Jeff and Heather Hilgers: Friday, November 3, 2017

I lead devotions this morning. Instead of waking up anxious and nervous, I was excited. I'm not sure if that was a good sign or not. Before leaving I worked to prepare what I was going to share for devotions while we were here. This morning I realized that 2 of the things that I had prepared actually went together in a way. I was able to share some of my writing as part of the devotions this morning. It was rewarding to be able to share that with others as I don't really get the opportunity to do so at home.

Pastor Bruce photobombing my picture of the foliage:

Following devotions we had our final work day at LOL. Natalie, Amber, and I worked on cleaning up the prayer room and some of the offices this morning. We used the time to pray blessing over the prayer room as we cleaned it.

Hanging out on the 3rd floor:

When we finished cleaning Melissa gathered part of the team to help her organize one of the storage containers they have at LOL. LOL has 2 large shipping containers that they use to store supplies and clothing. We were working on cleaning and organizing their supply container. The container is used to house supplies like shampoo, soap, toothpaste, bedding, baby items, and other household items.

The view of the containers (and bus) from the 3rd floor:

A large part of this project involved gathering items for a garage sale, or "cheap sale" as they call it in Belize, that LOL is going to be having soon to raise money. We ended up pulling a huge amount of stuff out of the container to organize. Our biggest challenge on this project was the heat. Outside it was comfortably warm, but inside the container it was HOT and had no airflow. We ended up pulling out everything that needed sorted, putting it in the bus, and hauling it to the 3rd floor of LOL to sort and organize there.

LOL:

A view of the stairs to the 3rd floor:

The majority of the bedding that we pulled out was mismatched or only partial sets. Part of what makes LOL so special is their desire to give the children a feeling of a home and belonging. This goal is evident even in how LOL looks and feels. This goal cannot be accomplished though by giving the children discarded items, raggedy bedding, or stained/mismatched items. With this purpose in mind we sorted through everything and gathered a large selection to go to the sale.

Dustin working on one of the vehicles:

Once everything was sorted and organized we took it back to the container to rearrange and store. We were able to reorganize the majority of the container into a system that will hopefully be more user friendly for the staff and volunteers at LOL.

Dustin and Kyle trying to figure out the problem with the generator:

While we were sorting through the container part of the team finished the screens, and other part was working on vehicles and the LOL generator. One of the more interesting parts about working on projects in Belize is the lack of stores carrying everything. We are very spoiled in America with being able to run to any number of stores to get whatever we need. In Belize this isn't always the case, as the guys working on vehicles found.

Tired team after a long week of working:

We left LOL this afternoon with a feeling of accomplishment. We had tackled some big projects, and had finished them. At the beginning of our time here we had thought that we would not be able to complete the tasks we were given. To have finished the screens was a major accomplishment! We had also started the organization project on the container with the assumption that we wouldn't be able to complete it, which we actually did complete.

Hydration, sunscreen, and bug spray; the staples for our team:

On our way home we stopped again for some ice cream. This time no one tried the sweet corn ice cream for some reason. Hahaha. I tried the peach thinking it wouldn't be the greatest but was pleasantly surprised.

Pastor Dan preaching:

Our evening was spent at Toledo Faith Outreach Christian Center for their Friday night youth service. We got there just in time to join them for worship service. I had the opportunity to share a portion of my testimony with the youth. Pastor Dan taught on making the choice between good and God in our lives. The kids really got into it when he started joking about dating. It was funny watching them look at each other or nudge each other when he said that. We ended the service by serving the youth communion and praying over them. We even got to be a part of one of the girls accepting salvation tonight.

Pastor Dan preaching: