Moving!

Greetings once again, everyone!

Sorry again for the long delay in posts! Things have been busy since the break-in: there was a pastor training seminar here, so that took some time, but also a decision was made for me to move. This has not been an easy decision. The Nazarene campground has been my home for the last eight years and holds many wonderful memories for me. The Teck family was staying here when I first came, and helped me adjust to so many things. Of course I have many memories from the students at the school I used to run, but also from teams and pastors and other local people who come in for seminars. My family built my apartment for me, and I have been very comfortable and happy here. However, I have been praying about being more involved in a village, so I guess this will be a good change, albeit rather unexpected and sudden. Also, not quite the direction I had planned on moving, but God knows what He is up to!

I will be living in a K'ekchi community, so that will be a new challenge for me, since I speak Maya, and not K'ekchi. However, we have been praying for a K'ekchi co-worker, so this may be God's way of bringing that about.

I am partially moved, and hope to complete the process in the next couple of days. I'll be back with an update soon! Thank you for your continued prayers!

Great is His faithfulness!

Greetings everyone!

I am sure some of you have been wondering about the absence of a new update. This week has been an interesting one, and makes me stand back and thank God for His great faithfulness. He never fails us.

Monday and Tuesday were spent up in the capital checking on some details for the pig project. We came back Tuesday night to no electricity, making the place very dark. Sandra and I lit some candles and made the best of it. Electricity was still off Wednesday, so in the evening, we went to Big Falls to recharge computers and phones, and let Sandra iron her school uniform. We enjoyed Wednesday evening service there, as well as a cup of coffee and good conversation with Pastor Andres after service.

When Sandra and I arrived back home, we discovered my apartment had been broken into. In fact, the robbers must have been inside when we arrived, as they left many of their things behind, including the tools they had used to enter. A long night followed, I went to get the police and Clifford, and they searched unsuccessfully for the suspects.

The only things found missing were my lighters (for my gas stove), an envelope with a small amount of Guatemalan currency, and several pieces of chicken out of the pot on the stove. They had just been in the middle of searching my things when I arrived, minimizing the loss.

The next day, Clifford and Sabastian, the caretaker, followed the footprints to a house not far away. Once again they retrieved the police, and he detained a young man for questioning. That is the last information we have heard.

Sandra and I have spent the last few nights away from the Center, just to be on the safe side. However, most of all we are thankful for God's wonderful hand of protection... that we were gone when they came, but came back in time to scare them away. That they didn't take much, and we were even able to bless them with chicken!

Thank you so much for your prayers on our behalf. God is faithful to answer them. Please continue to lift us up before the throne of grace.

TS Matthew

Thank you for your prayers regarding Tropical Storm Matthew. According to forecasts, it was headed directly toward us with lots of rain. Even until noon Saturday, local news was issuing warnings, and we prepared accordingly. However, around two in the afternoon the rain stopped, the sun came out, and the storm was gone! We were thankful for God's mercy!

There was some flooding, but not more than we have had at other times with lots of heavy rain. The junction for the road that passes by the Nazarene Center where I stay was flooded, and we had the opportunity to pull a stranded vehicle out of the water. Otherwise, TS Matthew was pretty much a non-event here, and we are blessed!

Tropical Storm Matthew

Good Morning everyone! TS Matthew is supposed to be arriving here later today. It looks like a fairly mild storm, but carrying a lot of rain. Please pray that it does little damage and for everyone's safety. Rice harvest is under way here, so farmers stand to lose a lot.

Thank God for rain stains...

and for giving coworkers the wisdom to recognize them!

I told you last of the satellite dilemma... the installer was headed out of country for two weeks, and we need our dish realigned! Well, Clifford was able to remount it on the wall, but the problem was the alignment. We decided to try doing it ourselves by the slow process of move it a little and check. Well, it does rain a lot here in Belize, and the run off can stain things, things like satellite dishes that are under the edge of a roof. So, Clifford eyeballed the stains, set the dish accordingly, and... at the very time when my parents said they would pray for us to get aligned, the dish dropped on his head (ouch) and we got signal! After just a little bit more adjustment, we were all set! Praise the Lord! He is soooo good (and the lump on Clifford's head got better pretty quickly)!

So... the dish is aligned, we have satellite service, and things are rolling along.

We have spent a couple days looking at property for the pig project. Yesterday we found a beautiful piece, with a not so beautiful price! I guess we'll keep looking and praying for the Lord's direction.

We have been at the mechanic a little, fixing a few small things, but we also discovered that somehow the shocks I brought from the States were the wrong size! Oh well, we will have to see what best to do, since we can't just exchange them for new ones!

The person we had been hoping for as a coworker didn't work out, so please pray for direction there. Right now we are busy getting back into Bible study translation, researching the pig project, and otherwise getting back into the swing of things here. Thanks again for all of your prayers!

Back!!

It is soooo good to be back!

I didn't come down to Toledo right away, but instead spent a couple of days with my dear friend Irma, her husband, and her dear sweet boys in Belmopan (they moved up there while I was gone). We had a great time taking Randal (four) and Keithon (almost 2) to the zoo.

We have successfully moved the office things back to the Center from San Jose, and are trying to get things settled in their proper places again. We did find a little glitch, as the man who has to realign the satellite dish for the internet was headed out of the country for three weeks... so we are without internet for the meantime. I thought I would post a quick update from town so that everyone would know I arrived safe and sound!

I will update more as we get connection again later!

Thanks for your prayers and support!

Gearing up for return

Greetings everyone!

It has been such a joy to meet so many new faces and reunite with familiar ones over this Summer as I have been at various churches! I am blessed by the encouragement and support for God's work in Belize.

I had the privilege of meeting a dear woman who has been faithfully supporting our ministry for a number of years, without even knowing me. What a joy to spend the weekend at her home! It is good to be a part of the family of God.

I am in the countdown of preparation to return to Belize this next week. Please pray that I would remember any final details, and have a blessed last few days with my family. I am looking forward to my return to Belize, but saying goodbye is never fun.

Rejoicing in His love,

Rebecca