Friendships Abound

It is 9:00pm at night, and we just finished celebrating during devotions a fantastic day of being in community at Cayo Christian Academy.  The kids were eager to share about being blessed by being a blessing and were able to share about connecting deeper with God during times where we throw ourselves out there and admit our vulnerabilities.  It was a great sharing time.  I am very proud of our students and of our school today.

 It has been unseasonably (without seasons can something be unseasonable) cool at night and we have been fortunate to have day time temps that hover around 30 degrees. While humid and warm, it could easily be 7-8 degrees warmer.  At night, we have had a few students and 1 chaperone (Rauwerda)  ask for blankets.  6 weeks ago, we saw 3.5 feet of snow fall in Chilliwack and now we are asking for more blankets in an equatorial country.  #classiccanadians

Yesterday was a day to serve with our hands and today was a day to serve through relationship. Our grade 12 construction crew worked on the shelving for Cayo and 3 boys worked on the bridge at YWAM with Jeff from 10:00-1:30. Other than this, our students spent the full day at Cayo Christian Academy building friendships.

Our morning started with a drive to Spanish Lookout to pick up our hot dogs for the lunchtime feast. We arrived at camp and dove right into our chapel.  Cayo Christian School welcomed us and sang their school song and then our students led a fantastic chapel.    We sang Amazing Grace and Oceans and then two of our students prepared mini-sermons/testimonies.  Anna shared about her love for soccer but also talked about how blessed she has been when she has given up soccer to spend time with God.   She connected so well with the 147 students from Cayo and our 32. 

After Anna spoke, Luke shared his story for over 15 minutes.  Luke spoke with authenticity and vulnerability.  All eyes and ears were completely focused on him.  He had the crowd on the edge of their seats and there were many misty eyes, It was definitely one of the best messages for male youth that I have ever heard.  I don’t feel I can dive into his story through type, but I relistened to his closing from a recording and was able to type it out.  I share this with Luke’s permission.

“I love God and I am hoping that he continues to weave all of my mistakes, bad decisions, good decisions, and accomplishments into some kind of organized chaos that is His plan for me. I hope for everyone to come to know his peace and realize there is hope, Because of some crazy awesome amazing miracle, I found it.  Now I am in Belize sharing my testimony, that is pretty cool, and I hope to do some more travels and experience different cultures, but more so develop a deep loving relationship with my heavenly Father along the way, and learn even more about the everlasting joy that comes with it. Sometimes we have to brought to our knees before we understand God’s grace and before we find a genuine need to invest or all in him. That’s my story”.  sound of mic dropping and a massive applause.

Thank you Anna and Luke for your awesome messages.

From 10:00-12:00, we ran our sports camps.  This went so well; it was hard to stop at noon for hot dogs.  The kids were organized and excited to build relationship through play.  We ran stations of football, skipping, basketball, kickball, and volleyball. 

At lunch, we had the hot dog feast that our students raised funds for.  Cayo Christian Academy was excited about the feast.  Glass bottles of coke, sprite, and Fanta were readily available to quench our thirst from the Belizean sun.  It is very cool that we can feed over 200 people well or under 200 dollars. On Monday, we hope to feed 400.

After lunch, we had our biannual Unity vs Belize soccer game.  There was some trash talking before chapel as Belize wanted the championship belt back.  The game started as a defensive battle, with limited scoring chances on either side.  D. Both and Luteyn put up a wall in front of team captain, Leiper.  Unity managed to get a couple looks on counter attacks and through their flashy play on the wings, but only managed 1 early shot on the formidable Belizean keeper.  The best scoring opportunity came when wing, Visser found center-mid, Campbell, who placed an impeccable pass to striker S. Kooyman.  Kooyman narrowly missed the net to the displeasure of the Canadian fans. VanDyk was a bright spot for the Canadians, utilizing Frayn, Visser, and Koning on the wings.   Near the end of the half, the Belizean striker finally broke through the brick wall that was Canadian keeper Leiper and put one through the net in the top corner.  In the 2^nd half, the pace of play slowed down due to some strategic substitutions.  In the 58^th minute, Rauwerda subbed Campbell in an attempt to inject some energy and in an attempt to stabilize Unity’s lacking set pieces.    Unity had several opportunities to score, led by the excellent push from L. Zanberg, Luteyn, and Bruneski, but to their dismay, the 3 Canadian female strikers (Driesen, C.Kooyman, and Jongerden) were possibly distracted by the reasonably attractive defensive players from Belize.  Several scoring chances were missed because of laughter and chit chat between the 2 countries.  A late goal by the Belizeans sealed Canada’s fate as they fell 2-nill. J. Zandberg came in as a late sub and tried to rally the team through a physical style, event though he should have received 3 red cards at minimum. The loan bright spot on this cloudy game was the excellent camera work by Demian who meandered through the teams during play and picked up footage that will help the Canadians seek to win their belt back in 2019.

