Define Good?

It's holiday time and I had to share this picture... "Define good" This "Santa" will take a crack at it:

1. A child who has parents with full heads of naturally colored hair.

2. Hey is that a glass jar in your hands? What you do next my factor into the definition.

3. That grin... while it's very, very cute is there "good" behind it or are you planning something?

4. No... just being you is good buddy!

Every kid should have one of these t-shirts don't you think? It's so neat to share the excitement of Christmas with the kids. Janae asks very regularly, "is it Christmas daddy?" They're so impressed by the trees and the lights. And while the also are excited to celebrate "Jesus' birthday" (mostly because that probably means cake) I can hardly wait for them to understand the meaning of the rest of the season.

We're excited that thousands of families in Southeast Asia will hear the Christmas message over the next weeks. I'm looking forward to sharing the stories of the season real soon. Actually Terri may be able to give better account. Her ticket is booked and she's heading out to help lead the team that will travel out to India in January. We're both very excited that she gets to be involved in this event (and I'm pretty excited to spend a little extra time with the kids. Like taking Janae to dance class... is there anything cuter than a dozen kids hopping around the room waving garland and glitter filled wands. It's a wonder a guy doesn't melt into a helpless pile of goo.

Long Time?

Yes, it's true... enough said...

Just to give a quick update. It's pretty simple... The first half of the month was a blur and the second was relatively uneventful. That's the short and sweet.

CCI Update...

For a graphically appealing/magazine type update I suggest checking out our online newsletter at http://www.childrenscampsinternational.com/images/hopeupdatemagazine.pdf. There's some neat stories and updates in there and we look forward to putting a publication like this out more often (as there's been a real positive response).

In the office (and overseas) we're still pushing toward some lofty goals for year end and it's exciting to see God constantly accomplish the impossible. Over the past couple weeks we've seen exciting answers to prayer... just when it seemed that what we felt God called us to do this year was way out of reach (and we were ready to resign ourselves to the "next year") then God pours out His provision and puts those goals... just beyond our finger tips. So they're not quite in reach yet... does that mean we pray harder or work harder... The Sunday School answer is obviously pray, while the human nature says work... That makes me laugh... I wonder if God finds us as funny as I do? This day by day, trusting God thing... balanced with faithfully working with all your strength... is it a balance we ever figure out? (That's when I laugh and think... sure... then you die!)

So life is good... Lots and lots of laughs!

THE FAMILY

I should really post a picture of our cute little dancer. Janae just started dance lessons and it was quite fun to watch. She truly is a dancer at heart... but seemed to dance to a difference beat then the rest of the class... don't give in to peer pressure sweetheart! Be your own person!

What to do with a restless night...

I think a good place to start with any hurdle or "problem" is a little bit of humour. Sometimes I think, "How can I not laugh? If I don't laugh I might cry, or be angry, etc." Laughing is a lot more fun than the other responses. So what's making me laugh these days? Just some silly restless nights. But there's good news! There's something purposeful to do with a restless night and it all began with laughing for me.

It was 2 or 3 or 4 am, I've lost track, and I asked, "God why am I awake, again!?!" While the obvious reason that was Jace crying in the next room I thought there might be more to this question than what was on the surface. As I was rocking Jace in his room I got my laugh in and then I was reminded of the story of Samuel. You might remember Samuel as a little boy hearing what he thought was the voice of Eli calling out in the night. Only it wasn't Eli's voice... it was actually God. So to figure out my own dilemma of a now restless night I thought why not read the story again? Here's a couple of my thoughts so far.

The book of 1 Samuel begins saying that it was a time when people didn't hear from the Lord. God seemed to be "silent." That's easy to identify with right? I must admit God seems pretty silent most of the time to me. When God spoke Samuel didn't recognize the voice (or he rather "mis-recognized" the voice). I wonder how often does that not describe me? I think God is silent, then when He does speak I think it's something else (like Eli's voice... or Jace...) There was purpose for Jace waking me up. God simply wanted to spend time together. So often I've resisted the late night calling. Mostly for the obvious reason that at night we sleep. It's funny how I strive to hoard as much sleep at night as possible thinking that if I don't succeed tomorrow I will be tired. The funniest thing is, and perhaps you've noticed this for yourself, whether I get just a couple hours of sleep or 10+ I'm always tired. So my thought is night time is actually not for sleep but rather for rest. How are those different you might ask... Simple... if sleep doesn't leave me feeling rested, as you think it should, maybe rest can be found in another place as well. Now I'm sounding ridiculous aren't I? I'm not proposing that I'll give up sleeping (I love to sleep... and to defend my Sunday afternoon habit... lazyboy snoozes in front of a football game are the most restful!) My thought is that maybe sleep is not the only way to combat my tiredness. That night that I was describing before... when Jace woke me up... I had some incredible prayer time and in the morning I felt more rested than I had in a long time.

The other day someone stopped by the office advocating a greater level of "self-care"... spending more time on ourselves... watching TV, sleeping, on vacation, etc. He said that even Jesus himself did... however, he didn't really ever mention where in the Bible this is recorded. In fact I've heard this same argument over and over (from some of the most tired people I know) that rest is found in places of recreation and "self-care." I just want to share that I've found a better place of rest... toiling in prayer (had just written prayer but needed to add toiling because sometimes prayer can be a lot of work - more than passively leaving messages and requests on God's "answering machine").

So, Jace's late night alarms are now a little bit more welcome... not a lot... but a little. I encourage everyone to consider their late night alarms. Maybe it's not the voice of "Eli"... children... stresses... etc. God could just be trying to speak to us in this "silent" age and we're too distracted by our sleep.

When God Speaks

At times it's so cool to have confirmation of the "speaking" you hear in your devotion time. However, the last reflection I shared revolved around what I heard God speaking about tragedy and I sensed Him saying, "This is going to be important this week." That night I received a phone call that one of the members of my small group had taken his own life. That was a moment that I wished that message had "just been something in my head." So my apologies for not updating more regularly over the past 2 weeks. Every time I came to write I found myself so distracted by the obvious thoughts that revolve around an event like this.

It was a dark week that had many glimmers of light along the way. I had many great, late-night MSN conversations with some of the other members of my small group. We also had some great times of sharing, reflection and worship together. However, you always wish that it could have been under different circumstances.

When I think about the book of Acts I see a bit of a theme of "Satan tries to do something bad to the church and God turns it into something good." For example, the persecution of the church. It seems to be pretty bad in the life of the church but when you look again it seems to be the catalyst that begins a huge missionary movement as persecuted people flee to different areas. I think the events of the past weeks will have the same effect. It seems when there is tragedy there's heightened spiritual awareness. Please pray for us as a group that God would steer the "momentum" of the situation that many youth would come to a deeper relationship with him (already the youth room was packed with 100 sweaty youth this week!)

The coming week promises to be equally busy with our CCI fundraising banquets coming up. We'll hold on and wait for Tuesday!

Remember your first love...

Well at least the weather is updated on this blog everyday... So if for nothing else I hope you come for that. Over the last days I haven't updated much because though it was busy I didn't think the tasks of the week were of particular interest. However, during these busy/uninteresting times I think I will share a little about my times of reflect and devotions - it seems the past week or so have been really good.

As some may know, because you see me hobbling around most mornings, I make a habit of going for a nice long run at least 3 times a week. I find these times to be great times of prayer and reflection (chances are I'm praying for you during these times so if you'd like more specific prayer let me know). Over the past weeks I've been reading the book of Revelation (something I typically avoid because I'd really prefer to understand just a little bit of what I'm reading.) Something that has been rolling around in my head is this passage from Revelation 2:

1"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: 2I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

The simple phrase, "Remember your first love," seems to repeat in my mind during my prayer time. As I thought about this and as I prayed for you I thought of the stresses and tragedies that we face on a regular basis. Then I remembered, "what assurance we have in our first love." Even if everything on earth was lost nothing can take away our first love. We were born into a lost and often cruel world but we've been given an amazing "first love." So I'll continue to pray that Christ will be your first love, as I also pray for myself. May you be encouraged each day with the assurance you have in the security of His love!

The Belizean Summer Is Complete

Mission Accomplished!

