My heart again feels a heaviness for the people here, the people who have no lasting hope. As we were surrounded today by garbage I am looking to see.. where will these people find hope? Not here, not in any earthly thing they may run to, to try to fill themselves. I am reminded of the hymn ” My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus’ blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name. On Christ, the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand; all other ground is sinking sand.” How fitting this song is.
This morning we started our day by attending a Sunday school program for local kids. Chief is the one who runs this program. There are other ministry events he holds here as well but Sunday mornings are for the kids.
This is part of the hellfighter’s ministries. Here you see his daughter giving a Sunday school lesson on Shadrach Meshach and Abednego.
Bill, from our group, was given the opportunity to share about Jesus with the children.
After singing and lesson time they brought out tables for a craft. It was great to be able to interact with the kids and help them. Some got into conversations and were able to share more about Christ during this time. Others just had fun getting to know the kids and laughing with them! At one point a tickle battle even ensued.
While the lesson was given and the children were working on their craft some of the women in our group were in the tiny, very hot kitchen preparing lunch (that our group was able to provide) for the kids!
Fried hot-dogs! Each child got a dog in a bun with ketchup and……mayonnaise! Yes it is amazing how much they love mayonnaise here. Another big food item here along with the rice and beans and chicken…. coleslaw! They have it all over the place and even with breakfast foods and in their burritos!
They have this sink which seems to be randomly placed here in the middle of nowhere for hand washing prior to lunch. The slightly germophobe nurse in me was so thankful when I saw this I dubbed it as photo worthy.
Of course when we spend time with children….there is always time for play!
And even a little dancing…. do you floss? #thefloss dance moves, this kid is a master.
The ladies helped with the cleanup as well.
And this little guy took the rake from me. He was so pleased to be able to help in any way he could. And then there was this little one who, like all children, see a pile being swept up and decide to walk right through it, or stand in it in this case lol!
Chief will go around every Sunday morning making trips in his golf cart picking up kids who want to attend Sunday school. Kids that live too far away or it wouldn’t be safe for them to walk. He also takes them home after it’s over. I got to ride along with three sisters that I was talking with to take them home.
I was talking with the oldest sister at Sunday school about their plans for the rest of the day. We’re going to go home and make a turkey she said. A turkey? I asked. I thought the idea of having a good turkey all cooked up for a Sunday dinner was a great, but not what I expected. No… she said. Tortillas! – Face palm- Ahh I see…. so do you make tortillas every Sunday? Yes she said, we actually make them everyday at 4:00. And every morning too!
We talked more about the tortillas on the ride to their house. She helps her mom make them with her younger sister. Her other sister which is younger yet, too young to help make them, carries them up the street by herself every day to the local store where they sell them to make money. I told her how I would love to learn how to make them! She invited me into her home (pictured above) where I met her mother Rósa as well as her youngest sister who was ‘swimming’ in a little green tub, that she had to sit crossed legged in to fit in, on the front porch. Rósa, who spoke no English, invited me to learn how to make tortillas and help them with the 15lbs they would be making that day. Sadly our schedule did not allow for us to come back at that time…perhaps we will get to another time! I look forward to learning how to make tortillas and at 15lbs a shot I think I might be a pro after one tortilla session in this tiny home, with these ladies that have such big hearts.
After Sunday school we headed for San Mateo to help with some maintenance on a church building. To get to San Mateo you drive down what appears to be the main road in San Pedro and then cross over this little bridge to the lagoon side. I don’t think anything could have prepared me for what we were to see here.
Garbage everywhere. The sargassum has its own powerful unique smell, especially as it dries out like in the large piles in the photo above. But there is another smell that you get here as well… and sadly you can see why. This was shocking to be here, driving down these streets. We saw children playing right next to piles and piles of garbage. Or sitting on their elevated porch enjoying their view.
Robert, or Everett, Palacio who is the Pastor of Faith Bible Church here in San Mateo, has lived in this area for 20 years. Robert and his wife Lavern are some of the friendliest people I have met here. It feels like I’ve known them for years even though we just met last night.
Everything is built on garbage. It would be like putting your typical American shed or garage in a landfill. As it turns out.. that’s why there is garbage everywhere. To fill the land. Ambergris Caye is only at max 3-4ft above sea level ( it is why when you see a grave yard, the bodies are ‘buried’ in above ground cement kauffins because, as I was told, if they weren’t when the waters rise..so would the bodies). Since this area is on the lagoon side it used to be all swamp…which gives way to crocodiles and snakes and all sorts of things. To help this problem fill is brought here as well as the sargassum. The goal is to use it to soak up all that swampiness you see and then, eventually, bring in sand overtop.
However, this makes for poor living conditions where people are if not using the connections of foot bridges to get over the swamp to their homes because there is no road access, they are using foot bridges to get over the heaps of garbage. Most of the residents here lack electricity and running water too.
The residents here are hard-working, as we would meet someone tomorrow, working in a restaurant in San Pedro, who lives here. They are welcoming as well. There are also dogs everywhere. Not just here in San Mateo but also in San Pedro. Not your house pet kind of dog… stray dogs roaming the streets. And the dogs are nice too!
Here you can see Pastor Roberts church, the little blue building, that we are helping with some maintenance on. You can also see their home which sits just in front of it, the little pink building, where he, his wife and 6 of their 8 children live. Some of whom are grown adults who are married with children of their own living there as well. Just across the street on the left is a little convenience store where we were able to get bagged water ( yes you read that right… the water comes in little baggies you tear open and suck the water out of) as well as some very good (I am told) chocolate covered bananas some of our group got to enjoy!
Plus you can get a coke.. and yes they have plastic bottles of coke around the island too but they also have good ol’ glass coke bottles practically everywhere here too!
Today we were scraping the paint, prepping the church for new paint. Some of the men were also working to remove the old vinyl flooring and build a raised stage.
We got to meet Michael ( pictured above). Michael is a Belizean that met our Pastor, Lance, and his wife years ago when they were in Belize. Through their really interesting and providential story of how they met ( Lance, his wife Barb, and Michael and his brother) I learned that Michael and his brother both went to live with Lance and Barb at their home in California for some time. Michael was only with them I believe 6 months he said and has since been living back in Belize but his brother has remained in California to this day. Michael has said he will visit us in Pennsylvania at our church and maybe even perform one of his rap songs! Michael if you’re reading this I look forward to that!
After hours in the blazing sun, humidity out of this world (or atleast out of this country) and loosing a few people, that had to return to the hotel, due to heat exhausting or dehydration… we called it a day. We will return here tomorrow to help finish what we started.
As I wrote in my journal this evening I could not escape the thoughts that I started this post with thoughts on hope…. “I’m sitting here, enjoying the refreshing and relaxing breeze while looking out at the ocean. There is calming music playing from the resorts speakers while I sit semi-reclined under a thatched roof hut near the pool. There are faint voices around me of people on vacation having a good time. It would seem the perfect scene. But right now my mind and heart are still over with the people of San Mateo.” There is a message we- as believers- have. A message of hope. That hope only comes through Christ Jesus. I again, am so beyond blessed and grateful that we got to share that hope with people here today.