After the match, we closed in a small chapel with Cayo Christian Academy.  Three of our students (Charmain, Shae, and Devan) and 3 Belizean students each spoke about something they enjoyed about the day.  For the Belizean students, it was the hot dogs, sports, and laughter.  For the Canadian students, it was the recognition that students at Cayo Christian in Belize are so similar to students from Unity Christian in Chilliwack.  Granted, 90% of the students are sponsored to attend the school and most of the students likely have less than most of our students. However, our two Christian Schools merged for one day and we celebrated Christ together in sport, friendship, food, laughter, and togetherness.  It was a fantastic day.

Mark Huberts Construction crew completed 12 bookshelves.  They were appraised at 7200 US dollars when completed and only cost 2000 US dollars to build.  The students were excited to hear this and we did talk during devotions about how building would be such an employable skill in Belize.  Jeff Vermette's group did great work on the bridge into the YWAM base and still wants to find a few hours to make it even better (so awesome).

On the way home we made a quick visit to the Art Box and then a quick stop by a grocery store.  One of our chaperones exclaimed that he didn’t realize how much candy high school students eatJ At least it is Belizean/Mexican candy.

Before we had dinner, we had an hour to cool down in the creek. Some of the kids from the YWAM Camp, Javon, Zylan, Tractor, and Reed joined us. 

This leads back to my opening.  Our devotions tonight provided a chance for our students to thank Anna and Luke for their willingness to share their praises and struggles.  It was also a cogent chance to reflect on vulnerability, surprise blessings, and on relationship.  Students were challenged to keep Cayo Christian Academy in their prayers.  Cayo has seen a decline in enrolment and has asked Unity to pray for them as they continue to try to serve the Lord in Belize.  This is a fantastic prayer item.

Our students have really stepped it up on this trip.  The boys that led devos tonight led with afaith-filled confidence (as did our chapel leaders this morning). In general, all of our students have exceeded expectations in attitude, leadership, confidence, and team-building.  I overheard a couple of students talk about how they are all becoming friends when they never talk at school.  These past two days have been beyond exception.

Tomorrow, the students can sleep an hour later and we head out for our zip lining and cave tubing day. 

Please do keep sending messages, the kids love it when I read them out during our meeting timesJ

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

And not a creature was stirring.

It is almost 10:00pm, and Jeff Vermette and I are blogging from the far corner of the YWAM Camp in a field where one can find a faint wifi signal.  Every child and every other chaperone has been asleep for over an hour.  We had a positive meeting and devotional time at 8:00pm and everyone scurried to bed immediately after.   It was a long journey to Belize, but the kids were in good spirits throughout the day.

We landed in Belize at about noon Belize time (MST).  Aside from one baggage mishap, we cleared customs smoother than ever before.  Santi (director of YWAM Banana Bank) picked us up and we had a fun bus ride drinking Coke and Fanta out of glass bottles and getting acclimatized.  After about an hour we reached our lunch destination, Cheers.  Here, the kids ordered burgers, tamales, stew, french fries, quesadillas, and nachos and we enjoyed 1.5 hours in the shade with a gentle breeze.  The food was great and there was certainly a feeling of excitement about being in Belize.

From Cheers, we drove for another 30 minutes to the YWAM Camp in Roaring Creek (across the road from Belmopan).   Students disembarked and braved the suspension bridge into camp.  I drove the bus around to camp with the luggage.

At camp, the students went swimming in the river.  Unfortunately, the river was ravaged by hurricane Earl last Summer and is still in need of some gentrification to get it back to the river we loved in 2015. The kids still had a great time swimming, jumping, and getting bit by little fish that feast on dead skin.

