March 2018

Philippians 4:13

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

This past month has been a whirlwind but the verse says it all. I can do all

things through Christ who strengthens me. We started this year attending

the annual Calvary Chapel missions conference at Murietta Hot springs,

California. God provided for us to visit my Mexican family whom we

ministered to so many years ago. These three weeks were packed filled

with blessings from the Lord.

End of January Cory finished high school and he did not take long to go

looking for a job. He soon had a few interviews that now has been working

full time, Monday through Friday for a calling center for more then a month

now. This job has its challenges but he is persevering and hoping to save

up money to buy a motor bike.

We are looking forward to taking a trip to southern California beginning of

June to attend his graduation.

February we had a lot of different challenges. First I started off with a

pinched nerve in my lower back causing a lot of pain and after some

treatments with a chiropractor, massage therapist I was able to move

around a lot better. The week after I was getting better Tino went in for his

surgery. WE had a three hour drive to Corozal where World Pediatric from

the states were performing surgery for the many children in need. There

were many sleepless nights after the surgery as Tino was healing. Tino is to

be in a cast for six weeks. Surgery was February 20th. Tino had his Achilles

tendon lengthened on both legs. This will help him to put his feet down flat

when he starts to walk.

We have had to change the cast twice in the past week. Sunday (11th) we

had to get it changed because the cast was slipping and his feet were no

longer in place. We could not find an orthopedic so we had a regular

doctor do it. After a few days we could see his feet were not straight so we

found an orthopedic that could re-do the cast and that was Thursday

(15th). Seeing his toes are sticking out, I noticed today that one foot looks

swollen. I have given him some ibuprofen that the doctor prescribed and

hopefully that will help us through the weekend and if the swelling

continues we will need to see the orthopedic again.

The past two days Tino has has many crying spells and sounds like he is in

some kind of pain. When he is not crying he is laughing and being his

cheerful self.

We are still in the planning stages for Casa De Shalom and would

appreciate prayer for God to show us who needs to be on the board and to

bring someone with administration skills and I guess like minded Christians

who want to help see a home get started for the children and adults whom

we want to give a chance for them to grow to their potential

Prayer and praise

~ Pray for Tino’s continued healing

~ For me as I try to get Cory’s Canadian Citizenship papers done

~ For Cory to stay on track with his relationship with Christ, stand up for

what is right and for all those struggles teenage boys have.

~ Continued good health and strength to do what is before us.

~ God’s will and provision for Casa De Shalom

July 2017

End of May we had our annual ladies retreat and our theme was Abiding in Christ. So very blessed to have Gail from Graeagle come and share God’s Word with us. Also Dottie and Brandy came along with her and we were blessed to have all three ladies attend and come along side of the ministry God has for me here in Belize. 

Beginning of June, Chris and Jana Nelson came to serve and be an encouragement to both Cory and myself. Painting was done, many fix up jobs that were needing attention and last but not least we got to enjoy a trip to Placencia with them. They went snorkeling with Cory while I stayed behind with Tino and had some relaxing time at the beach and walking around town. WE also spent some time with Jim and Anna while we were down there and that is always a blessing for us as well.

As I have mentioned before, Tino has responded well to therapy and with the orthopedic team coming this past month they recommended Tino for surgery so his feet would be able to stand flat. Did not take long, I was told his appointment will be for mid August. I would appreciate your prayers. 

There is a team from Texas that comes to serve along side of San Ignacio Baptist church and this church had invited the youth from our church join their VBS. One of the young ladies in this team, her name is Kaylee, she fell in love with Tino last year. When she went home she created a blog to raise funds for Tino’s therapy for a year. This year she was back with the team and it was a blessing to see Tino and Kaylee get reconnected again. 

Many of you know it has been my heart and prayer for a home to be started for children with special needs. This year has been a break through with a mission team coming to build a clinic for children with disabilities where they can get therapy and the help they need. My prayer is once this is in progress and looks like this clinic will be up and running by next month. Then I am looking for open doors for a respite center and playground where parents that need a break can have professional loving people care for the loved ones. I know the Lord can do above and beyond anything I could imagine. As I pray I am seeking His will and His desires for this. 

After the clinic was built someone came and stole all the windows and the door out of the building. Praising God for the donation for us to get a fence around this property and the windows and door as well. 

WE continue to pray for God's will and His provision as we seek to help those in need of physical therapy and children needing a home. 

May 2017

Looking back at the past few months, I praise God for continuing the work He began in us. We have been blessed with some visitors during this time as well.

First Wally and Kathy Chopee came from Manitoba for a month and many mending jobs and fix up type of jobs got done around this place. Blessed with a motion light that is powered by solar and some frustrating plumbing jobs got done as well. 