Thanks to all who have been coming to this site for updates from Belize. It certainly has been a pleasure to be the middle man in relaying all that God is doing in Belize. In the coming weeks I will create a special spot for updates from Belize where you can quickly find out what's new with Alex and the Belizean ministry. If you're interested you can also stick around for personal updates from the CCI office and Zacharias family.

I talked again briefly with Alex yesterday afternoon to get a general sense of the summer. All in all things went very, very well. Of course your mind always drifts toward the things that could improve but when you consider the culture and all the curve balls that fields things when miraculously well. I'm quite optimistic with time ahead of us next year will make huge steps on the strong foundations laid after this summer.

Unfortunately the past 2 camps didn't go as well as we hoped. The last camp in Belize City offered a few challenges in staff and camper attendance. As per the culture it is easy to say "yes" to things that need to be done and then not actually follow through on your commitments. Lesson learned and things will improve in the future!

For much of the same reason the final camp in San Pedro needed to be cancelled altogether. While there is still a lot of potential for the future this year was somewhat disappointing... But again we move forward!

The cancellation meant that Alex had some time for reconnecting with previous staff which will surely go a long way in building the future of the ministry. It's not often that youth have someone show genuine interest in them like Alex does and I'm certain it speaks volumes to them.

Also, Alex finally had a little time to take a breather... hopefully there will be a little more in the future! Well done Alex! And did I hear congratulations are in order?!?

Contact!

I finally spoke with Alex (very briefly) this morning just to confirm he was safe and well. He mentioned that contact has been difficult with much of the internet service being down and many of the other internet service locations being closed due to the hurricane.

I plan to speak with him later today to get more details of the past couple weeks. We're hoping the internet will be back in service (which is much more economical than phoning) but if need be I will give him a call again - so, I should have an update posted later today or tomorrow.

Sorry, No Info

For those coming for info regarding camps in Belize... I have not been able to get a hold of Alex for a while. He's sent me a brief email that camps have wrapped up for the season and he's just seeing off the rest of the team. I hope to have some info for you all early next week.

Thursday's Skype Call

You've heard it before... It took several tries and spanned a number hours but I managed to have a great conversation with Alex yesterday. For those that receive Alex's email updates there may be a little repetition in my update.


A lot has happened since the last time I could speak to Alex in person so I got to hear first hand about a couple weeks of programs. Again the camps in Duck Run went really well and Alex shared with me the encouragement he takes from the young leaders there. It will be exciting to see what the future brings in these communities.

Last weekend the team took part in a 1-day camp in Carmelita. While the pastors may have been skeptical about a program like this the children certainly were not. Marisol (Alex's sister who was overseeing the camp) had prepared for 40 children (a pretty optimistic target) and the Lord openned the doors to more than 60 kids. While is was somewhat overwhelming for the team at first the day turned out well. Isn't that the picture all around the world? I believe children are just waiting for us to reach out to them...

Alex also shared that the camps in Shipyard (a conservative Mennonite community) went well. While the numbers were quite low (only 12 children) it's a place to start from. The leaders there have some great ideas for building on this program in the future. Unfortunately the children in Shipyard start back to school very shortly (I think at the beginning of August) so there won't be time to give it another whirl this summer but it sounds like there's a possibility to do something around Christmas time... we'll see how that continues to unfold because it is certainly a community that needs to be introduced to the love of Christ.

Alex continues to keep very busy and it sounded like another busy weekend with a camp in San Phillipe and some meetings for Alex in San Pedro. Remember to keep him and the team in your prayers.

It Just Gets Better

This past weekend I had the opportunity to make a whirl-wind trip to Minneapolis to pick up one team member (Kandace) from the airport and drop off two others (Kyle and Chris) to head down to Belize. It was a good time... I love road trips...

The road trip was especially good because it gave me opportunity to hear someone else's take on the Belizean project and hear a little bit about the camps from another insider. Primarily between the wee hours of 2:00 & 4:30 a.m. I was excited to get the low down from Kandace (which was particularly appreciated by me as it made driving that last stretch a lot easier). I, myself, have not had a lot of opportunity to see many of the camps first hand as my time in Belize is usually spent with training and meetings but Kandace stayed a couple weeks after the training and could tell me a little about her perspectives on the camping programs. I'll highlight some of the things she shared:

Reception - One of the things Kandace remarked on was the positive reception the camping programs received. Following the camps in Duck Run 1 & 3 they held a short service for the parents of the children who attended. At this program the children had an opportunity to share about their experience at camp and what they had learned. Kandace told me the response of the parents was overwhelmingly positive. I get real excited about this because again we see a door open to a much broader and now receptive mission field because of the simple kindness that's shown to children. Maybe Jesus was on to something when he welcomed and blessed the little children... maybe that's the effective way to a parent's heart!

Excitement - Kandace also told me about the incredible excitement of the counselors as they saw and then shared the fruit of their efforts. I can vouch for these young people (just like our young people who are working at camp) they are working HARD. What's so neat to see is how excited they are to serve God and to share that with others. Kandace told me about an evening service that they had in Spanish Lookout where the counselors had opportunity to share with the community how they saw God at work in the previous week. She said the excitement was contagious.

Leadership - My prayer is that these young people are realizing the incredible influence they are having on the future of Belize. One thing that is so encouraging is to see young people take leadership and initiative to reach out to their community. We're seeing a number of very ordinary people do extraordinary things as they are obedient to God... I really hope they are seeing it. The one problem with us as people is that we often under-estimate how God can really use us. We think, "Oh, that was no big deal..." or, "Someone else could have done it..." I want to yell in some people's ear, "IT IS A BIG DEAL!" "YOU DID AWESOME!" or "LOOK AROUND, YEAH MAYBE SOMEONE ELSE COULD HAVE DONE IT BUT THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT THEY'RE NOT AND YOU ARE!" We work so hard not to be boastful and really we're just letting Satan get a strong hold in our lives. What we think is "humility" is very cleverly disguised insecurity. We think that what we did was nothing special but obedience to God IS SPECIAL. It's special because that's when we see miracles! I hope these young leaders see the miracles happening all around them (like dozens of kids coming to know Christ) and that they recognize that a lot of this is happening because they were obedience to respond to God's calling and He is rewarding them with fruit!

My next prayer is that when these young leaders see their potential they will keep using it in Belize. It seems anyone on the way up in Belize is also on the way out. I've shared it before that one of the things I admire most about Alex is that he chose to run counter to his culture. He had achieved what most Belizeans dream of... leaving Belize for a more prosperous life in North America. In fact many of those he looked up to as spiritual mentors and guides told him to not return but to make a comfortable life for himself in Canada. Alex couldn't do that though... he was called to return as a "missionary" to his home country of Belize. My prayer is that as these young people realize their potential they will see it as a tool to change Belize and not just a tool to leave Belize.

I've got a talk date with Alex for Thursday. Hopefully this one will work out with the whole technological situation down there. So check back later for updates on the last couple weeks of camps.

Belizean Technology - Gotta Love It?

I came this close to talking with Alex yesterday but as it would seem Belizean technology struck again. If only someone could come up with a working communication system in Belize!

I did however, receive an email from Alex later in the day that briefly outlined the successes of last week's camps in Duck Run 1 & 3. Altogether there were 45 children attending between the 2 communities and the fruit was very good. Alex remarked at how well the youth from these communities are taking leadership (a huge, huge blessing as young leaders are certainly in short supply - I believe this means a very bright future for the Belizean ministry.) And the greatest blessing of all... kids are coming to know the Lord.

Today Alex and his team expect 40 children for a 1-day day camp in Carmelita (Alex's hometown). This camp is a bit of a test run for some of the churches there who are skeptical about reaching out to children in this way (that's why it's so short).

Right now I am in Minneapolis again dropping off reinforcements for Alex's ministry at the airport and picking up one team member who has spent the last 3 weeks in Belize. We'll be driving home late tonight so your prayers for alertness and safety would be awesome (I'll buy a great big bottle of coke and a great big bag of pretzels... that will keep me alert and entertained for hours!)

