Day Eight: We're Baaaaack!

Today was our last day. We slept in a little, ate breakfast, had one last morning devo, and said goodbye to our friends.












We drove to Belize City, had lunch, and made our way to the airport.

And had fun on the plane.










To quote Kip, God goes before you to show you the way, behind you to encourage you, beside you to befriend you, above you to watch over you, and within you always to give you peace. I think we experienced all of this this week.

What a wonderful week serving the Lord and the people of Belize! We are truly blessed.

- Julie W.

Day Seven: Day of Fun

After working hard in the heat, the group was ready to have a day of fun. About half the group chose to go snorkeling and the other half wanted to see Mayan Ruins. The snorkeling crew had to leave early, so we all got up, had, breakfast by 7AM. Because we had to be up early, a bunch of people chose to get up to watch the sun rise.





Everyone was excited about their prospective destinations.

The snorkeling crew started in Belize City. From there, they took a water taxi to Caye Caulker and then got on the snorkeling boat. They spent about three hours with wonderful guides and saw coral, many fish, nurse sharks, and sting rays. The water, the sea life, and the views were gorgeous. They had lunch and did some shopping on the Caye. I think the pictures speak for themselves.























The Mayan Ruins group chose to go to Caracol. It was about 60 miles from Belmopan, but took 3.5 hours to get to because it involved traveling mostly on dirt roads filled with many potholes. To get to this area, one has to be escorted by the military because it is very close to the Guatemala border. Bob is currently participating in the excavation of another ruin in Belize, so it was very interesting to have him be the tour guide. Again, the pictures speak for themselves.


















This group also went to the 1000 Ft. Falls.



Because of the dirt roads and open windows, we got pretty dirty.





Once everyone got back to camp, we went to a bonfire for youth at the church. We had fun singing and worshiping with our friends one last time. We got ice cream on the way back to camp to celebrate Tracy's birthday.






We closed our evening with a last worship service back at in the chapel at Camalote Camp. Kofi joined us and we celebrated communion. Kip was very smart and chose this service (where no one had a camera to document it) to sing and dance with Kofi to "I Looked Down the Road." I can attest to the fact that he did it, but there is no photo documentation to prove it to the outside world.


- Julie W

Day Six: Let's Finish This!

Today was our final day of work. We had to finish painting the outside and inside of the church, finish the ditch, and try to get as many forms for the concrete columns built as possible. At the end of the workday, we had gotten it accomplished. What a feeling!

Here are some photos to document the last work day.

At the ditch:









Painting:









The columns:















At the end of the day, the group decided that we had a Cuthbert II in our midst. Andy is now referred to as Cuthernie. :)

We did have groups visit classrooms both yesterday and today. They sang songs, did a craft, and enjoy

We ended the night with the last crusade at the church. In my opinion, it was the best of all. Kofi is so filled with love for the Lord and all of the music was very uplifting and energetic. My favorite part of the night was when Maddie, Leah, and Tyrone sang a song on stage. They did an awesome job and I was very proud of Maddie for being willing to do it.

Tomorrow is our day of fun. Half the group is going snorkeling and the other half of the group is going to different Mayan ruins. Everyone is looking forward to it.

- Julie W.

Day Five: A Day of Laughter

Today, we continued working on our different projects. Cuthbert trusts our group enough that he actually left us on our own at the end of the day, after he had given basic instructions, of course. He also complimented Bob and Robert on different things and he almost hugged Andy. We feel like we have made international peace progress, for sure.

As for our construction jobs, the outside of the church is almost fully painted,








the pipe is placed in the ditch,





the dirt is pretty much spread,





and the rebar is ready for the concrete forms.








Cuthbert had a special project for the dirt spreaders today. There is a really large rock on the worksite that is too big to easily move. He had our group dig it out some and cover it with scrap wood. He plan to hold a bonfire and hopes that the heat from the fire will crack the rock into smaller pieces so it can be removed.








The Ditch Gang worked really hard to get the ditch ready for the pipe to be replaced in it. It involved a lot of manual labor in the hot Belizean sun. Besides actually digging some of the ditch by hand to get the angle right, they also had to attach the concrete pipes together in the ditch with rope, tar, and plastic piping. The whole process was very interesting.














The group joked around a lot during the ditch work, but this afternoon it hit an all-time high when Zac, Michael, and Bob began speaking only in British accents. They lasted a long time (like 4 hours). Needless to say, the conversations were pretty funny. On top of the British accents, they also began calling themselves "the Ditch Boys". Bob developed a song and there is a great video of him singing it with his Ditch Boys.


Tonight was another crusade at the church. The musicians from the previous evenings were not able to make it, so Wesley, Zac, and Michael agreed to accompany Kofi in the praise and worship songs. While these three are amazing musicians individually, lack of any practice together, unfamiliarity with the songs and Caribbean beats, and a horrible sound technician led to one of the funniest musical performances it has been my privilege to hear. At one point, the entire group from Texas, including the three on stage, were cracking up with laughter.



It was definitely an event that one had to hear live to truly appreciate. Thanks to Wesley, Zac, and Michael for having such great attitudes and for being able to laugh at themselves. It was a great night.

Laughter definitely helped break up what could have been a very monotonous day. I can attest to the validity that "laughter is the best medicine."

PS. This was the "Internet Cafe" last night once the Internet was back on at Camalote Camp. There was a lot of laughter in here, as well.









- Julie W.