This morning I was woken up at 3am by a dream that someone was poking me through the window with a stick. I tried to go back to sleep but was only able to sleep fitfully until 5am when I gave up and just got up for the day. To say rude awakening would be pretty accurate!
After waking up in such a poor way I was trying really hard not to be grumpy with others. Thankfully some of the guys got up about the same time and had started a pot of Belizean coffee. Thank you guys so much!! The coffee was delicious and really helped to change my attitude.
Breakfast was followed by devotionals at LOL. Spending time in their prayer room was the highlight of my time here last year, and this morning continued to build upon that. The worship time there is just so sweet. I love being surrounded by fellow believers seeking the face of God and worshipping Him.
Jervis taught about Dreams, Callings, Purpose, and Identity. One of my personal favorite points that I wrote in my journal was "If you want to make history you have to have history." So good! Often we think that we are disqualified from doing great things because of our history, but it is those very things that can propel us forwards. Jervis also taught about dream stealers, the things in our life that try to steal our dreams away from us, money being the number one thing that tries to steal our dreams. A big take away for me was the challenge to get mad at the things that try to steal my dreams, and in reaction to go higher and deeper in with God. I could honestly continue this whole post just talking about this one devotional, it was that good!
Devotions ended with Jervis asking those who knew or felt that they were called by God to come to the center to be prayed over. I have been aware of the calling I have on my life and my purpose for a couple years now, but to have others gather around me and pray over me in that was simply amazing. This was one of the very few times in my walk with the Lord that I have had others gather around me, lay hands on me, and pray for me. To say that I was blessed beyond measure would be an understatement. This was one of those moments that I will carry in my heart forever. Thank you to everyone that was there and who prayed over me. You have no idea how much that meant to me!
Following devotions we continued working on our projects at LOL. I spent the morning in the garden continuing to clean it up and weed. I was really tired still so sitting and weeding ended up being the perfect task for me. I realized as I was working that I had the choice in that moment to either check out and go through the motions, OR use the time to talk to God and spend time with Him. I choose to focus on God. As it says in Colossians 3:23 "whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men". At home this scripture was beautiful to me, but in that moment of tiredness it was a challenge. I realized that it's easy to do things as unto the Lord when I'm rested and comfortable, but it's far more challenging and of far more value when it's done from a place of setting self aside, setting comfort aside and focusing on God despite how I feel.
After lunch I helped with sanding more of the screen frames that they were working on that day. Again I found myself growing in appreciation of power sanders! I was reminded in that moment of snippets from the Laura Ingalls Wilder books I am reading with my daughters. Laura talks about Almanzo sitting by the fire at night with his family smoothing wood with a piece of glass. Suddenly I realized how lucky I was to have sand paper! I guess it's all about perspective.
Our work day wrapped up earlier as we are doing outreach ministry in the village of Barranco this evening. We cleaned up our work spaces at LOL and went home to clean up and change for church. It's about a 2 hour drive to get to the village.
Barranco is a Garifuna community located in southern Belize, just 8 miles from Guatemala. The Garifuna culture is a mixture of Caribbean and South African cultures. Here is a snippet about them from Anywhere.com:
This village is truly an intersection where 2 religions are colliding. We had the opportunity to visit this village last year as well and encourage the newly planted church there. I cannot even begin to fathom the difficulties they experience there fighting for their faith. We have been given the privilege of sharing a meal with them these past two years, and listening to the struggles and threats that they have faced for planting a church there.
Visiting the coast of Barranco:
Pastor Angie with our teammate Jeff:
Pastor Angie is the pastor over the church in Barranco. She is a woman of such strength and grit like none other. Her determination in planting a church and telling the people of Barranco about Jesus is without measure. When we visited last year they were collecting funds to pour the foundation for their church. This year we had the chance (because we were able to arrive before sundown) to see the church building that they are working on.
They have come so far in this past year and the difference in the climate of Barranco can be felt. The building has come so far and I can't wait to see it finished.
Pictures of the team stopping at Pastor Angie's home/store before our tour:
We stopped at Pastor Angie's home prior to our tour. I was amazed to see the multitude of dragon flies flying around us. I wish I had thought to get a picture to share with y'all. The sky was literally filled with TONS of dragonflies playing over our heads.
After our tour of the church and the coast we went to the community building for dinner and church service. Pastor Bruce preached and encouraged the congregation, some children recited verses and performed a dance. As part of service we got to pray over members of the congregation. Jeff and I got to pray over the most beautiful women there. They were probably in their 70's or so but the inner beauty and kindness of heart these women had was touching. They both kept pushing the other ones hands forward for prayer. We had a few minutes to visit with the congregation after service and were swarmed by children asking for bibles. They were so hungry for bibles and we ended up leaving about a dozen bibles with the children there.
Pastor Dan with a little girl he gave a bible to:
Before we left God told me to bring a Jesus Storybook Bible to the children of the church of Barranco. I am hopefully that this small gift will help the children there to grow in their faith as they make up the majority of the congregation. I personally have grown to see the bible in a new way reading through the Jesus Storybook Bible with my kids.
Following church service our team was asked to visit a nearby home to pray over a young man there. His grandmother said that he was seeing snakes everywhere, and lacking in ambition. She feared that he was possessed and wanted us to help him. All 15 of us piled into their small living room to pray for the boy. As we talked to him I began to realize that he wasn't struggling with being possessed but instead had the gift of discernment but lacked the words and experience to explain what was going on to those around him. We prayed for him and spoke life and blessing over him. We left him with verses of encouragement and hopefully direction.
One of the buildings we walked past in Barranco:
While we were praying for the boy I felt strongly that we should pray for his 4 year old niece who was there. I shared this with Pastor Bruce and asked the Grandmother for permission. As I got down to pray for the girl she changed from a silly kid trying to get attention from everyone to clinging, crying to the Grandmothers skirts. As I prayed for her I felt boldness like I have not experienced before and knew that Holy Spirit was the one directing my words and prayers.
On the ride hope I was exhausted and fighting to stay awake on the bumpy dirt road. At home I had a great conversation with my teammates Rachael and Natalie about the gift of discernment. We prayed together after our conversation and I found a lot of peace in that.
I did not sleep well this night. My shoulder was spasming from sanding this afternoon and it felt like someone kept shaking me awake. I also found myself fighting off nightmares the whole night. All in all this was a long, trying, rough day. But it was still worth it. Seeing the difference in Barranco in the last year was worth a tired bumpy ride.
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