A couple additions to the last update

I just received a brief update via email from Alex and I wanted to pass along some of neat details of the camp in Belize City last week (I hope to update you later today with details from the camp that wrapped up yesterday - it'll depend on whether I can connect with Alex today.) This is what Alex wrote (more or less... I edited it just a little):

"Last week God gave us the privileged to head the first camp in Belize City. These campers came from the south side of the city. This is the poorest part of Belize City.

We had 23 children at the camp. The boys were a little bit challenging to handle. The counsellors really worked hard to get the gospel across to these Children. The stories of these children touched the deepest part of our Christian hearts.

George was one of these campers. His brother was killed 6 months ago. George is 8 year old. The little bit he knew about death and life, he said he preferred death. He climbed a tree and said he wanted to jump and kill himself.

As this took place, I saw how heavy the heart of George was because of his brother's death.
George really started to do better after the first day. George was not the only kid who was going through tough issues. There are many stories about these campers.

The coolest things is that they all accepted Christ. And Pastor Bethson (the pastor of the church hosting this camp) who was the one who gather these camper. He has already started a disciplining program for these children. Pastor Bethson has big heart for the south side of Belize City.

After the camp was finished these children started calling the counsellor 'father.' Two of the counsellors express how they wished they could adopt a child because the realized how blessed they have been to have grown up in a Christian home. Friends I can go on and on..."

What a neat update and I know that it is so true. There are so many stories just like these ones. Please remember to pray for Alex and his crew as they prepare for a 1 day camp in the village of Carmelita (Alex's hometown) on Saturday.

Update From Alex

I spoke to Alex this afternoon and would like to pass on to you some of what he shared...

The team certainly had their work cut out for them this week. The crew spent 3 days and 2 nights reaching out to some of the toughest kids in Belize City. While Alex shared the girls where angels he mentioned the boys made up for the rest. Needless to say the team was tired but deeply satisfied. As it seems, often when the work is the hardest the fruit is the best. Alex was thrilled to share that all of these children chose to give their lives to Christ. I guess it wasn't hard for the kids to see the drastic contrast between life without Christ (as they experience in the tough existence of life in Belize City) and life with Christ (as modelled by their counselors).

Alex mentioned the health of the team was improving but they did suffer some casualties to the mosquitoes during the past camp. As I spoke to Alex the team was enjoying some much deserved R & R and were preparing to head out to Spanish Lookout for the upcoming camps in Duck Run 1 and Duck Run 3 (guess they had a tough time coming up with fresh names for these villages). Camps there will run next week from Monday - Wednesday.

I'll keep you posted as I hear more from the team!

Home Safe & Sound

Well, the Belizean adventure has come to an end and I want to thank you all for your interest and prayers. They were certainly appreciated over the past couple weeks. Here's a few quick highlights and pictures from my time in Belize for you to enjoy.

Working together with Alex has been a real privilege. His dedication and sacrifice for his ministry certainly challenge and spur me on in what I do. Please continue to pray for him and his team throughout the summer (camps are going on till mid August) that God would give them strength (and good health), wisdom and guidance as they work diligently to serve Him.

Another highlight was meeting with our Belizean board members (from left to right) Henry Brown, Bedson Ornes, Fernando Magana and Walter Thiessen. Pray that God would also guide them as they seek Him in this ministry. Pray also for unity in vision and focus.

After a week of meetings and preparation we were joined by a team of God sent servants to help us in our work. (From left to right) Abe Friesen and Priscilla Teichrob have been Alex's allies and an incredible support in the community of Shipyard, Belize. Then there's Alex and the "sparkle" in his eyes Leah Wettlaufer (a special friend from SBC). Also Dianne Reimer (Steinbach, MB) and Kandace Lepp (Rivers, MB) friends of Alex's from SBC joined us. You can continue to pray for this team throughout the summer. Kandace will be with the team for just 1 more week while Leah and Dianne with stay till the camps are done in August. Abe and Priscilla both live in Belize and plan to stick around and help Alex wherever they can in the coming year. Next week I will drop off a couple Winkler boys at the airport to join Alex and his crew. Chris Giesbrecht and Kyle Dyck will travel down to Belize to lend a hand for 3 weeks.

Training times are always a highlight and I was so grateful to have the opportunity to share words of challenge and encouragement at our training sessions in Belmopan and San Phillipe.
The crew of training session #1 at Belmopan. What a great bunch! Check out a few more shots from this training session...

Cooling off in the river!

Looking back from the jungle!

Training Session #2 - San Philippe

Team development activities

Alex the "sermonator"

So I have a picture or two more but it seems I'm really having trouble with technology. I've added and deleted many of them several times. It seems I'll have to show you all in person! However, this should give you a little look at the ministry in Belize.

I hope to speak with Alex shortly... check back for an update on the past week's camp in Belize City.

On the way home

Hi Everyone,

Well, the last week wasn't filled with as many updates as I would have liked. It didn't seem the Mennonite village of Shipyard was what you would describe as "Techno"ville. In fact it was quite entertaining entering the "time warp" know as Shipyard. I've got a few moments at the computer here in Belize City just before I head off. I hope to arrive in Minneapolis late tonight where I will meet Terri along with the Grace Youth group.

Another great training time came to an end in San Phillipe yesterday. We had just over 30 participants (which was a real encouragement... we were somewhat expecting that we would have less than what had registered but we actually had a few extra come). This particular training time did have a couple curve balls that I think the team fielded real well. A few of the youth that attended this session had a very limited knowledge of the English language... something we didn't expect as the public schools are all in English. However, it didn't take much to shift gears a little to accommodate everyone.

I had the opportunity to preach in church in Blue Creek on Sunday which was a real blessing. Then it was back to Pete and Judy Krahn's place for kilkje (yum, yum). The hospitality we've received in the Mennonite communities has just been amazing.

I hope to update this blog with some photos and details later this week. I hope to be home late on Wednesday so feel free to come back and check the blog some time after then.

A little more detail

Yesterday we where in transit when I made my last update and I didn't want to hold up the team. Today we're trying to make an important connection so we have a little time to kill in Orange Walk. So we've settled into a little internet place and will get a little bit of work done.

About the weekend... Church in Spanish Lookout was a really, really good. I'm always blown away how God provides strength in times of need. I really didn't feel like I could stand for much more than a minute or two much less an entire sermon but they got a full length feature! I was great to connect with a number of people following the service. It's amazing how supportive this church is becoming of this ministry. Walter Thiessen, a lay pastor in the church and one of our board members here in Belize, has been a great connection in this church and a huge blessing to us both as a ministry and to us personally. Several other people approached me after the service to share their support of the ministry. It was a very encouraging and fruitful time.

Monday the team spend some time together preparing for the training program (on Tuesday and Wednesday). They also took advantage of a local "blue hole"(a beautiful swimming spot) and finished the day off well cooling of in the swimming hole (a much deserved break for them, they worked hard cleaning and preparing). I had some time to prepare my sessions but stayed in Belmopan... my system just wasn't getting the "get better" message.

That evening I figured this wasn't just going to blow over so Alex and I zipped down to the clinic to check out some Belize health care and it was pretty good. They gave me a boost on a recovery and I bounced back very nicely! Best part was it was free!

Tuesday brought a great turnout for the training time. We were hoping for around 20 (which can quickly turn into 10 it seems in Belize) and 24 showed up! And 3 more came for the next day. It was such a blessing to share with them because you could see they were just soaking it all up. The next big task I believe is to keep these youth connecting as many of them are the "lone" youth in their church and it would be easy to get swallowed up. Like I said yesterday, when the opportunity was given to sign up for the weeks of the summer people swarmed Alex... He's well set for many of the camps.

After cleaning and packing up we travelled to Shipyard (a very conservative Mennonite community). We made a quick stop to repack, eat and email in Belize city and then made our way down the bumpy country roads. Alex was obviously tired so I offered to drive. The highway stuff is pretty straight forward so it's no big deal but when we got to the back roads I was glad to have Alex to navagate again. But then he said, "Oh, oh, I don't know this corner... Steve, did you take a wrong turn?" What could I say? I thought I did what I was told. Then someone pipes up, "I think I saw a fork in the road, maybe we went the wrong way." Oh, boy where was that? It was already late and very dark and we were in the middle of no where. Well, I guess we're sleeping here! Imagine our laughter when we turned around to discover we where there!

