A Day of Finding Joy in Hard Work

It is 10:30pm. Aside from a handful of tarantula hunters (who so far have only encountered a large unidentifiable rodent), all of the students are in their rooms, and their rooms are a buzz with laughter and random joyous yelling.  Given the busyness of the day, my hunch is that it will quiet down soon.

First off, our students were fantastic today.  Today was our day where we worked at both YWAM and Cayo Christian Academy to lend a helping hand.  Students were challenged to show up with their hands and to serve well.  Our students rose to this challenge and did just that.  At 3:00pm, students could have shut down for today, however, every student chose to keep working.  At Cayo Christian, the construction students completed one dozen bookshelves.  The girls on the trip painted picnic tables, washed tables, and helped the construction boys.  At YWAM, the remaining boys began work patching up the suspension bridge, digging trenches, painting cabins, and cleaning the meeting area. 

 

At 1:00pm, we all went to Spanish Lookout for Pizza and Ice Cream. Spanish Lookout is a Mennonite village in the hills of Belize nearby Cayo Christian Academy.  The Canadian/German Mennonites of Belize are quite traditional.  Most appear to make their own clothing and some use horse and buggy to transport their copious amounts of gargantuan watermelons and mangoes to and fro.  Air conditioning, a smorgasbord of pizza, and Belizian Ice Cream (with flavours that include Sweet Corn, Sour Sop, Lychee, and Kiwi) gave the students the refresher they needed to finish the day strong.  

After lunch and a brief shopping stint at the store in Spanish Lookout, we headed back to work.  Some of the construction students traded roles, giving Mark some new workers at Cayo.  Students dove back into their work at the camp as well, with some solid work being done on the bridge.  The girls groups planned out their devotions.  Because there was less work at the end of the day, the girls volunteered to help clean up after dinner.  Right up to 6:00pm, we still had our students hard at work.  We had to force many to stop.  As chaperones, we were so proud of each and every one of them.

Devotions tonight was led by Ms. Jenkins group.  The focus was on Matthew 10 and students were asked to focus on something in their own lives that they would like to give up or change.  It was powerful hearing what all students wrote (in anonymity).   I was proud of our students for being open to share and to be vulnerable.  This openness will pay off as we continue to be called to and seek transformational opportunities on the trip.

One of the oddest sites I have encountered in Belize was when I was driving to pick up the construction crew from Cayo at the end of the day.  A traditional Belizian Mennonite man was in the back of a small 80s pickup truck driving down the highway and beside him in the back was a full grown horse.  To see a grown man in traditional garb standing beside a horse in the back of a truck that is going 90kms on a Belizian highway is a site to be seen.  #classicbelize  .  Sorry, the photo was taken while driving the bus so it is not super clear.  I recognize that taking a photo while driving a bus is not legal in Canada, but I doubt standing in the back of a truck with a horse is either:)

Tomorrow is a big day.  We are spending the full day at Cayo Christian Academy.  We will begin the day by leading Cayo Christian Academy in a chapel service.  This will be followed by our sports camps and then our hot dog feast.  After this, we will have our biannual Belize vs Canada soccer match, where I hope to repeat getting "golden boot" trophy:)))))    It will be draining to be out in the sun for six straight hours.  Students will have plenty of water and we will rotate our students to seek shade near leafy plants, however, the sun will still be taxing on all of us.  Please do keep this in your prayers.  I will write more about Cayo Christian Academy tomorrow, but it is a Christian middle and high school where 90% of the students are sponsored by Americans and Canadians to attend. I find the students to be so similar to students in our schools. I am prayerful that it will be an amazing day of relationship building for both Unity and Cayo.

Please do send messages through the blog, the students love to hear from you:)

Blessings

MC