donrock - "Tell me about Belize!"

“Show me the pictures, tell me about Belize!” Don said and then minutes later he was asleep. Who could blame him. He’d been on the go non-stop for the last couple months with training camps. He loved it…but was getting little rest. All Real Life and Ambassador Teams are now safely in their respective locations… as is he. Don is now in the cold highlands of Peru with a team of high school students. We had 3 days together at training camp between my trip and his. We never found the time to get caught up…except for that one time when I put him to sleep.

So, all that to say…you’ll hear about Belize before Don does. I’ve been back for over a week now and the mosquito bites have faded. As usual, I don’t know where to begin so I’ll try to break it down over the next week…hitting on something different each day.

How I ended up in Belize. Well, dad asked. Dad, (Gary Lengkeek) was approached to be the project leader for the STM (Short Term Mission) trip to Belize for a group consisting of 2 different churches. One team of adults from California’s; Lord’s Grace Church and another team made up of primarily youth from Vineyard Christian in PA. In addition, there was the AIM worship leader and his wife. However, they could use another AIM staff to help with the logistics considering the size of the teams and to lead the Listening Prayer, Head to Head time of prayer and ATL (Ask the Lord) times. I was originally scheduled to go with Don to Peru and thought it possible to do both, and agreed to go…and then I wanted to share this adventure with a friend in hopes to take a day and explore Belize. This friend ended up being Naomi Skeltis who brought 2+ years of experience as the leader for AIM’s FYM (First Year Missionary) Program in Mexico. We are thankful she came along!

(Gary Lengkeek)

(Team from CA - Lord's Grace Church)

(Team from PA - Vineyard Christian Church)

(Team Florida... Hope, David, Ross and Josh)

(Leaders: Naomi, Connie, Marlyse, Brooke and Missee)

(Missee, Kristen, Connie)

(Worship leader - Jesse and wife, Missee)

Upon arrival, we discover Naomi’s luggage had not arrived and like any other Latin American country…time is not all that relevant. Soon our teams arrived and we headed to the base here we would be making home for a couple of weeks. We arrive with sweat soaked clothes and soon after looked like we had a case of the chicken pox. Joining the AIM staff and our 2 teams was another group of 4 from a church in Florida, the two gals, Brooke and Marlyse from the local base (run by Commissioned International Ministries)…who were responsible for our food, lodging, and transportation and set up. The also had a friend from the US visiting…Kristen. All three full of life! We’ve got a big but great bunch. (See pictures above!)

Our first day in Sand Hills, Belize ended with an evening of worship under the thatched meeting area. I knew that night that the trip was going to be hard but good for many of us. God was there…we just had to work through the distractions…mosquitoes and missing comforts from home.

(Meeting area)

(Home in Sand Hill, Belize)

More tomorrow.

On another note: Don is loving Peru. It's cold at night... but beautiful! They had a great conversation with a couple of men on the street who gave their lives to Christ. They will be meeting with them again...connecting them to a body of believers for continued discipleship.

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"Tell me about Belize!"

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