So we saw and awful lot of horse and buggies as we continued about connecting with pastors and making out way to San Phillipe and then to Orange Walk. Though we didn't have as much "success" as we would hoped it gave Alex and I time just the two of us to discuss the blessings of the past training and look ahead to the future.

Tomorrow we will prepare for the training (getting the church set up and prepare other aspects of the program). Saturday it will all begin. We're not sure what the turnout will be (it seems to be really hard to get confirmation of details like that!) So you could pray that the Lord would bless us once again that would be great!

Finally Internet!

Hello Everyone,

This is my first contact with internet access since Saturday hence the sparse updates. Sorry...

Saturday night we arrived at the campsite where we would do our first training (just outside Belmopan). It's a beautiful location and facility with a shortage of leaders and vision for programming there. Unfortunately my first night there wasn't so great. Getting cozy with some frogs was funny but running a pretty decent fever wasn't as much fun. I thought it was just the Belizean heat but then things suddenly spun to shivering I thought it somewhat odd.

Bright and early we zipped out to Spanish Lookout where Alex spoke in a small Spanish village church and I spoke at the EMMC church. (I had a chance to pop in the other church as well but couldn't stay long) Things in Spanish Lookout went amazing and the people there are very excited to get involved with the ministry. Already we've received such blessing from the church and youth there.

My energy started to peter out a little and when got back to Belmopan I asked Alex to take me into town where I checked into a place there (and then spent most of the night in the bathroom). Seems I'm a bit of a magnet this trip. It was a tough couple days... Praise the Lord He provided just enough strength to be at the training but by Monday night I got pretty dehydrated (I just couldn't seem to keep much down). Thankfully after a quick AND FREE!!! IV treatment on Monday evening I've begun a good recovery... no need to be alarmed I feel a TON better. However, I haven't been able to eat much and it seems fried chicken is the favorite here which is a hard on to muster.

Training went AMAZING. There was a great turnout and they were falling over themselves to volunteer for camp service... real progress.

Now it's off to Shipyard, San Phillipe and Blue Creek. Oh no, gotta go. Hope to update again soon but unsure when. Please pray for continued health and effectiveness. I'll be speaking in Blue Creek on Sunday and training on Saturday and Sunday. Meetings with contacts other days.

Love you all...

Gooooood Morning

Well it looks like another full day ahead. Alex just stopped by to give me the low down... it was a nice sized list. Today we'll connect with the rest of the team... we're expecting somewhere around noon or so. (Three friends of Alex's are coming to lend us a hand)

Yesterday was a great day of prayer, preparation and rest. It was a very spiritually focusing day and I feel better equipped for the week ahead - I must admit I was a little anxious (and maybe still am a little) about some of the items of agenda. I also had an opportunity to spend the afternoon with a pastor friend I met last year.

When we met Pastor Marlon last year he was very discouraged. As a missionary from Costa Rica, Marlon was finding the Belizean culture hard to break through. I always chuckle a little when guys like that ask me for advice... I think I'll make a t-shirt that says this white guy's not the brightest crayon in the box (in fact does anyone ever really use the white crayon?) It seems the struggle continues as it is still a hard culture to reach. He shared his struggles dealing with the witchcraft and other demonic practices his church families are dealing with. It's a heavy burden he bears and all I could do is help him carry it in prayer... so we shared a time of prayer together. I believe Pastor Marlon is still somewhat discouraged, or heavy burdened, so if you feel led you might help him (and the many others) carry this burden in prayer.

So the need is apparent here in Belize... let's go see what doors open today!

Really great evening

I don't know if I've mentioned it but I've been reading a book about prayer that's been really challenging. It's entitled "Can You Hear Me?" by Brad Jersak. It hear challenges the idea of leaving messages on God's "answering machine" in passive hope that He may hear them. Instead Jersak challenges to enter into communion with Christ and really hear from Him. While I wish I could give you a better description about the prayer time I've been blessed with over the past few days I really don't know how to explain it. I think the best explanation is to tell you about the fruit... it hasn't bothered me one bit to be up at 5 (4 am Canada time) for prayer. It's been really good to commune with Christ (sometimes I wonder why we need to go so far away from our everyday lives to experience these things).

So how does that relate to an update about Belize? Well last night I had the opportunity to visit/speak in a Spanish Church here in Orange Walk. Being a Spanish church I obviously didn't understand the things that were being said/sung. Usually I just sit with my hands in my pocket and endure till it's "my turn." However, last night I felt the Spirit calling me into a place of intimate worship and join with the people around me. I began to list the reasons why I would want to hold on to my spirit and keep in conversed within me. However, God kept nudging me to free myself to worship with the people around me. As I finally let go it's as though I could understand the things going on around me. While I still didn't understand the words being said I could understand the connection we shared in spirit. I know it sounds elementary or maybe trivial but for me it was quite overwhelming because I sensed God speaking to me very clearly. It's something I tend to avoid in my fear that I will either A. misunderstand Him or B. be challenged with something I don't want to do. When I spoke in Spanish Lookout I challenged the "B" response (the one I am often most guilty of... and I don't usually get far enough past "B" to get to "A"). I had a nice, neat message prepared (that as I held on to my notes they seemed to make less and less sense) but God seemed to challenging me to give a different message. No problem I figured there's probably only 2 or 3 people here (it was a mid-week service after all) I'll only make a fool of myself in front of a couple people. But no, the church had filled considerably as I battled with my flesh (eyes closed).

So I left it at that... I could maybe blame it on translation if it was disaster but I needed to follow what seemed to me to be the "obedient" route. It was a pretty overwhelming experience and God was certainly faithful to His promise. It was great... strangely exhausting but refreshing at the same time. It's so much easier to have predictable messages!

After the service we shared some great fellowship with the believers there and even a meal with Pastor Phillipe and his family. So it was a good day. We had a safe trip from Spanish Lookout. Some good connection with Joseph (a volunteer, young leader who has been a tremendous asset to Alex) and then an awesome worship experience at a church in Orange Walk.

Today Alex had some personal business to attend to in Belize City. I chose to stay here in Orange Walk for a time of prayer and fasting. I'm hoping to connect with a pastor friend here later on today (if I can find him... how hard could it be really?) Train begins next week and I speak in church Spanish Lookout on Sunday so I'll take some time to prepare. After last night I think I should spend some more time praying rather than reviewing my notes! Ahhh, but notes are easier!

Feeling at home?

My morning routine today wasn't much unlike my usual home routine. While in Spanish Lookout I've been staying with the Hein family. They have a beautiful family including 3 sons and 3 daughters (the youngest being just 1 day older than Janae). So this morning Angie (the youngest) and I read a "Franklin" book together. Now that resolution is made and Franklin has discovered how to conquer his fear of the dark it's time for another quick update.

Yesterday we had the opportunity to visit a few of the surrounding communities around Spanish Lookout. There we meet with a couple Spanish pastors that we will be working with and a couple of the youth from one of the churches (the other has no youth at all). It was so encouraging to see the initiative these youth were taking in their effort to reach out to the children of their community. Youth like this seem to be a rare commodity here in Belize but perhaps we'll see that change in the coming years.

The evening had a couple laughs as I had opportunity to speak to the youth at Spanish Lookout. Spanish Lookout is a lot like Winkler with palm trees and the laughs came when we had a time of worship together. I felt that same awkwardness I feel at home, should I clap when we sing or not clap. However, the two young ladies from the Spanish churches that I was mentioning came to join us at the Mennonite church and they sat with me. Without hesitation they began clapping away. I eagerly joined in and we may have stuck out a little. I warned them that we could go as far as clapping so long as it didn't lead to dancing... we had a good laugh.

Today we're off to Belmopan and Orange Walk. We'll connect with Priscilla Teichrob (another blast from the past from WBC days) who will be giving leadership to the camps in Shipyard (another mennonite community). Later tonight I'll have the opportunity to speak in one of the churches we worked with last year (in Trial Farm - just outside Orange Walk).

On to Spanish Lookout

Greetings again friends... We had a productive day in Belize City. The task of the day was to get some of the legistical things in order and prepare for a meeting with the Belizean board of directors (shown here - starting at the left and going around the circle is Henry Brown, Bedson Ornes, Fernando Magana, Alexander Perez and Walter Thiessen). It was a real encouragement to hear them speak of their passions and ministry. It's clear the Lord is raising up leaders to make a significant difference here in Belize.

