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!
