Day 10 Sabbath

To see pictures, be sure to log on the internet to http://www.flickr.com/photos/rmcmissionpictures/.
You can view a map of Belize at http://www.progressoheights.com/location/belize_map.jpg . “Click” on the map and it will zoom in; we are working in the very northernmost tip in Corozal town (which is located in the District of the same name).

Here is what happened on Sabbath:

This morning most of us attended the campus English church; only a handful went to Concepcion and campus Spanish. Joe Martin preached at the English church again, and almost all students were there for it. We all ate lunch here at our quarters.

For the past 4 years we have collected shoes and brought them down to give away. So this afternoon was our 5th Annual Great Shoe Give-Away. We brought down about 1,000 pounds of shoes in 20 suitcases. Since we had so many, we thought it would be cumbersome to give them all away at one location. After talking with some knowledgeable locals, we chose 3 locations of the poorest churches and neighborhoods and made arrangements to give out the shoes. So at 2 p.m. we loaded up the bus with students and shoes, and made a “milk run”. We dropped about 15 of us and several hundred pounds of shoes at Chan Chen, then on to drop a similar group at Pachacan, then another at San Antonio. By that time the first group was ready to be picked up, so the bus made the same pass doing the pick-up. So almost all of the shoes were given away in a matter of less than an hour at each location.

Some good news to report: For the first 2 years we gave away shoes at the local school house in San Antonio. It is a very poor community, and it was mostly a humanitarian effort. However, there was a small group trying to get a church started there. (Our friend Andy Lizarraga and his brother were very involved in the effort.) This year when we rolled up to San Antonio, we discovered a lovely little church right across the road from the school house, and there is a faithful, growing group that meets there each Sabbath. Incidentally, their church is a “one-day-church” that they have done a nice job finishing. (see attached picture) There is a “one-day-church” shell that is waiting to be finished for their use as Sabbath School rooms. Future project for us?? Only eternity will tell what impact our shoe and literature distribution had on the efforts to evangelize that community.

And speaking of literature distribution, we gave away all of the 3,000 copies of condensed “Desire of Ages”. Again, there is no way of measuring the effectiveness of our work, but the promise is that when we “cast our bread” (the Gospel) out there, it will “not return void” (have zero impact).

After sundown we loaded up the bus and went to a very nice restaurant for our supper. It is right on the water. What a delightful time we had! The atmosphere was warm with friendship and a sense of wholesome pride in our accomplishments of the week. The cool breeze coming off the water, the full moon, the indirect lighting, the sights and sounds and smells all added up to be a real highlight of the trip. Oh, the food was good, too.

Everyone is hyped at the prospect of going snorkeling tomorrow. All is now quiet.