One of the great blessings was that most of these men had not met before the day began but there was a clear unity despite the diversity of the group. As they shared common concerns for the country and passions for ministry it was not hard to catch their enthusiasm.

After the meeting we drove out to Spanish Lookout to reconnect with some leaders there and speak to the youth (that's tonight). The trip brought a battle with my Salbutes to a close (they tasted good but I knew I probably shouldn't have eaten them). It seems that I got a touch of food poisioning along the way but found the system reset and I'm feeling much better. Actually I feel real good... I think I could take on the world... And that's what I shall do!!!

Crikey! Ga-day Bloke!

No I didn't get on the plane and land up in Australia. But we're sea side in Belize City and Alex mentioned he spotted a croc just down the street. Don't worry, though I bear the name "Steve" I'm not getting any "Crocodile Hunter" ideas.

Oh... I was going to take a picture of where I slept so I could post it... That would have been good for a laugh. We arrived at the hotel to discover that it was overrun by American Missionaries... no room in the inn. We had a great conversation with them and many sounded very interested in joining us in India real soon. So I gathered info and we'll see what that amounts too...

So I spent the night with Alex in his place... It's always humbling to come to a place like this and see the sacrifices people like Alex make for ministry. He's living in a "friendly", safe but extremely small room (you can ask me later what "friendly" means but it was the thing to laugh about!)

The two of us had a good time of reconnecting and exploring what God wants for this ministry. While we discussed many encouraging things there are still many challenges ahead. Tonight we meet with potential board members and we'll see where God leads from there. According to our conversation Alex feels that Belize may be a spring board to neighboring countries like El Salvador where the harvest seems to be ripe. We'll see where that leads over the next year but for now we have our work cut out for us in Belize.

Already I have some Salbutes in my tummy and raring to go. Tomorrow it's off to Spanish Lookout to connect with and challenge the youth out there. I'll keep you posted.

Arrived in Belize

Hey everyone! This is Terri. Steve just called from Belize to say that he arrived safe and sound but doesn't have internet access to update you all. He's hoping he will tomorrow. Everything went relatively smoothly for the journey down besides a few glitches at customs over the Bible Break material and craft supplies that he brought down. Charitable status in Belize will fix that for the future, but until then, duty to bring things into Belize to leave is ridiculous! Luckily they didn't ask about the laptop that Steve took down for Alex - I can only imagine what they would have charged him for that! Check back soon for more updates.

Will My Facebook Friends Join Me?

The itinerary just gets more and more exciting... There's a couple more speaking opportunities - even one in a Spanish church. Anyone know where I can learn Spanish in 30 minutes or less? Actually I think I've got a couple days.

Just a reminder you can keep track of the steamy climate of Belize right here with the handy dandy weather link.

I'll be landing in Belize on Monday at about 3:50 our time... So don't waste any prayers on me yet.

Quick overview of my itinerary

This is the week of last minute wrap ups and scrambling to get the details in order. We truly covet your prayers at the CCI office over the next couple weeks. Our year end rolls closed at the end of June and we officially begin as our own organization separate of the camp July 1st which means a lot of paper work for Terri as she sets up new bank accounts and the sort (all while I'm away which is a lot of extra work). There's a couple other critical details and you know how it goes... you always feel like you must be forgetting something...

I just spoke to Alex and he forwarded me a tentative itinerary and I figured I'd pass it along for those who are curious what we'll be up to.

June 24 - Depart for Minneapolis to catch my flight on the 25th (it's crazy to think that a silly little flight from Winnipeg to Minneapolis pretty much doubles the price... have no worries this Mennonite refuses to overpay!!!) So it's some good quality time with Mom & Dad who have graciously offered to drive me down.

June 25 - Arrive in Belize City and make an overnight there. Reconnect with Alex and spend some important time in prayer and encouragement and some of the other personal things in helping Alex get settled in the ministry.

June 26 - Meeting with staff/board members in Belize City to go over some of the organization details... hopefully there's some saveeche too! (How do you spell that?... It's food if you're wondering)

June 27 - Youth meeting in Spanish Lookout and meeting with church leaders - Looks like I get the opportunity to speak in Belizean Mennoville. Oba yo! Ack kon nicht pluet diescht?!?

June 28 - Travel cross country to Orange Walk (don't worry it's a small country... but kinda slow on bus) to speak at a church there... O/W is Alex's home town. I'm looking forward to connecting with some friends from last year and of course... the food!

June 29 - Reinforcements arrive - A team of 3 additional recruits will join us. These are friends of Alex's from SBC coming out to lend a hand this summer. Hopefully they're not to beat from the trip because FUN is on the way!

June 30- July 1 - Off to Blue Creek (Mennoville part 2) to meet with church leaders and report in church on Sunday. I wonder if they'll have Wereneki?

July 2-4 - LET'S GO! Our first training in Belmopan. I'm obviously looking forward to that. It's the kind of stuff the makes you sing in the shower... I love seeing youth "get it" and respond to a call for ministry. As it stands it should be a nice blend of Spanish and Menno youth.

July 5-6 - Couldn't figure those ones out... My schedule was in "Spanglish." God bless you Alex... I tried to read it with a Spanish accent but I couldn't make it out... I'll catch you tomorrow and you'll set me straight. It think there's a visit to Ship Yard and/or San Philippe and Blue Creek in there?

July 7-8 - Staff training, the second edition, in San Philippe. Again looking forward to that... and again it looks like a nice blend of cultures will be in attendance.

July 9-11 - Back to Minneapolis to connect with Grace Youth. It's a bit of a grad celebration (Cory's first 4 year group). It should be some good, meaningful and memorable times... Youth sleep at those things right??? Hey, I've got years of camp conditioning... I can easy out last them!

A major blessing is Alex should have a computer in Belize. I hope this means frequent updates. However, as I've discovered in attempting to communicate with Alex over the past couple months, quality Internet connections are hard to find at times. I'll do my best to keep you posted.

The Countdown Is On

Before I get too deep into updates and that sort of thing I want to thank you for coming to my blog. It means so much to me. That's why I'm trying to include a few functional tools for you right here like... the weather - you'll even be able to check up on the weather in Belize while I'm there. Look for more exciting features in the future.


Once again the count down is on for my international departure. On June 24 I will be off again to work with my good friend and co-worker Alexander Perez in Belize (now, considering the picture on the right I wonder if I could negotiate changing the camping season to January - then you could all come too right!?!) While Belize is marked with incredible beauty, as shown here, there is certainly some big tasks ahead and some deep ugliness to overcome (things that I've shared before like drugs, sex, crime, brokenness, suicide, etc., etc.) Again, it is our calling to bring hope to children and in doing so we pray the future of Belize will be as beautiful as the landscape.


My Tasks and Objectives


I am certain that God is using Alex in tremendous ways to impact Belize (you really have to meet him if you haven't already). My primary task is to encourage and support him in developing this ministry. As many of you know from experience it is so hard to take those first steps (in developing a new ministry or any other task for that matter) and it's so much easier when you can take them walking with someone else. Alex has had to make a lot of hard decisions on his own and I hope that I can give him that support and encouragement he needs to make it through a difficult summer.


Some other tasks on the agenda... It sounds like I've got a lot of meetings and speaking engagements planned. Everything from meeting with potential board members to meeting with future ministry partners. Though it may not be the major content of my reporting when I return it's still a very important to the proper organization of the ministry.


Probably the task I am most excited for is leadership training. During the first week of July I will be a part of 2 leadership development retreats. I wish I could give you more details about this particular task but that will have to wait (it's been a little hard communicating with Alex in Belize as the technology there is leaving some things to be desired).


That should fill up the 2 weeks pretty good... I'll do my best to keep this blog updated with details of these tasks as they unfold.


How you can pray


While it may seem cliche and somewhat routine to pray for safety I'll ask anyway. You certainly hear a number of stories of the things that could and do happen in some of the communities we will spend time in. Fortunately we didn't experience any really situations where we felt our safety was in jeopardy. However, I don't think that was so much because of the absence of danger but more because of God's protection and the answers to your prayers. Please keep our safety in mind and in your prayers.