Ken and Mary Ann came from Virginia to celebrate their birthday month in Belize and they took time out to join us at church and have Easter Sunday lunch with us. Merri Lynn came for a few days from California to see what was happening in our ministry. Super blessed to have gotten to know her and for her to share her wisdom along the way. 

The youth in our church put on a beautiful Mother’s day program/banquet. Cory said that God has shown him that hard work and perseverance pays off. It took a lot of practice doing the skit called “baggage”. 

Tino continues his therapy and keeps improving. He was chosen for a free wheelchair and stander that we are to pick up on the 29th of this month in Belize city. 

In our ladies study we have been going through scripture in what God says who we are and what He expects of us as His children. I am looking forward to this years ladies retreat once again and I know God has more to show us about His love for us and how He chose us. 

John 15:16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

March 2017

I want to thank each and everyone that helped our sabbatical time possible. We had almost three months with my family in Manitoba and then at the end of December we headed for California and were so blessed to see our family and friends there. Truly blessed to attend the Calvary Chapel Missions Conference where we were spiritually fed and encouraged and also met many new friends.

End of January we were back in Belize and what a joy to be back with our Belize family and friends. Tino our foster boy had improved so much during the time we were gone. He has been getting physical therapy every week and what a difference that has made for him.  Now he can sit on his own and his balance has improved so much as well has his eye hand coordination. He still has a ways to go before he will be able to walk but it is looking hopeful. 

Cory is working on his senior year with Calvary Chapel on line. He continues to play soccer whenever he gets a chance and is enjoying youth group. 

Our ladies study Believing God by Beth Moore is still going on and the ladies feel they are gaining so much through this study. We are back in the swing of planning our 11th annual ladies retreat for the end of May. We are so excited that Gail Arterburn from Graeagle, California is coming out to be our guest speaker this year. Please pray for God’s guidance in all the details. 

I have shared with many of you my desire to see a children’s home started here in our town for children with special needs. Right now we are looking for property that is affordable but also easy access. From me taking Tino to get physical therapy gave the therapist a vision to start a campaign and help other children. Right now there are 12 children receiving therapy because someone has sponsored them. 

Thank you so much for your love, prayer and financial support. 

Psalm 96:3

Declare His glory among the nations,

His wonders among all peoples.

November 2016

As some of you know, I have been praying for the past year about taking a sabbatical. I

have been on the mission field since Brian and I were married 1998, first in Baja California,

Mexico and then for the past 12 years in Belize. A lot has happened in these years and it

felt like it was time to take an extended break to be refreshed spiritually as well as

physically, to spend some quality time with Cory, and also with my family, especially with

my parents while they are still with us.

So here we are in Winkler, Manitoba. Cory and I arrived on October 5th and have already

enjoyed celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving and my Mom’s 79th birthday with our family.

While we are here in Winkler, God has blessed us with our own little two bedroom

basement suit and the use of a car. Cory is managing to keep up with his Grade 12 studies

through Calvary On Line. He’s also doing lots of reading, visiting family and friends, and

trying new things such as the local youth group.

On December 30th we will fly to southern California to attend the Calvary Chapel

Missions conference in Murrieta from the 2-6th of January. After that we will have a few

weeks in the Sacramento and Chico area visiting more family and friends before returning

home to Belize.

It is amazing to stop and look back over these years and see all that the Lord has done. In

2004, after 6 years of serving in Mexico, Brian and I followed the Lord’s call and moved to

Belize. Very soon Brian was teaching and mentoring Christian men who were hungry for

solid Biblical teaching, in our town of San Ignacio and also in Gales’ Point, where we drove

every weekend to teach at a small local fellowship. I had been caring for children in

Mexico, and before that in Canada, so I was thrilled when the Lord opened the door for me

to start caring for little ones in Belize.

After Brian went to be with the Lord in 2007 I knew that the Lord was calling me to stay

in Belize with our son Cory. I didn’t know how I would serve the Lord as a widowed

missionary but God had it all figured out and He kept bringing children who needed care

and love to our home. Over the years we have had many children stay with us, some for

many months and others for a few days or just overnight. The past couple of years have

been quite intense as we had 2 year old twin girls, as well as a 2 year old boy, living with us

for many months. Needless to say, they kept us running and on our toes! After these

children were moved to adoptive homes, Tino came to live with us. Tino was born with

micro-encephaly. He is now almost three years old, and with physical therapy is

progressing so that now he can now roll over and move around on the floor. He is a happy

smiley child who brings much joy to our home.

Whatever the need, or the situation, we welcome these little (and sometimes not so little)

ones into our home with open arms, give them clean clothes and a full tummy and above all

share the love of Jesus with them. And there are many days when, in the midst of taking

care of the children and doing housework or other chores, troubled women or young girls

come to our home looking for help, friends drop by seeking counsel, or just needing some

fellowship and a cup of coffee.

