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Written by Tim Schmoyer
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Tuesday, 01 July 2008 |
 Belize Update - June 30
 Today was the big day! We made it home and without many complications, although we were nervous about making both our flights. The water taxi was supposed to come get us at the island at 10:00 AM, but it didn't show up until about 11:00 AM, which meant that we pretty much ran through customs at the airport, out onto the runway and straight onto the plane a couple minutes before it left. Yikes! We missed lunch, but at least we were on our plane. The same deal happened in Miami, too, except we fortunately had 15 minutes to spare, so most of us were able to quickly grab some dinner. At least the flights themselves were fairly uneventful. Upon arriving in Minneapolis, Kyle McIver, Jake and Jeffrey were picked up by David McIver and Joan Maus. Found out that American Airlines lost both Jake and Carrie's luggage, too. After making delivery arrangements for the missing luggage, we hopped on the bus for the final leg of our trip -- the 2 hour ride home to Alexandria.
When we arrived back in the church parking lot, all the parents were already there waiting to pick up their kids. It was really awesome to see the reunion take place, to see the parents loving on their kids and the kids so excited to see them again, as well.
Thank you again for all your prayers for this trip. Kevin and I have been planning for this missions experience for a year now and it's crazy to think that it's all over and behind us. Whew! What a ride. Thank you for all your support, too. We're looking forward to sharing about our experience in church on Sunday, June 13. See you all there!
The rest of the pictures are posted! Check out the final two days here!
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Written by Tim Schmoyer
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Tuesday, 01 July 2008 |
Belize Update - June 29
Today was our last day here in Belize. Kinda bittersweet. Bitter because we're leaving behind some great friends we've grown to love and because we've all become so close to each other and to God; sweet because we're ready to be back in familiar territory with our families.
Believe it or not, this Sunday morning we actually got to sleep in until 9:00 AM! The church here in Caye Caulker has Sunday School in the morning and service at night. Since they only needed about 4 or 5 of us to help with Sunday school in the morning, Amy, Kyle McIver, Brook, Noel (one of the Belize native teens who joined our group for the trip) and Tyra stepped up to do that while the rest of us stayed at the hotel to have devotions together (Connor and I shared from Romans 12:1-3 as Julie Barnes shared in a comment on our website on an earlier update) and then do our quiet times for an hour with the Lord. The latter part of the morning was spent listening to Dana and Kevin go around the room (actually, the roof) and encourage each team member individually.
The afternoon was free time, so most of us went shopping and swimming before meeting up at 5:30 PM for dinner and then church. For the church service I led a time of worship, Laura, Kyle McIver, and Amy shared their testimonies, they all performed the drama "The Woman" and then Kevin gave the sermon with an interpreter.
After church, we spent the evening on the roof in a wonderful time of worship and fellowship. We sang together, washed each other's feet, took communion together, shared encouraging and supportive words with everyone and showered Kevin and Robin with love and prayer. It was really a great time. We were up there for about 3 hours, but did sure didn't feel that long.
Tomorrow we start the trek home. Although you won't get this update until we're already back in Alexandria, I know you're all praying for us and our journey home because we've felt your prayers already in so many ways. It's awesome because I can seriously feel your prayers and support about different situations even before I get a chance to post them online and tell you about it. It's like God is working in advance through your prayers. Awesome.
We've really had a great trip. It hasn't been without it's ups and downs, as is expected, but the highs definitely outweigh the lows. I know I've grown a lot as a leader and have been stretched in tremendous ways. The teens have, too. Each and every one of them is coming home as a different person than when they left -- all a bit more mature, spiritually alive and eager to continue our mission of selflessly glorifying God in Alexandria. Pray for them every day that they would have the Lord's strength to stand up to the world, that they would not be enticed and drawn to the temptations, traps and snares that will swallow them whole, that they would be beacons of light for God in all the darkness around them. Verbally encourage them and hold them accountable to their daily quiet times with the Lord once they're home. Even more so, your kids need you parents to set the example, too. They know they have the ability to be a light because they've done it for the past two weeks! They've shared Christ with complete strangers, risked vulnerability and poured their lives into others. As a result, many more souls will one day be worshiping with us at the throne in heaven. But it doesn't end here -- there are countless others who need to hear the good news about Jesus and your teenagers know they can reach them with your daily encouragement, support and godly example.
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Written by Tim Schmoyer
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Sunday, 29 June 2008 |
Belize Update - June 28
Whew! What a day! We spent the latter part of the morning and the first part of the afternoon snorkling out of the reef. We saw a lot of really cool wildlife. It was like swimming in an aquarium! We swam with a pack of Manatees, sharks, sting rays, sea turtles, and all the most brightly colored fish you've ever seen. It was incredible! Hopefully my underwater disposible camera turns out some great pictues once we return home.
Tonight was our very last night of VBS. We had a great time with the children singing all our songs, doing skits, puppet show, games, crafts, gospel message, and all the other usual things we do. Some of them brought their parents, too, so after VBS was over we gathered up again to do our drama called "The Woman" for them, but it started rainging half way through it, so almost our entire audience took off for cover. Not sure what God's plan was there, but hmmm... okay.
Even though everything went very well logistically, today was probably the toughest day for me personally. I made a poor decision last night, which eventually led to a meeting with all the youth leaders this afternoon just to try to get on the same page together. We all have very different approaches to handling situations with the teens that it tends to create a lot of disunity among us. I was kinda emotionally drained coming into this trip, but now the responsibility of addressing inter-personal conflicts has drained my emotional batteries to about 0. I'm definitely running off the Lord's strength right now, which is where I need to be anyway. Pray that the Lord will bring us leaders together as one at least for this last day. These teenagers are all doing so awesome that they really deserve the best leadership team we can give them.
I'm all caught up on pictures now. Pictures from June 25-28 are online! Check 'em out here!
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Written by Tim Schmoyer
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Sunday, 29 June 2008 |
Belize Update - June 27
After waking up at our normal time, 6:30 AM, and doing an hour of quiet time with God from 7:00 to 8:00 AM, we ate breakfast on the roof of our hotel and went straight to the church to set up for our first morning of VBS. It started out slow since most of the children were late, but soon we had about 25 show up. VBS ended at lunch time and we all had the afternoon off to run around and do whatever. (I ended up in the Internet cafe waiting for all the pictures to upload for you guys.) Then this evening we did VBS again and afterward we had the children join us for a parade through the island. Tonight is the Lobster Festival, so there's a lot of people out, which worked great. Several people followed our parade and gathered around when we stopped in the middle of the festival. We introduced ourselves, Josie gave her testimony, and we did our drama called "The Woman." Immediately following the drama, we all spread out into the crowd to talk with people about Jesus. Several people received Christ tonight as a result! Praise God!
We'll spend tomorrow morning and early afternoon snorkling out of the reef. From everything we've heard, it's an amazing experience. We're all looking forward to it. And then we end VBS tomorrow night.
Thank you so much for all your prayers! Continue to pray for the lost people we come into contact with, that we could share Christ in meaningful ways that present the gospel as clearly as possible. Pray also that we will finish well and give every last ounce of energy and enthusiasm we have to the task before us as our trip draws to an end. Pray for the youth group kids who are on this trip, too. There's been a lot of positive life-change taking place among them and I pray despertly that it won't disappear a week after being back in America where everything around them, including their own natural sin nature, pushes them to again be self-centered, not Jesus-centered. I pray they'll continue their morning quiet times with the Lord and that they will intentionally live to make decisions based on His Word and how they reflect Him to others. I trust you parents are looking forward to helping encourage them in these areas, as well, as their teammate.
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