One of my greatest joys as I work in Belize is seeing God
working through the lives of those around me. I wish I had the time to relate
more incidents in this blog, but an instance several weeks ago was a particular
blessing.
In January of this year, Clifford and a young married man from Big
Falls, Julio Chub, were responsible for hosting a remarkable youth rally at Big
Falls. As a result of this event, a number of young men in San Jose, Clifford’s
home village, became interested in attending church. The next month, Clifford
became the host of the Wednesday night services in San Jose, which the church
board designated as a special service for young people. Of course, the adults
are still present and active in the services, but it provides a special
opportunity for the young people to participate in leading songs and sharing
verses, while the messages are usually geared to encouraging the young people
to follow God with their lives.
The influence of Clifford’s life has quickly become evident
as the young guys look up to him and rally around the services and other
events. A recent outreach was a great example of Clifford’s leadership. He has
been involved in a project to finish up the construction of the new church
building in San Benito Poite, and it needed just a little more work on the
plastering of the walls and sealing the windows. He invited the young men from
his church to join him in this effort one morning. He set out early Wednesday
morning in the pickup to meet the guys (who were travelling on the public transportation
bus) at 5:15 by the junction.
I travelled to Poite a little later on the motorcycle and
was blessed by what I saw. 13 young men and the pastor (Clifford’s father) had
come, at their own expense) to help Clifford with the project. These guys ranged
in age from 13 to 20, and were all busy working. It was an impressive sight.
Joyful laughter accompanied their diligent labors, all under the watchful eye
of Clifford, who alternately lead by example and walked around encouraging the
others in their labors. No one complained when he gave direction or made
corrections. God has truly blessed him with an amazing set of leadership skills
and integrity of character that has made him an inspiring leader for the
younger guys. I came away that day with a sense of hope that God will raise up
a new generation to seek and serve Him. My prayer is that they would take up
the torch of truth and grow to know the Lord in greater ways than the
generation before them.
A few pictures of the guys:
 |
| The Boss Man himself :) |
 | ||
| The "German" work & witness team :) |
Since much of the church building work here in Belize is
done by Work and Witness teams, I was informed that this team was from Germany.
They had great fun playing up the part, asking me questions as if they were
newcomers to the area. The joyful spirits and diligent work was a delightful
mix.
Posts