One thing I have learned is that in order to be ready to meet the demands of the day I need

to be spiritually fed daily. God is also showing me that I need to give all my cares to Him as

it is so easy to worry about the mother who is abused, or the children whose mother is not

mentally stable. I have to lift these situations up to Him in prayer and trust that He will

work them out in His timing and in His way.

I see a great need for a place for children with special needs if it were a place to stay or a

place for respite for those parents that choose to keep their precious child. Please join me in

prayer to see where the Lord would want this place to be and for workers that have a heart

to love on and care for children that need this special care.

Thank you for the love, prayer and financial support you have given us over the years. Cory

has started his senior year of high school and like most teenagers seeking to see what

direction God would have for him go in the coming years.

God’s special blessings on each one of you.

May 2016

Our month of May has been busy but so very blessed. This past year a girl named Alicia from Mexico found me on Facebook and now a few months ago she said that her and her boyfriend wanted to get married. She said he had received Christ and they both wanted to live right in the eyes of the Lord. She use to come and visit us (when we lived in Mexico) every chance she got. Now she was asking if I could come to her wedding. She saw me as her spiritual mom and wanted both of her moms at the wedding. Cory and I started making plans to go to Mexico and God went before us and worked out the details. As I drove from San Diego into Mexico I felt like I was home. How familiar things can be even after 13 years. The day before the wedding Alicia introduces her husband to be to me as his mother in law. She told her two sons that Cory was their uncle. She named her first born son after Brian, which is such an honor and shows even after so many years God allowed me to see the fruit of our labor. It was a very God honoring wedding and I was also blessed to visit the Calvary Chapel church in Vicente Guerrero that friends of ours started. We had many God moments. Visiting a ministry that helps abused women and their children, Eternal Anchor who help children with special needs, Foundation for His Ministry, praying with my friend Johanne and so many more. 

After five days in Mexico we went back to San Diego where we met up with some friends and also a trip to Long Beach to visit with my father in law and his lovely bride and niece and her family. It was a truly blessed trip and even when I was kind of out of my comfort zone driving along these busy freeways, Cory was a great navigator. 

John 8:32 was our theme verse for our tenth annual ladies retreat here in Belize. We were truly blessed with the amount of ladies that came. We had around 60 ladies in all. In 2006 when Denise and I started our planning for our first retreat in 2007 we wanted to bless the ladies that we were ministering to and bring them together. Over the years I have been overwhelmed with the amount of support coming Anna Mensie who is a big part of our planning team and Spanish Lookout community. 

Our main team of planning but we get a lot of help and support from others as well. Thanks Rachel, Anna and Denise!

WE have been truly blessed and thanks so much for standing in prayer with us. 

April 2016

This past year seems like it has gone by so fast. As I reflect back I feel so much has happened. Last year in November the twins were placed in their adoptive home. Only a few weeks with one, two year old, Zion, and then Tino came into our home. 

In February is when I got the call that Zion’s birth mom had passed away and if I could bring him into the city so the social worker could take him and his siblings to the funeral. Zion at the age of two did not really understand and when I picked him up at the office I could tell he was friendly with his five older siblings. My heart was saddened when I saw the sad looking faces. The following week I asked the social worker if I could have a day or afternoon and bring all six children together and have a play date at the park. She agreed and we set a day to do this. They had a good time connecting with each other and asked if we could get together in April for Zion’s third birthday. I told them I would see what I could do. Zion left to his adoptive home the day before his third birthday and so I planned with his adoptive mom a few weeks later to join us at the park where we had all the siblings together. This time we  had some time at the park but also went out for pizza. I pray for these five older children and that God would find a special family for them. The five are placed in three different homes and ages 5-16 years. 

Now Tino is the only foster child in my home and he turned two years in February. He has microcephaly which means he was born with a small head and brain. He is very happy and loves people. Physically he cannot walk, talks like a 5-6 month old and he keeps growing and gaining weight. I am not sure how long I will be able to care for him as my back will not  handle me carrying him as he gets bigger. There is a great need for people that have a heart for foster children. Praying for a children’s home that not only takes care of children with special needs but also would be open for some hours during the day for children to come whose parents might need a break. When I think about Tino staying in our home for long term then I can see we will soon need a ramp and a wheelchair for him. Praying for God’s perfect will in his life. 

Thank you for joining us in prayer. I am seeking God’s perfect will in the future of the many children with special needs. 

Cory started eleventh grade this year through Calvary On Line. He is enjoying his studies and he still enjoys a good game of soccer. 

Thank you once again for your love, prayers, and support. 

We thank God for the rain that is coming down right now. We have had a very hot and dry past few months.