Please pray for good connections. Certainly our goal is for Belize to find some level of self-sufficiency so that the ministry can spill over the boarders into neighboring countries like Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico and beyond. To do this we need the people and the resources for the task. We hope to find as much of this in Belize as possible.


Certainly pray for Alex and that I can be an encouragement to him. What a big task he has. And when you walk alone for the first while it means you often have to do a lot of the task you do not like or you may not be gifted to do. I know these things really drain a person of their energy. Please pray that I can strengthen him and also pray that the people he needs would come to walk with him.


Please pray for the leaders we will train - that they would catch a vision for this ministry and that they would contribute faithfully and sacrificially to the ministry of their churches.


You can also pray for our team. There will be 5 others that will plug in during the course of the summer. Many of these are friends of Alex from college and other places. Pray that they will be effective in what they do and that they will be unified for the task ahead.


I encourage you to also pray for Terri as I'm away. It seems there's a good reason why God invented moms and dads - because kids always get into trouble at the same time... We're so blessed to have awesome support all around us in raising our kids but you know how it is - it's nice when you can tell your kids to go to daddy when they have the distinct aroma of... ha, ha, ha


And whatever the Holy Spirit leads you to pray for...


I hope to update one more time before I leave so don't be a stranger!

Quick update

Hey everyone,

Here's a little update from life here at CCI. To put it simply I've compiled a list of pros and cons:

Pros:
There are too many pros to list

Cons:
We can't keep up with the pros

So with that I'm asking you to please pray for this ministry. Each day I sit and look at all that God is doing and I wonder, "How come people aren't pounding down the door begging to get involved with this?" I guess to many when we share of the things that are happening it's just faceless numbers that they hear about - for us they are our friends and "family."

With that we're working on a couple new campaigns for fundraising. #1 The adopt a village program. We're hoping to break down the project in thousands of little pieces putting faces to numbers and invite people to sponsor a little piece of the project. It's going to be a TON of work but hopefully people can get excited about a $35/month project like this. The short and sweet of it is each village project will partner with a church to train 5 leaders, host camps for 50 campers, sponsor follow-up programs, outreach programs to the families of campers at Easter and Christmas as well as support the churches efforts to replicate this program in the neighboring village. The way the project is unfolding we're pretty confident that churches should reproduce themselves once every 6 or so years. There I go again, a faceless statistic - but just imagine what if our church doubled in size every 6 or 7 years... that would make a real difference to Winkler. Imagine this, there's thousands of vibrant churches just waiting to put this into action. GIVE ME A LOUD SPEAKER MORE PEOPLE NEED TO HEAR ABOUT THIS. But alas, I preach to the choir - all you wonderful people who already care for and support this ministry... Please pray for us... it's so incredibly discouraging to see these opportunities slip by on a daily basis.

Project #2 - it's not big potatoes but it's potatoes none the less... The Kids 4 Kids project. I visited another church this Sunday to get the project rolling there. Basically Sunday Schools are collecting to send kids to camp. We provide them with cool little change collection boxes and they set out a period of time to collect for and kids send kids to camp. It's been really neat to see the excitement this project has been received with. To date about 600-700 campers have been sponsored to go to camp. It's a good start - please pray that we can reach our goal to have 20 churches doing this project by year end.

Well it's still weekly...

Important news just in...

Better than the weekly update from me why don't I share a little bit from the update I just received from Steve Bock - and friend and staff member at WBC who recently hosted a group of Cross Current Students in India.

Steve shared about the staff training times they attended. The pastors he connected with there conveyed the disappointment many young leaders faced when they could not attend our training programs. Now I've been to these programs and it's not like the programs you may imagine. There's no parties and movie nights, go-kart racing or special events designed to maintain the interest of the youth. While these things are necessary to engage our culture it is not the case in a place like India. Instead these are intensive training sessions, prayer times (which by the way they had to limit to not begin before 4 or 5 in the morning because many of the youth were getting up too early to pray) and worship. I wish every young person who wanted to come to these programs could. Instead we only accept 4 from each church. That put in on the pastors to tell tearful youth they could not attend these sessions. It gives me some new drive to tell people that it only costs $10 to remedy this problem!!!

One of the neat things is the Steve B went with Terri and me to India for the first camps in 2003 and hasn't returned since. At one of the training programs they asked how many of the attendees of the program had been campers at that original camp and Steve shared how dozens of hands went up. It's neat to see the students become the teachers!!!

Here's a MONSTROUSLY ENCOURAGING UPDATE FACT. Currently they are tallying the number of campers that attended in May. Between 65,000-70,000 campers will be counted. How do we not know you might ask? What kind of ministry are we running that we don't know the simple stats like camper numbers. The answer is simple. In one case we sponsored 50 campers at one church however, after several visits to our office in Trichy the church had collected enough material for 250 campers! Talk about 5 loaves and 2 fish! While it is true it cost approximately $5 to send a child to camp in India the churches we sponsor always seem to find ways to extend the influence and reach more and more children. I hope that can finally put to rest the criticism we constantly are confronted with that contributing to projects like this creates a dependency on North American dollars. Those who make these accusations obviously have not met our partners in India. These churches are not asking for handout - they want tools to reach more people. And this money sent does not make life easier for them. Instead they work harder and longer, stretch further and bear more fruit.

I like this... Steve B shared a little about my friend Thomas. Thomas is one of the 15 full time staff in India. He is a wonderfully gifted song writer (you should see and hear him - the kids just love him). One of his songs is the story of the David and Goliath. Steve B started to draw the connections between David and Thomas and suddenly I could see why Thomas connected so deeply with this song (and sang it all the time). Like David Thomas is the youngest in his family. While growing up he felt he was too weak to do anything (did I mention he grew up in an orphanage because his parents - who were pastors - could not afford to feed him). However, God used David to do incredible things. And that's what Thomas has done - he has personally influenced thousands of children.

I could go on and on but there's work to be done. Please pray for us as we try to spread the word and raise the necessary funds to see this move ahead. I wonder if the window of opportunity is nearing a close. Already we are hearing rumbling of coming persecution. Now is the time!!! Gotta go!

An Encouraging Chat

I had the opportunity to talk with Alex in Belize today and it was so encouraging to hear how the Lord is continuing to open doors for the ministry out there.

One thing that I'm sure will be of interest to some of you is the potential for a camp program in the community of Shipyard. For those of you who are not familiar with Shipyard it is a old colony Mennonite community in Belize. While our initial thought was to work in the Spanish communities in Belize the Lord seems to have opened some doors for us in this difficult to reach community. I'll keep you posted with details as they come.

Oh, before I forget... PRAISE THE LORD our own charitable status is finally through. The paper is in our hands and we are officially permitted to carry on the work we are doing apart from the Winkler Bible Camp. This will certainly save both the camp and us a lot of work and it means full steam ahead. Gone are the long explanations of how we're part of Winkler Bible Camp but not really part of WBC. I know a number of people where a little confused when they wrote a cheque to India Bible Camps then receive a thank you from Children's Camps International and then their receipt from Winkler Bible Camp. It doesn't mean a lot to the camps and the work we're doing but rather it means things will get a little easier for us in the office and a little less confusion when we're presenting.

If you wouldn't mind praying for me a little I've got a big task that I've been kind of dreading that I need to make some head way on. I'm working at connecting Sunday Schools with the opportunity to sponsor campers. It means a lot of phone calls and feeling a little like a telemarketer. Why is it that a guy like me who you can hardly get to shut up finds it so hard to talk on the phone??? It's a mystery to me!

Have a great day!

Did I Miss A Monday?

I almost had it. The routine was in my hands and then it happened. The busy day struck! Sorry to all those who had become accustomed to my 3 weeks of consistency.

It's always a bit of a relief to have your plane ticket in your hand and some details come together. My flight is booked and I will be off to Belize on June 25 and will return on July 9. I spoke to Alex (our leader in Belize) on Monday night on the phone and it seems things are really coming together but I do want to pass on some of the prayer requests that arose from our conversation.

