so I shared them, and I would like to share one with you. It was very personal and was hard to accept , but God knew that I needed to hear it. As many of you know, Heath’s mother battled with cancer for many years. We prayed and had faith that God would heal her. One day just before Heath got home from work I was praying to God and pleading over his mother’s life. It was in that moment God spoke to me in a loud audible voice. He told me His will wasn’t always ours, and that his mother was going to pass away and that I needed to prepare myself and be ready to support my husband. My mother-in-law was a woman of faith and courage and had finished what God had called her to do. We just wanted her to be here with us. I have never been so heartbroken and amazed at the same time! God had just spoken to me out loud, but had told me exactly what I didn’t want to hear. I will never forget that moment as long as I live. I thank God for the heads up on what I needed to do. I tell you all this because God is a person you can and need to talk with out loud sometimes. We can always pray quietly too, but don’t for a minute think He doesn’t want you to call out, cry out to Him! Times may have been hard here lately, but God’s is still in Control. I am trusting Him in all things, big and small. I hope you are too. Acts 2:25-26 David said about him: “I saw the Lord always right before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body will also live in hope.
PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR US AND BELIZE!!!!!!

God Bless. I love you all,

Amanda

OUR TRIP TO DANGRIGA

August 26, 2009

Amanda and I recently took a trip to Dangriga, Belize, which is in the southern region of the country. The village is mainly made up of Creole and the Garifuna of African decent. The connection or interest we have with Dangriga is that our dear friends Nadia Lockwood and Rev. George Castillo and wife, who currently live in Okaloossa county Florida, grew up there. There is also much work to be done there. Around 11,000 people live in the village and very few youth are involved in the local churches. Dangriga is about two and half hours by bus or a 15 minute flight from Belize City. We chose to treat ourselves to the flight so that we would be more rested and have more time there. We flew on an adventurous small prop plane with seven seats right behind the pilot. Once we arrived, Grace Fairweather, a friend of Nadia’s and a town council member, was eagerly waiting for us at the airstrip. Grace took us into her home, got us together with her Pastor and showed us parks in the area where teens hung out. The parks would be ideal for future youth rallies.

We visited Epworth Methodist Church on Sunday morning and had the opportunity to read scripture for the morning sermon and got to share with the congregation about why we were there. Concluding the service, Pastor Cayatano’s wife invited us to their parsonage for a wonderful meal and time of fellowship. During our time there, we discussed the need for reaching young people, gave them some online youth resources and thoughts, offered our services to their potential youth leaders for future youth training, and discussed setting up youth rallies in the area. We left Dangriga with fully bellies, gifts from our friend Grace and a heart to return to make a difference.

There was such a friendly vibe in the air among their young people. On one occasion, teenage girls asked us to stop as we were walking down the road so that we could watch them try to walk on some wooden stilts. Teens everywhere are starving for attention, discipline, love, hope, vision, and something positive that interest them in which to be involved. Please pray for Epworth, the people, and the possibility of accomplishing great things there through Christ.

Love,
Heath

Build Up Others, Forgive, Love

August 14. 2009

I had someone tell me recently that most of my blogs seemed overly excited or happy. I don’t agree with that at all, but I do feel that I am a positive person who wants to dwell on good things. With that being said, this blog is proof that I talk about what is on my heart. Two and half weeks ago, God laid something on my heart. Each day that has passed, it only has gotten stronger. So here it is. Please accept this as positive since that’s how God and I intended.
Why, as self-proclaimed Christians, do we tear each other down instead of building each other up? I see people every day who are in torment over mistakes they have made. I hear how choices they have made in their lives hold them captive and they don’t see a release. Many are living on the streets, doing drugs to cope with the pain of past memories and actions. They talk about what they have lost because of it and sadly admit that they will live each day this way. I watch as the people who have known them call them names or tell us about what they have done and how we shouldn’t talk to them because of their sins. Or worse, they talk to them smile to their face and continue to talk badly about them a moment later. This is not just in Belize; it’s everywhere! Most people who are prisoners to their sin do not know the Lord. They don’t have the Good News.
The things in my life I thought I was above, or I said “I’ll never do that”, have been the same things I have fallen on my face doing! Brothers and Sisters in Christ, please hear my cry. Don’t kick others while they are down or hold their face in it. Pray for them, rejoice with them and thank God that He has brought them out of it, and be thankful it wasn’t you! If we had all listened to our parents about not touching a hot stove, we would all have a lot less burns. Those burns are on each one of us, so we don’t need to be reminded of the marks they have left. Past sins can haunt you and taunt you, and that is exactly what the devil wants; hurt and division in God’s family. Jesus died on the cross for all our sins, He covered every stain… HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT! So the next time anyone feels the need to belittle someone else, just remember, “Let He without sin cast the first stone” John 8:7. Matthew 7:1-5 tells us not to judge, or you too will be judged. And why do we look at a speck of sawdust in ones eyes when we have a plank in our own. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, Not by works, so that no one can boast.” Eph. 2:8-9. We cannot change our past. We can only move forward and learn from our mistakes. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Never look down on anyone, unless you are helping them up.” Matthew 6:14-15 says “but, If you don’t forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” We are all the children of God. He loves us all the same despite all our differences and flaws. Should we as His church and people not do the same? Lord, please let our actions reflect it! I am ending this with one of my favorite scriptures. Ephesians 4:32 says; ”Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you.” God Bless you all, I love you so much!
Amanda