Belize Outreach '08

Belize, C.A. November '08
Thursday/Friday

At about 4:00 p.m., our team of 18 assembled in the small, Belize City airport. We'd been divided among two flights originating from the Bay Area, and without incident, we'd all been reunited in Belize. We quickly boarded two tiny twin prop planes and flew south to Punta Gorda, home for the next week. The flight was spectacular, hugging the Caribbean coastline as the sun set in the west. It was the first time we'd ever arrived in P.G. at night (some of us have been here over a half dozen times) and it was the scenic flight yet.

Our host, Gideon, and his family met us at the landing strip and escorted us to our hotel, the Charlton Inn, a modest hotel in the heart of P.G. After settling into our rooms, we walked to a local restaurant for dinner (stewed chicken, rice and beans) and saw several familiar faces along the way, including 'Juney', a local resident with special needs who won our hearts during a previous visit in the spring of '07.

We spent time at our evening devotional gathering (Vespers) thanking God for all his mercies shown to us throughout this day and being reminded of our focus for our time here--to share the love and message of Jesus with as many folks as possible in as many ways as possible! We all headed to bed with a lot to think about, much for which to be thankful, and with lots of anticipation about what tomorrow would hold.

We woke up Friday morning to a symphony of roosters and lots of activity around the Charlton Inn. New guests were already arriving, employees were watering plants and hanging cleanly washed bedsheets on the outside clotheslines to dry in the Caribbean breeze. We gathered for breakfast at 'The Snack Shack' for pancakes and tropical fruit, then divided into two ministry teams for the day.

The 'Dental Team' drove several miles outside of town to an abandoned dental clinic that was made available to them for use. Miraculously, it was only recently abandoned and much of the equipment is in remarkably good shape and quite modern. By the end of the day, the team had seen about two dozen clients. Some had as many as ten teeth that needed to be extracted, others had been in need of root canals for who knows how long, and others needed cleanings that required hours. There was no question that the clinic was meeting needs--one family traveled more than five hours just to get the free services that were being offered. While patients waited to be seen by the Dental Team, a 'Waiting Room Ministry Team' took care of them, playing games with children that led to ministry opportunities for families.

The 'Non-Dental Team' was assigned to visit a local elementary school and present dental hygiene presentations to several classes. Our audience ranged in age from two to six year olds and they were quite a lively crew! We used all kinds of creative techniques to teach them about the importance of good dental care and they LOVED it! We had them each 'color' their teeth with a temporary dye that showed where bacteria had accumulated and then gave them mirrors to check out their smiles. Then we gave them toothbrushes to get rid of the "bugs living on an between their teeth." We passed out little hourglass timers and to each child and told them they had to brush for two minutes, until all the sand had fallen to the bottom of the glass. They were so absorbed by the whole process! Then I demonstrated how to floss. Steve Chew, one of the dentists on the team, had brought an oversized set of lifelike teeth to demonstrate how to brush and floss. As I was demonstrating how to floss, Rachel Howden held up the teeth while I inserted the floss between each tooth and said, "You pop the floss in and pull it out." I did this several times, saying the same thing until on the third tooth, I said, "Pop it in and pull it..." and right when I said "out", the model tooth I was flossing came flying out of the plastic gums into the audience! The children gasped, me and my teammmates rolled in laughter, and I'm sure those children will probably never floss again! We salvaged the moment and quickly moved on to the next part of the presentation... Finally, we concluded by praying with all the children, thanking God for the teeth he'd given to us, but most of all, for the gift of Jesus! We can live without teeth, but God doesn't want us to live our lives apart from Christ.

During the afternoon classes, we were asked to referee a volleyball tournament and that's where we were reunited with so many children from our spring '08 visit--Clayton, Mikey, Keetie, Jem, Anthony, Shadeem, Jameeka, and so many more! It was one of the most amazing reuinions EVER! Clayton came running up to me, practically knocked me over in excitement and said, "I thought you were never coming back!" nearly breaking my heart! We spent the rest of the afternoon with the kids, playing, swimming in the sea, and then meeting up with them again and again all over town. They jumped into the arms of all the team members--even the ones they didn't know. God has convinved these kids that we love them and that there is something different about us--the love HE has shown to us that we now share with others.

We were so taken by how these kids were absolutely ecstatic over our presence here. We could have played with them for hours and they would have never tired of us being with them. We passed a little ball with them for so long and all that mattered to them is that we were there, and we wanted to be with them. Pray that the Lord will use us to clearly share His message of unconditional love and the universal truth of the gospel with them. Our prayer is that their hearts, and the hearts of their families, will be softened to this message and planted eternally within them...