Tuesday is Falling Tree Day

We arrived safe and sound at Jaguar Creek on Tuesday, January 16th. Shortly after saying good-night to Tono and the maintenance crew, we heard a very loud cracking sound, followed by a huge crash. A 60 foot tree which was rotten near it's base, decided to come down. The tree hit "Pepe's Hotel" (the former home of a pet chicken), hit the roof of the "DWP"* breaking a few of the solar panels and then hit our rental car, but didn't damage it. Today, Tuesday a week later, we heard another loud crash. This time a large high branch of another tree broke off and came down near the JC van. Fortunately no harm was done. So now we know what to expect on Tuesdays.

The other thing falling from the sky is water. This is far from the wettest month of the year, but it has rained almost every day. We noticed that people hung their clothes out on clotheslines anyway. They just waited four or five days until Saturday, when we had a nice long period of sunshine, then quickly took the dry clothes in. It is so humid here, that our floor usually becomes wet around mid-morning as the cool tiles condense water from the air. And most things that are shaded all day just seem to stay wet.

Because of the height of the jungle around us, we can't see the horizon. (We also don't have internet, TV or a radio). So, for weather forecasting we rely on the staff here. The maintenance guys are always willing to take a guess; "Do you think it will rain tomorrow?", "Yes, maybe it looks like it". The staff here are great; friendly down-to-earth people.

Here is a picture of our new home. We have a small entry porch, a little sitting area, two bedrooms (one of which will soon be occupied by our nephew, Matt), and a bathroom. The entire cabin has only screens for windows, so the cacophony of nighttime sounds from the jungle is amazing.


If you are willing to pray for us, we'd sure appreciate you keeping these things in mind:
1) For the ability to build a good working relationship with the staff here. This is one of our top priorities since almost everything we want to do depends on them.
2) For connections to people in ministry, and to children in need, so that we can develop great opportunities for people to come and serve.
3) For help adapting to the environment, protection from harm. So far everything's fine, but there are a few hazardous bugs, animals and geological features around.
4) For us to develop some local friendships. We still like each other, but "Uno" for two players is getting a little boring. We are looking forward to having our nephew Matt here for six months as a volunteer.


*DWP: Department of Water and Power, a small building covered with solar panels. It houses the water treatment system, the electrical system, a shop and laundry room.

Belize?

Okay, I'll admit it, I (Mark) am geographically challenged. When my Spanish conversation teacher first showed us a map of Central and South America, with all the country names labeled, I had no problem naming them. But then she turned the thing over to the side that had shapes of countries with no lables and asked me to say the name of each in Spanish.... Needless to say, I had some homework to do that night. So, if you are not exactly sure where Belize is, don't feel bad.

Belize is the smallest (non island) country in the Americas with about 287,730 people (The City of Fremont, CA has about 210,000). It's area is about 89,000 square miles (about half the size of California). It is the only Central American country without a coast on the Pacific Ocean and also the only one where English is the primary language. That's because Belize was a British Colony for more than a century. It was known as British Honduras until 1973.

The climate is tropical and normally very hot and humid. Belize is home to the longest barrier reef in the western hemisphere (second only to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia).

Jaguar Creek is located near the capital city of Belmopan. We saw one gas station there. With a population of 7100, it is the smallest capital city in the world. We know of two orphanages there, The Kings Children's Home, and Marla's House of Hope. A little closer to Jaguar Creek are two villages, St. Margarets and Armenia Village. There's a wide variety of people in these two villages including Creole, Garifuna, Mestizo, Maya, North American, European and Mennonite families. The first settlers in Armenia Village area were immigrants from Guatemala, El Salvador, or Honduras, who fled from civil war.

We know we want to work with the children of Belmopan and these two villages. Beyond that, a lot of details need to be filled in for the vision of Jaguar Creek Ministries. But we are starting at the right place, with a desire to serve and honor God. I'm confident that in time He will help us find great opportunities to help children in need, to encourage people in ministry, and to provide mission trip opportunities that will be not only rewarding and fun, but also spirtually transforming for the participants.

Come back to this blog often, we'd love to share the experience with you. And...don't forget to make a comment!