Casting all your cares upon HIM, for HE cares for you!! 1 Peter 5:7
I would like to give glory to God for HIS awesome provision and for placing each one of you in my life. Without your love and support I could not be serving Him here in Belize.
First of all, a big thank you for all those who prayed for our fourth annual ladies retreat held this past September. Our theme this year was 'A Heart of Prayer'. What a special time we had drawing closer to our Lord and Savior! It was a special blessing to have my sister Helen from Canada here to help with teaching and answering the ladies'many questions. Cory and I had a lot of fun showing Helen around Belize and the ladies I minister to also enjoyed an evening get together with her.
It is always a blessing for me when friends and family come and meet the people we minister to. In November, our friends Wally and Kathy Chopee, also from Canada, joined us for two and a half weeks. They did a lot of jobs that I did not know how to do or have time to do including some fixing around the house, planting trees at our property and the list goes on. We were blessed with an invitation from missionary friends Jim and Anna Mensie in Seine Bight to join them for their Thanksgiving potluck. Wally and Kathy had not really seen much of Belize and thoroughly enjoyed the incredible beauty of this country as we drove down to the coast. It was an unexpected blessing for them to have time enjoying the sand and the waters of the Caribbean Sea!
For some time now, it had been on my heart to take Cory to meet his birth Mom, Nicole with whom he spent the first three years of his life. I had never met Nicole but understood that she lived in the village of Independence which is in the general area of Seine Bight where we spent Thanksgiving. Leaving Wally and Kathy to enjoy some quiet time by the sea Jim, Anna, Cory and I ventured out to Independence. We had no set plan of action but just prayed trusting that if this was the Lord's will for Cory, we would somehow make the connection- and we did. Coming out of a little store we 'bumped' into Cory’s 14 year old cousin who immediately recognized him! We not only met Nicole but also two of Cory’s brothers whom he had never seen before. We are praying about bringing a food hamper out to them during the holidays. This is a three hour drive for us so need to pray for the Lord's timing in this.
As most of you know in August the Social Worker brought us beautiful Shaleni who is now 19 months old. This past week Friday they called to see if I would consider taking in a young baby who was in the hospital suffering from asthma. Then on Monday they called to say three month old 'Tyrell' was on his way to my house- not asking if I had decided to take him or not! I had already decided that my plate was full and was going to tell them to find someone else however seeing as he was on his way I thought this might be what God wants me to do and He would give me the strength to do it. Tyrell is on several different medications and really needs prayer for healing of multiple health issues. I must say he is a content baby and falls asleep at this last feeding which is 9-10 PM and last night slept till five.
Progress continues out at the property. The foundation (ie the 9 foot piles and beams for the floor) have been poured . We are waiting for the building materials to be shipped from California and are praying for the group as they prepare everything to come down for this house build. We have a bathroom built on top of the septic and a small room off to the side of it. The electricity has been hooked up and now we are waiting for the town to connect us to water. If we do not get the water then we will have to consider building a cistern to collect rain water. It will be interesting to see what the Lord has in store for this property- I believe He has specific plans in mind to somehow use it to minister to the needs of the Belizean people. More on that in a future newsletter!
Life is very busy, but God is faithful. He takes care of our needs in so many different ways. Just the other day we received the news that the Chopee's will be coming back to lend a hand from February 4th to April 4th.
Prayer Requests:
-- God’s will in Shaleni and Tyrell’s lives
-- Healing for both of these children, Shaleni still seems to be bothered with a yeast problem even after a few rounds of treatment. Tyrell with his breathing multiple health issues.
-- For the team that is planning to come down after the New Year to build our home- timing/ provision etc.
-- Help with the children as it is very difficult to get much else done with active toddler, a sick baby, homeschooling Cory etc.
-- God’s guidance concerning our role in Nicole’s life (Cory’s birth mom)
-- For good health for Cory and myself; for wisdom and discernment to clearly hear the Lord in every area of our lives
