I turned 24 in Belize!

Who would have thought that I would have spent my 24th birthday in the tropical country of Belize. Definitley not me! Wednesday was my birthday and the day turned out to be a lot harder than I had expected. It's the first time I've been away from home and not able to spend the day with my family. I tried to distract myself of my emotions by heading to the school. I hadn't been for a couple of days, so the kids were pretty pumped to see me. They are so sweet, and it was such a wonderful treat to spend the day with them. Wedensday evening consisted of having Bible Study at the church. Some of the women have been meeting diligently every week to discuss the upcoming Sunday's readings, and they asked if I would like to join them....they didn't have to ask me twice, I was so excited to be able to meet with them. It was a small intimate study. Myself, Miss Lorna and Miss Bridget were there, along with Miss Bridget's neice Chelsea and nephew Cameron. Our discussion was great. The women of the parish are very passionate about their faith, it's so inspiring. They are strong women and God is at work in their lives. Miss Lorna then suprised me with a home made birthday cake. Chelsea grabbed one of the extra candles for the altar, set it next to my cake and lit a match. She and Cameron watched intently as I made a wish and blew out the flame. It almost made me cry. Drinks were provided by Chelsea and Cameron (fruit punch) and we had a wonderful little party in the church.

I've spent the last couple of days taking it pretty easy as the beginning of my week was quite hectic. I've spent some time working on my sermon and have found that the Lagoon is a wonderful place to go sit, and be inspired. I woke up this morning, headed out to the water side and got to writing. It was great. I came back just in time to open the church for Chelsea, Cameron and TanLynn three of the children from the parish who were sent over to sweep, mop and dust the church. Not knowing what was going on, I helped out - found out later, it's their weekly job and that I didn't need to help out, just needed to be around to open the church. It was great to hang out with them and talk to them. They are a wonderful group of kids. It's very encouraging knowing that they are members of the church. They have great leadership potential! Very exciting for the church!

Since I last posted, my veranda, has turned into a sunbathing spot for a particular smelly, dirty, ugly stray dog. He comes up the stairs, and climbs through the fence part of my porch and basks in the sun all day. I have to kick him off every morning. He's a sneaky sucker too. He'll leave when I kick him out, but he doesn't stray far, he keeps an eye out and waits until I'm gone and then climbs back up the stairs. When he sees me coming he leaves. So we have to put some wood over the fence as my veranda smells like gross dog.

I'm heading over to Placencia tomorrow afternoon and will be spending the evening with Miss. Sonia, one of the parishioners from St. John's Anglican Church in Placencia. Sunday morning I will be leading a service there and then boating back to Mango Creek to lead the service here. I have every intention of coming over to Miss Lorna's house and relaxing at her place as it is a lot more comfortable then mine. And it's nice to be able to spend the afternoon with people. Monday is my day off and I haven't decided what to do. I'll probably stick in Mango Creek again, but am hoping that next week I can hop a bus and ride up to Belize City for a couple of days to spend some time with the Sampson Family.

Please continue to keep me in prayer. I'm still homesick, I think I'm going to be homesick until the day I have to leave and once I get back to Canada will be homesick for Belize. I don't want to be, but I can't help but be. Particularly when I'm alone so much. I also ask that you pray for my health and strength. I'm still struggling with worrying about not having enough to do, this is one aspect of the ministry down here that I need to embrace and learn from, it's just really hard to do, coming straight from the busyness of Toronto. Hope you are well!!! Take care for now!

love,
Chelsy