Church and Orphanage Day

Hello,

  Today was a day filled with many new experiences for our chaperones and students.  It started with our church service at Living Waters Fellowship Church.  We were all blown away from the singing and thoroughly entertained and challenged by the message from Pastor Frank.  Pastor Frank charismatically approaches his sermons with thought provoking ideas and with humor.   I have never seen anything like it.  His message on, "I am Church: We Need to be Different in How We Smell, Walk, Act, and Talk" was powerful.  To illustrate his points, pastor Frank walks, dances, imitates, bounces,and runs all over the room.  He sang "man in the mirror" by Michael Jackson and also referenced, Ghost Busters, Karate Kid, Jedi's, and much more.  At 1 point he was sticking his armpit in the congregations face and asking them how it smelt.   Many other things he talked about are impossible to write about, but please do ask your child.  3 of the scripture verses he chose are also grad verses from 1 of our 13 grad classes.  We all left the church feeling God's love and feeling challenged to be distinctly Christian in our walk with God.  It was truly a memorable 2 hours. 

After church, we walked back to camp and had a quick lunch of chicken fried rice.  I am certain that every traveller went for seconds.  We ate fast to try to maximize our time at the King's Children's Home.

We arrived the King's Childrens Home at 2:00pm.  Students were just eating lunch as we arrived so we had to wait about 10 minutes before we began interacting.  The children came out from lunch eager to play. However, at that time, a major storm blew over.  It rained as hard as I have ever seen and it became extremely windy.  Some students had fun in the deluge while others hid under shelter.  By 2:45, it was dry and we began really diving into playing and and working with the children from the home.

Most children from the home do have a living parent.   The home essentially is foster care for about 40 children from babies through to 18 years.  While many of the children do have a parent, many have also been at the home for years and see their parents on a limited basis (if at all).  

All of our students were fantastic in their interactions with the children.  The hugs, affection, and the children saying, "see you tomorrow" really pulls on all of our hearts.  The Childrens Home has moved to a new and nicer location.  The area does however confine us a bit more. However, all students were engaged. It is fun to see what age group each 1 of your children engage with.  Some students were immediately playing basketball with their peers from the home.  Some students we immediately holding sleeping babies.  Others would gravitate to those in the primary, intermediate, or middle years.  It is interesting to see how each 1 of our students is drawn/called to a certain age group.  It is a cool gift from God.  

On the way back from the home, we were able to watch the 2nd half of a soccer game in Belmopan that featured many of the boys that live at the YWAM Base.  Our students have really connected with their peers from the camp this trip.  The match looked just like a game at home.  The YWAM team has sharp orange jerseys, there were carded refs, and the game had a professional feel.  Our friends also were victorious 3-0.  The team appreciated our support.  Bryce even had us doing the "Wave".  

Devotions tonight were significant.  Team Thiessen lead us in prayer circles.  Tonight's devos were also a chance to reflect on a unique day.  Both the church service and the childrens home were as much a blessing to us as it was for those we visited/served.   Seeing a charismatic Church service in a developing country and being able to touch those at a foster home that have so much less than us both can be transformational times for our students.  It is important that we give our students a chance to process their emotions. Even as chaperones we spent nearly an hour reflecting on this special day that we can rejoice and be glad in it.

Some themes are emerging on this trip (every trip is different)  On the drive home from the caves yesterday afternoon, our students broke out into "10,000 reasons".  It was quite beautiful.  The 2nd song at the church today was 10,000 reasons.   It is quickly becoming the theme song of our journey as we worship His holy name in all we do.  God also continues to reveal himself through the power of prayer.  We have also seen God's grace first hand in several occasions, including the protection of our students.  I am thankful for the safety of all of our students, especially when they fall out of a tree:) 

Tomorrow is our last day of service.  We have 2 goals tomorrow to help us accomplish a main goal of the trip, supporting Christian education in a developing country.   In the morning, most of us (a small group will stay at the base to finish the concrete walkway) will go to Cayo to support Christian education with our hands.  We will be levelling their basketball field, helping them prepare for their upcoming science fair, and helping with odds and ends around the camp.  We will then have lunch at Spanish Lookout (all students and chaperones).  Following this, we will support Christian education with our words.  We will be running a chapel for the entire student body with the focus on prayer, surrender, and thanks.  Our chapel team and a handful of other students have really stepped up in their preparation for this opportunity to share with the students at Cayo.  I am excited to see everything come together.  

Blessings

MC