Church in Belize

Yesterday we attended Christian Life Center in a little village outside PG. It is a small mission church started by some folks from North Carolina. They have a new Belizean pastor named Gideon. It was a neat experience. They are "looking" for someone to lead the music so who knows...

new video

We finally got a new video up yesterday. We'll try to get another one up soon!

My thought on cold showers

As I was showering last night my mind began to meander a bit. Hannah and I have discussed many times in the past what we would miss the most if we were to move to a developing country with lets say less than the normal comforts of home that we have come accustomed to. Hannah’s answer was without doubt air-conditioning, every time. Mine however after careful thought, was a hot shower. I love a really hot steamy shower. The hotter, the better. Well, we are here with neither (or very little) of the things we said believed we would miss the most. However, the interesting thing is that the things we thought we would miss the most are not what we miss the most after all! Not by a long shot. We miss the wonderful relationships we have with you, our family and friends.

Anyways, so as I was saying, here I am taking a cold shower (which by the way feels very nice when you are as hot as we are), and really not missing the hot water all that much, instead I was wondering what all of you were doing and wishing I could be there to do what ever you were doing with you (as long as whatever you are doing was appropriate for me to be doing with you [you get the point]). So I guess what I am saying is that whatever you say you believe to be true has to be tested to prove the accuracy of that truth. Hannah and I believed that God called us to serve in this manner, but you never really know until you test it. God may have told you something or planted something in your heart and you think or even believe it is what God wants you to do now in your life. If so, I encourage you to test it. God is a Big God. There are many references in scripture about testing God, faith etc. You see, now I know for sure what I miss the most. I could have gone my whole life “believing” that I would miss a steamy shower more than your company, but you know, I would not have known that unless I tested what I thought I believed. One of my favorite songs is Sanctuary: “Lord prepare me, to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true; with thanksgiving, I’ll be a living, sanctuary for you”. Trials and tests bring refinement, truth and clarity to life, so come on and give what’s in your heart a try; you may just find what you are looking for!

new pics

Hi All! Check out the new pics in the slideshow!

from my heart to yours

As I blogged yesterday, we are still alive and well. Sorry for not blogging sooner than this. The clinic depends on satellite for internet, and many things such as bad weather (common here), etc can affect connectivity. This was the case at the end of last week. Also, this weekend Belize celebrated its 27^th year of independence from British government. This obviously is a very big holiday here (the biggest in Belize) so everything including internet café’s were shut down through Monday. We joined in the celebration by going to their independence parade on Sunday. It was a great cultural experience.

I am looking forward to being able to blog more often to share with you all what God is doing in and through us here in Belize. As I have shared with some of you before, we will be moving onto the clinic grounds as soon as the construction on the new dorm is complete (maybe in a month or so). Living on the clinic compound is going to be a good thing in many ways. We often feel a bit disconnected from the community we are serving and serving with living outside town and 7 miles from the clinic. Living near the clinic will also help Hannah and I be able to “work” and care for Lily and Aidan at the same time, all the while allowing Lily and Aidan participate in caring for the sick and poor of southern Belize alongside us. Being that the clinic has internet access, as unreliable it can be at times, I will have more time to be able to blog and keep us with you guys.

I can honestly say most if not all of you reading this take for-granted the freedom and access you enjoy to be able to talk, whether it is by phone or in person to your friends and family whenever you want. I know Hannah and I took it for-granted UNTIL now. I am very grateful for being able to “talk” to you here and through emails and other arenas such as myspace, facebook, and the very occasional phone call. It really, really helps us, much more than you will ever know.

I know most if not all of my blogs since we have been here in Belize have been “informational” which is all well and good, but I really want to go a step further. I want to be able to share with you what God is saying to me and Hannah, and to receive feedback on what God is saying and doing in your life. Being here has “made” Hannah and I depend on God in ways we have not before. I say “made” because dependence on anything beyond our self is not human nature, but it is God natured. Out of this dependence, I am praying that God will speak to me and “change” areas of my life that need changing, strengthen areas that I am weak in, and tear down walls that I have built that are keeping me from being in the center of God’s will and purpose of my life.

We pray every night for you and your families. Please do the same for us. Being in an environment that is so different (and uncomfortable) than what we are use to, we are fighting the “survival” mentality (just make it through the next 12 months) and running and striving toward the “striving” (passionately seeking all that God wants to teach us and how he wants to use us while we’re here) mentality. I will tell you, this is a struggle for us daily and your prayers are coveted. Pray for our safety (although we do not feel necessarily unsafe, we all the time do net feel completely safe). Pray for our health (both physical and emotional). As some of you well know, homesickness can be worse than the flu! Most importantly, pray that we would be used. That we would be the heart, hands and feet of Jesus to each and every Belizean we come in contact with.

I will try to post more pictures soon!

Still doing good in Belize...

Our internet at the clinic has been down for the past 5 days so hence not blogging/answering emails in a while. I have a lot to blog but no time right now. We are in an internet cafe now so we don't have much time! Hope all is well with all of you. We are very busy getting oriented to the kinds of "work" we will be doing. I will blog much more later and post more pics soon! We love you all!

Adjusting to a new culture

We are quickly approaching our first week here in Belize. We knew life here was going to be different but I can honestly say we were not 100% (maybe 45%) prepared for what we were going to experience. Fortunately, the staff here at Hillside have been very gracious and have allowed us this week (while our licenses' are being processed) to take it all in slowly, find our way around town and get the hang of market/shopping.

Yesterday we all went to a senior citizen function in town with a organization that Hillside partners with, where Hillside students taught about healthy living. We will start a more steady work schedule next week. It looks like among many things, I am going to be taking over the home visit program which is being coordinated by a very Godly FNP that has been here for the past year but who is leaving mid October. I will have more details on exactly what Hannah and I will be doing at a later date.

Our power has been out for the past 24 hours but should be back on very soon. Fortunately (I believe due to Lily's prayers) the weather has been a bit cooler at night!

Pics

Ready to fly!

Awesome scenes from the plane

Our home (at least for now)

Our sweet ride

Waving hi to passer-byes

We found that frozen towels help with the heat!

aka "PG"

This is about 1 mile from where we are living in PG

Many one car bridges here

Road to clinic (very bumpy)

The clinic (gray build is new dorm construction)


The "tree house" at the clinic (our future home)

Offices/conference room

The PG market

Grocery store

Downtown PG

Hello from Belize!!!

We made it safely to Belize late Saturday evening. Everything (flights and drive to PG) went very well. Thanks to all for your prayers!!! Sorry for taking so long to let all know we're ok. We just got to the clinic that has internet access today. We are staying in a house in town that is ~ 7 miles from the clinic grounds. It is VERY VERY VERY HOT and humid! It stormed pretty good last night and it is raining even as I write.

I think (actually I am sure we are) experiencing "culture shock." It is going to take us a while to get use to no ac and no TV. We are soo spoiled! Please pray for us. We toured the clinic and did some preliminary orientation. We are about to try to find our way back to and around town. we are out of food so we are about to experience the market. I will post some more pictures later on this week.
j/h/l/a


Ready to fly!

Merry Christmas...?

Yes, you heard it correctly. This past weekend we had an early Yates family christmas for the kids complete with tree and lights! Although it was a little different and certainly not cold, we all had a really special time.