After the river, our students got to know the local soccer players.  The YWAM camp opens it's doors everyday to any youth that want to play soccer from around Roaring Creek.  In this region, only about 20-30% of children know who their father is.  The YWAM Camp provides amazing ministry to children of all ages, allowing them to play sport and have something to be excited about after school. The chaperones with children all reflected on our own children living in this culture.  These little soccer players are fantastic.  In fact, several of the players are now making teams at the national level.  It has been a providentially amazing thing to see this program grow each time we come.  It is equally amazing seeing children from ages 5-20 running down the road with their cleats after school so eager to be in community.   Several of our students played in a game with the 1st division players from Belmopan.  By my account, we lost 1-0, but it might have been 6-0.

The howler monkeys were out early tonight and put on an above average vocal performance for all of us.  These little creation treats certainly pack a punch with their voices.

We had chicken and rice for dinner and then I lead our devotions on Psalm 33:12 and Job 12:7-10.  The students were able to reflect in abundance on observations they have already made in their short stay here.  I am looking forward to seeing where these reflections lead us during out transformational time in Belize.

This is my 6th trip to Belize and 4th with Unity.  It has been a blessing for me to be able to experience this trip with so many of our graduates.  I thought today that there are several siblings on this trip of students who have attended before.  These siblings were able to recall experiences from their brothers and sisters through seeing things themselves today.  Field trips, service trips, arts trips, and sports trips are such an integral part of Unity Christian School.   It is so much fun being a part of so many of these experiences with your children over the years.  It reminds me that Unity is a special place.

Thank you for your prayers, they are felt by all of us:)

Blessings

Mike

Westjet Succes

Hello,
   Happy to report that it was smooth sailing through ticketing and security.  The experiment to switch to Westjet has so far proven to be successful.  It was a much easier process than our 2015 adventure of flying through Seattle and the humanitarian luggage was no problem as well.

Thank you to our bus drivers Marilyn and Cheryl:)

The kids were fantastic.  They helped other travellers with their luggage and even helped an older gentlemen after he dropped his flowers.

Our flight to Toronto is on time and departs at 10:35.  It is flight 724.  We then depart Toronto for Belize at 9:15am Toronto time (6:15 our time) on flight 2604.  This means, provided you are not milking, when you awake in the morning, we will be off to Belize (DV).

I will post pics at the end of each day to Unity's facebook when able.

Blessings

MC

Flying to Seattle

Hello,
   The hardest part of our travel is now past us.  While it is always a journey, we all did clear customs in Houston with about 10 minutes to spare to catch our flight to Seattle.  The plane is set to land at 11:50 and I hope we will be on the road by 12:30.  This should put us at Unity at 3:30am.  I am sure by noon tomorrow, you will be able to hear some great stories:)

Thank you for all of your prayers.  Our travel was exceptionally smooth today.  For as unorganized as United was when we left Seattle last week, they were equally extremely organized today.

See you in 5.5 hours:)

MC

At the Airport

Hello,
   We didn't have wifi last night, so I apologize for the late post.  We are currently checking in a the Belize airport, preparing for our long journey home.

Yesterday was a fantastic day.  Students and chaperones alike loved the snorkelling and Cay Caulker adventure.  5 dolphins even greeted us as we took off by jet boat from the Ramada Hotel.  Although 1km out at sea, those dolphins seem to always be there.  I am assuming they are paid dolphins who work professionally for the tour groups.  An hour out into the Caribbean we were able to do our first snorkel.   Here, on the edge of the 2nd largest reef in the world, we were greeted by many Dories and Nemos once our masks went in the water.  We all snorkelled for about 45 minutes.  Upon arrival back to the boat, some students used the top deck as a diving board and jumped back in. I will upload a few great shots to my facebook when I have a moment.

We then boarded and went about another km to shallower water.  Here, we were greeted by dozens of sting rays and a half a dozen nurse sharks.  Those who braved the water were able to swim within inches of these wondrous creatures.    A couple sting rays played shy and buried themselves in the sand, but most were eager to hang out with our group (or maybe to eat the sardines we brought).  A few students and chaperones had the bonus view of a barracuda.

We then spent 2 hours on Cay Caulker.  This small sandspit in the middle of the ocean (not literally, but 10km from the mainland), is a great place to walk barefoot on the sandy roads.  Students had lunch, walked along the beach and shops, and then met at the Split.  The Split is a small ocean opening  hat cuts through the Island from a previous hurricane. It is the popular swimming spot.  A few student got creative and rented paddleboards to add to the experience.  We all had a great time.