A big praise item is that Alex found a place to stay! Now I would have been a little on the anxious side but Alex always demonstrates such faith in God's provision. And God truly blessed him with a well located, inexpensive place to live for the next 3 months. What a blessing. It's nice that he has that taken care of and can spend some time finding a permanent place without the pressure of making a quick decision. I'm going to make sure that I have a lunch or evening thing where you can come and meet Alex because this guy is truly a character to meet. The following requests are some things that he would deny needing and is willing to sacrifice for the sake of his ministry but some of them would help him be more fruitful.

Alex needs a mode of transportation. The most economical would be a motorcycle and the most practical (for Belizean roads and some of the other purposes for ministry) would be a small truck. If anyone is looking for a one time giving idea that would really make a big difference in a person like Alex's ministry this is a good one.

Granted items like these are pretty big ticket items. A motorcycle purchased in Belize is about $1000 CDN. A truck, well... it would be cheaper to get one here and drive it down. So if you know someone who's got one laying around and wants to send it to Belize I've got someone willing to drive and someone willing to fix it up if necessary.

Please continue to pray for Alex as he continues to pursue the many details of beginning a new ministry in Belize.

Happy Birthday!

So, for those of you who have stuck it out with me I'm trying to be more disciplined with keeping you up to date with what we are up to on a weekly basis (and I'm doing my best to log a new post every Monday). It's getting there and I'm pleased to say that I've been on track for the last few weeks (they say it takes 6 weeks to start a new habit - so does each entry count as a week or just a day in a week).

On 04/05/06 our son Jace entered the world and so this week we celebrated the big first birthday! The caterpillar cake that Terri carefully crafted remained relatively intact but there was a lot of green icing around.

It was a good time of celebrating the blessing of our son and reconnecting with family who had returned from afar for the occasion.

Keeping us hopping and on our toes in the office are keeping connected with exciting things going on with the camps in India and for me preparations for camps in Belize. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as regular curve balls come our way but it's amazing how God hits home runs off curve balls and that is certainly what we've been seeing.

For example I have to share with you about my friend and co-labourer in Belize Alex Perez. For whatever reason he was not allowed on his flight to return home from Canada (they said he was too late but apparently he came to check in with 1.5-2 hours to spare). So he missed his flight, then got another flight into Mexico. Then he got sent back to Canada for "unexplained visa trouble." Then he got routed through El Salvador where he was delayed for some time. Where some people may see the opportunity to lay low and relax a little Alex had the "craving to share the ministry with a church there." Along the way it seems he meets every prodigal out there restoring their connection to the church. There's quite a story behind all that but the bottom line is this Alex guy is "gung-ho for Jesus!"

Evanga-kid and an Amazing Weekend

God blesses me on a regular basis through our kids. I'm finding more and more if I take the time to listen you can almost hear the voice of God speaking through them. The little observations, the off-the-cuff comments, and spontaneous songs.

We were out and about enjoying a beautiful day yesterday (I hope you all got that opportunity). After supper we decided to take a little bike ride and finish off with a little ice cream. While we sat enjoying our treat Janae says - out of the blue - "we got to make some new Christians." Terri and I discussed where she might have heard this phrase and we couldn't say that we had ever discussed evangelism so specifically with our 2 year old. Terri had explained that when I was in India I was helping to tell other people about Jesus but never talked about "making new Christians."

It's pretty motivating when your toddler expresses this kind of desire. It kind of makes you say, "Yeah, you're right sweetheart. We do need to make some new Christians." Coupled with studying the gospel of Luke, God has been encouraging and nudging me to take more courage, push on with more enthusiasm and really make the most of the days ahead. I pray He's doing that for you as well. If not, maybe you need to spend an afternoon or two with Janae the "evanga-kid."

This weekend had many other blessings as well. I know I've said it on many occasions but I'm not sure if I've ever included it on my blog - it's also been pretty awesome to see how God is working in the lives of the youth Terri and I are privileged to work with in our church. If you guys haven't taken the opportunity recently I encourage you to ask them what God is doing in their lives.

About the weekend... After their experience on the spring break missions trip a couple of the guys from my small group really wanted to share the challenge and blessing of giving roses to prostitutes with the rest of the group. I was blown away at the reception the idea got. Usually when it comes time to plan our small group times the guys want to do things like go-kart racing, eating, watching movies and that sort of thing. Last time when we sat down to plan one of them blurted out, "let's do something mission-ie or something." That's youth talk for doing something with some lasting significance. The idea of giving roses to prostitutes was one they really wanted to do as they knew many of them would need to embrace fears and preconceptions and do something to encourage some of the most discouraged people in our society.

Yet again it was quite an evening. We were greeted by a man with no pants saying, "they like it when you don't wear pants." Nearing met with a metal pipe (I guess some of the larger members of the group can be a little intimidating). Evaded and sworn at but thoroughly blessed by those who allowed us to get close enough to share the love of Christ with them. Obviously there's a story behind all these incidents and I assure you we were in no immediate danger as the stories may imply - just they all turned out to be the nearly humorously sad examples of how an invisible barrier of a couple blocks can keep you so sheltered (humorously sad - it's like when you are so grieve that you let out a little laugh because it's so sad that things can be a certain way that you really expect someone to jump out and say, "just kidding, the world's not actually like this).

The greatest blessing for me was to hear the conversations in the van before, during and following our evening. These guys are getting it! There beginning to see that there's more to life than cars, cell phones, ipods and video games. If you haven't also done so I encourage you to stop by and encourage Cory as he's given AMAZING leadership to this group. I guarantee you'll be blessed when he shares a little more about some of the other youth and how they are beginning to get it.

Prayer Request

Hello again friends!

I want to tell you about a friend of mine and fellow co-labourer with CCI in India. His name is Paul. Many of you have heard Ter and I share at length about Pastor Paul dedication and commitment to ministry and certainly the work of CCI in India. At first this news frustrated me then as God soften my heart I began to see that it wasn't so clear who needed the prayer more Pastor Paul or us.

The news is that Pastor Paul has been experiencing some difficulty with high blood pressure. His systolic pressure was edging 240 (that's about twice what it should be which is really quite serious). Antony insisted that he take some time off and relax. Pastor Paul assured him the sure way to kill him was to make him sit on the sidelines. If he took time off he said his blood pressure would go even higher.

When I first heard these things I was a little aggravated at how stubborn some people could be. Then I really began to think about it. These guys really meant it when they told God that they wanted to give their whole lives to Him. This is who they are. It seems when you ask someone to stop being who they (ministers of the Gospel) are you really are doing something worse than killing them - you take away the meaning to life. I realize most people will disagree with me and I probably would too if hadn't met someone like Pastor Paul. I see what guys like these accomplish in one week and it's a lot more then people like me do in a lifetime. Is that what God does with people who are willing to really surrender their lives? So is what he is doing really that foolish? It certainly would be if his life was his own but what if he is already "dead" in his own mind.

So that's where the great dilemma of the prayer request lies. I want Pastor Paul to be happy and healthy but I know the happy part comes more from being who God called him to be and I don't know what to think about the healthy part. That always seems to be in God's hands doesn't it either way doesn't it. I know a lot of people who "take better care of themselves" that have more health issues than a guy like Pastor Paul.

I must say I admire Pastor Paul. I think of the legacy he'll leave someday (and I think God's got a few more tasks for him yet) and I must admit I'd rather have a story like this... coming to the end going full speed, doing something that means something, totally spent and exhausted but still struggling to do more. The last place I want to go is while I'm asleep (isn't that what most North Americans really wnat) or in a hospital bed.

Lord, make me more committed like Pastor Paul. Let my life mean something just like his does. Let me live in a way that those who stand on the side line call me a fool for running at the pace I do and the people who run with me turn to you looking for the strength to run like Pastor Paul does. I ask You to have Your hand on Paul for the sake of his family, friends and church but take his life and use it for the sake of Your kingdom. Amen.

Again - A Long Time

So every once in a while I check the site meter on our blog to see if anyone still has faith and/or patience with me. Thank you so much to the handful of people who haven't given up on this blog.

It wasn't too long ago that I had started a blog entry. I had some wonderful news about how the Lord blessed us with some new wheels. Unfortunately I live in a PC world and my computer froze and I lost the entry before I was able to publish it. So here's the 3 week old version.