We then reluctantly had to board our yacht and head back to Belize City.  Here, we took some time applying our make up and nicer attire at the hotel before boarding the bus and van to head back to a restaurant at Old Belize (the Belizian version of Fort Langley).    While their may not have been enough servers, the food was excellent as we ate at tables with the ocean below us.  We were at Old Belize for approximately 2.5 hours before our journey back to camp.

This morning, students said their goodbyes, some had a final dip in the river, and we cleaned up.

Since the last post, It is evident that God has been at work in a number of ways with both our students and our chaperones.  Many of our chaperones and our students have had clear moments where God has revealed himself in a new way.  The staff at the YWAM Camp, the students at the home and school, and the many leaders we met along the way all connected with our chaperones and students in amazing ways.  Each person's experience will be different, but I have seen some really cool things happen in the last couple of days.  Do take time to process with your child when they get home.

A special thank you to our chaperones as well, they have been amazing.  Each of them has provided great mentorship, encouragement, and prayer to every student.  I am so thankful for them.  This has been a transformational trip for them as well.  I have loved working with them and have some great new friends:)

Okay, all children are now through security in Belize.   I will try to send an update just before we take off in Houston.

See you in 12 hours:)

MC

Monday at Cayo Christian

Hello,

   It is hard to believe that we have already been away for 5 days.  We only have 1 more day left in Belize .  Today was a day spent serving at Cayo Christian Academy.  In the morning, a group of students and chaperones stayed at the camp to finish pouring concrete for a sidewalk.    The rest of the team headed down to Cayo Christian Academy.  Here, students washed walls, moved dirt, and setup tents for a science fair.  All of our students were keen to work for the 3 hours we spent there. 

For lunch, we ventured up to Spanish Lookout.  Spanish Lookout was built by Canadian Mennonites who moved to Belize decades ago because of a school act that mandated families to send their children to public school.     Spanish Lookout houses much of the industry in Belize, including water, oil, and dairy.   It is certainly the most developed area in Belize.  We had a pizza lunch at Western Dairy.  Students were also able to purchase ice cream products featuring flavours such as sour sop, craboo, and even more mysterious, vanilla.    

We then headed back in a rainstorm to Cayo Christian to lead a chapel.  Our students really stepped up to lead this.  Steven lead worship, Sydney and Matt performed a skit on the Lord’s Prayer, Andrea, Vivienne, and Alex read scripture, and Bri and Steven shared a small part of their testimony.  I was blessed to see our students lead with such heart.  They were amazing.  The chapel also included the Belizian national anthem, the Cayo Christian Academy song,  and the Belizian prayer.  The chapel closed with a local pastor thanking Unity for their work and gifts to Cayo.  We all raised our hands towards the shed that the construction team built and prayed together.  Before we left, we spent a final 30 minutes finishing up the projects from the morning.

Students then earned a nice long swim in the river. 

Tonight, we had our biannual camp fire.  The students are tired tonight. Typically, we sit around the fire for hours. Tonight, the fire crowd scattered faster as there was much activity around the camp.  Students are currently hanging out in smaller groups.  They are reflecting, praying, stargazing, and socializing with their peers.  It has been a great trip and the students need to find time to process and pray for all that they have seen and done.  Well this isn’t a missions trip, it is a trip where we are supporting many missionaries.   It is also a transformational time for our students.  God is pulling on each of our student’s hearts in different ways.  Keep praying for all of our students.

One story I forgot to mention from yesterday.    One of the boys rooms left their door to their room open.  A friendly bat decided to bunk with them.  When 1 of our chaperones went to the room, he caught many of our boys attempting to kill the bat on the ceiling by using machetes.  Matt Luteyn was able to take the bat down with his machete and was crowned “batslayer”.   It is quite the image to picture boys with machetes on the top of bunk beds trying to get a bat.  I will try my best to ensure it doesn’t happen againJ

Tomorrow we head out early for our beach day.  This is always such a great creation treat.  Our students will be tripled screened up before they plunge into the Caribbean Sea.  We will hopefully see some rays, sharks, and a cornucopia of fish.  It will be nice to spend the afternoon at Cay Caulker and to stop at Old Belize for dinner on the way home.   I may not post tomorrow, but will certainly update you on our travel plans for Wednesday.  Please do check my facebook page for pics as well:)

Blessings