Our mazda has been a wonderful car for us over the past number of years. It's taken us pretty well where ever we went. I can't say I can ever remember it complaining about the distance we asked it to take us. Faithfully it just went. However, several months ago it did let us know that we had been served with numerous trouble free kilometers and that we owed some serious payback. At that time I consulted a trusty car doctor to assess the situation. Unfortunately the projected bill had a few too many digits and we decided to beg a few more kilometers from our trusted mazda friend. As faithfully as ever the mazda agreed.

So began the hunt of a suitable rrrrreplacement. The word is hard to say because the mazda has been with us for a good number of years and it has taken us on many adventures. But alas, it's still just a hunk of metal and we knew there were many more out there.

Not wanting to rush it a major purchase Terri and I drove several dealers crazy with ridiculous offers and several more kilometers of test driving. I just couldn't understand, doesn't scripture say that we're to ask God for our daily bread? So why did they always remind us that their family needed to eat?

Now there is a very long and somewhat funny story how the vehicle we are now driving came to us. Do you believe your children could speak something to you that might be directed from God? He used a donkey in the Bible on one occasion. Why not a cute little girl? Well, the short of it is I think God's got a pretty good sense of humor because Janae "chose" this van and got us a really good deal. After looking at it (certainly driving yet another dealer crazy) we decided to go and have lunch and pray. Again we wanted to be sure that God was providing this van and that we were not just wanting something newer and nicer so we decided on a number that we felt was responsible and economical and then we made a "God is this a You thing" deduction to that number.

So with our figure in mind we returned to the the dealer. I felt pretty silly even before I opened my mouth - it really was a ridiculous offer. Well I felt even silly after I opened my mouth. We got the "are you serious or are you heavily medicated look" from the dealer. He began to write it up as before taxes and fees. We assured him that that was the amount, the TOTAL amount. And with that we began to pack up. Obviously we have been selfish and God was telling us to trust Him to carry our car a little (or a lot) further.

Reluctantly he wrote up the offer and shook his head a lot. After a long process of negotiation we drove away with our new van (and for $200 under the ridiculous number - don't tell the dealer he could have squeezed us for it!) Now, everyone says don't shop after you've bought but I just needed to know how God blessed us so I did a little research and I can confidently say God blessed us!

More to come...

Anyone Interested?

It's really encouraging to see things gain momentum with this ministry. In so many ways things have just grown beyond what we could have ever imagined. However, if you or someone you know is looking for a place where you can help out there's a variety of ways we could really use some help.

GOT SCISSORS? - So, it's kind of goofy but I know there's a lot of people out there that would like a completely mindless task to take your mind off the business your life has brought. In the next week or two we'd like to test a project that we would need about 1,000 change boxes cut out of some heavier paper. A little hole for dropping change in is the most important (the rest kids could do themselves). I'm sure there's good tools out there to do the job but I'd need some help finding them. Till then if there's anyone willing to help that would be great.

ARE YOU CREATIVE? - We're in constant need of all kinds of graphic design "stuff." Brochures, web sites, posters, ads, etc. Having these things designed often costs BIG $$$. However, the great tools for making these projects are made cheap for charities we just need the people now. If you'd like to give it a try let me know.

ARE YOU CREATIVE - MAYBE NOT IN THE ARTISTIC SENSE BUT YOU CAN WRITE? - One of the things we're pretty miserable at is keeping people informed about the AMAZING things that are going on in the ministry. We need someone who could take care of a quarterly newsletter to keep our supporters informed about what's going on.

DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE? - Our biggest task... PROMOTION! You know the reality of the fact that you can only do what there's money in the bank to do and people don't give to organizations they've never heard of. If you know of people that are A) eager to hear about this incredibly fruitful ministry or B) eager to promote the ministry in the broader community we could really use your help.

WANT TO SEE IT YOURSELF? - You can actually do a lot just by coming with us to see what is going on overseas. First, in many countries like India, people are so encouraged that people in North America would take an interest in what they are doing. A simple visit can do a lot to motivate a discouraged individual to do some pretty amazing things. Dates have not been finalized but we typically travel to India in October and January. Sometimes we arrange trips in May or August (typically has been for college students but we could certainly shift gears if there was interest) if there's interest. I'll be heading (Lord willing) to Belize in late June to help out with some more ground work and staff training if anyone wants to check up on me and what I do.

So if you've come to the end of this list and you haven't found anything that fits you and you'd still like to help out remember your prayers are vital! Please pray for these needs and that God would place it on someone's heart to fill these needs.

What's New?

Well it's been another couple weeks since the last time I updated my blog and I'm starting to get that guilty feeling. So often there's either so much or too little to tell and those become my feeble excuses. No more excuses here's an update...

Business first

New at the CCI office (within the past month or two) are two new staff. Shirley (husband Abe) Banman has come on board to help us with the PR effort for this ministry. It's obvious that God has gifted her for exactly this kind of job and she has represented us well and the Missionfest conferences in Vancouver and Winnipeg and is currently putting together a Hymn Sing event for March 25. Come on out at 7 p.m. at the concert hall for a good time of singing and a little update.
Gerald Thiessen has also rejoined us from the glory days of WBC. Gerald is going to see the "Build it for kids" projects through to completion. What is "Build it for kids" you might ask. We've been working at coming up with creative ways to raise funds for the ministry and this is one. It started with an idea from a church member and has turned into approximately $100,000 for the ministry. A bunch of local trades people and suppliers have offered us goods and services at or below cost for building a house. The house was sold and the profits will go to send kids to camp. It's been a pretty amazing blessing as it took little effort from us in the office and has had a huge impact on the ministry. Gerald is working toward arranging similar projects in other communities.

As for Ray and me... Now we put our feet up and watch everything get done. JUST KIDDING! It's amazing how when you get a little momentum going how wild things can go. Right now I have a couple great big projects on the go. Kids 4 Kids is something that I'm working at promoting. A number of parents stopped by our booth at the Missionfest conferences asking how their kids could get involved in this ministry. Already I've been connecting with Sunday schools to present a fundraising effort where kids can collect their change in a cool little box and in doing so send kids just like themselves to camp. Want a box for your kids - give me a shout. Know someone who can connect us to a group of kids that might be interested - give us a dingle. Moreover I think this will be an awesome opportunity to build relationships with churches and individuals beyond the places we've connected already.

Ray is of course doing well and busy raising funds for the exciting spring that we have ahead. We're still shooting for 100,000 campers. It's a big goal but we have an even bigger God!

Yesterday I had the most encouraging time connecting with our Belize guy Alex at SBC (Steinbach Bible College). Together we had the opportunity to present to a number of students who are interested in helping out in Belize this summer. I see some really great potential on the horizon and I'm really confident that the Belize project will really take off in the next couple years.

During this time I also had the opportunity to meet with a church leader from one of the Mennonite communities in Belize. It was so great to hear his perspectives and reports as many of the youth from his church helped us out with some of the camping programs in Belize last summer.

As it looks right now I'll be preparing to spend some time in Belize again this summer so you can place your hot sauce orders now (I'll take an extra bag to accommodate this time).

Personally...

People often ask how things are going and if only I could fully relay the tremendous blessings and some of the real challenges we face in doing what we do. Many of them are just so hard to describe. So many times I just want to dance for joy (that might be an interesting video to link to my blog) and other times I find my self in tears because I just want to escape some of hard things God has called us to do. Surprisingly, many times this happens (several times) on the very same day.

So am I crazy? Maybe that's not the question to ask. Am I on quite an adventure? Most certainly - I'm just not terribly thrilled with all of the landscape. An incredible place of refuge I've been finding the past couple weeks is in a much revitalized prayer time. The Lord is certainly using our son Jace to rejuvenate my prayer times in the early hours of the day - it seems God is a morning person and He best speaks before 6 but the past couple days He's waited till around 7 which has been nice. Anyway, it's been good to hear His voice a little more clearly and He's been sustaining me (us - Terri's really been travelling this journey with me as she's been teaching me a bunch of what she's learned over the past weeks). I must say it's required a little more faith action on my part but God's really been faithful. I'd love to tell you more but this is where one on one comes in a little more handy. But please keep upholding us in your prayers as we certainly, fervently and regularly pray for you!